It should be remembered that LucasArts sealed the fate of rhythm-based video game title Traxion earlier this year when it announced that it will no longer be publishing the title. It felt like the decision was not appreciated by Kuju Entertainment (who's now changed their name to Zoe Mode) as the developer severed its publishing agreement with LucasArts.

Today, Zoe Mode head Ed Daly mentioned that they are still considering pushing through with the project and that they may even market Traxion as a PSP and an iPod game. Daly commented,

The terms of the deal with LucasArts are still confidential, so I can't comment on the details - but we have retained the rights to the IP and we're now looking at what we can do with the IP and the technology and what it's potential is. There's a long history of games that have been canned and came back as great proposition.

However, Ed Daly also shared that their studio is busy at the moment with other projects such as SingStar and EyeToy titles for Sony as well as unannounced next-gen titles. He added that when they find the time and the manpower, Traxion might even go next-gen,

When the teams free up the idea might find place on next-gen formats, or mobile phones or even iPods - there's plenty of use for the tech, but we just need to figure out what that will be and then build the resource so we can take the next step with it.

On a related matter, Ed Daly also revealed that Zoe Mode will be coming up with another music-puzzle game that will be released on the PlayStation Network (PSN) and/or Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). The concept is different in such a way that the game will be controlling the music instead of the other way around. He shared then,

It's interesting as there is no longer that one straightforward route to market and we're able to think that maybe we are better off investing a bit more in the self-publishing route. There are only a finite number of companies or publishers willing to invest so certain games we aren't always going to chase a traditional publishing deal for them.

Although it will be nice seeing two of the most reliable companies joining forces to bring better services to gamers, gaming research firm DFC Intelligence says we shouldn't bank on the Apple-Nintendo merger.

According to DFC Intelligence President David Cole, in light of the upcoming Wii, now is not the best time for Nintendo to sell. Although notably the loser in the last generation console war, Nintendo will now have a chance to redeem themselves and to "restart their market share" with the advent of the next generation.

Cole also pointed out, "Obviously Nintendo has done really well in terms of their profitability and their market value has really held upÂ?if you go back and look at how their market value has held up over this past generation compared to, say Sony and Microsoft, who have seen drastic declines in their market value."

If the Wii comes out and if it flops, then talks of a merger with Apple and Nintendo may as well be more believable. Yet if this happens, one should also put into mind that "news" like these always lean on the speculative side rather than conclusive. "When you're talking about mergers of that size, there's always so many moving parts, especially when you've got an established Japanese company possibly merging with a North American companyÂ?and that's always just very speculative. Even if they start talks, it's just months and months of trying to get together and oftentimes they just clash at the last minute," explains Cole.

However, it is not unlikely that Apple is interested in Nintendo, says Cole. What made the whole talk "pure rumor" is the fact that Nintendo will most likely turn down such offer by Apple. Cole offers, "[Apple] could start reaching out to see if Nintendo is interested, and then [Nintendo] say no. That would probably be the most likely scenario that I would see. You know, companies are always talking with each other... which can lead to rumors and speculation. It just goes on all the time. The chance of something actually getting finalized is a totally different ballgame."

So although the fact that Apple may start being more active in the gaming race, considering talks that they have LucasArts' tech director Mike Lampbell onboard, they just have to do their gaming ventures without the aid of Nintendo. And Nintendo has to wage its next-gen battle without Apple.