Mizuguchi's brand new games News

Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the man behind Space Channel 5, Lumines and Meteos, is taking on the role of executive producer for two new games for the PSP and Nintendo DS.

That's according to an article in the latest issue of Famitsu, partially translated by IGN, which says that the PSP game will be titled Gunpey-R - that's short for Gunpey Reverse. Old folks may recall that the first Gunpey game originally appeared on the Wonderswan; it was named after Gunpei Yoko, the designer of the WS, the original Game Boy and the rubbish old Virtual Boy.

Gunpey-R, a music-based puzzler, will feature the same "skin" element as Lumines - you'll earn new skins, complete with new animations and tunes, as you progress through the game. There will be more than 40 to collect.

You'll be tasked with moving square panels up and down the screen in a bid to form lines running from left to right. If you do well, the panels will disappear; but if they reach the top of the screen, it's game over.

DS title Oto Wo Tsunagou! Gunpey Reverse (Connect the Sounds! Gunpey Reverse) will feature similar gameplay, but you'll use the stylus to control the panels. Whenever you clear a panel, you'll a new sound will be released - and you can compose your own tunes by lining the sounds up with the background music.

Both games will be produced by Q Entertainment, and published in Japan by Namco Bandai. They're due out over there in the autumn, but there's no word on a European release just yet.