Gamertell

I think we’re at something like 35 DS pet games now, but who’s counting. A press release from Empire Interactive reveals that it will be bringing Animal Paradise to North American Nintendo DS owners. I guess representatives from the company walked into a GameStop, looked at the DS game wall and decided that there’d be plenty of room for one more pet title.

There’s an interesting twist here, for those who care enough to look. Empire Interactive says that the game will feature Yoneo Morita’s Hana Deka pictures and 18 different pets. There was a Japanese DS game with these features called Hana Deka Club: Animal Paradise. You’re probably thinking it is no big deal - so another Japanese game is being translated and localized. Except O3 Entertainment is already reportedly localizing and releasing this game in North America according to Gamefaqs - as Pocket Pets. Pocket Pets was supposed to be out December 4, 2007, but retail sites like Amazon and Wal-Mart are listing it as a pre-order item that should be available in June.

Perhaps Hana Deka Club: Animal Paradise is just so good, it needs to be released twice, and under two different titles. We here at Gamertell will look into it and let you know what’s going on. Empire Interactive’s NA release date for Animal Paradise is still classified as TBA. (It released the European version of the game on November 16, 2007.) If you can not wait to play with 18 different virtual pets and see cute images of real animals on your DS, then head to Amazon and pre-order a copy of Pocket Pets - supposedly available June 17, 2008 at Amazon for $29.99. Yay! Free Super Saver shipping!

UPDATE (May 21, 2008): Gamertell has just learned from an Empire Interactive representative that Empire Interactive has received the right to publish Hana Deka Club: Animal Paradise as Animal Paradise in North America from Agatsuma Entertainment, the Japanese developer and publisher of the original game.

Read [MSNBC] Product Page [Amazon]