Publisher Atari and developer SilverBirch Studios will be bringing Metanet Software's popular Flash-based ninja platformer N to Nintendo DS and PSP later this year under the title N+. The original N--the rediscovery of which has recently limited the productivity of several Shack editors--combines the simple acts of running and jumping with complex levels designed around the physics-based engine, requiring careful and skillful manipulation of the on-screen ninja as he leaps from platform to platform, collecting gold, avoiding harmful robots, and sliding down walls.

Much like the PC edition, the DS and PSP iterations will include a level editor, which will allow the sharing of custom maps with other players. N+ will add multiplayer to the mix, in the form of both cooperative and competitive modes, as well as online leaderboards and downloadable content.

N+ is expected to arrive in November. For a closer look at the game, check out these screenshots of the PC original, which can be downloaded for free from the official site.

Up and coming publisher Gamecock will be distributing developer Renegade Kid's first game, the spooky Nintendo DS first person shooter Dementium: The Ward. Originally titled The Ward when Renegade Kid began searching for a publisher earlier this year, the recently renamed title tells the story of a man who finds himself alone in a creepy hospital brimming with scary crap.

"From the first meeting, Renegade Kid have proven themselves to be innovative, unafraid to push the 'norms' of gaming and incredibly talented--all of which we think are the key characteristics of a great developer," said Gamecock head of development Harry Miller. "It's great when you can sit down with a developer who shares the same vision of where games should be going in creating new and exciting titles to offer an alternative to the bland remakes and sequels flooding stores today."

Along with today's announcement, Gamecock and Renegade Kid sent along three new screenshots.

Nintendo added four more games to the Wii's Virtual Console, bringing the complete catalog of the retro download service to 100 games. Most notable of today's additions is The Legend of Zelda II - Link's Adventure on NES, Nintendo's controversial side scrolling sequel, which sells for 500 Wii Points ($5). Joining Link in his Virtual Console adventure are Hudson's musical-themed non-linear NES adventure Milon's Secret Castle, which also sells for 500 Wii Points ($5), and Natsume's TurboGrafx-16 shooter Dead Moon, priced at 600 Wii Points ($6). ToeJam & Earl Productions' (then Johnson Voorsanger Productions) Genesis side scroller ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, the sequel to the company's Genesis adventure ToeJam & Earl, also appeared on the service today, selling for 800 Wii Points ($8).

As always, check back with Shacknews later this week for a full rundown of this week's Virtual Console releases.

Those attending the one-night-only North American theatrical release of Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow in select theaters will have the chance to play two upcoming PlayStation 2 Naruto games at the film's lone June 6th showing. Publisher and developer Namco Bandai will be on hand at 10 theaters with preview builds of CyberConnect2's fighter Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, which is scheduled to arrive in stores in early June, and Namco Bandai's action-adventure Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, which will hit retail later this summer. The list of participating theaters is as follows:

The 3D racer Mad Tracks is set for release tomorrow on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points. Mad Tracks places tiny, stylized cars amidst giant environments such as bathrooms and kitchens, and will allow players to choose from one of 12 compact cars in competition with a maximum of three other drivers over Xbox Live. Two expansion packs are planned for the near future, each costing 350 Microsoft Points and extending the basic game with 15 new courses and mini games.

Developed by independent studio Load Inc., Mad Tracks was previously released on the PC. A free demo of the game can be downloaded from Load's official website. Some screenshots of the XBLA version are also available.

Ubisoft today announced its annual sales take, reporting that it has seen a revenue of 608.3 million euros over its 2007 fiscal year. The total sum amounted to a 24.4% increase in sales over the previous year, which has resulted in 40.5 million euros of profit after factoring in operating costs. Early titles released on next-generation consoles such as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360) and Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) were credited with the increase in performance.

Gaming analyst Michael Pachter believes that the report is a conservative one, particularly with respect to projected earnings. Pachter placed an estimate of Ubisoft's 2008 sales at 850 million euros--25 million higher than the company's own guess. Pachter's employer Wedbush Morgan Securities says that shares of Ubisoft are "seriously undervalued, as the market does not appreciate the company’s potential to grow faster than the market and deliver contribution margins in line with its peers."

