Now, this is being reported as a rumor, but the mere mention of Level-5's Professor Layton trilogy gets us too excited for words. Since this game was first revealed, with its beautiful character designs and logic puzzles, we've been hoping against hope for an English translation, and Electronic Gaming Monthly intimates that it is probably going to happen.Now we're going to be chewing our nails down to nubs as we wait for some hint of confirmation. We can't help it. We're adventure junkies, and the Studio Ghibli-esque look of the Professor Layton franchise completely had us at hello. If it all works out, the good Professor may even compete with a certain Ace Attorney for a place in our hearts.
And speaking of hearts -- in that same issue, there are a few other rumors worth mentioning. The first involves whispers of a remade Bonk game for both the DS and the Wii. The other is a little more cryptic: the next Kingdom Hearts will be a spin-off, and it's coming to a "hearty" console. Unless they mean "hearty" as in robust (which would probably indicate the PS3 or the 360), then this could very well refer to the DS, which certainly reaps a hearty profit every month, no matter where you are. And for good measure, it's available in pink. We'll ponder that one once we're done jumping up and down and singing the unofficial "Professor Layton is coming," song, which is really just us chanting that single phrase over and over until someone throws a paperweight at us.
Luckily, we're adept at dodging.
It seems some people were concerned that in trying to keep 
Just when we thought we had settled the issue of Professor Layton and the Townlike Area of Disputed Size (aka the 'Mysterious Village'), 1UP's preview of the second installment in the trilogy raises questions about the upcoming game's translated title. Thus far we've seen it written Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, but according to 1UP, it's the 'Devil's Box.' By any name, however, the first game looks incredible, and the second may be shaping up to be even better.
Now we feel justified for all those times we were jumping up and down over new details on Professor Layton and the Mysterious Town (that may be a Village). Chris Kohler had nothing but love for this import over at Game|Life; he's praised everything from the animation to the story to the game's logic puzzles. We're expecting his homage to the box art any moment now.
You heard it, folks: at Square-Enix's annual Jump Festa event, they let the bomb drop: the next entry in the venerable Dragon's Quest series, entitled Dragon's Quest IX: Defender of the Stars (another silly "DS" subtitle) will be coming exclusively to everyone's favorite little handheld. This is huge news: this franchise is second only to perhaps Final Fantasy in Japan, and still one of the most respected names in gaming worldwide. Having the title being developed exclusively on a Nintendo system is a clear show of faith from SE (they're also releasing a Final Fantasy XII sequel, 
We've seen a flood of scans and screenshots and other media from Level 5's upcoming Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village, but there's a common theme in what we see: it's all the same. We want more! The latest Famitsu and Nintendo Dream scans reveal a few more details (likely more for those lucky enough to be able to translate the Japanese); of particular note are the gameplay screens that give us a look at how it all fits together.
Another video (complete with crowd noise) from Nintendo World, and this time it's for our latest obsession, Professor Layton and the Unknown and Sorta Mysterious Town-like Place That We've Seen Called Many 
Recently, some folks at Famitsu sat down with Professor Akira Tago, the puzzle-creator working on the upcoming Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village (aka "that game that is either in a town or a village or your backyard, we're not sure"). Akihiro Hino, president of developer Level 5, joined in as well to discuss the game.
Just yesterday, we reported on the upcoming 
RPG developer Level 5 is working on an intriguing new title that will hit Japan in February -- Professor Layton and Mysterious Town, a puzzle game. Puzzle game on the DS, you say? That's nothing new. Well, perhaps not, but what's different here (besides the style) is that they game is being co-developed by Akira Tago, the Chiba University professor behind a series of logic puzzle books. It'll be interesting to see what sort of impact that has not only on the puzzles themselves, but on the story. We're obviously big fans of game developers in general (it kinda goes with the fanboy-ism), but it's always nice to see other creative minds working in conjunction with game devs.
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