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Okay, so it isn't Rondo of Blood this week in Europe. Nintendo instead chose to inaugurate the latest Hanabi Festival with the pre-rendered Neo Geo shooter Ironclad and Lode Runner for NES. It's pretty novel in and of itself to have two Virtual Console games in a single week, not to mention a Neo Geo game! They're joined on Wii by the WiiWare version of Military Madness.

• Lode Runner (NES, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Ironclad (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Nectaris: Military Madness (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Elemental Masters (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 800 DSi Points)
• Pop Island (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Simply Sudoku (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Simply Mahjong (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• 4 Travellers Play Spanish (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

Nintendo of Europe is bringing back the Hanabi Festival, its occasional celebration of import games, starting March 12 -- and it's bringing what might be the most anticipated import Virtual Console game ever (by us). Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is among the small lineup of games to be released in Europe as part of the Festival, along with Milon's Secret Castle and Lode Runner, both for NES, and Ironclad for Neo Geo.

We aren't entirely certain from the wording, but the announcement mentions Castlevania, and then says that the other games will "continue in the following weeks." So it's pretty likely you're going to be able to buy Rondo of Blood tomorrow. Happy Hanabi Festival!

Another candidate has been added to the list of potential names for Sony's motion controller. Yesterday, Sony filed a European trademark, for use with a control device, for "PlayStation Move." It sounds fitting for a motion controller! (It's application number 008936544 in the European trademark database, if you'd like to see it in its native habitat.)

In addition to that trademark, NeoGAFfer gofreak found another trademark for the logo seen here, which looks more like an A for Arc than an M for Move. We have yet to verify the image ourselves in the trademark database, however.

In any case, we're likely to find out more about whatever this thing is called during GDC.

[Via NeoGAF; The Netwerk]

It's a fantastic day to be in Europe like retro and retro-style downloadable games. Coinciding with that amazing Bit.Trip Runner trailer, its predecessor Bit.Trip Void is now avaiable on WiiWare, along with the authentically NES-style Mega Man 10! There's even a real retro game available on Virtual Console -- a pretty good one, at that.

The theme even extends to DSiWare, where you can get Dark Void Zero, a promotional game that outshines the game it was meant to promote. You can play it on the DSi XL, which was released in Europe today!

• Zaxxon (Arcade, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Bit.Trip Void (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
  
• Dark Void Zero (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Flips: The Bubonic Boulders (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Globulos Party (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Real Football 2010 (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)
• New English Training: Learn with Tempo - Advanced Edition (not available in the UK) (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

British bookmaker Victor Chandler has a strange sense of what things people should be betting on. For instance, we never would have thought that high-stakes wagering would ever find its way into the British Academy of Film and Television Awards. Yet somehow, gambling on the BAFTAs has becoming a thing, leading Chandler to tally up the odds for each of the awards show's categories.

Perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, Chandler's calculations place Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in front of the video game category -- the only award chosen by a public poll -- with odds of 6/4. Modern Warfare 2 falls slightly behind that with 9/4 odds. Check out the full breakdown of nominee's odds to take home the prize after the jump. We went ahead and split our life savings evenly among the ten contenders, guaranteeing us a victory when the BAFTAs are distributed March 19. Man, we're so good at gambling.

Although it commanded a large presence at E3, Sony has been otherwise quiet about God of War III. With the game's release only weeks away, Sony has opened the floodgates, revealing new footage, highlighting new levels, and most importantly, advertising the game on TV. The European markets are treated to an ad which simply states "Revenge Starts Here." The ad doesn't need a gimmick: it simply relies on real-time footage of the game.

Check it out after the break.

[Via TheSixthAxis]

Cing's sequel to Hotel Dusk is destined for a PAL release, a recent trademark shows. This may cause one to believe Last Window could eventually find its way to North America and we'd certainly entertain the notion -- at least it should be importable.

Admittedly, Nintendo actively promoted Cing's first game and a lot of DS enthusiasts in the U.S. seemed to enjoy it, so we can see it happening. But without so much as a mention during the recent Nintendo Media Summit, we're not gonna hold our breath just yet. Let's at least agree to wait until E3, OK?

Source - OHIM online European trademark database [Via Siliconera]

This week, European Wii and DSi owners can download the same game on either system: a ported version of Chillingo's iPhone shooter iDracula: Undead Awakening. Unfortunately, it's hitting on the absolute worst day ever to release a WiiWare game about fighting Dracula.

• Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Reel Fishing Challenge (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Dracula: Undead Awakening (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Bird & Bombs (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Dracula: Undead Awakening (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Electroplankton: Marine-Crystals (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Electroplankton: Varvoice (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Zoo Frenzy (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

So, remember that story back in December -- about how the town of Derby was holding an internet poll to come up with a name for one of its roads? And Lara Croft was one of the options? Guess what? The buxom relic-gatherer won, and a brand new street connecting Osmaston Road and Burton Road (which we presume are not named after video game characters) will soon be known as Lara Croft Way.

