What do we know of RPGs? They have long gameplay times, actual storylines, and of course, they're quite addicting. So what happens when you get an already engaging formula and port it to a handheld? Marriage made in heaven.

Rich Amtower, an associate localization producer talks about on three DS RPGs: Children of Mana, Magical Starsign, and Final Fantasy III - all from Square Enix. He discusses the advantages of having an RPG on the DS, as you can take the adventure with you wherever you go. Plus, it's perfect for both hardcore and casual gamers.

Well, would you agree with him? Let us know.

Square Enix has released the packshot for their RPG DS title, Children of Mana. This one right here's for the PAL region. Yup, you guys in Europe don't have to wait much longer.

Slated for release on January 12th, the European release is to be the last stop for the game. Already welcomed in Japan, North America and Australia, Children of Mana for the DS is described as a dungeon crawler, where areas are reached by selecting them on the map using Flammie.

Supporting multiplayer capabilities, the game can support up to four players at once, so enjoying it with your friends ought to be no problem. That's just 11 days to go, guys!

The end of the month is coming up, and while you guys will be out there running around trick-or-treating, we thought we'd tickle your gaming sweet tooth by giving you a compilation list of the games coming out for the next few days. Once again, save
yourself the trouble of sweating out a long walk to you local retail store, and enjoy our Halloween treat for  'ya.

And while there's a lot of games to look forward to, we'll have to honestly say that our top picks would have to be The Sims 2: Pets (Sickeningly cute animals, go figure), and FEAR (This one just for this holiday's sake).

Nintendo DS

• 10/30/06 Children of Mana
• 10/30/06 Pokemon Ranger
• 10/31/06 Konductra
• 10/31/06 Nacho Libre
• 10/31/06 The Sims 2: Pets
• 10/31/06 Tom and Jerry Tales
• 10/31/06 Scurge: Hive
• 11/01/06 Chicken Little: Ace in Action

See the full list after the jump!

It just keeps getting better for the DS this year. First, DS games got three nominations for the Golden Joystick Game Of the Year 2006, and then it topped the Japanese charts with a variety of it's games. Now this: Nintendo has today announced that two RPG titles, Magical Starsign and Children of Mana, will be making their way to the DS in October and November.

Magical Starsign, which will be released on October 25, takes the traditional magic and fantasy elements of role-playing games into space. You get to be a student from a magical academy heading into space in order to find a missing teacher. Like with most RPGs, players gain experience and power. This time, they do so by using the system’s touch screen to choose attacks and targets, although the student part of the game is what makes it unique.

The next game you will see hit the shelves soon, this time on November 1, is Children of Mana. This game follows the story of a band of heroes who try to keep the magic of the Mana Tree from being corrupted by evil. Again, you will have to customize your player with new spells and abilities, creating a better character for fighting the baddies.

You'll be happy to hear that both games will contain multiplayer elements to let you and your friends face off against each other or cooperate in battle. Children of Mana comes directly from RPG legends Square Enix, which pretty much says 'this will be a quality RPG title'.

Kouichi Ishii, Senior Vice President of Square Enix, recently met with the press to talk about Square Enix's new title for the NDS, Children of Mana.

A particular feature of this "good feeling" 2D game that Square Enix is particularly proud of is the multiplayer mode.  Four players, lots of quests, coop play, and random dungeons, all using the wireless DS connection.

In a display of marketing savvy, when asked the question why the game doesn't take advantage of WiFi, Ishii said that he wanted the game to go back to Secret of Mana and create a space where people would play with close friends and siblings in the same area, instead of being distanced from each other and play with strangers. "Good feeling" indeed.

Hopefully, the increase in re-playability generated by the random dungeons will make up for the lack of WiFi. The game will feature a branching story line, with side quests that break off from the main story every now and then. It also features powerup items that supposedly introduce customization and complexity to the Mana series.

The Square Enix Senior VP says that for Children of Mana, they focused on a "pinball" effect in the battles where the enemies bounce around the terrain (and sometimes back at the player) when hit hard by the gamers. This should allow for devastating combos, and at the same time give you strategic challenges as there are moments when bouncing might not be so good.