This strong fiscal report comes on the heels of some controversy regarding rival Electronic Arts' hostile purchase of Ubisoft shares in 2004, which left EA holding a 20% hostile stake in the France-based company. "I think everybody is for sale. I think in general, successful intellectual properties in all media are undervalued, especially in our media," said EA's Bing Gordon last week in a Gamasutra interview. Ubisoft president Yves Guillemont replied to the talk of a merger today, stating that no decisions had been made. "We're still considering," Guillemont said. "The first option for us is to manage our own company and grow it. The second option is to work with the movie industry, and the third is to merge. We think the market is going to grow fast, and we can take a big share of that market, so we don't have to change the way things are done at the moment."

Publisher Sega of America has revealed that Richard Jacques will join composers Jesper Kyd and Chris Chudley to collaborate on the music for Bizarre Creations' upcoming third-person shooter, The Club.

Jacques, who will be responsible for scoring the single player portion of the game, is best known for his work on titles such as Headhunter (Dreamcast, PS2) and Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast). "Having previously worked on the music and sound design of the genre defining Metropolis Street Racer, I was extremely pleased to be chosen to provide tracks for The Club," Jacques said. Metropolis Street Racer was also produced by Sega and developed by Bizarre.

Jesper Kyd (Hitman series) will compose a main theme, with Bizarre's own Chris Chudley (Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved) writing music for the game's multiplayer levels. The Club is due out later this year on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Nintendo has carted out three new (old) games to the Virtual Console for you to enjoy this week. Quintet's acclaimed side-scrolling/urban planning game ActRaiser (SNES, 1 player) and Sega Technical Institute's platformer Kid Chameleon (MegaDrive/Genesis, 1-2 players) are both available for 800 Wii Points ($8). Hudson Soft's detective-themed action game JJ & Jeff (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player) will set you back 600 Wii Points ($6).

Check back tomorrow for Shack's writeups on the three games.

An issue that is causing Xbox Live connectivity to halt for players of Konami Entertainment's Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is under investigation by the company. Konami advises those users affected--of which they claim are few--to monitor this page for updates on the situation.

Microsoft Game Studios has confirmed that June 6th will see the launch of a Shadowrun demo on Xbox Live. Developed by FASA Studios, Shadowrun is a team-oriented multiplayer shooter based on the cyberpunk-themed Shadowrun universe. The demo will include three levels of training missions and one full map, with offline bot-play and online multiplayer both supported. Weapons, races, and special powers will be limited to a handful of those found in the full game.

The first game to allow PC and Xbox Live players to participate in multiplayer action on the same servers, Shadowrun saw its release to store shelves today, available to players with Windows Vista-equipped PCs and Xbox 360s.

Activision today announced the next installment of its popular Guitar Hero franchise. Developed by Neversoft, the next Guitar Hero entry--which the company was careful to not label as Guitar Hero III--is in the works for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. According to the announcement, the new game will add "a new multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a bevy of exclusive unlockable content and authentic rock venues."

The release of the game will be accompanied by that of a wireless guitar controller for each system. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii controllers will be designed to replicate the shape of Gibson Guitar's Les Paul line, with the PlayStation 2 controller based off the Gibson Kramer. All versions of the controller will allow users to customize the guitar with removable faceplates.

Today's announcement also provided the first look at the song list, which much like original developer Harmonix's Guitar Hero II (PS2, X360) and upcoming Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (PS2), features a mix of tracks performed by the original artists and "as made famous by" covers:

- Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
- Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
- Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
- The Metal (by Tenacious D)
- My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
- Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
- Rock And Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
- School's Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
- Slow Ride (as made famous by Fog Hat)
- Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
- Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)

More details on the next full-fledged Guitar Hero release are expected as its fall release approaches.

Speaking at the Nintendo Media Summit earlier this week, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime quelled certain gamer fears by confirming that several highly anticipated titles--Super Mario Galaxy (Wii), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii), and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS)--are all on track for a 2007 release.

