Husdon Entertainment, publishers of such titles as Bomberman and Ys: Books I & II, have made a surprise announcement about an RPG coming to the Xbox 360. Far East of Eden: Ziria (known as Tengai Makyo: Ziria in Japan) will be released in North America after a successful launch in Japan.

None of the games in the Eden series have ever crossed the Pacific previously, as the games were popular during the life of the PC-Engine console line (better known as the Turbografx-16 and Turboduo to North Americans). While most gamers outside of Japan may have never heard of the series, it was quite popular in Japan with numerous sequels, an anime series, and other spin-offs.

Far East of Eden: Ziria has received an upgrade from two dimensions to three, with an art style more reminiscent of animation than near-perfect realism, which translates to a quick, consistent framerate and little to no load times in its current incarnation on the show floor; this may change once the game is released, however. With anime-inspired cutscenes and the original orchestrated soundtrack, developer Red Company was so intent on delivering a traditional experience that it even rehired the original Japanese voice talent to reprise their roles from the original game. Hudson said that including a Japanese-language track in addition to English voice acting was a possibility, but could not confirm that this would make it to the final version of the game.

What is not known is if Konami -- the company that owns Hudson -- will publish the game, or if Hudson will shoulder that responsibility. RPGamer will be sure to bring more news as it becomes available.