Children of Mana dated
In Japan.
Japanese retail sources reckon that Children of Mana will be released in February over there on Nintendo DS.
CoM's part of Square Enix's World of Mana duo - the other being Seiken Densetsu 4 (Secret of Mana 3) for PS2 - and ought to be an action RPG with significant multiplayer elements.
Details released so far suggest it's slanted toward that kind of play - players will be able to work together, Zelda Four Swords-style, to leap fences together and solve problems as groups, while equipment and character types will be easily changed so that players can distinguish themselves from one another when linking up.
There's currently no word on a European release date for the game - Square Enix hadn't responded to our request for comment at the time of publication. We'll let you know when we hear back.