In what might be today's most recursive April Fools gag, Capcom has revealed character art for the infamous Sheng Long on its official blog, touting him as an unlockable character in Street Fighter IV.

The update emerged from a translation of the latest entry on the Japanese Street Fighter IV blog, where project manager Natsumi Shiozawa issued details on the character's appearance in the upcoming fighter.

The roots of the Sheng Long gag stretch back to 1992, when the character was introduced in EGM's April issue as a secret boss in Capcom's Street Fighter II. It ranks among the most infamous April Fools gag in the history of gaming, sparking a tradition that would bring woe to game journalists for years to come.

According to EGM, if the player could complete the game untouched while playing as Ryu, Sheng Long would replace M. Bison as the final boss in Street Fighter II. In his post today, Shiozawa referenced similar conditions to attain Sheng Long within Street Fighter IV.

The whole supposed existence of Sheng Long ties back to an old mistranslated victory quote, in which Ryu would proclaim "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance" instead of "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance" after winning a battle.

Publisher Capcom has announced that, across two unrelated business deals, it has acquired developer K2 along with a four-year hold on the worldwide rights for MotoGP-branded motorcycle racing games.

K2, which is best known for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360 entries in the stealth ninja action series Tenchu, will become a wholly-owned Capcom subsidiary as of May 1, 2008. In exchange, K2 will receive 201,720 shares of Capcom common stock.

Though K2 has developed several, but not all, entries in the Tenchu series, the studio does not own the property itself. The Tenchu property currently belongs to independent Japanese developer From Software, which acquired the franchise from publisher Activision in 2004.

The worldwide publishing rights for the MotoGP property, meanwhile, ensure that Capcom will be the only company with a licensed MotoGP title until 2012. Capcom noted its intent to publish a MotoGP title based on the 2008 season for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, though it did not name a development studio.

Previous MotoGP titles have been published by multiple companies--including Capcom, Namco and THQ--with different editions of the games developed by Milestone and Climax Studios.

Capcom today officially announced the North American release details for Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions Colonies Edition, an expanded version of the original Lost Planet.

The revamped third person shooter arrives on Xbox 360 and PC on May 27, priced at $29.99. The Xbox 360 edition of the game will be packaged as the Platinum Hits version of Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions.

Colonies features a number of additions to the game's multiplayer component, including new weapons, five new characters, new camera views, new maps and modes. It also packs three new single-player modes-- score attack, boss rush, and off-limit--with off-limit featuring increased movement speed, more powerful weapons, and unlimited ammo.

Saved games from the original will not be compatible with the new edition, and those playing the original will not be able to face off against Colonies owners online. However, Colonies will support cross-platform online play, allowing PC and Xbox 360 players to duke it out.

The title had been more or less confirmed by leaked achievements lists, trademark filings, and a recent blowout of the game in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. On the company's official blog, Capcom PR rep Chris Kramer called the title "the worst-kept secret at Capcom in recent memory."

As part of Capcom's deluge of media and announcements today, the company announced 1942: Joint Strike (PS3, X360), a reimagining of the 194X series of vertical arcade shooters of the 80's.

Taking place within an alternate world war scenario, 1942: Joint Strike will feature classic 2D gameplay within fully 3D graphics updated by developer Backbone Entertainment. The title also boasts new attacks, weapons, and power-ups, in addition to 2-player play locally or online.

Capcom also announced that 1942: Joint Strike is scored by Norihiko Hibino, whose previous composer credits include the Metal Gear Solid (PC, Xbox, PS2) series as well as Zone of the Enders (PS2).

Due for release this summer, 1942: Joint Strike will be available on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store for 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99, respectively.

The first details on Capcom's long-rumored Lost Planet: Colonies have appeared, revealing the title to be a beefed-up version of the original Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, which debuted on PC and Xbox 360 last year.

According to the latest issue of Japanese publication Famitsu, the revamped third person shooter will arrive on Xbox 360 and PC, packing new weapons, a new character, new monsters, and new multiplayer maps and modes. Of those new modes, one allows players to battle as the insect-esque Akrid.

Suppporting cross-platform multiplayer, Lost Planet: Colonies hits Japanese retailers in May. Capcom has yet to specify a date for the North American release, though it has already been rated by the ESRB.

There is no word yet on a possible PlayStation 3 edition, though the PS3 version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition just arrived at retailers last month.

