Continuing to bridge the gap between gamers and those who create the games they play, the NAMCO dev team who is responsible for Culdcept SAGA invites you to some Xbox Live Game With Developers funnery. If you're up to it, log onto Xbox Live February 15th from 9:00PM - midnight eastern, shoot a friend request to one of the developers and be prepared to bring the pain. Cards will fly, hearts will be broken and someone will break down in tears ... Culdcept SAGA is not for the faint of heart.

Joystiq just posted an interview with Namco Bandai's Nobu Taguchi, the man in charge of the Culdcept Saga localization effort for North American audiences. For those unfamiliar with the title, the typical description is something along the lines of Magic: the Gathering meets Monopoly -- check out our hands-on for more info. Yeah, it's weird, but it's also strangely addicting and compelling. Joystiq talks with Taguchi about the differences between Culdcept Saga and the most recent PS2 entry in the series (Culdcept has been around since the 32-bit era), specifically what we can expect from the game's multiplayer component. We particularly like the ability to wager cards before battle. If Culdcept Saga sounds like your cup of tea, hit the "read" link to check out the interview.

By all accounts Omiya Soft's Culdcept franchise has no business being as fun as it is. An admittedly bizarre meshing of board and collectible card game antics, the resulting gameplay potpourri comes across as one big happy accident, but one that has endured since well before the Saturn was pushing up daises. With iterations released in Japan for Sega's final console pair as well as the original PlayStation, North American gamers got their first taste of this unique hybrid in 2003 when NEC released Culdcept for the PlayStation 2 to modest critical acclaim.

Since that time, however, the franchise has faded into obscurity, but will soon be given another chance, this time under the banner of Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360. Culdcept Saga, which has been available for some time in Japan, marks a decidedly different sort of experience for Xbox 360 owners, one usually associated with XBLA downloads rather than a full-on retail release, though even trepidatious players may find the $39.99 price difficult to pass up, especially those looking for something different to play during their FPS downtime.

In advance of the game's early February release we managed to corner Namco Bandai's Nobu Taguchi, who is spearheading Culdcept Saga's localization here in North America. Taguchi was more than willing to set us straight on a number of topics, from the title's multiplayer gameplay to changes made regarding how DLC will be handled...and more.

Check out the full interview after the jump.

Whenever someone tells us that they don't like video games, it's moments like this that we look back to. You may have noticed already, but, in case you haven't: There's a new demo on Xbox Live for Culdcept Saga. We started reading a hands-on over at our sister site Xbox 360 Fanboy. But we're going to be straight with you dear reader: We couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Honestly, we were about two minutes in before we started daydreaming about owning our own wallpaper store. We think we heard something about a board game mixed with a card game, we just can't be sure. Now, we know there are probably some of you out there who have already made a beeline to your 360 to start downloading, and that's great! It's a fantastic reminder that video games are an incredibly rich and diverse tapestry made of a nigh-infinite number of threads ... even if we'd rather spend eight hours in a carpet store than hear about some of them.

Culdcept Saga is, for lack of a better term, an interesting game. To describe it quickly, you really only need two words: Monopoly and Magic (as in Magic: The Gathering). Now that's oversimplifying it, but by now you're already either incredibly intrigued or thoroughly disgusted. For those of you in the first camp, please read on for a brief dissection of the new demo on Xbox Live Marketplace. The rest of you can either read on for your own edification or move on to something more pleasing.