While Microsoft retains the rights to the Ninety-Nine Nights franchise, it seems that it will no longer be handling publishing duties for the upcoming sequel, at least in Japan.

Third party publisher Konami has launched an official site with a few new screenshots (above) of the Xbox 360 hack 'n slash effort, which is being handled by feelplus instead of NNN1 developer Phantagram.

Alongside confirmation of the shift, Siliconera also points to Japanese publication Famitsu as reporting that the sequel's expected release has gone from 2009 to TBD. Thanks to valcan_s for the tip.

The PC release of DICE's World War II shooter-driver-flier Battlefield 1943 has again been delayed, producer Gordon Van Dyke told G4tv, now until the first quarter of 2010.

"This was a hard pill to swallow, but it was absolutely needed to ensure the features and functionality that PC players have come to expect from Battlefield on PC are not missing," said Van Dyke. Support for ranked server provider hosting, peripherals such as joysticks, VoIP, and the higher maximum player count of 32 were examples given.

"We haven't released a Frostbite built game on PC, so going into this project we lacked a starting foundation we had on console." Van Dyke explained. "It was and still is the absolutely right decision, for quality sake, to not release until it is ready."

Battlefield 1943 hit Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in July. The PC release was previously scheduled for September, potentially with gameplay closer in ways to Battlefield 1942.

The path to Mordor the holiday season is a long and treacherous one, with Aragorn's Quest now marking the latest of the increasingly thinning fall lineup to stumble.

Publisher Warner Bros. today confirmed that the family-friendly action-adventure, billed as "first videogame offering an authentic The Lord of the Rings gameplay experience designed for all ages to enjoy," is now due in the vague "spring 2010" window.

No reason was provided for the delay, with the push applying to both Headstrong's Wii version and the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS and PSP editions in the works at TT Fusion.

Nippon Ichi Software's enhanced Wii release of its PlayStation 2 strategy RPG Phantom Brave has once again been delayed in North America, though only slightly.

Publisher NIS America now expects the Wii version, amusing subtitled "We Meet Again," to arrive this Friday, August 14--a delay of just three days. The game was originally due in in June, but was pushed back so that NIS could include the Japanese voice acting.

Alongside the Japanese voice acting, the Wii edition of Phantom Brave is billed as packing new chapters, improved graphics, an enhanced interface and more items.

Following indications of a delay, BioWare has now confirmed that Dragon Age: Origins has been pushed out of October and is now slated to release in November.

"Dragon Age: Origins will be released on November 3rd in North America and November 6th in Europe on the Xbox 360 videogame entertainment system and PC," BioWare's Chris Priestly stated. "The PLAYSTATION 3 version will follow later in November."

No reason was given for the later PlayStation 3 release. Previously, all versions of the fantasy RPG were expected to hit simultaneously on October 20 in North America.

The studio denied the delay into November just yesterday, with BioWare then telling Shacknews that it was "still targeting an October 20 release date" and "if the release date changes, we'll issue a press release."

Update 2: The delay has now been made official by BioWare. The PC and Xbox 360 editions are now due to hit North America on November 3, with the PlayStation 3 version slated to arrive at some unknown point later in the month.

Update: BioWare has chimed in on the matter, telling Shacknews that it is "still targeting an October 20 release date" for Dragon Age: Origins and adding that "if the release date changes, we'll issue a press release."

Original: Those that have been waiting years for Dragon Age may have to wait a few more weeks, as it's beginning to look like BioWare's latest RPG won't hit consoles in October.

While BioWare and studio owner Electronic Arts have yet to officially acknowledge a delay, online rental hub GameFly is now listing the Xbox 360 edition for November 3 with the PlayStation 3 release following on November 19. The change was just made this week; GameFly had previously listed the game's announced release... Read more

Following the brouhaha of DJ Hero maker Activision buying Scratch: The Ultimate DJ developer 7 Studios and Scratch publisher Genius Products then accusing the duo of sabotage, Genius has now hired Commotion Interactive to finish the music title. The studio was described as "the music and party game division of Bedlam Games," an independent Canadian developer formed in 2006 by Rockstar, EA and Ubisoft veterans. Bedlam's involvement with DJ Hero seemingly constitutes its first announced project.