"Later on this year you'll be playing Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass," Fils-Aime declared at the event's opening (thanks IGN). Fils-Aime's promise of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the year's end echoes a previous claim made by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Earlier this week, Nintendo issued a list of Wii and Nintendo DS releases for Q3 2007, which detailed the arrival of Retro Studio's Metroid Prime 3 Corruption (Wii) on August 20.

Ubisoft unveiled the sequel to its successful Wii launch title, Rayman Raving Rabbids. Once again a collection of miscellaneous mini-games, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 follows Rayman as he attempts to prevent the Rabbids from invading Earth. Unlike the original Raving Rabbids, which was developed by Rayman creator Michael Ancel's team at Ubisoft Montpellier, the followup is being handled by Ubisoft Paris. At present, there are no plans to bring Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 to any platform beyond the Wii, though a DS iteration is possible.

"Rayman Raving Rabids 2 is made from the ground up for Wii," an Ubisoft representative told Shacknews. "This time there is much more of an emphasis on multiplayer with four-player games."

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is expected this fall.

Publisher Ubisoft revealed that Free Radical's upcoming first-person shooter Haze will arrive on the PlayStation 3 in Q4 2007. In contrast to the original announcement,the company has removed any mentions of the Xbox 360 and PC versions from the game's fact sheet and official site, though is likely it will follow on those platforms in 2008.

During Ubisoft's recent San Francisco Ubidays event, an Ubisoft representative avoided using the word "exclusive" while discussing the PlayStation 3 edition with Shacknews. "We just felt that PS3 needed some love," the rep laughed.

Reports out of Ubisoft's European Ubidays event claim that a version of Arkane Studio's first person RPG Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is in development for the Xbox 360. The game, which saw release on PC in 2006, has been renamed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements for the console crowd.

However, specific details of the title's release remain unclear. "At this time, this game has not been officially announced for a US release," a Ubisoft representative told GameSpot.

Confirming multiple rumors which began circulating earlier this month, Wired News has reportedly received word from Nintendo of America that the company plans to move its sales and marketing teams from the current Redmond, Washington headquarters to San Francisco, California. Some sixty employees, including VP George Harrison, will be relocating, while the remander of Nintendo's staff remains in Redmond. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a significant cluster of game development firms, as well as the bulk of the commercial United States video game press.

According to Harrison, the company is still finalizing its plans. "Down the road, being in the center of innovation for marketing and technology will benefit us. That's the real value of it. There's a chance to be closer to forming partnerships and staying on top of what's going on," he said on the decision. "It's nice. I've been down there many times. The weather's great, I've just got to figure out where to locate."

Sony Online Entertainment announced that Midway's arcade classic Joust will be available from the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store beginning tomorrow, May 24. Featuring online multiplayer and leaderboards, Joust will sell for $4.99.

Nintendo today sent out the planned North American release schedule for Wii and Nintendo DS games during the months of July, August, and September. Most notable among the list's revelations is the announcement that Retro Studios' Metroid Prime 3 Corruption (Wii), which previously had no stated release projection since it was pushed past its initial status as a Wii launch title, will be released on August 20, 2007. Next Level Games' soccer sequel Mario Strikers Charged (Wii) is being released on July 30, 2007; the game ships this week in Europe. Kuju Entertainment's Battalion Wars 2 (Wii) is set to launch during the month of September.

On the Wii third party front, Electronic Arts plans to release EA Redwood Shores' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and EA Tiburon/EA Canada's Madden NFL 08 in August, with EA Montreal's rhythm-based Boogie (see our Boogie first look) shipping some time during the fall. Outpost Kaloki X (X360) developer Wahoo Studios will release its Space Station Tycoon in August, courtesy of Namco Bandai Games. Gearbox Studios' Brothers in Arms Double Time is slated to be released by Ubisoft in September.

Not all third party games were included on the list. Rockstar Toronto's brutal horror game Manhunt 2 is set to ship July 10, while Capcom's puzzle-based adventure Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbados' Treasure has a general fall release projection.

