King of Fighters XII, you may recall, brings the classic SNK fighting series into the realm of high-def, with 100% hand-drawn sprites. It looks quite good. We just hope that SNK keeps what we like about Metal Slug intact. We don't want another Metal Slug 3D on our hands.

HD Metal Slug in the Works? [IGN]

On the old side of new stuff, this week sees the release of that classic NEOGEO shooter Metal Slug (900 points), along with the NES version of City Connection (500 points), which has you touring famous cities as a platforming far challenged by police, spikes, and of course, cats.

There you have it. Four new games for the Nintendo Wii all at once, all for you. Now I head back to bed. If you need me I'll be snoring so loud I wake myself up every five minutes.

For your own enjoyment, plenty of wallpapers that are not holiday related, including some fabulous desktop worthy World Heroes Gorgeous pieces are just a downward scroll away.

Happy New Year 2008 [SNK Playmore]

That's the good news. The bad news is that only 11 of the 36 currently available PSone titles on the PlayStation Store will be supported.

Those titles are:

• Spectral Force (Idea Factory)
• R-TYPES (Irem)
• A.IV. Evolution Global (Artdink)
• Resident Evil: Director's Cut (Capcom)
• Bishibashi Special (Konami)
• Arc the Lad (Sony)
• Ore no Shi wo Koete Yuke (Sony)
• Gunners Heaven (Sony)
• Ganbare Morikawa-kun Ni-go (Sony)
• Little Princess: Maru Oukoku no Ningyou Hime (Nippon Ichi)
• Tekken 2 (Bandai Namco)

Sony will be adding an additional 14 PSone titles to the Japanese PlayStation Store tomorrow, but they'll remain PSP-only for now. The list is very Japanese tailored, including SNK Playmore fodder like Metal Slug X and Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage.

I wonder what tomorrow's North American PlayStation Store update will bring us... Michael McWhertor

If you've ever had a hankering for some polite conversation with any of the lovely ladies from King of Fighters, Neo Geo Battle Collisseum, Metal Slug or Samurai Shodown, you'd best get crackin' on learning some kanji. I don't think this DS title will make it stateside, short of a miracle.

Those of you out there who do understand Japanese and have a prediliction for anime girls should put your pre-orders in. The game ships in Japan on June 14th. Michael McWhertor

SNK PlayMore, Days of Memories DS [Game Watch]

I have seen a lot of home made arcade controllers in my time, but this one really takes the proverbial cake. Like many of us, Kotakuite Ash wanted his own arcade cabinet. Instead, he decided all he really needed was an arcade controller to play all his MAME games with, which would provide the arcade experience without having to make room for the sometimes bulky stand up machines.

He followed some guides and created his own rather nice two player arcade controller. Instead of giving his newly made piece a boring old one color paint job, he decided to take inspiration from game cabinet art and hand paint Metal Slug characters on it. 8 months later he had this little beauty to show for it.

Now, before you go calling shenanigans on Ash for what looks to be custom print job, check out his website where he shows the entire painting process from pencil sketches to the fully rendered, finished piece. Abso-freaking-lutely amazing! Flynn De Marco

Metal Slug Themed Arcade Controller [ardnut]

The developers of Metal Slug for the Wii demonstrate their five new control schemes for the upcoming game. So many different control schemes... tacked on to a game that already had an excellent and intuitive one. Florian Eckhardt

According to 1UP, SNK's TGS 2006 Pamphlet has an interesting reveal for an upcoming XBLA title: Metal Slug.

And that's it. That's like all the details anyone has. The pamphlet referred to "the original Metal Slug" so it's probably Metal Slug 1. No date. No price. Nuttin'.

Still, it's not all bad. For one thing, it's an XBLA port of a game people actually still enjoy playing and that has aged gracefully, unlike, say, fuckin' Scramble.

Luke Smith opines out of his filthy, hairy pie hole that given Live Arcade's spotty release history, we can probably forecast a release in 2007. This sort of pessimism is precisely the reason Kotaku flushed him as a staff-writer to go stink in the septic tank of Internet Games Journalism: 1UP. Florian Eckhardt

TGS 2006: Metal Slug Heads to Xbox Live Arcade [1UP]

Insert Credit reports that SNK Playmore has gotten a patent for the name "Air Dash." The Japanese game maker has been releasing loads of sequels and spin-offs of late, and many fans are hoping this is what they've been waiting for: A brand new game. Details are scant, so then again, it could be something for pachinko or cell phones, but... Brian Ashcraft

More Here [IC]

SNK sent us some screens of everyone's favorite tank driving, bazooka toting muscle man game Metal Slug for GBA and PSP. Metal Slug is getting a Game Boy port, while Metal Slug Anthology will be out on the PSP and the Wii. Hit the jump for the screens.

Metal Wii [Kotaku]

Every Metal Slug game since 1996 will be included, along with a new control scheme that will allow you to use the Wii's wand pointing, nunchuku whipping capabilities to disembowel enemy soldiers and toss molotov cocktails.

There's no release date set but it'll be playable at E3. We'll try to get one of our beefier editors to strong arm his way through the smelly wall of flab and give an impression on how well SNK is managing to graft a 21st century control scheme to a 20th century SHMUP.

SNK Says, "Wii!" [Shacknews]

Metal Slug Preview [The Magic Box]

SNK Playmore USA Corporation announced today that in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of their classic arcade franchise, Metal Slug, they will be releasing the greatest array of Metal Slug titles ever assembled for the PSP system in fall 2006. The Metal Slug Collection will feature six great Metal Slug titles from the past on one UMD. Included in the collection will be Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Metal Slug 4, and Metal Slug 5.

The Metal Slug Collection will be perfect translations of the arcade classics and feature Wireless support for intense two-player action.

Wow. Six Metal Slug games and wireless two-player? This absolutely sounds like a must buy. And hey, while you're dreaming of Metal Slug sugar plums dancing in your head, why not give this Flash version of Metal Slug a try? God knows, slicing apart soldier with your bayonet beats working this morning.

Metal Slug Collection for PSP