GDC 07: Elite Beat Agents to groove again

SAN FRANCISCO--iNiS Corporation, creators of quirky rhythm game Elite Beat Agents, is currently working on a sequel to the game's original Japanese version, titled Moero! Nekkestsu Rhythm Damashi - Osu! Tatakae Ouendan 2.

"Yeah, it's a long title," laughed Yano, as he made the announcement during his talk on the creative process behind the original Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS. "It basically translates to Burn Hot-Blooded Rhythm Soul!, so we basically took all of the best words from our [other] games."

The upcoming game will have new features, and a couple of the characters have been revamped, Yano revealed. He said, "We worked really hard. We tried to fix a lot of the things that people blogged about, and there are more features for the hardcore audience, so look forward to that."

Yano showed some characters and screens from the new game and revealed that this time round, the original team of agents would not be the only ones. "The Ouendan are going to be faced with a little bit of a new challenge. There will be a rival Ouendan." Players would also play the rival gang, along with others, Yano said cryptically.

Yano wouldn't comment on when (or if) the game was likely to find its way to the West, except to say of the localization process, "I hope we can do a better job next time." He also wouldn't be drawn to comment on whether the new game would take advantage of the DS online play and microphone.