GameTrailers has uploaded a pretty sweet video looking at Capcom's upcoming sequel, Lost Planet 2. Looking specifically at the promised co-op, this video shows off some of the teamwork that will be demanded of you and your squadmates while running around E.D.N. III. Check out the video past the break.

Capcom's Japanese site for Lost Planet 2 has been updated with estimated release periods for both the Xbox 360 and newly-announced PlayStation 3 versions. The Xbox 360 version is listed as coming out this winter, but the PlayStation 3 version has an undetermined date. It appears, then, that Lost Planet 2 will be a timed exclusive for the 360, at least in Japan. Unless Capcom's unnanounced PS3 release window turns out the same as the 360 release window.

Unofficial sources (by which we mean gamestop.com) show the same North American release date, February 23, for both versions, but that could be a placeholder. We're currently inquiring with both Capcom and Microsoft to determine the timing of the North American releases.

We're more apt to believe, by the way, that the delay in Japan is due to starting the PS3 version later, and not due to any agreements -- because why on earth would Capcom agree to make something Xbox 360 exclusive in Japan for any period of time?

Update: Capcom has confirmed plans for a simultaneous PS3/360 release of Lost Planet 2. Read all about it here.


[Via Siliconera]

Jack Tretton mentioned in the Sony Keynote that Lost Planet 2 is a title you can expect to see on PS3. Previously, the Capcom-made title was only confirmed for Xbox 360, but like its predecessor, Lost Planet, expect number two to go multi-platform.

Continuing the onslaught of Capcom news today, Eurogamer reports that Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi said the game will not only be playable at E3, but that folks at home looking to get their hands on the game should be able to download a demo from Xbox Live Marketplace at some point during the show. So, you'll get to read our impressions right away, and then offer some unique insights of your own through the comments section. Neat!

The Capcom Unity blog has dropped a new trailer and several screens for us to gawk at, as well as some new details on the game, to add to your excitement for an impending demo. The title will feature 6 different episodes, and allow players to take up the role of their own unique snow pirate. As the snow pirate factions fight for control of the newly tropical EDN III, the game will change "depending upon the actions of the players involved." Capcom says players should expect to see the plot evolve from multiple characters' perspectives. The publisher also discussed the the four-player co-op and confirmed the presence of a ranking system.

You can check out plenty of new screens in our gallery below, or head past the break and watch the new trailer. That is, if you don't mind spoiling one of the boss fights for yourself.

Source - Takeuchi talks about Lost Planet 2 demo for E3
Source - Capcom Unity unleashes screens and video for Lost Planet 2

The slow 'n' clean sequel, Lost Planet 2, is due for release in early 2010. As it stands, the game is only on Xbox 360, but seeing as how the first game eventually made its way to PS3, many wonder if the sequel will follow a similar course to Sony's console. Speaking to Gamesradar, producer Jun Takeuchi said that Capcom is still "thinking about it."

Also of note are Capcom's plans for online play. During the interview, Takeuchi and game director Kenji Oguro hinted at a progression feature. Takeuchi said that Capcom is exploring a system similar to Call of Duty's -- yet different -- but couldn't offer any further details.

New details for Capcom's Lost Planet 2 have surfaced revealing the story's change of focus and a combined team power bar. According to a first-look article in the latest OXM, the game no longer includes a core character instead players create and fully customize their own solider for the ice cold war zone. Teams are comprised of four characters -- with four player co-op -- that each sport their own health bar (aka thermal energy reserves) but teams also share a combined power meter. The "Team Military Power Bar" reacts to team actions, depleting when a downed member of your squad respawns for example.

It appears that Lost Planet 2 attempts to increase the scope of the action instead of the original game's plot. Teams can attack foes with many different strategies with various weapons, new melee moves (described as, "a little like the chainsaw in Gears of War") and VS units (Lost Planet's mech-like suits) at their disposal.

If that isn't enough to whet your appetite for the surprising sequel, OXM describes a battle against a three-story high boss that ends with a team member jumping inside of the downed creature's mouth (presumably in search of Luke Skywalker). Lost Planet 2 is currently planned for the Xbox 360 but other platforms are still a possibility.

[Via CVG]

Capcom's Head of Research & Development Management Group and Online Business (breath) Keiji Inafune is all about the Western game market. In an internal interview on Capcom's website published earlier today, Inafune makes a variety of comments regarding Capcom's changing attitude with regards to the Western market. "I think I can only get away with saying this now, but I really thought that using the Xbox was the only way to break into overseas markets, and I took that hypothesis all the way," Inafune says in the piece, citing Lost Planet and Dead Rising as two prime examples of games targeted at Western audiences that were successful.

Speaking to the state of the video game industry and Capcom's relevance within it, he continues, "Up until now, we made games in Japan, and it was merely coincidental that those games sold overseas. But overseas game makers in regions like North America and Europe have gained strength, and it has become clear that this is the direction the game industry is going." We've heard statements like this before from MadWorld creator Atsushi Inaba, but never from such an influential and powerful figurehead within the Japanese development community. Considering the online multiplayer focus of the company's cadre of games both released and on the horizon, we think Capcom is putting its money where its mouth is.

All weekend long, Steam'ers can grab a digital copy of Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for the low price of $5. That's something like 75% off the retail price and is the best $5 purchase one could make in preparation for Lost Planet 2. It's either that or a discounted pair of snow mittens. (Though mittens are much less entertaining.)

