Sega's Werehog-filled platformer, Sonic Unleashed (360, PS3, PS2, Wii), has been pushed out of 2008 in its home territory of Japan, leaving its North American release date of "holiday 2008" in question.

Sega's Japanese site for Sonic Unleashed--known as Sonic World Adventure on the other side of the ocean--has the news of a delay from the game's intended December 18 Japanese release all the way to a nebulous "spring 2009."

Citing quality concerns, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions were held back, while the Wii version is unaffected by the delay. No mention is made of the planned PlayStation 2 version.

Shacknews has contacted Sega of America to find out about changes to the North American release.

Many thanks to Siliconera for pointing the way.

Publisher THQ announced today that it has delayed Volition's Red Faction: Guerrilla (PC, PS3, 360) and Vigil's Darksiders: Wrath of War (PS3, 360) until its next fiscal year, which begins April 1, 2009 and ends on March 31, 2010.

Previously, both titles were expected to arrive on store shelves within the publisher's current fiscal year, which means they would have hit retailers by March 31, 2009.

No reason was provided for the delays, though the company lowered its net sales expectations for the current year by $125 million to compensate.

Update: Harmonix has hit an "unexpected delay with getting the content online with Microsoft" and "have suspended sending out the token codes until the content becomes available," going by a new post from the developer.

"We hope to have this resolved in the next 24 hours and apologize profusely for the delay," wrote community manager Sean Baptiste. "Again, we apologize for the delay and are working our butts off to get the content out to you."

Original Story: If you've bought Rock Band 2 and registered for the 20 free downloadable songs that were slated to arrive yesterday, Harmonix hasn't forgotten.

On its official forum, the studio noted that download codes for Xbox 360 owners began going out last night, but that "due to the volume of emails being sent, these will roll out over a 24 hour period." Harmonix also stressed its appreciation... Read more

Publisher Gamecock has delayed the release of Red Fly's fungi-tastic Wii and DS platformer Mushroom Men from November 11 to December 2. No reason was given for the delay. On the other hand, new screenshots of the Wii edition were provided.

Along with the new screenshots, the company sent over a lengthy essay from GL33k audio director Matt Piersall, in which Piersall examines the methodology behind game's BPM-based world and expresses his like of pancakes.

Behind the Music with Matt Piersall

Walk before running
These days creating an entire audio package for a brand new IP is rare, that's why when a chance meeting... Read more

Publisher Codemasters has delayed two of its holiday titles, Liquid Entertainment's action-RPG Rise of the Argonauts and Blue Omega's vertical shooter Damnation.

While Rise of the Argonauts will miss its projected November release, Codemasters told Eurogamer that it still hopes to ship the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 RPG by Christmas. A demo will not be released, as the studio believes a limited demonstration of the game's sprawling story would not do it justice.

Damnation, however, has been pushed out of this year and is now expected to hit PC, PS3 and 360 in early 2009. All three platforms will see a downloadable demo of the vertical action game prior to its retail debut.

"[Damnation] will be much stronger and better as a result [of the delay], and will also give people time to get all the pre-holiday releases out the way--ready for the fresh (and vertical) gaming experience that Damnation offers," Eurogamer was informed.

Confirming a release date change on retailer websites earlier this week, IGN reports that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto 4 is now indeed shipping December 2. Publisher Rockstar Games did not specify as to why the game was moved back two weeks.

IGN's story notes the following minimum system requirements for the game, in addition to the recommended specs revealed in September.

Minimum System Requirements

• OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
• Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space
• Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements

• OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
• Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)
• 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space
• Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

Following the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release of Saints Row 2 in September, developer Volition and publisher THQ have confirmed that the PC version of the open-world gangster action game is now slated to arrive on January 5, 2009.

At the time of the console releases, THQ told Shacknews that there was "no official word" as to when the PC version would hit store shelves.

"The PC version was delayed because we wanted to make the highest quality game across all platforms, but it just needed more time," explained Volition community moderator V-Singular, with IGN confirming the validity of his statements.

"The game is a port of the console version from an external company, but that doesn't mean the code can just be copied over, and ship it out. The PC version is still being produced and tested at Volition with support from the design and programming teams as needed. This is in no way a hands-off external port of the game."

He added: "Our goal is to give PC users the same quality product and performance level which you've seen on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, along with all of the review feedback."

