Despite the fact that Konami has yet to officially announce Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, a full-on WiiWare remake of the Game Boy title of the same name, images showing off the second take of this whip-slinging entry have surfaced courtesy of Famitsu.

Not your typical remake, Konami went the extra mile with this one, giving it a modern look. Which by all accounts is a good thing, considering the original looks horrendously dated by today’s standards. In addition to introducing new foes, level designs have been given a facelift in tune with the traditional Castlevania look, notably replacing those out-of-place ropes from the original with actual stairs.

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth is slated for an October 27 release in Japan. Nintendo has stamped a vague Q3 2009 date in North America, meaning there is a chance it could make it its way here before Halloween as well.

It appears Konami’s survival horror title Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a reboot of the first SH entry, will drop outside the Halloween release window.

Numerous retailers are now hinting at a holiday release, with GameStop pegging down a December 8 date. Online outlet GameFly is listing an even further out December 31 date for the PSP and PS2 versions. Oddly enough, according to their site, the Wii version is still on track for November 26. In all likelihood that’s probably an error. If history is any indication, we’d side with GameStop’s dates as they seem to be the most accurate. Take it as pure speculation for now though, as Konami has yet to officially confirm a delay.

Former Bungie staffers Michel Bastien, Damián Isla, and Rob Stokes have announced the formation of Moonshot Games, a new development outfit based in Seattle and Boston. more »

In what we can only call shocking, Infinity Ward head Vince Zampella revealed to the Official PlayStation Magazine that publisher Activision was originally opposed to the idea of moving the Call of Duty outside World War II. For its part, the mighty Acti thought such a move was a huge creative risk at the time, going by internal marketing research, and instead wanted to play it safe by taking the rehash route and churn out more of the same. more »

Nintendo rolled out System Update 4.2 for Wii owners in the states today, with the official changelog vaguely dropping word of “behind-the-scenes fixes” and performance improvements. The ho-hum level is high.

These so-called fixes reinforce Nintendo’s anti-homebrew stance, deleting the homebrew channel, BootMii and related cIOS files. While it almost goes without saying, if that concerns you, then passing on this one until a workaround is found may be the best course of action. If history is any indication, it’ll only be a matter of time, once again making this attempt at defeating the homebrew crowd futile.

Nintendo announced today that it will release a “limited edition” Wii Sports Resort bundle that doubles the value proposition with not one, but two MotionPlus accessories for $60. Factoring in the numbers, that’s $10 more than the standard bundle but with a savings of $40 overall. Not too shabby. more »

Although it is still the top selling console in North America, Wii sales have taken a hit as of late and Nintendo is responding by cutting the price down to $199 from $249, the company announced today. While not as significant as the recent price reductions on Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware, it brings Wii down to the extremely competitive sub $200 mark. This will no doubt make the prospect of purchasing one much more affordable in the eyes of many, especially those on a tight budget.

With high-profile software like Wii Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii right around the corner, it’s safe to say sales of the hardware will surge as a result. October should prove to be an interesting month.

Full PR after the break. more »

With a motion control solution slated to hit the PS3 next year, Capcom staffer and Resident Evil 5 director Jun Takeuchi says this could signal the arrival of PS3 to Wii ports, as developers are no longer bound by the restrictions of a control pad. While Capcom itself has yet to make a clear cut decision on this, Takeuchi remarks that “other developers” are considering it, but refrained from dropping any specific names:

However, speaking to other developers in Japan, I’ve heard a few of them say they were delighted by the Sony motion controller because they can just port over their Wii titles to the PS3.

Elsewhere, Takeeuchi noted that Capcom was impressed by Microsoft’s Natal tech and has been actively exploring solutions in that space.

Pre-TGS: Five Questions With Capcom’s Jun Takeuchi [1UP]

In a press release detailing its holiday lineup, Nintendo revealed that DS title The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is on track for a December 7 release in North America.

While story details are still shrouded in mystery, the title features an cel-shaded art style fondly reminiscent of Phantom Hourglass. Apart from the added element of stylus driven controls, gameplay is largely akin to traditional Zelda efforts, this time with an added emphasis on exploration as Link guides a cannon-wielding steam engine.

See Nintendo’s mammoth release schedule from first-party and third-party publishers after the break. more »

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has already voiced his concerns over the need of a Wii price cut, and there’s good reason to believe that Nintendo will be taking that advice to heart if U.S. sales predictions for September are on the mark.

With total unit sales 50 percent lower than last year, Pachter expects Wii sales to take another hit in September, which would translate to a sixth consecutive month of decline. How significant of a dropoff that may be is anyone’s guess – and it may not happen in the unlikely event that sales pick up. However, with August NPD figures inching closer to the sub-250K mark, Nintendo may want to take proactive action on this one.

US Wii sales set for sixth month of decline [GI.biz]