Late Night Consoling

Koei, the prolific publisher best known for releasing Omega Force's Dynasty Warriors series and its spinoffs, today announced Opoona, an original RPG in the works for Wii. Developed by Japanese studio ArtePiazza, the science-fiction game tells the story of Opoona, a boy who must make a life on a new planet in search of his missing brother and sister, after his parents are hospitalized with critical injuries. Opoona appears to have nonlinear elements, with the player able to explore the planet Landroll and build a life there; Koei describes it as a "lifestyle RPG."

Opoona's battle system uses a control method by which players can set the trajectory of projectiles using the Wii's nunchuk. Apparently, the game will feature "one-thumb control" allowing players to perform all actions using only the nunchuk component of the controller.

Heading up direction of the game is Sachiko Sugimura, who has worked on numerous Dragon Quest titles. Music is being composed by Final Fantasy XII (PS2) composer Hitoshi Sakamoto. Shintaro Majima is providing the game's art direction; Koei sent along several pieces of Opoona's character artwork.

Koei expects to release Opoona in Japan this summer. No North American release has yet been announced.

Two years ago, Rockstar Games released a web-based music sequencer called Beaterator. Reception to the Flash application was apparently positive enough to create a commercial version, as today the publisher announced that Rockstar Leeds, the studio behind the two Grand Theft Auto PSP games, will be bringing Beaterator to Sony's portable system. Well-known producer Timbaland has been enlisted to contribute to the project in some way, but in true Rockstar style, today's press release was rather light on details.

"I've always been a huge fan of Rockstar and love playing their games," said Timbaland. "I'm thrilled to be partnering with them and making music for Beaterator. I cannot wait to get this in the hands of our fans!"

Like its online counterpart, the PSP version of Beaterator will contain loop-making and music mixing capabilities. Bringing it more in line with other portable titles, it will also feature challenge modes and a suite of mini-games.

Rockstar Games plans to ship Rockstar Leeds' Beaterator for PSP this summer.

Monolith Productions' well received Xbox 360 launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins performed well enough to get a PC port last year, and it looks like it may also have been successful enough to garner a sequel. Internet detectives have spotted Play.com product listing indicating the existence of a game called "Condemned 2." The only product-related details other than the title is a brief description: "A superb sequel of brilliantly brutal bloody hand to hand brawling..."

UK-based Play.com claims Condemned 2 will be released on November 30, 2007. Online retailers are rarely reliable sources for release dates months in advance, so that particular bit of information should be considered rumor. Still, while Condemned publisher Sega has refused to comment on the listing, retailers do tend to be fairly accurate in identifying the simple existence of upcoming games. A sequel to Condemned is likely to be officially announced in the coming months.

Prior to last year's E3, Namco Bandai Games slightly surprisingly announced that Culdcept Saga, Omiya Soft's Xbox 360 installment of the cult classic Culdcept franchise, would be coming to North America. Oddly, the game made no appearance at E3, but today Namco Bandai finally sent word that the game is expected to ship in North America this summer.

Like other games in the series, Culdcept Saga is a board game/card game hybrid and is frequently described as a meeting of Magic: The Gathering and Monopoly. This installment will include online support over Xbox Live.

"Namco Bandai is proud to bring such a unique concept to the Xbox Live community." said Namco Bandai executive VP Makoto Iwai. "It's the perfect blend of classic board games and modern competitive trading cards in one beautiful package!"

Last month, Activision revealed during a financial conference call that Toys for Bob's Wii launch title Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam would be ported to the still-strong PlayStation 2. A Nintendo DS version of the game developed by Vicarious Visions was also released.

Today, Activision offically confirmed plans to bring the game to PS2. The port will be handled by SuperVillain Studios, which has been responsible for ports of various Tony Hawk games in the past. It will be released in North America this spring.