Level-5 has big plans for DS, enlists aid of Studio Ghibli

Good news, fan of all things DS. The handheld is getting some more love from Level-5, in the form of more games. Level-5 pres and all around handsome dude, Akihiro Hino, has made public his company's intent to rock the DS right out of your hands. How? Well, first is a proposed partnership with Studio Ghibli, the folks behind awesome animated films like Spirited Away.

The project between Ghibli and Level-5 is Ni no Kuni: The Another World, a RPG that will be produced by Level-5 and animated by Ghibli. The game centers around a 13-year old boy who is responsible for the death of his mother. One day, he's confronted by a fairy with a mysterious book that leads into a magical, parallel world. The boy then embarks on a quest to save his mother. This is scheduled for a 2009 release.

But that isn't all. Level-5 is also working on two additional games for the DS. The first title is the third installment in the Professor Layton series of games. While no new information on the game is presented, a Japanese release date of November 27th is listed. We know of at least one individual who will be very happy with that news.

The other title is a sequel to recent release, Inazuma Eleven. As many of you know, the game combined the sport of soccer with RPG mechanics and was something we hoped would release stateside. We have no idea if that will ever happen, but the company has said that the sequel, Inazuma Eleven 2 Kyoui no Shinryakusha, will be a direct sequel and feature a new team of Earth-invading aliens, the Alien Academy. This title will release in 2009.

And that's it. We'd like more to go on, but we'll have to wait until Friday, when it's likely some media on these will be available courtesy of the Level-5 Vision press conference in Tokyo. Keep your eyes here for more as it comes in.

Source - Level-5 teams up with Studio Ghibli
Source - Level-5 reveals new RPGs