Kojima Productions has been completely committed to the Metal Gear Solid cause for the past several years. Back in the beginning of the PlayStation 2 era, though, they created what appeared to be the beginning of another interesting series built around giant mech combat with Zone of the Enders (Z.O.E.) and its sequel Zone of the Enders: the 2nd Runner. There's finally been some buzz around the games again of late, with Hideo Kojima revealing plans for a Zone of the Enders HD Collection remake of both games due in 2012 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

From a tweet and picture this morning on the official Hideo Kojima account, it looks like there is more Zone of the Enders in the works as well. The image shows a model of one of the Z.O.E. mechs and behind it a piece of paper with what looks like a title printed on it that reads Z.O.E. 3DS. Kojima says he "found this at Omori-kun's desk," in all likelihood referring to artist Takahiro Omori who worked on a number of games at the studio including Z.O.E.

So, by appearances, it looks like a game is in the works for Nintendo's 3DS handheld. The nature of that game is sure to spark ample debate. With an HD remake of the first two games already in the works and the Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D possibly indicating the direction for the development, a 3D redo of the originals seems likely. It's easy to imagine something like the treatment done with Starfox 64 3D. But it's also fun to hope that this may be the long awaited third Z.O.E game. Either way, expect to learn more at the Tokyo Game Show next month.