With the development of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game firmly back on track, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ now expected to arrive in "early 2010," and as such, will no longer be facing off against rival DJ Hero upon its respective release in October.

Once expected to hit alongside the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions on August 25, the PC release of Batman: Arkham Asylum has been pushed back to September 15 in North America and September 18 in Europe, publishers Warner Bros. and Eidos said today.

In addition, the pair revealed that the PC edition of Rocksteady's detective comic brawler will make use of the PhysX technology supported by NVIDIA's GeForce hardware.

"Supporting NVIDIA PhysX technology has allowed us to add that little bit extra to the PC version of the game," explained director Sefton Hill. "As Batman interacts with the world, the aging asylum creates a more immersive, believable world."

Though the retail release has been delayed, the downloadable demo is apparently still on track for tomorrow, with more on the PhysX effects following... Read more

Despite the delay of StarCraft II into 2010, Blizzard says the release of Diablo III will not be affected by the shift.

"I will confirm that the move of StarCraft into 2010 does not affect the release schedules of any of our other games," said Blizzard president Mike Morhaime.

When asked whether that means Diablo III and StarCraft II could both be released in 2010, as Blizzard had previously said to expect a major Blizzard release each year, Morhaime's response implied that possibility.

"We haven't announced any release dates on any future title. And I'll also reiterate that the [move of] StarCraft into next year does not impact the schedule," said Morhaime, who then, with a slight laugh, added: "And so it would be correct to conclude that you could expect two releases of Blizzard next year. But I will not make any conclusion as to what those titles will be."

Update: Blizzard says that Diablo 3 is unaffected by the delay.

In the long battle between Blizzard's standards and the calendar year, the calendar again came out the loser today with the announcement that the studio's anticipated RTS sequel StarCraft II has been delayed into the first half of 2010.

Blizzard attributed the delay to needing additional time to produce the new version of Battle.net, its online gaming service. Though few details are available on the new portal, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick likened it to Xbox Live in its combination of gameplay and social networking features.

"Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game," said Blizzard in a statement.

Added the company: "The upgraded Battle.net is an integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward. This extra development time will be critical to help us realize our vision for the service."

The shift of StarCraft II does not come as a huge surprise, as some... Read more

Turbine's free-to-play relaunch of its MMO Dungeons & Dragons Online, subtitled 'Eberron Unlimited,' has been delayed until September 9, the studio announced today.

"We are committed to delivering a high-quality experience, said DDO executive producer Fernando Paiz. "We feel that more time is needed to deliver on this commitment."

Originally scheduled to arrive on August 4, Eberron Unlimited will make the fantasy MMO free to play, raise the level cap, introduce a new class, and add gobs of new content.

Eberron Unlimited will be supported by optional micropayments for items, services and content, as well as 'VIP' subscriptions with access to all premium content.

Jet pack-tastic action game Dark Void has been delayed into 2010 "to avoid competition with releases of major titles of other companies," publisher Capcom announced today.

The Airtight-developed PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game was previously expected to hit North American and Europe by the end of September 2009, going by Capcom's past financial documents, with the title now due between January 1 and March 31, 2010.

Capcom also noted expectations that the game will sell 2 million copies by April 2010.

The downloadable PlayStation 3 release of Frozenbyte's gorgeous platform-puzzler Trine has once again been delayed, this time slipping from late July to an unknown later date. The PS3 version was once expected in early July, alongside the PC edition.

"Trine isn't coming to PSN this week, and this time it's our fault as there was discovered yet another small bug which needed to be fixed," Frozenbyte CEO Lauri Hyvarinen revealed on the game's official message board.

"I can't tell for sure when the release is coming, as no-one really seems to know," the CEO continued, admitting that the "not knowing" part is "a bit tough" for the studio," though it's hopeful that the console release will be "worth all the waiting."

With Splinter: Cell Conviction and Red Steel 2 pushed out of the crowded holiday season--both now due between January 1 and March 31, 2010--Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has explained that the delays stemmed from quality concerns.