Capcom has released a new teaser for its upcoming sequel Street Fighter IV.

While the video doesn't contain gameplay footage, it does have a pink-dominant color scheme and plenty of flowers, two aesthetic choices that hardcore video gamers will surely appreciate.

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Street Fighter IV is set to debut in Japanese arcades this summer. No console editions have been announced, though PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are likely.

Update: Capcom VP of business development Christian Svensson has stated that the Resident Evil Zero port for the Wii will be released only in Japan, noting that there are presently no plans for a Western release of the title.

"I bet we see all sorts of complaints about that fact, after pages of outrage on this forum and others that the title even exists," wrote Svensson on the official Capcom message boards. "We simply can not win."

Original story: According to the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Capcom is planning to bring a port of its zombie-slaying prequel Resident Evil Zero to the Wii in the summer of this year.

Chronologically situated just prior to the original in the... Read more

Film production company MKR Group has filed suit against Capcom over an alleged copyright infringement by Capcom's 2006 zombie action thriller, Dead Rising (X360), Reuters reports.

The company claims that Dead Rising is a cut-and-dry adaptation of Dawn of the Dead, a 1978 zombie horror film set in a shopping mall for which MKR owns the copyright. Earlier this month, MKR notified Capcom, Best Buy and Microsoft of its intentions to file suit if a settlement could not be reached.

A week later, Capcom filed a complaint in the US District Court, seeking an injunction to prevent the suit and asking the Court to declare that Dead Rising did not infringe upon MKR's trademark. MKR claims that it filed suit after talks with Capcom failed.

The long-running dispute began brewing before the game was released in 2006, with Capcom taking the preemptive measure of placing a label on the Dead Rising box disavowing any relationship to the film.

Capcom has filed a complaint in the US District Court for declaratory relief against the MKR Group, which has repeatedly claimed that Capcom's zombie action title Dead Rising (X360) violates MKR's Dawn of the Dead trademark.

The company is seeking attorney's fees and a declaration from the Court that Dead Rising does not infringe on MKR's trademark. A 1978 zombie horror film set in a shopping mall, Dawn of the Dead is considered by many to be a direct inspiration for Dead Rising. A loose remake of the film was released in 2004.

Capcom alleges that similarities between the properties are based on "the wholly unprotectible idea of humans battling zombies in a shopping mall," and cannot stand up as a copyright claim.

The complaint notes that on February 6, MKR informed Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy of its intentions to file a claim against the companies for the ... Read more

A new entry in Capcom's Lost Planet franchise may be headed to Xbox 360 and PC, according to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

A listing for Lost Planet Colonies recently appeared on the ESRB's official site, proudly announcing the title's receipt of a T for Teen rating. The game's moniker game matches a trademark listing made last year, which at the time, set off a flurry of speculation regarding a possible sequel.

Interestingly, the site only lists Lost Planet Colonies for Xbox 360 and PC. While the first entry in the snowy shooting series, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, arrived on those two platforms last year, a PlayStation 3 edition--packed with bonus content, including new single-player and multiplayer characters--is currently slated to arrive February 26.

Shacknews has contacted Capcom for more information, though a response has yet to be received. However, responses to other publications have consisted of an image reading "Stay Tuned," suggesting that an announcement is inbound.

The PlayStation 3 version of the once-Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Planet: Extreme Condition will be in stores February 26. Publisher Capcom, which developed the game internally, provided the date along with several new screenshots.

Billed as an Xbox 360 exclusive when it hit in early 2007, the title was later ported to the PC, with a PS3 version eventually confirmed as well.

The PS3 edition contains all of the downloadable multiplayer maps released for the other versions, along with Dead Rising (X360) protagonist Frank West and the ever-iconic Mega Man as multiplayer characters.

A remake of Capcom's original NES classic Bionic Commando, entitled Bionic Commando Rearmed, is being developed for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, Capcom revealed today.

Not to be confused with the series update announced late last year, Rearmed is a reimagining of the original title, upgraded with 3D graphics a la many previous ports of its kind.

In addition to enhanced visuals, Bionic Commando Rearmed will also feature two player offline cooperative play, new uses for the bionic arm—such as tossing objects and enemies—and a reconstructed story that better resembles the original Japanese version; Nazis will be now called "Nazis," not "Badds".

Capcom expects to release Bionic Commando Rearmed this spring. Check back tomorrow morning for screenshots, artwork, and other media.

