RPGamer has good news and bad news for Ar tonelico fans. The bad news is that the North American release date for Ar tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalicia has been pushed back to January 2009. The good news is that RPGamers can entertain themselves with an Ar tonelico 2 "Girls Gone Towel" contest while they wait.

Beginning today, October 27, 2008, an Ar tonelico 2 banner will go up on RPGamer.com. Clicking on the banner will take participants to the "Ar tonelico 2 Girls Gone Towel" contest page. If the participant is able to answer some Ar tonelico 2 trivia, he/she will be entered into a random drawing to win an Ar tonelico 2 bath towel imprinted with the image of two characters from the game (the NSFW-ish image can be viewed here). Anyone eager to enter the contest should visit the Ar tonelico 2 website to brush up on some Ar tonelico 2 character knowledge, since the trivia will be character-based. There will be 100 total winners, and the contest will end on December 31.

NISA, the North American publisher of Ar tonelico 2 and the sponsor of this contest, has said it is planning even more Ar tonelico 2 contests for the future, so fans should keep an eye on the Ar tonelico 2 website and on RPGamer.com. Ar tonelico enthusiasts may also want to consider pre-ordering Ar tonelico 2 from RosenQueen.com to receive 12 exclusive art booklet pages and a limited edition soundtrack, which includes 31 songs not found on the regular soundtrack included with the game.