Kotaku reports that in the latest issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu, Capcom exec Keiji Inafune has mentioned sequels for two of Capcom's big games: Dead Rising and Lost Planet (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC). A Capcom UK rep, however, has asked everyone that Inafune's statements might not be the final word.

Earlier this year, Capcom was sued by the firm handling George A. Romero's zombie films, the MKR Group. The lawsuit accused Dead Rising of being too similar to Dawn of the Dead. Now, a Judge has ruled that the lawsuit can be dismissed because MKR simply can't sue Capcom for something that isn't protected. Meanwhile, Capcom may have won the case, but at a rather sour note, the Judge also gave quite a stinging remark about the game.

It's about time: after sending a letter to Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy that complained about Dead Rising being too similar to the Living Dead films, the MKR Group finally sued Capcom for allegedly infringing on the movie's copyrights. We hope that this fight won't end up with blood and chunks of meat zipping through the air. More details in the article.

If the old adage says that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," then MKR Group should probably feel flattered by the fact that Capcom has come up with a game like Dead Rising. Thing is, the group isn't. It's gotten to the point where both parties are seeking to assert their legal rights. More legal issues abound after the jump.

It was earlier reported that Capcom has announced an official sequel to Dead Rising. Knowing Capcom's business style that lives and dies with sequels, we had every reason to believe it, but the "news" proved premature.

According to Capcom PR Director Chris Kramer, the reports of Dead Rising 2 are "erroneous." He adds, "There has been no official announcement of a sequel to Dead Rising."

Capcom has traced the root of the error to a French site that misunderstood a rumor. Apparently, Famitsu wrote up something in its rumor section regarding Dead Rising 2. The French site had an error in translating the article and ended up on its news page. The rest was history as blogs caught on like wildfire.

When asked if there will ever be a Dead Rising 2, Kramer gave a standard-issue "we have not made any announcements about a Dead Rising sequel."

But cheer up, Dead Rising fans, we bet the farm there will be a sequel. With all the business sense it makes, it's just not likely that Capcom doesn't have plans for it. We'll keep you posted and let you know as soon as the real official announcement comes.

A couple of hours ago, Christian Svensson (a.k.a. Sven) over at the Capcom official boards made a statement in light of Capcom's move to turn Devil May Cry 4 into a multi-platform game.

Sven said that the company felt that allowing DMC4 to be reached by more people outside the PlayStation 3 (PS3) "pleases far more people than it displeases," and that the decision was made in the best interest of Capcom and the players.

And while this statement is still drawing all sorts of reactions like the recent online petition, Capcom forum member Westell Westell quizzed Sven to help clarify matters regarding the company's plans:

What I am wondering, is since Capcom has claimed "Capcom is committed to making its titles available to as wide an audience as possible," does that mean Capcom will be making games that were exclusive to the Xbox 360 cross platform as they did with Devil May Cry or is that quote from Capcom more of just a PR man doing their job? Thanks.

Here was Sven's reply:

The answer is Dead Rising and Lost Planet are not slated to appear on Wii or PS3 as far as current plans go. The reasons for this are quite convoluted and I'm bound by NDAs on these matters so I can't divulge why this is the situation.

The quote delivered above references our strategy moving forward, not something that is necessarily retroactive. You can see evidence of this with our previously stated RE5 plans going to 360 and PS3 simultaneously.

While (PS3) and Wii owners may feel a sting in Sven's statement that there is no planned releases of Lost Planet or Dead Rising for their consoles, the "current plans" clause does open up speculation on what lies in the near future. For now, just await further details at the upcoming Capcom Day this April 12.

Good news for Dead Rising fans everywhere! Kotaku brings word of the release of the Dead Rising soundtrack on Tanomi, and there's a lot of content to be had in this Limited Edition Set.

The limited edition soundtrack for Capcom's popular zombie-slaying game contains 40 tracks and a decidedly delicious 16-page booklet to go along with it. Along with the CD is a Dead Rising T-shirt, whose design was made by Yoshiki Takahashi, the layout artist for the "Kill Bill" poster.

All in all, the set will throw you back around 51 bucks, but there are plans to take the soundtrack to American and European shores. All you need is some patience and the good sense not to get bitten by errant zombies on your way to the store.

March is just starting and in spite of the ownership issues surrounding EGM, they have continued serving up juicy rumors we could chew on for weeks. This time around, the April issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly ran a rumor mill courtesy of Quartermann, about two X360 games - Gears of Warand Dead Rising. Here's the juicy backfence talks you could find in EGM's April 2007 edition:

• New Downloadable Content">downloadable content for Gears of War. Epic also wants to get rid of the "ranked" requirement which would put a halt to those locked achievements that require ranked play to unlock.
• An upcoming platinum version of Dead Rising will be blessed with online co-op mode. This means that you'll have the ability to annihilate the zombie apocalypse with a partner over Xbox Live. Folks who already bought Dead Rising would also be able to experience this rumored co-op mode - "for a price."

Aside from those rumored tidbits, there is also a section dedicated to the state of Warhawk, and what's next for Namco Bandai's Xenosaga and Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man. We guess we'd have to catch up on EGM's latest issue to stay abreast.

If you've seen my posts around the site, then you know I'm a fan of great game-related videos. Of these, the Mega64 crew is probably one of the most prominent members of the game-related video community. At the very least, they're definitely the most satisfying to watch.

That being said, Mega64's got another two-minute video up. Much like their Resident Evil skit, this one's got hypothetical zombies in the mix. It's the Xbox 360 game that's so sensational in its portrayal of the undead that Japan had to give this game the Z rating.

Ladies and gents, here's Rocco playing the part of photojournalist Frank West in the Mega64 version of Capcom's Dead Rising. Enjoy!

Zombie-photographer Frank West must be doing the happy dance by now. Taking some choice cuts fresh from the live corpse of retail-landia, Capcom just announced that with six months under their Dead Rising belt they've already shipped one million copies since its launch. In the entire line-up of Capcom's titles (including other zombiefest games like Resident Evil), Dead Rising is the 41st title to hit the one-million mark.

It must be mentioned that while Dead Rising is part of their new long-term project of creating games with a global audience in mind, senior executive Mark Beaumont is actually expecting Lost Planet to outsell the zombie-basher. You could arguably say so, but whether or not it actually does, we'll find out once the planetary FPS gets released in North America and Europe on the 12th of this month.

As for now, on to more bloody limb-crunching and happy dances with a Servbot mask from the Child's Play department...