In Japan the Nintendo DS is getting a slew of new role-playing games over the next few months, one of which is the highly anticipated December release ‘Tales of Hearts’ from Bandai Namco. Inside there are details on the two different versions of the game that will be made available and more.

Some new information and screenshots have emerged from Japan. According to Hideo Baba, the producer of the new Tales game, has stated that Taes of Hearts will be developed by a brand new team within Namco’s Tales Studios, one that is made up of members from both the Symphonia team and the PlayStation 2 Destiny remake group. It would also appear that this is no quick turnaround project, with the game actually starting its development process way back in Winter 2006, with the release date set for Winter 2008. It certainly sounds like this is definitely the flagship entry into the series, whereas Tales of the Tempest was the black sheep of the family (developed by Dimps) and Tales of Innocence was the game that tried to win fans back (Alfa System - the guys behind Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology on PSP). That would definitely explain why Bandai Namco has such high expectations for Tales of Hearts. Tales of Innocence managed to surpass its project 200,000 sales with much more ease than people expected after the disastrous sales performance of Tempest, but Bandai Namco is hoping to sell at least 400,000 units of this latest entry. With no competition from a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest remake like last year, sales could indeed be much higher, unless Chrono Trigger DS’s release at the end of November steals some of its shine.

Check out the new screens from the game below:

Below are comparison trailers as well, showing the differences between the anime and CG versions that will be released. The anime version is overseen by Production I.G (of whom also assisted with Wario Land Wii), whilst the CG edition has been worked on by a company called Shirogumi:

The has now also been confirmed as launching on 11th December in Japan for the steep price of 6650Yen (~£34). It will come in two special bundle flavours: the CG edition will have a pre-order bonus of a “visual and original soundtrack DVD”, whilst the animation edition will come with its own pre-order bonus in the form of a “dramatic DVD” to entice fans to buy both editions. But would that be enough to make you want to be buy versions? And do you think that it will be a case of third time lucky for DS owners and that Bandai Namco will make the effort to release Tales of Hearts in the West, unlike with Tales of the Tempest and the fantastic Tales of Innocence?

Be sure to air your thoughts as usual by posting below and stick around for further updates here on Nintendic…