Konami release dates

As well as talking up the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence's online modes, Konami also spoke today in Leipzig of its plans for the rest of the year and early stages of 2006 - giving us a broad outline of release dates for various titles.

Castlevania fans, first and foremost, will have to wait until February 2006 to play the next instalment, Curse of Darkness, on PS2 and Xbox. The first DS version, Dawn of Sorrow, is expected to appear in September - although Konami hasn't confirmed that.

Speaking of which, DS RPG Lost in Blue is due out this November. It's the tale of a young hero who finds himself washed up on the beach of a seemingly uninhabited island. Unrelated to the TV series Lost, of course, despite the similarly plain name. (Plain, not plane - that was just a coincidence of speedy typing.)

Those of you buying PSPs next month will be able to pick up Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory in, er, October. It's a free-roaming sci-fi adventure for those who haven't followed it.

When you're bored of roaming-roaming-roaming, the month after that you can do some rolling in Crime Life on PS2, Xbox and PC. We knew that was out in November anyway, but we didn't know Konami had recruited new rappers for the hip-hop soundtrack, including Big Dame, PHEAR, T-Baby, and some German hip-hoppers. They have.

At around the same time in November there'll be a chance to play Dancing Stage Max on PS2.

Another Konami releases planned before the end of the year include S.L.A.I (Steel Lancer Arena International - PS2 title, due in September), and Shaman King games on GBA (September) and PS2 (Christmas).

Moving in to 2006, the first few months will see the launch of a pair of fantasy PS2 titles - The Sword of Etheria (working title) in February, which concerns three warriors charged with repelling an invasion by a race of evil Gods ("concern" being the operative), and Suikoden Tactics, a tactical (never!) spin-off from the RPG series of the same name.

There's also news of Konami's first Xbox 360 release. Sadly it's not Pro Evolution Soccer, which is expected later in 2006, but rather it's Rumble Roses XX - announced at the Japanese Xbox Summit recently - which will be with us in "early 2006".