True to its promise, Capcom has delivered a Flash demo of the upcoming Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (NDS), the fourth game in the formerly Phoenix Wright-helmed courtroom adventure series.

The demo, which contains a portion of the game's first trial and is playable through any Flash-enabled web browser, can be found here.

Those hoping to play it on the dual-screened portable itself will have to wait a bit, though Capcom claims that the Nintendo DS Download Stations scattered about retailers will soon receive a similar demo.

The first of the Ace Attorney games to be entirely designed around the Nintendo DS, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is now slated to arrive in stores February 19, a week later than initially announced.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the fourth entry in Capcom's previously Phoenix Wright-led adventure series, hits the Nintendo DS on February 12.

A Flash demo will be available through the game's official site later this month. A downloadable demo of the game will be released soon via the Nintendo DS Download Stations that are scattered about retailers.

Apollo Justice marks the first entry in the courtroom investigation series to be wholly developed around the Nintendo DS. Though they later arrived on the DS sporting touch-screen controls and voice recognition, the three previous Ace Attorney titles were initially created for the Game Boy Advance, with only the first remake, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, delivering any sort new content.

Capcom has officially released the first five screenshots of the long-awaited Street Fighter IV.

Though a number of SF4 details have been made public, the company has yet to announce exactly when the fighter will arrive and which systems it will appear on.

Amidst an already busy CES, Microsoft also announced nine new titles set for Games for Windows branding, to be released in 2008.

• Alone in the Dark, Eden Studio (PC, PS3, X360)
• Bionic Commando, GRIN/Capcom (PC, PS3, X360)
• Conflict: Denied Ops, Pivotal Games (PC, PS3, X360)
• Empire: Total War, Creative Assembly (PC)
• LEGO Indiana Jones, Traveller's Tales (TBD)
• Microsoft Train Simulator 2, Microsoft Game Studios (PC)
• Sins of a Solar Empire, Ironclad Games (PC)
• Space Siege, Gas Powered Games (PC)
• Tomb Raider: Underworld, Crystal Dynamics (PC, PS3, X360)

Microsoft did not disclose whether any of these titles will support Live for Windows, cross-platform play or achievements. This newest roundup of games will join an existing roster of anticipated releases in 2008, including Gearbox Software's Borderlands (PC, PS3, X360) and Fallout 3 (PC, PS3, X360) from Bethesda Game Studios.

Kristin Kreuk (pictured left) will be starring as Chun Li in the upcoming live-action film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, reports ComingSoon.net.

Often referred to as "that cute girl from Smallville," Kreuk has also appeared in feature films EuroTrip and Partition as well as the long-running television teen drama Edgemont.

Jessica Biel (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, 7th Heaven, Blade: Trinity) had previously been rumored to play the role, which puts the beloved Street Fighter heroine in the central spotlight as she embarks on a seemingly-generic quest for justice.

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (Doom, Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave), written by Justin Marks (Masters of the Universe, Fast Forward, Unbroken), produced by Hyde Park Entertainment, and part of Capcom's increased focus on Hollywood, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li is expected to begin shooting in March.

There's a Devil May Cry 4 preview on IGN tonight, going hands-on with Nero. Capcom's third person action game sequel is due out early next year.

The first trailer for Resident Evil: Degeneration has infected the internet, providing the general public with its first look at the Capcom-helmed CG film.

Based on the footage, which features series mainstays Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy, the events of the movie appear set within the confines of the established Resident Evil mythology, instead of deviating from it as Paul W.S. Anderson's live-action trilogy did.

Resident Evil: Degeneration is due out in 2008. Though Capcom has yet to specify if it will first be released in theaters or if it will go straight to retail, the involvement of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment strongly suggests the latter.

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Stockholm-headquartered developer GRIN will open a new studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, the developer announced today. The studio will open its doors on January 8, and GRIN will be hiring through the winter months to fully staff the new development house.

"The new studio is working on a very, very big Hollywood sci-fi brand," GRIN CEO Bo Andersson told Next-Gen, saying the project would arrive on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. "It's a real triple-A thing."

GRIN's other project is the reimagining of Capcom's Bionic Commando (PC, PS3, X360), arriving at an unannounced date. Its previous works include the PC versions of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series. The fast-growing GRIN has 190 employees across its four offices in Stockholm, Sweden; Barcelona, Spain; Jakarta, Indonesia; and now Gothenburg, Sweden.