British retailer Play.com has accidentally leaked the names of four upcoming PlayStation Vita titles, according to a news report published today.
Update 2: In a statement to Eurogamer, Play.com confirmed that the above image is fake.
Update: Some folks have questioned the validity of this image. More information below.
A tipster sent gaming website Eurogamer the above screenshot, which contains retail listings for Vita games Monster Hunter Portable 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nights, Tales of Innocence R, and Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
Monster Hunter Portable 3 may be related to the PSP game Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, which publisher Capcom never released outside of Japan.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nights could be a portable spinoff or remake of publisher Rockstar's popular open-world game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Its title is somewhat reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which Rockstar released for Sony's Vita predecessor, the PlayStation Portable, in 2005. A prequel to Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, hit the PSP in 2006.
Publisher Namco Bandai has already released the roleplaying game Tales of Innocence R in Japan, though it has not yet announced localization for the U.S. or Europe.
Perhaps the most interesting news here is an HD version of action-RPG Final Fantasy Type-0, which publisher Square Enix released for PlayStation Portable in Japan last year. Although the chances that we'll see that PSP game in the U.S. or Europe seem fairly slim, an HD remake for PlayStation Vita is far more likely to make its way over here.
Sony has said it will announce a new wave of PlayStation Vita games on March 9. I've reached out to Sony for comment and will update if I hear anything.
Update: In response to Kotaku's request for comment, publisher Square Enix said it has "no information on [Final Fantasy Type-0's] availability on the PS Vita."
Sony said it would not comment on rumors or speculation.
Some posters on the message board NeoGAF have questioned the veracity of these listings, pointing out that the above image may be Photoshopped. Although we have not been able to verify that the image is fake, a Eurogamer reader wrote in the article's comments (after Kotaku originally published this article) saying that he works for Play and that there are no listings for Tales of Innocence R, Final Fantasy Type-0, or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nights in the retailer's system.
NeoGAF poster Father_Brain also points out that the Eurogamer tipster has admitted he did not take a screenshot of the listing. It instead seems to have circulated from a variety of sources including the Something Awful message boards.
Update 2: In a statement to Eurogamer, Play.com confirmed that the above image is fake.
Play.com leaks Vita games Monster Hunter Portable 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nights [Eurogamer]