New Viewtiful Joe

Capcom has released more details of its upcoming Viewtiful Joe projects, confirming that games for the PSP and GameCube are in development and naming the previously mentioned DS version.

In an article in Japanese magazine Famitsu, partially translated by GameSpot, Capcom said that Viewtiful Joe: VFX Battle will feature well-known characters from the series including Silvia, Alastor, Alastor and Captain Blue.

We'll also get to meet the likes of Captain Blue Jr. and Sprocket, stars of the Japanese anime TV series. The storyline is all about Captain Blue's search for a star, which involves making everyone fight each other. If only X-Factor had been like that...

The best tactics for winning are to "stand out" more than your opponents, according to series producer Atsushi Inaba, since you score points according to how stylish your attacks are.

VFX Battle will appear on PSP and GameCube, and although no release dates were mentioned, Inaba suggested that his team was well into the development process.

So what of the DS version? Well, Scratch! Viewtiful Joe (title to be confirmed) is set in a theme park, which also happens to be the location for Captain Blue's latest film. But when the shoot gets raided and the footage is nicked, it's up to VJ to get it back.

Joe's younger sister, Jasmine, will appear in the game - apparently she's a stubborn young thing who's determined to become a star one day. Inaba didn't reveal whether she is a playable character, but that would make sense after girlfriend Sylvia's involvement in VJ2.

However, he did say the game would make use of the DS's dual screens and touch-sensitive capability - but not the stylus, as Inaba says switching controls all the time could be a pain. Yes, fingers are the new styluses: you heard it here first.

And you can use them to do special moves such as the 'Split VFX', which involves passing your finger horizontally across the screen to slice objects in half. You can then drag and drop the halves onto an enemy's head, even if said enemy is all the way over on the other screen.

Generally speaking, the main game action will appear on the bottom screen. The top screen will map out areas where touch-sensitive control will be most useful, and occasionally zoom in on our hero.

Expect more details and some brightly coloured screenshots to be revealed at this year's E3.