What's George Lucas got to do with Kerrigan and Raynor? Plenty, apparently, based on Surfer Girl's latest bit of speculation regarding the beginnings of the Starcraft franchise, among other rumors. The rest of today's selection of rumors are available in the full article.

Waiting for more news about Monolith Soft's Project H.A.M.M.E.R. even though reports have come in that it was cancelled? Well, you might be interested in seeing these new screenshots for the game.

The screens show off some of the game's cutscenes as well as the main character lugging around his giant hammer. The screenshots and more details can be found in the full article via the "read more" link below.

About two months ago, Nintendo sent out word that they were not pulling the plug on the Wii console's Project H.A.M.M.E.R., as was implied by a recent rumor. We'll be getting back on this topic with a rather strange twist: Famitsu's latest issue states that the game's confirmed to have (once again) been cancelled.

Details are still sketchy at this point, although based on the previous rumor, the game - which has you controlling a (humongous) hammer-wielding cyborg - was running into problems that threatened its development. Said problems include speculation that Nintendo was moving key personal from Project H.A.M.M.E.R.'s dev team into other games built for the casual crowd.

Whether this detail did have something to do with the current news remains to be seen. Check back again if we can get more clarification on this news.

Rumors circulated around the gaming industry that Project H.A.M.M.E.R is being cancelled just days after E3 2007. The event last year was a little better and brighter for this title as fans were given a preview of how it's going to look and feel like: a hammer-swinging cyborg capable of killing and destroying anything in its path.

Aside from H.A.M.M.E.R., one of the more promising titles that was announced for Nintendo Wii by Monolith is Disaster: Day of Crisis. Details never really came for this game but it should somehow remind fans of the movie The Day After Tomorrow as the game is set in U.S.A. after a series of apocalyptic natural disasters.

The above mentioned titles went MIA during E3 2007 and CVG tried to contact Nintendo to know the real score. According to one representative from the company, Day of Crisis is still in development but is currently on hold. Then the spokesperson explained, "Disaster is still under development. We've shifted development resources from Project H.A.M.M.E.R. You may hear about it in the future, but it's off the schedule for now".

That's it for now from Nintendo and Monolith regarding these two titles. We do hope that they find the resources and the time to finish Disaster as it looks to be one hell of an interesting and unique game.

The upcoming Nintendo Wii game Project H.A.M.M.E.R. is one of the platform's most anticipated titles for 2007, but rumor has it that the development of the title may have been discreetly unplugged by Nintendo.

According to IGN's sources who are allegedly close to NST, the efforts to develop Project H.A.M.M.E.R. were terminated because of Nintendo's decision to move key members of the team to higher-priority game development tasks on titles that will cater more to the casual crowd.

It can be recalled that the game was sighted last in the 2006 E3 show. After which, little else was ever released to update us on the progress of the game.

In the interactive presentation of this title in E3, players took control of a hammer-swinging cyborg that flattened everything in its path. This was done by moving the Wiimote up and down to wreck all who dared to oppose.

We would like to remind everyone that all of this is still in the rumor stage and official word from Nintendo is yet to be received. We'll update you on this matter as soon as possible.

Japan game news may not seem very relevant to an English-language game site whose audience is largely from the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and United Kingdom and Ireland, but you know that when it comes to Nintendo games, the Japanese market is something to pay attention to.

DS. Just look at Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (Go! Fight! Cheer Squad) from iNiS - it became the "instant DS classic" Elite Beat Agents,. Japan is going to get the sequel later this year, and Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (Burn! Burning Rhythm Soul Go! Fight! Cheer Squad 2) promises more fun: 4-player wireless play. Where do we sign up to demand Elite Beat Agents 2?

Mistwalker's tactical role-playing game ASH: Archaic Sealed Heart will also be released this year.

Bad news. The release date for Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is no longer 2007. It's now "undecided release date" according to Siliconera.

Wii. The brain-testing game Wii Yawasaka Ataka Juku or Yawaraka Atama Jyuku (let's just call it Wii Big Brain Academy,) looks like it will be released on April 26, 2007. The racing game DK Bongo Blast (Donki Kongu: Taru Jetto Resu - "Donkey Kong barrel jet race") is another 2007 Wii game along with Wii Fitness.

According to Siliconera, these are the Wii games that Nintendo will publish in 2007:

• Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn - Feb 22
• EyeShield 21 - March 8
• Super Paper Mario - April 10
• Wii Yawasaka Ataka Juku (Wii Big Brain Academy) - April 26

TBD Wii Games in 2007:

• Wii Fitness
• Disaster Day of Crisis
• Mario Party 8
• Project H.A.M.M.E.R
• Wii Music
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl
• Battalion Wars 2 (BWii)
• DK Bongo Blast
• Forever Blue
• Mario Strikers Charged
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (We want to add that the wait for this game has been long, but it's been justifiable. We want them to take their time with making this game perfect for the Wii.)
  

Announced with an undetermined date:

• Animal Crossing
• Kirby

Those who say that Wii games are too kiddie obviously haven't heard about Project H.AM.M.E.R. Or maybe they have. They just haven't come across these 29 new screens of the said game.

In Project H.A.M.M.E.R., the United States have been taken over by killer robots and the military is no match for them. Thankfully, you - taking control of a cyborg - have a special hammer of amazing powers that may be the only hope to stop those pesky marauding automatons. Take a look at these screens and see how exciting - and un-kiddie - this hammer-swinging game looks like.

Name: Project H.A.M.M.M.E.R.
Format: Wii™
Launch Date: TBA
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Action Adventure
Accessories: Wii Remote and Nunchuk Controllers
Players: TBA
Developer: Nintendo Software Technology Corp.

Nintendo's Redmond WA studio, the creators of Metroid Prime Hunters and Wave Race, brings us a very interesting title for the Wii. Project H.A.M.M.M.E.R. will be set in the United States at a time when killer aliens are rampaging throughout the country. The military has no chance against these invaders so it is up to your character, a cyborg, to fight them. Here's what Nintendo has to say:

• Grab the Wii Remote and start swinging. Equipped with a hammer of amazing strength, players represent the only hope against an unstoppable army of marauding automatons.
• Players use the Nunchuk controller in one hand to maneuver through a variety of vast and detailed environments. They use the Wii Remote in the other just like a real hammer to control the hero’s weapon. Swing the controller side to side to make the in-game hammer send enemies flying. Lift it into the air and bring it down to smash robots to smithereens. Use the A button for quick hammer flurries.
• Enter a world of nonstop action, excitement and relentless destruction. Players will reduce rampaging robots to scrap metal as they battle their way across the United States. If they see an enemy, they smash it. And they continue to smash until every city across America is saved.

Love to smash things? Nintendo hopes you do, and is banking on it with its new title -  Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Billed as one of Nintendo's new franchises (one of three), one can only wonder if it will be able to co-exist peacefully with the other notable Nintendo franchises of Mario, Zelda and Pikmin. In any case, the game is looking to be making good use of the Wii remotes in a new first party action game. No story details have been released as of yet, but we'll bring new information to you as it comes in. If anything, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. may work to draw in the crowd who says that Nintendo is too kiddy.