Derby Councillor Lucy Care chalked up Croft's 89-percent margin of victory to the fact that the Tomb Raider series was conceived by the now defunct, Derby-based studio Core Design. We personally think the name won because the poll was on the internet, where video game fans could easily flood the ballot box. Yes, you named a road in a town in the U.K. that you'll probably never visit. We live in very, very strange times, friends. And it's kind of amazing.

Expressing their concerns on the PlayStation forums, several owners of the Euro-exclusive Special Edition of Heavy Rain have been unable to solve one of the game's most sinister enigmas: "Where is the soundtrack that was supposed to be included with this thing?"

Heavy Rain product manager for the region Alex Pavey has provided an answer on PlayStation Blog post, saying, "I'm sorry to say that there has been a last-minute technical delay with the Official Soundtrack, meaning that if you redeem your voucher code before 4th March, you will be able to download Chronicle 1 and the Dynamic Theme, but not the Official Soundtrack." Should players redeem the voucher after March 4th, they'll gain access to all three pieces of Special Edition content: a dynamic theme; the first prequel Chronicle; and the game's orchestral soundtrack (though it's still unclear what format it will take).

If the code has already been redeemed (the theme and DLC are already available for download), Pavel asks that players contact their "local customer service teams," which should be listed on the packaging. To pick up the phone or send an email, do a semi-circle with the right analog stick, hold R1 and Triangle and tap Circle.

[Thanks, Josh]

Capcom is sweetening the deal for Super Street Fighter IV in both the US and Europe with some ridiculous pre-order bonuses. In the US, a timed exclusive download pack will be available from Amazon and Best Buy, featuring "Super Classic Costumes" for Dhalsim, Fei Long, Blanka, Gen, and Guile. Fei Long has a Kato (of The Green Hornet fame) costume! Blanka has a Dan costume! Insanity! Pre-ordering from GameStop will get you a set of ... thumb covers with Street Fighter characters on them. For thumb wrestling. The game will be out April 27 in North America.

In Europe, where Super Street Fighter IV will be released on April 30, the choice is even tougher. Capcom has yet to reveal which retailers offer which bonuses, but the choice of items is between the Super Classic Costumes pack, some iPhone covers bearing World Warriors' faces, or t-shirts that look like Street Fighter costumes. You can see all the choices in our gallery.

Here's some great news for those of you in Europe interested in playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. Nintendo announced that Galaxy will be available in Europe on June 11, not long after America's May 23 date. And Sin and Punishment will be out in Europe (under the slightly altered title Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies) on May 7, exactly one month before North America gets its hands on that Treasure.

The bad news is that Metroid: Other M is dated simply "Q3." It's due June 27 in North America. We've collected all the European release dates for Wii and DS (including a "summer" date for Dragon Quest IX!) after the break.

[Via Eurogamer]

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently recorded a podcast -- yes, a podcast (mp3) -- which aired right before the kickoff ceremonies for the Global Investment Conference held in London on Monday. During the podcast, Brown commended the efforts of the U.K.'s game developers and publishers, stating, "we're leading the way in creative industries, by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe."

TIGA, the U.K. game industry trade organization, is hoping Brown's address is a sign of support for the game developer tax relief plan the group has been trying to push through parliament for more than two years now. Had they listened to Brown's other podcast, "The Uber1337 Video Game Talk Show," they would have heard a much stronger sentiment much earlier.

[Via Edge Online]

While Nintendo threw a release date party in San Francisco today, Disney Interactive rev-ealed the scheduled arrival of Split/Second on May 18 to Joystiq in an email today. "The Split/Second release date is May 18 in the US and the name in the US is still Split/Second ... Split/Second: Velocity is only for Europe and will be released on May 21," the publisher clarified.

Now Gamer recently reported the UK release date exclusively alongside the reveal of a new moniker in the EU. Along with a more specific release date (previously known as "May 2010"), Disney sent along some new box art (as seen above). Unfortunately, we were told no new details are yet available on a demo for the upcoming Michael Bay-esque racer.

Square Enix has filed a European trademark for something called "Voice Fantasy" -- a trademark which, as Siliconera was quick to point out, applies to computer or video game software and not sound recordings. That completely ruins our first guess that it was some kind of a cappella Final Fantasy album.

Our next guess (and that's all we have, considering we have no information to go on other than the title) is that this is another iPhone or iPod game from the publisher. Why those platforms? Both Song Summoner and Space Invaders Infinity Gene have proven that Square Enix is willing to do experimental things with sound in mobile and iPhone games, and "Voice Fantasy" certainly sounds like something that uses audio in gameplay.