Middle-earth action game The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will ship January 13, developer Pandemic Studios announced today.

Created by the Pandemic team responsible for the two Star Wars Battlefront games, Conquest allows you to recreate the battles from the Lord of the Rings movies, fighting as either the good or evil side.

Said Pandemic general manager Josh Resnick, "Players will finally be able to fight through Middle-earth along the frontlines of good or evil. [...] What 'The Lord of the Rings' fan hasn't fantasized about joining Sauron's army to slay Hobbits?" Once expected this fall, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will be released for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS.

Retailer listings brought to our attention by Joystiq show that the PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV may have seen a quiet two-week delay. Product pages for the game on both GameStop and Amazon now list the port as releasing on December 2. The game was initially scheduled by Rockstar for a November 18 release.

The PC port of Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to feature both graphical and gameplay enhancements, including a video replay editor and additions to the title's multiplayer component.

Shacknews has contacted Rockstar for comment on the date changes.

Swedish developer Avalanche Studios is preparing to lay off 77 employees--nearly half of its 160-person workforce--after losing two contracts for unannounced games, GameReactor and Swedish outlet FZ report.

"We have given notice that it's our intention to lay off 77 people," Avalanche CEO Christofer Sundberg confirmed with GamesIndustry. "I'm very positive that we'll get back on our feet again. But will we become a 160 employee studio again? I'm not sure."

The two cancelled projects were valued at $34 million, with one cancellation reportedly stemming from a lack of funding while the other was a result of a new family-friendly focus for the unnamed publisher. The global credit crisis played a factor as well.

Though every team will lose some members, Avalanche's two announced projects, the open-world shooter Just Cause 2 (PC, PS3, 360) and free-to-play PC effort The Hunter, are still under development. According to Gamasutra, Just Cause 2, once expected this fall, has now been delayed until next spring, while The Hunter is in open beta.

Ubisoft has released a report detailing its fiscal Q2, which ended in September, and there is some good news and some bad news.

Starting with the bad news, the internally-developed 1404 A.D., known in Europe as Anno 1404, has been delayed into Ubisoft's 2009-2010 fiscal year, meaning the game will release sometime after April 1, 2009. The French publisher also pushed back an "as-yet unannounced franchise" into the same window.

As for the good news, Ubisoft is successful enough after half of its fiscal year to raise its guidance up to 1.05 billion euros ($1.35 billion) from 1.02 billion euros. The announcement comes on the same day that Sony lowered its profit estimates by a staggering 38%.

Ubisoft further broke down its past six months of sales by platform, revealing that thus far, Nintendo DS software has accounted for 38% of its fiscal sales, followed by PlayStation 3 at 20%, Xbox 360 at 14% and PC at 10%.

Meanwhile, Wii software sales made up 11%, with PSP and PlayStation 2 sales representing the smallest figures--3% and 2%, respectively.

The latest batch of screenshots from Replay Studios' Velvet Assassin aren't exactly good news for one unsuspecting bloke. The WWII-era stealth-action game, inspired by the real-life exploits of British agent Violette Szabo, hits PC and Xbox 360 early next year.

Confirming earlier reports, THQ has announced that it will publish Swordfish Studios' crystal skull-hunting rap-inspired shooter 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title, which packs online co-op and 18 exclusive 50 Cent songs, sees the rapper and his G-Unit posse travel across two war-torn countries in search of an elusive concert payment from a "crime cartel boss."

With another publisher now at the reigns, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand will arrive worldwide in early 2009. It was originally scheduled to arrive this fall, but was dropped by publisher Sierra during the Activision-Vivendi merger.

Atari has announced that it will distribute Ascaron Entertainment's Sacred 2: Fallen Angel in North America, with the PC version slated to arrive on November 11, followed by PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 iterations on February 17, 2009.

The oft-delayed multiplayer-oriented action-RPG was originally slated to hit retailers in early 2008, but was later delayed into September so that the team could "realize all the development plans." Both the console and PC releases will sport online co-op, with the console versions also packing offline two-player co-op.

While distributed by Atari, Sacred 2 will be published by cdv Entertainment. Atari will likewise handle distribution for other "key" cdv releases, such as I Heart Geeks! (DS) and My Little Baby (DS).

Xbox Live Primetime, the game show-centric channel set to debut with the New Xbox Experience--Microsoft's software overhaul of the Xbox 360--has been delayed until the spring.