"Red Steel and Splinter Cell are going to greatly benefit from the additional polishing time," he said in a conference call, as reported by Joystiq. "It's just a question of polish...[the teams] asked for more time to be able to come with a better product, for both of those games. The quality of the games is there for what you've been able to see at E3, but we were not able to have that same quality on the full game."

The CEO added that while the two games "will not do as many units for the first month as they would have done in November/December," with an estimated one million sales lost due to the delay, the enhanced "level of quality" should help sell more units long-term.

The growing pains of Splinter Cell: Conviction continue, as Ubisoft has once again postponed the oft-delayed stealth-action game alongside several other titles.

Both Splinter Cell: Conviction (PC, Xbox 360) and Red Steel 2 (Wii) have been bumped out of 2009, and are now expected to release between January 1 and March 31, 2010. Conviction was originally due in Q4 2007, with at least four delays now under its belt.

Also delayed were the new Ghost Recon and I Am Alive. Once due between January and March 2010, both are now expected between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

"We are disappointed that we have to postpone the release of several major games but we consider that this choice is the best one in the long-term interests of Ubisoft," CEO Yves Guillemot explained in a statement.

MadWorld developer Platinum Games' new over-the-top action title Bayonetta won't make it out this year as planned, Sega announced today.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title has been delayed to January 2010, though the Japanese version will still be released in October.

"Bayonetta is an extremely important new IP for SEGA and adds a new level of depth to our growing portfolio," said Sega West president Mike Hayes. "As a result of market analysis we have taken a Publishing decision that January 2010 is the optimum release time in the Western Markets to maximize this exciting new title's potential."

Update: Publisher Activision has now confirmed Wolfenstein's two week delay.

"In order to facilitate a simultaneous global release window for id Software's Wolfenstein, Activision has realigned the game's release date for the week beginning August 17th," the company told Shacknews of the Raven-developed, id-produced game in a statement.

Original: It's starting to look like Raven's Wolfenstein won't make its promised August 4 release, as retailers are now listing the mystical shooter for a slightly later debut.

All three versions of the game--PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360--now have a hard "street date" of August 18, going by GameStop, with many other retailers also listing that date. As recently as last Thursday, July 9, GameStop was still expecting the game on August 4.

We're checking in with Wolfenstein publisher Activision and producer id Software for confirmation, but it's looking extremely likely, especially considering that id has promised "exclusive looks" at Wolfenstein during QuakeCon, which runs August 13-16.

Thanks to frdranger for the heads up.

Mothership Zeta, the last of the five announced downloadable expansions for Fallout 3, will debut on Monday, August 3, developer Bethesda announced today.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the add-on will be available for PC and Xbox 360 players that day, with PlayStation 3 owners of the action-RPG getting it a bit later on. Originally, Mothership Zeta was slated to arrive in late July, marking a slight delay.

Along with the above screenshots, Bethesda issued a fact sheet detailing the new items, locations and story elements to be found in the expansion. Remember, all five bits of Fallout 3 DLC will be bundled alongside the original adventure in a... Read more

Update: BioShock 2 will be released within the first half of "calendar 2010," Take-Two CEO Ben Feder clarified during a conference call. Three other major releases are planned within that timeframe: Mafia 2, Max Payne 3, and Red Dead Redemption.

As before, the company is still evaluating specific launch windows for those games.

"[BioShock 2's delay is] not related to any specific platform or any specific element of it," the company later said of the forthcoming PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game. "Generally there are some development issues that we need to deal with."

Original: Take-Two today announced that BioShock 2 has been delayed to a new release date in its 2010 fiscal year.

While the game's original release date of November 3 technically fits into the beginning of the year--which begins on November 1, 2009--the company implied a... Read more

Having missed its initial late June estimate, developer Bethesda now expects the first batch of Fallout 3 downloadable content to hit PlayStation 3 "by the end of September."

"Keep in mind that not only do we need to test each DLC on PS3, we also need to test each DLC when used in conjunction with each of the other DLC, as well as all of them together, along with the entire original game," producer Ashley Cheng explained.

Whereas Bethesda originally planned to release the five packs roughly "4-6 weeks apart," it's now aiming to get them up "as soon as we can." Based on requests, "Broken Steel"--the only one to further the main story and raise the level cap--will... Read more