In regards to a possible "Wii move" for the Mana series, Ishii says that he feels that there is a "great amount of possibility" for the development of a Mana game on the Wii. As for the future of the Mana  titles, Ishii states that he's a big fan of RTS games and that the stylus of the DS is perfect for that genre. He says that he wants to bring people back to a strategy based mode of gaming and at the same time bring in elements that he feels are missing from current games.

The game has been on Japanese store shelves since march, and according to Ishii, there won't be any major differences in the North American release at the end of this month.

Buy: [Children of Mana]

In a press conference held today, Square Enix Senior Executive Kouichi Ishi talked about the upcoming Mana adventure to Nintendo's handheld, Children of Mana. In the said briefing, he focused on the game's multiplayer feature and its possible appearance in Wii.

The executive cleared that despite letting players connect wirelessly DS-to-DS, the game will not be using the on-line WiFi function. "Children of Mana is meant to be played among friends and family instead of with strangers online," shares Ishi.

Furthermore, the battles in the multiplayer mode contain second-to-second decisions in randomly generated dungeons. These dungeons are only applicable in battle mode and won't be part of the story element of the game.

As of now, Square Enix has not yet finalized their lineup for Wii's Virtual Console. The Senior Executive however assured fans that an independent Mana title has currently been given a lot of serious thought. Regarding the Wii version of the game, "If the fans want it then we will consider it," Ishi just quipped.

Children of Mana already saw release in Japan earlier this year and is about to hit US shores at the end of this month.

Square Enix has finally opened up the teaser site for The World of Mana. Also called the Seiken Densetsu series, there are four titles included in The World of Mana series: Dawn of Mana, Final Fantasy Adventure, and the two DS titles Children of Mana and Heroes of Mana. You can check them out at the teaser site, where Square Enix gives you the latest updates for the story, characters, staff, voice actors, specs, and sounds on the four titles.

The site will also give you a glimpse of the goodies on the Comic, Trailer, Downloads, Goods, and Mobile section. For example, in the Mobile Section, you get a quick overview of the story, characters (hero and heroine), and the techniques and weapon use in the gameplay using your mobile phone.

Of course, you have to check out the Heroes of Mana section in the site since it's the latest DS installment in the four titles.

Though the site displays only in Japanese, the unraveling of The World of Mana in Flash videos is enough to make your mouth water. Take a quick peek by clicking the link below to find out what's in store for you!

Famitsu, the Japanese video gaming bible, brings us this piece of good news. The magazine confirmed that Square Enix is bringing the real time strategy and RPG Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana to your DS. That is according to the German website Gamefront.

Other information reported by the website included the fact that game character designs will be done by Ryoma Ito (FF: Tactics Advance) and Akira Oguo (FFX). The main scenario/plot will be devised by Mastato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Seiken Denetsu 4) will do the main scenario and plot while music will be composed by Yoko Shimumura (Mana, Parasite Eve).

On top of the project is producer Koichi Ishii. According to buzz, Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana will take place 15 years before Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES).

Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana will the next in franchise to appear on the DS after Children of Mana.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites employees to take questions from the campers. Even Reggie Fils-Aime, who is now the president of Nintendo of America, has been a featured presenter! This year, the first chat has finished up and we have a full transcript for you.

Kent Miller is the Senior Online Producer for Nintendo of America. As someone who works on many of Nintendo's websites, he is currently working on the sites for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Elite Beat Agents, Yoshi's Island 2 and Children of Mana. As expected, he talked about every one of those games. I'd say the most intriguing tidbit was when he revealed that a demo of Elite Beat Agents would be hitting DS Download Stations! As a camper, I was able to get a complete transcript of what was said in the chat. I'll try and get the upcoming chat transcripts as well.

Remember that these are all questions asked by the campers at Camp Hyrule. Some may be pointless, but others reveal more about some interesting games. Also, since it's a live chat, some typos have been made by the chatters!

Click "Full Story" for the complete transcript.

Name: Children of Mana
Format: Nintendo DS™
Launch Date: Q4 2006
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Action Role-Playing Game
Players: 1-4
Developer: SQUARE ENIX

In Children of Mana you will be playing the role of a young hero who must fight to protect the Mana Tree from those who want to use it for evil. You can play the game solo or with up to four other players in wireless co-op multiplayer. There will be hundreds of "gems" to collect that you can use to customize your skills.

Download [Children of Mana E3 06 Trailer]