The project, which was announced alongside the New Xbox Experience back at E3, was shelved to assure a smooth launch of the dashboard update coming November 19, according to Chris Morris at Forbes.

"Because the relaunch of Xbox Live is the biggest gaming project the company has undertaken since getting the 360 onto store shelves, things have slipped," explained Morris after talking to Microsoft reps about the situation.

"That's too bad," lamented Morris. "Xbox Live Primetime is a provocative concept and could represent the gaming industry's first serious foray into the turf dominated by TV." The channel is set to feature online versions of popular game shows only playable at certain times--presumably, weekday evenings--with the possibility of winning physical prizes.

Primetime isn't the first feature cut in order for Microsoft to make its self-set deadline. Last week, streaming movie sharing was also dropped from the launch and promised only as "coming soon."

Facing religious outcry due to the use of Qur'an verses in one of the game's songs, the North American release of LittleBigPlanet will now arrive the week of October 27.

Developed by Media Molecule, the physics-based PlayStation 3-exclusive platformer was originally slated to hit North American store shelves next Tuesday, October 21.

"Sorry for the delay, and rest assured, we are doing everything we can to get LittleBigPlanet to you as soon as possible," Patrick Seybold, a representative from publisher Sony Computer Entertainment America, wrote on the PlayStation.Blog.

The song in question--"Tapha Niang" from Grammy award-winning artist Toumani Diabate--contains two verses from the Islamic holy text Qur'an. The tune was released in 2006 and has not generated any controversy until now, according to Joystiq.

Developer Media Molecule was ready to resolve the issue with a day-one patch, but noted that publisher Sony decided the "right thing to do for quality and support of people with no on-line was to replace existing disks."

Update 2: Sony has announced that LittleBigPlanet will now ship the week of October 27 in North America, with more details having surfaced on the song in question.

Update: LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule has revealed via its official site that a day-one patch was just completed and would have removed the offensive material.

However, publisher Sony decided that the "right thing to do for quality and support of people with no on-line was to replace existing disks." The company has yet to issue a new release date for the anticipated PlayStation 3 platforming game.

Original Story: Media Molecule's highly anticipated LittleBigPlanet (PS3) is facing a delay and recall from retailers--just a few days shy of release--after being finished nearly a month ago. CVG obtained this statement from Sony's European branch:

During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur'an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused.

Eurogamer has confirmed that the delay is worldwide. Further... Read more

The PlayStation 3 release of Certain Affinity's hex-based strategy game Age of Booty have been delayed until "sometime around mid November."

The downloadable title, which hit Xbox 360 for $10 on Wednesday, was originally slated to arrive in the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store yesterday.

The delay was attributed to the "little more work" needed to "to ensure the online experience for PSN users is as smooth, fun, and addicting [as the Xbox 360 release]," according to a post on publisher Capcom's official blog.

"We were playing [the PS3 version] earlier this week and just didn't like what we were seeing, knowing there were a few more things we wanted to address before letting it out," representative Daryl added in the comments.

The same post also confirms that the PS3 release will include support for Trophies, the Xbox 360 Achievement-like functionality recently introduced to the system.

New screenshots of GRIN's Bionic Commando (PC, PS3, 360) accompany today's Tokyo Game Show festivities, showing off more of the swinging-focused action game.

Bionic Commando is slated to hit by next spring, with the developer telling Kotaku that the console versions should be expected in "very early 2009."

Meanwhile, the PC version may arrive a bit later because of piracy and extra polish.

"The PC is always a slippery slope because of piracy, stuff like sorting out DRM, making sure we don't have too little or too much," explained GRIN employee Ulf Andersson.

"But also because we want to make sure it doesn't feel like a port, so we can add a little extra polish to the PC version," Andersson added.

The PC version of Double Helix's Silent Hill: Homecoming (PC, 360, PS3), a Steam exclusive in North America, has yet to show up to its own digitally-distributed party, which was set to start two days ago.

Blue's News spotted an official post from Valve's Mike Dunkle on the Steam forums, which read, "Silent Hill: Homecoming for PC will not become available until later this month. Please stay tuned for more information."

The news comes in spite of publisher Konami's press release on Tuesday announcing that the game is available. The survival-horror sequel did come out as expected on Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.