The video's on the way, kids -- sit tight and check out the info.

The trailer for Xenosaga, the long-awaited secret project from Namco subsidiary Monolith Soft, was maybe a little low on game info, but it was crammed to the gills with strange references to the cult-favorite PlayStation RPG. Text flowed about a screen full of swirling colors while a lovely vocal theme played, and amid all the Japanese one could pick up all kinds of familiar terms: "Zohar," "DME," "Episode 1," "EPR," "20XX," "T.O.P.," "Nataraja," "U-TIC," the letter Omega, and much, much more. The "Episode 1" is the important part -- it indicates that this game is probably the first installment in producer Tetsuya Takahashi's conceived epic, of which Xenogears was episode...4? 5? Dammit, I'm in Tokyo and my copy of Xenogears Perfect Works is in San Francisco. Oh, well.

The strangeness ended with the main title and a movie-style display of staff information. The game's proper name is "Tetsuya Takahashi's Xenosaga" (Takahashi was the producer of Xenogears and is the head of Monolith Soft. The production design is led by Junya Ishigaki (also a Xenogears veteran), character designs are by Kunihiko Tanaka (ditto), and the music is composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (of Xenogears and Chrono Cross fame). Here's the complete list given:

Music Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda
Character Designer: Kunihiko Tanaka
Production Designer: Junya Ishigaki and Kouichi Mugitani and Takumi Sakura
Art Director: Yasuyuki Honne
Screenplay: Sei Sato
Programming Director: Toshiaki Yajima
Producer: Hirohide Sugiura
Executive Producer: Masaya Nakamura
Story and Director: Tetsuya Takahashi

Xenosaga will be officially debuted later this year -- Namco advertised an exhibition at Ebisu Garden Hall in Tokyo on July 8. Release information is not firm, but indications seem to be that the game will be released in 2001. In the meantime, keep an eye on the as-yet-unopened xenosaga.com (as well as monolithsoft.co.jp) for updates.

-- David Smith

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Xenosaga for Playstation2

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