Spotted: Clover Studio's next game

Today in Tokyo, Clover Studios held a press conference to commemorate the upcoming launch of its groundbreaking action game Okami.

While the game hits shelves in Japan on April 20, the real news from the Okami event was about Clover's next project. The press event gave producer Atsushi Inaba and director Hideki Kamiya an opportunity to discuss the game's long development process--as well as officially announce their newest game, God Hand.

After discussing Okami's graphical evolution and the extensive fine-tuning process to achieve the right level of difficulty, the developers gave the attending press a brief preview of their newest game, God Hand, according to a Dengeki Online report and Capcom Japan's Web site.

This will be the second completely new property developed by Clover Studios since Capcom set up the independent development house in 2004.

Though the designers declined to provide details about the game, Inaba and Kamiya showed footage that seems to prove that God Hand will be a fighting game--though Clover Studios describes the game's genre as "god action."

The studio has slated God Hand for a 2006 release and promises more information at E3. In the meantime, the game's Japanese teaser site provides some insight into the game's design.