Five months ago we asked NIS America why its forthcoming turn-based strategy game, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, would make the next-gen leap to the PS3."It's simply because PS2 lacks the processing power and memory capacity to support Disgaea 3," commented marketing coordinator Jack Niida at the time, a response we didn't buy entirely back then and after pouring over the game in recent days we're even less convinced.

Not that the game isn't fun. The fact that this article is being penned at 4am after 9 hours spent playing and losing track of time should be a testament to Disgaea 3's addictive nature, a trait that the series has had in spades since its freshman effort.

Last year's Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia was one of the strangest titles we'd ever played from NIS America, and coming from a company that let us possess watering cans in Phantom Brave and do turn-based strategy as a side-scroller in GrimGrimoire, that's saying something. Offering equal parts role-playing and old school adventure, it was the included dating sim-style mechanics and the game's near-constant stream of sexual innuendo that gave Ar tonelico its unique, acquired tasted.

NIS America now drops word that it plans to release the sequel this December for the PS2. According to the publisher, this time around Ar tonelico 2 will challenge players by having them manage relationships between the game's sultry mechanical dolls known as Reyvateils, adding that "if their emotions are more closely synced, the stronger the magic becomes." We knew there was a reason to keep the PS2 around...magic lesbian robots.

[Thanks, Dennis]

The internet speculation switchboard lit up this weekend when a print ad for a trio of new Nintendo DS titles -- Disgaea DS, Rhapsody, and A Witch's Tale -- from NIS America in the August issue of Nintendo Power was found to show Nintendo's touchable handheld with noticeably wider screens. Some might even call these widescreens. But was this a simple Photoshop snafu, or an unintentional peek at Nintendo's E3 plot?

With Nintendo brushing aside the supposed leak as "purely rumour and speculation," we followed up with NIS America, the proverbial horse's mouth. "We placed screenshots on a DS backing to emphasize the platform, and edited them for effect," explained NISA marketing swami, Nao Zook. "These games are specifically for the current Nintendo DS, and as far as we know, there is no 'widescreen DS' in the works." She offered apologies for any confusion or elevated hopes the ad might have caused, adding, "we also agree that a widescreen DS would be really cool." We agree, almost as cool as being asked to purchase Nintendo's portable yet again ...

As soon as NIS America began showing signs of affection, albeit casual, for Nintendo's touchable portable, hopes began to rise for the company's popular turn-based strategy series Disgaea to make the leap to the small screen. Now, according to CVG (and a crack translation team at AkaYuki), the company's Japanese arm has revealed plans to bring the franchise to the Nintendo DS in the Land of the Rising Fun.

The report, pulled from the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, calls the game Disgaea: Prince of the Demon World. While little else has been revealed, the title alone suggests that the game stands a good chance of being a port of the original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, which centered on Laharl, the Prince of the game's demon-infested anime hell. If true, this would be disappointing, given that it would mark the third pass at the material following last year's remake for the PSP. Then again, maybe being able to physically touch co-star Etna will be enough to inspire another visit to the Netherworld.

With most of civilization abandoning the workplace in order to converge on local shopping malls for those last-minute gift ideas, the gaming world seems to have all but shut down. However, in between trips to Kohl's and Barnes & Noble we did manage to grapple with NIS America's marketing dynamic duo, namely Jack Niida and Nao Zook. While they kept eying the exit behind us, we asked them a number of questions, including the publisher's opinion on the aging PlayStation 2, as well as some specifics on NIS America's latest PS2 RPG, Mana Khemia ~Alchemists of Al-Revis~, which they both go into after the jump.

NIS America threw us a curve ball last month when it announced its intentions to make a name for itself as a gentler, more casual publisher, a stark contrast to the studio's decidedly niche role-playing roots. Thankfully, like a distant relative returning home for the holidays, the company has not forgotten where it comes from, as NIS has announced plans to bring yet another Japanese-style RPG to the PS2 early next year with Mana Khemia ~Alchemists of Al-Revis~.

Set for release on March 18, NIS describes the game as a "spiritual sequel" to the Gust-developed Atelier Iris series of strategy RPGs -- something of an unknown quantity here in the US despite it having garnered a considerable following in Japan since the late-90s. NIS also calls Mana Khemia a "campus sim style RPG" in which players play as both teachers and students in order to complete "academic quests." Reading this, we can't help but be reminded of last June's GrimGrimoire, also published by NIS and one of the best titles this year that nobody played, though honestly we're just thrilled knowing that we'll still having something new to look forward to playing on the never-say-die console well into the first quarter of 2008.

Our first thought when told of a new game from console strategy stalwart NIS America, the North American arm of Japan's Nippon Ichi, was of another fun yet grueling turn-based grind fest along the lines of Disgaea or Phantom Brave. Knowing that it's for the Nintendo DS only got us more excited, as we've been pining for one of these games to make the leap to Nintendo's touchable handheld for some time. Unfortunately, our hopes – and hearts – were broken when we ultimately learned that NIS's latest localization effort is a casual puzzler from Jaleco called Puchi Puchi Virus.

As the company's initial venture into the world of puzzle games, NIS notes that it is careful to distinguish its game from traditional block droppers and other "ordinary puzzle games," and describes Puchi Puchi Virus as having "a more intuitive system of object linkage." In this game, the object is to link together icons in triangular patterns in order to erase them and ultimately clear the screen, while simultaneously working to satisfy each stage's different victory conditions. In addition, this game looks to be the first of several casual games undertaken by the publisher, as NIS has also unveiled a cute, wing-laden version of its logo to symbolize this new push to court the ever-popular casual crowd.

This is fine. We can share you, NIS. But make no mistake if you begin to hang out too much with your new casual friends, and leave strategy enthusiasts sitting alone at the table staring at a cold dinner night after night, we're calling for an intervention.