It looks increasingly unlikely that Grasshopper Manufacture's Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Project Zero IV) will be released outside Japan.

Nintendo confirmed to SPOnG that "there are currently no plans to release this game in Europe."

This follows the assertion by Nintendo of America that it isn't the publisher of the game in its territory. For its part, Tecmo (the owner of the property) had stated that NOA does hold the publishing rights but won't be releasing the game.

A statement released by Tecmo reads, "Nintendo holds the publishing rights to 'Fatal Frame Wii,' which was developed by Tecmo LTD. and Grasshopper Manufacture and released in Japan on July 31, 2008.

"Nintendo of America has since then decided not to publish the title in North America – consequently, the title will not be released in this territory. As the owner of the IP, Tecmo feels very unfortunate that the fans of the series in North America will not have a chance to play the game, but respects the final decision made by Nintendo of America."

This follows Reggie Fils-Aime, president of NoA, stating of the survival horror title, "We are not the publisher of that title in the Americas."

Reggie's statement seems to imply that there is, in fact, a publisher for the game in America - Nintendo just isn't it. Confusing, eh? Given what's obviously a considered statement from Tecmo asserting that Nintendo hold the publishing rights, however, SPOnG's going to assume that Reggie's wording was awkward and what he meant to say was, 'We're not publishing Fatal Frame Wii in America'.

So, what of Europe? Nintendo just re-iterated to SPOnG that, "there are currently no plans to release this game in Europe." That's obviously not a 'never', but it's not looking too promising.