What's better than one Samurai Shodown title? Why not all seven of them? SNK Playmore USA recently cleared up the previous confusion regarding the actual titles included in the Samurai Shodown Anthology compilation for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation Portable. Find out exactly what the company said regarding this upcoming classic 2D fighting game in our full article after the jump.

If last week's on-shelves superstar is Niko Bellic from Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), today we have Steven Spielberg, the Academy Award-winning director of ET, Jaws and Jurassic Park. No, we won't be playing the director in a video game. Rather, we can now get a feel of his brainchild puzzle video game, Boom Blox. See what other game titles will be released this week over at the full article.  

If you're looking for a PSP title that has some of the most timeless titles ever made, then you don't need to look any further than SNK Playmore's SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1. In this gameplay video update, we look at how you can shoot fireballs, slap someone with your own sword of justice, AND shoot shrinking soldiers with hot fiery lead - all in the convenience of one UMD. The video in the full article.

Still hungry even after the Thanksgiving feast? Don't worry, another world of food still awaits you... in the gaming world, that is.

From awesome booming voices that exclaim CHICKEN when you pick them up to Gyro Plates being served in Dracula's castle, check out a sampling of fine food that you can encounter in the gaming world, and it awaits you in the full article.

  

Homebrew developer Xylkz dropped by QJ.NET PSP Development Forum and released a mod for titch.ryan's Battle Monsters titled SNK vs Capcom Cardfighters Clash. Just like the name implies, this iteration features SNK and Capcom characters.

Those who missed our last report on this might want to know that titch.ryan's version involved Yu-Gi-Oh monsters. Anyway, the aim of the game remains the same - you are given 20 randomly selected cards at the start of the game. All you have to do is destroy all of your opponent's cards.

You can do so by selecting the "Attack" or "Defense" stance. Here are a few other additions provided by Xylkz:

• 79 cards of the game Cardfighters' Clash
• New menu background
• New game background
• New Musics
• New sounds

SNK vs Capcom Cardfighters Clash comes with a well-written Readme.txt file. Aside from the usual installation guide, the said documentation also includes a step-by-step process on how to create custom decks as well as ways to change the game's background images and music.

Download: SNK vs Capcom Cardfighters Clash
Visit: QJ PSP Development Forum

 

Together with the developers and publishers looking to show off their wares at the Tokyo Game Show 2007, SNK Playmore USA has released its list of titles for the said game show. Of course, the makers of The King of Fighters and Metal Slug has a number of titles lined up for this year's show, ranging from retro games for Xbox Live Arcade and Wii's Virtual Console to new ones for the consoles and handhelds.

And since SNK Playmore is still one of the coin-op kings, it also lists some titles coming to an arcade near you. Anyway, here's the list:

• The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga (Wii, PS2, PSP)
• Metal Slug 7 (Nintendo DS)
• SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 (PS2, PSP)
• Samurai Shodown Anthology (Wii, PS2)
• Metal Slug 3 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
• Samurai Shodown 2 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
• Fatal Fury (Wii Virtual Console)
• World Heroes (Wii Virtual Console)
• Magician Lord (Wii Virtual Console)

New arcade titles:

• The King of Fighters XII
• The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation "A" 2
• Samurai Shodown Sen (Japanese Title)

Ben Herman, president of SNK Playmore USA, had this to say:

We're pleased to once again be bringing fans more of the quality fighting and great arcade games they've come to expect from us and with the addition of a number of downloadable console titles, SNK aficionados will have even more options available to them.

Cool eh? Better heat up your Wiis and 360s, fighting games are on their way.

Armchair pugilists take notice - Sony's just unleashed a torrent of retro SNK fighting game joy onto PlayStation Store Japan, as well as a handful of unforgettable classics from legendary developers such as Idea Factory and Atlus.

Earn the title that's still being coveted to this very day with King of Fighters '97. Let your trusty blade do all the talking for you in Samurai Spirits: Kenkaku Yubinan Pack (never released outside the US, and available for ¥600 - or US$6).

Ask your opponent if he's okay, and then SLAM your fist into his face with Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind. And finally, get into some smoothly-animated, crazy-fighting action with the original Guilty Gear.

