TGS07: Square Enix announces new Kingdom Hearts games for DS, PSP and mobile
Sony gets Birth by Sleep, Nintendo has 358/2 Days, and it's Coded for phones
Square Enix has taken the opportunity of the Tokyo Game Show to reveal three new additions to its hugely popular Kingdom Hearts franchise, which mixes classic Disney characters with new, Square Enix-designed creations within an action role-playing setting.
Birth by Sleep, for PSP, is a predecessor to the first Kingdom Hearts (released on PS2) and as such slots into the overall narrative but is said to feature three new central protagonists. The game is being developed by the team behind Crisis Core – FFVII and is due next summer.
The DS adventure, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, is led by Axel and Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II (around which the story is set, albeit with a darker theme) and features full 3D environments, as well as the promise of four-player simultaneous play. Which could be something of a coup for Nintendo's handheld.
And in a move that many will see as yet more evidence (if it were needed) that mobile gaming is set to take over the world, Square Enix revealed Kingdom Hearts coded, a mobile version based on the franchise's original 2002 outing.
We'll obviously bring you more details as soon as we get them. For now, all three titles have only been announced for Japan, although you should expect western releases in all three cases.
