Level 5 celebrates 10 years with handheld heaven

I should have covered this the day it broke. Ah whatever. The point is that Level 5 held their Vision 2008 conference on 29/09/2008 and showed a lot of things - that Famitsu showed a few days earlier. However, they covered it in more detail and since the conference, there have been a small smattering of screenshots. Some of the games announced were Inazuma Eleven 2 for the DS, Inazuma Eleven Break for an unnamed console (99% chance it's going to be their first Wii game) and the final part of the Professor Layton series. They also announced 2 other DS games, namely Sloane and McHale's Mysterious Story and *deep breath* Akira Tago's Brain Exercise Vol.1 Travel Around the World Solving Puzzles.

However, there were 3 other games buried in this pile of games that you should be keeping an eye on. Not much detail is available for these games but visually, they look stunning.

Ninokuni: The Another World (yes it did have that subtitle)



Ever heard of Studio Ghibli? They made Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and other animated film classics. In what was the most surprising and wonderful joint ventures, Level 5, with their 10th year under way announced that Studio Ghibli would be creating the animations for Ninokuni. The game is to include a magic book which you use in game. Ninokuni is due for release on the DS and an unnamed console (probably the Wii again). With Studio Ghibli's reputation, this game is the most likely to arrive in Europe.

Cardboard Senki



I'm not as informed about this one as the others but it is apparently a "new" type of RPG where you play as a small robot playing in a world made of cardboard. The early images look like they come from Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. I'm not confident about this title getting out of Japan but let's hope for the best. This title is due for release on the PSP.

Ushiro



As soon as I heard about this game, I thought it was interesting. Then I saw the screenshots for it and it suddenly shot to the top of my most wanted list. The game casts you as a Shinigami (like a Grim Reaper if you're frantically searching) and you attach yourself to people who are about to die and try to fulfil their last wishes. The game sounds quirky but a quick look at the screenshots will tell you that it could potentially be on for great things. This is due for release on the PSP and let's hope it comes to Europe or the US at least.