Steam's special Lost Planet offer will only be available through Monday, so make a prompt purchase decision ... or be left out in the cold.

[Via Capcom Blog]

We could have easily gone for a more vulgar headline! Here's what Christian Svensson, Capcom's vice president of business development and strategic planning, actually said about the upcoming co-op shooter, Lost Planet 2: "Takeuchi's approach was, you know what we're not going to sit back on our laurels and just shit out a sequel, we're actually going to take it up five notches. We're not going to under invest in this, we're actually going to over invest in this, and we're going to build it bigger."

Speaking to VideoGamer.com, Svensson relayed Lost Planet 2 (and Resident Evil 5) producer Jun Takeuchi's overall vision as being one that keeps all of the original's best qualities in, while dismissing the lax ambitions of lazy sequel design. You might even catch a whiff of 2007's critically acclaimed Call of Duty 4, which Svensson says was a big hit among the Lost Planet team. "So I think you're going to see some influence from that sneaking in."

So, to sum all this crap up: Lost Planet 2 is promised to be the shit, but won't be shit out.

Capcom has officially confirmed one of the more exciting features found in Lost Planet 2's announcement trailer: "The intense and action packed campaign mode comes with the ability to form teams of up to 4 players online to clear mission objectives with friends." Based on the initial gameplay footage, said mission objectives generally involve coordinated mech maneuvers and wanton destruction of the titular planet's more unfriendly creatures.

The press release also provides a general outline of the story, which takes place 10 years after the amnesia-riddled and ironically forgettable exploits of Lost Planet's Wayne Holden. Players will now take control of several customizable snow pirates "as plot threads evolve from various perspectives."

Capcom promises to deliver more information on Lost Planet 2 over the coming months. At this time, the game has only been confirmed to be in development for the Xbox 360.

Okay, so the planet's not nearly as lost this time around, what with people having settled on it long enough to start shooting at each other. But "Slightly Misplaced Planet 2" or "Somewhat Unfamiliar Orb 2" doesn't have the succinct strength of a "Lost Planet 2," so let's just call it a day -- and a sequel to Capcom's frenetic and famously frigid Xbox 360, PS3 and PC shooter.

We'll be putting up the video trailer soon, but in the meantime, you can view it on the Xbox Live Marketplace or have a look at some stills captured by Gamersyde. We trust you'll be able to notice the new forest environment, as well as the return of mechs, monsters and machine guns.

Update: You can watch the full trailer above, which demonstrates the game's new cooperative action. The trailer also notes that Lost Planet 2 is running on MT-Framework 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in the original Lost Planet as well as other Capcom releases like Dead Rising and Devil May Cry 4.

We completely understand talk of a sequel to Lost Planet. With a movie in the works, it makes sense to revisit the misplaced orb that's so wonderfully overrun with bugs and mechs. As for Dead Rising 2 ... we want more Frank West in skimpy clothing. Also, we want to kill 53,000+ zombies again.

The mega man behind the Mega Man series and Capcom top dog, Keiji Inafune, recently sat down for a chat with Japanese mag Famitsu and was pretty direct about his forthcoming projects, making sure to refrain from beating around bushes. "We're finally putting out new Dead Rising and Lost Planet games," he exclaimed. He went on to say that Capcom is "thinking about multiplatform, and expanding upon both slightly from the Xbox 360 version."

CVG asked a Capcom UK spokesperson about the matter, who said that Dead Rising "was a huge success for us and is obviously the kind of game we'd like to continue to make." He elaborated further, adding that, "At the moment we have made no official announcement regarding a sequel. As the source is Famitsu, I can only suggest that it was a mistranslation." Mistranslation, huh?

So, what say you all? Want another Lost Planet? We know you want another Dead Rising already. We asked your mom and she said you loved the first game, so we're glad to be in agreement there.

Close your eyes. Wait, you aren't reading this news on a mobile device as you drive to work, right? No? Close your eyes. Think of Capcom and all of the properties they own. Now think about how rad it would be if Capcom really got involved in turning one of the those properties into a movie. A proper movie, we mean. Well, open those eyes dreamer because Capcom is committed to making a great movie based on one of their properties. Unfortunately, as you already know, they picked Lost Planet.

In a translated interview on the Capcom Investor site, Head of Character Content Business, Toshihiro Tokumaru noted the upcoming Warner Bros. adaptation of Lost Planet, "will cost somewhere between 150 and 200 million dollars to make," when production begins. Once again, they picked Lost Planet. Not hating on the choice but maybe they should throw a few dollars at the travesty that is slowly becoming The Legend of Chun-Li. Please?

How awesome will the upcoming Lost Planet movie be? We'll use the only unbiased metric of filmmaking around: money. According to an interview with Capcom's Toshihiro Tokumaru, Lost Planet will deliver "between 150 and 200 million dollars" worth of awesome.

That makes the upcoming Lost Planet film about four times as awesome as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li ($50 million budget), and about six times as awesome as the original Resident Evil movie ($32 million budget). In fact, Lost Planet will be as awesome, if not more awesome, than The Dark Knight ($185 million budget).

Produced by Avi Arad (Spider-Man) and written by David Hayter, this is easily Capcom's most ambitious film project yet. Let's hope the executives at Capcom understand how dangerous a big-budget film flop can be -- Square's Final Fantasy film represented some of the largest box office losses in history. To remind you of Capcom's "vision," we've included a trailer of the game, after the cut.

[Via VideoGamer.com]