Namco Bandai to Publish Ghibli RPG Ni no Kuni Internationally
For those of you who’re still upset at Nintendo’s decision not to publish Xenoblade domestically, but happen to also own a PS3, here’s some welcome news. Namco Bandai has announced plans to publish the upcoming PS3 release of Level-5 ‘s Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in both North America and Europe next year. As you can probably guess just by looking at it, the game is a collaboration between Level-5 and much-renown Studio Ghibli, responsible for such films as Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and more. While the project never included any contributions by director Hayao Miyazaki, the art itself is very reminiscent of the style found through-out the various films Ghibi has worked on, his included. That said, it’s quite striking visually and I’m sure Ghibli’s involvement will help bolster sales.
Now that Namco Bandai has signed on to publish the title internationally, there’s even a chance — albeit, a small one — that the game could be ported to Xbox 360, similarly to their recently released action-RPG Dark Souls. It should be noted that Level-5 recently released a DS version of the game entitled Ni no Kuni: The Jet-Black Mage in Japan. Unfortunately, there’s no news on whether or not that title will see an international release, but we can always hope.
news via Gamasutra