Certainly good news for us token junkies itching to finally get some sweet arcade fighting joy on the road - and also on our couches, with downloaded PS1 titles fully compatible with the PlayStation 3. Retro addicts should also know that Sony went ahead and updated a bunch of PS1 games they previously released for download to work on the next-gen console, so everybody wins.

Let's hope Sony doesn't let up on the retro goodness. In the meantime, here's the complete list of the new titles out this week for your reading pleasure.

• Guilty Gear
  
• King of Fighters ‘95
• King of Fighters ‘96
• King of Fighters ‘97
• Little Princess: Maru Oukoku no Ningyou Hime 2
• Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind
• Samurai Spirits: Kenkaku Yubinan Pack
• Septentrion
• Spectral Force 2
• Spectral Tower
• Suna no Embrace
• XI (Sai) demo (aka Devil Dice) *released for free.

International market research and market data company Research and Markets just announced that it has added "The Market for Portable Video Games" in its huge roster of studies. If you are not familiar with this company, you can actually think of it as a one-stop shop for market research reports and industry newsletters.

Anyway, like we said, a new report has been published that tackles the market for portable game systems. The study itself contains a detailed five-year forecast for each platform. Aside from that, the study also discusses the potential impact of yet-to-be released gadgets.

Aside from the above mentioned, a sub-report has been attached to the study that concerns the mobile game market and you can get a lot of insights from it given the round table discussion with leading players and visionaries in the mobile game space. The companies included in the study are:

• Atari (Atari Lynx)
• Bandai (Bandai Wonderswan)
• NEC (NEC Turboexpress)
• Nintendo (Game Boy, Virtual Boy, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Ds)
• Nokia (Nokia N-Gage)
• Sega (Sega Game Gear and Sega Nomad)
• SNK (SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color)
• Sony (Sony PSP)
• Tiger (Tiger Gamecom and Tiger Telematics Gizmondo)

Quite interestingly, the study also gives a detailed history of the portable game market as well as an overview of failed systems. Video game genres were also discussed aside from complete business models for third-party software sales broken down by platform.

Refer to the Read link below for more details and how you can get the study.

We've got a new game sighting thanks to the ESRB's Game ratings page today. According to the ESRB, SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting Anthology will be making its way to the Sony PSP and the Nintendo Wii. The PS2 version of this title is reportedly coming to U.S. shores this May, so maybe the Wii and PSP versions will also be released around that time.

Art of Fighting Anthology collects the entire Art of Fighting trilogy. Originally released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 90s, the Art of Fighting games predate SNK's popular King of Fighters series. A few characters from the former, like psycho crime lord Geese Howard, have lived on through their inclusion in the latter.

We'll be bringing you more details on this title as they surface, so keep checking back here on QJ for more updates.

While this list isn't exactly the most original of its kind, we wanted to offer our take on which mamas are the hottest in the virtual world. Everything here is subjective and any list is as good as ours. So without remorse, this is our top 10 hottest game babes to date:

10. Maria Renard (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)- The blonde hottie from Alucard's big night out may not have been seen in 3D glory and all, but the portrait was convincing enough. With her perfect complexion, killer brown eyebrows and the wavy, golden hair, she was a perfect leading lady to match with the vampiric charm of Dracula's son.

9. Mai Shiranui (King of Fighters)- Mai first appeared in the first half of the 90's in Fatal Fury 2. She immediately became one of the stars of the game for obvious reasons: She had the moves and the physique to match. Where rival bear 'em up Street Fighter II featured more conservative lady brawlers, SNK showed Mai's assets off with an innovative twist: Bouncing jubblies! Now imagine the testosterone levels in the old-school arcades more than a decade ago.

8. Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)- The gorgeous good girl of the legendary RPG Final Fantasy VII may have led a short and sweet character lifespan, but the fact remains that she's still one of the most beloved females in the business to date. Okay, the clothes she wore may not exactly be revealing, but we have to understand that it's how she was meant to be packaged in the first place. Imagine if she was a bit more fashion-trendy: She would have given the DoA girls a run for their money.

7. Morrigan Aensland (Dark Stalkers)- The naughty night warrior does that succubus lineage proud. She looked fantastic in 2D and had the ferocity to match. The anime spin-off of Capcom's popular Halloween fighter did her justice as she was just as charming there. Call her costume weird, but that only strengthens the convictions of her appeal. You gotta admit, not a lot of girls will look sexy in that!

More ladies follow at the full article.