The Nintendo DS lineup shows more heavy-hitters from third parties. In July, Electronic Arts plans to ship EA Japan's SimCity DS. Eidos will release ODenis Studio's action/strategy game Glory Days 2 (comes with optional 3D glasses! seriously!) during the same month. On August 14, Square Enix will release Brownie Brown's real-time strategy game Heroes of Mana. The strategy genre will also get entries of the turn-based variety that month when Atlus releases Image Epoch's Luminous Arc and THQ releases Team17's Worms: Open Warfare 2. Capcom will keep on plugging with Mega Man in August when it releases the three versions of its Mega Man Star Force. Arcade-style action fans will be treated to Coyote Developments' top-down shooter Operation: Vietnam, released by Majesco that same month.

Following in September will be the next installment in Capcom's Phoenix Wright saga, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations. That month, Ubisoft will release Plato's sublime guitar simulator and music creation tool, Jam Sessions.

On the first party front, Nintendo will release Jupiter's duotone puzzle game Picross DS on July 30. Nintendo's Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day will follow on August 20. Paon's DK Jungle Climber, a followup to the studio's Game Boy Advance game DK King of Swing, will be released on September 10. Finally, Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol, Skip Ltd.'s sequel to its original Chibi-Robo on GameCube, is set for release on September 24.

For the full provided list, including numerous other third-party Wii and Nintendo DS games, check out Nintendo's press release.

Rockstar Games has announced plans for a special edition set of Rockstar North's immensely anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360). Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition will ship not in a DVD case but in a metal safety deposit box, and will include the game as well as an art book, a partial soundtrack, a Rockstar-branded duffel bag, and a Rockstar-branded keychain on which one may keep the keys to the lockbox.

Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition will ship alongside the standard games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 16 in North America and October 19 in Europe. It will be priced at $89.99 in the US.

Last week, UK trade publication MCV reported that Starbreeze's highly-revewed movie-licensed game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC) would be heading to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The news was soon confirmed by Starbreeze, which stated that the game would be entitled Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and released later in 2007.

Further details were revealed by Pete Wanat, executive producer at publisher Vivendi Games, this weekend on SpikeTV's television program GameHead. Though Assault on Dark Athena is a remake of Escape from Butcher Bay, it will feature new content in addition to its boosted visuals, giving players story extending beyond the events of the source game.

Starbreeze is currently also working on the comic-adapted action game The Darkness for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Shacknews has contacted Vivendi Games with further inquiries.

Following up on its initial announcement and seven-track reveal of Harmonix's Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s (PS2), publisher Activision today revealed seven new tracks that will be featured in the slightly renamed Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. All seven tracks are listed as having been "made famous by" their respective performance artists, suggesting that they are cover tracks rather than original recordings.

The newly announced tracks are The Police's "Synchronicity II," Skid Row's "18 and Life," Billy Squier's "Lonely is the Night," Eddie Money's "Shaken," Faster Pussycat's "Bathroom Wall," Extreme's "Play With Me" (best known from the climax of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), and Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time."

In unrelated news, Dan Connors, CEO of Sam & Max episodic series developer Telltale Games, once stated during a Shacknews interview, "Heavy metal died because Poison didn't listen to its fans," while speaking on the necessities of developers listening to their core audiences.

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is set to ship for PlayStation 2 this summer.

In another dual-release week, Konami's action platformer Rush'n Attack and Namco's Galaga-based top-down shooter Xevious will be this week's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays games. Rush'n Attack will include both local and online cooperative and versus play as well as the option to play with updated graphics. Both games will feature online leaderboards and a total of 200 available Gamerscore points. According to Microsoft, Xbox Live Arcade's Xevious is the first 100% arcade-perfect port of Xevious.

Rush'n Attack and Xevious will be available via the Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday, May 23 for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) each.

This week's spate of three Virtual Console games exhibits a higher average name recognition than most, with Donkey Kong Country 2, Streets of Rage 2, and Blazing Lazers all making their way to the Wii's download service.

Rare's sidescroller sequel Donkey Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (Super NES, 1-2 players), first released in 1995, is available for the standard Super NES price of 800 Wii Points ($8). Sega-AM2 and Ancient's well-loved brawler Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis, 1-2 players), first released in 1993, goes for 800 Wii Points ($8). Finally, Compile's classic shoot-em-up Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player), is priced at 600 Wii Points ($6).

As usual, check back tomorrow for the Shack's reviews on all three new Virtual Console games.