There's already been some rumblings in the past about a possible sequel to Atlus' Touch Detective, brought on by an update of the game's official Japanese website which featured Mackenzie, the game's heroine, peeking through theater curtains and saying, "I'll be back." Well, it seems Mackenzie's kept her word. Touch Detective's official Japanese Website has been updated again, and this time we're almost (but not quite) 100% sure that a sequel is in the works.

Now, why do we think this is so? Just check out the screenshot we took above. If that heavily-mutated giant corn man (a distant relative of the Jolly Green Giant, maybe?) doesn't scream sequel, we don't know what does. We'll certainly be keeping an eye on further developments regarding Touch Detective's possible sequel, so keep checking back here on QJ for updates.

That's right, this mystery whodunnit game from Atlus finally makes its way to store shelves as of October 24, so make sure to grab a copy!

Touch Detective is known as the game which could most probably fulfill those Sherlock Holmes fantasies of yours as it allows a player to conduct investigations in a, well, hands-on manner. Using the stylus, one can analyze, combine, disassemble, or conduct experiments on certain items in order to gain necessary evidence to help solve your case. Dubbed as "A love child between Alice in Wonderland and a Tim Burton film (or maybe it was Shel Silverstein...)", Touch Detective not only offers hours of puzzle and mystery-solving, but it also offers a whole cast of memorable characters, from the wide-eyed Mckenzie to her mushroom Investigation Assistant, Funghi.

In any case, we're also hoping to get a copy of this game soon, so that we can give it a go and see for ourselves whether these mysteries which the game offers would be enough to tickle our brain cells. In the meantime, we figured that it may also be a good idea to get a copy of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, so that after a successful investigation in Touch Detective, you can immediately move on to the trial of the culprit... not that the two games are related, though.

Atlus Software, the same guys responsible for Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, and Contact, is in for yet another warm welcome with their upcoming adventure game entitled Touch Detective.

Touch Detective is said to be the very first DS title to offer full stylus control of the handheld console while going about doing detective work and solving mysteries. The game won't make use of the console's wireless feature nor the microphone input, and will just focus solely on the stylus and touch screen feature.

Unlike most of the games coming out for the DS, Touch Detective is also an all-original IP, and is not based on any anime or manga series. However, Atlus Software may not be too surprised if someone decides to up and create a manga series based on the game because the character artwork looks a whole lotta fun AND creative. When asked to describe the game's artwork, Jamie Ortiz said, "It looks like a cross between a Tim Burton movie and a Jhonen Vasquez comic."

Sounds interesting, huh? Well, with this IGN interview, the game's American project lead, Jamie Ortiz, shares more about the game. He talked about the origin of the concept and idea for Touch Detective; where it came from and how it was shaped. The interview also tackles other features of the game, such as side quests, ranking system, how the evidence-gathering system works, and whether the game will have multiplayer or competitive modes.

Ortiz says that since you'll get to take on the role of a detective, how you handle the evidence you gather will play a huge part in the overall gameplay. And it won't be as easy as merely searching for them and picking them up; you'll have to get creative on how you combine, deconstruct, and analyze the items gathered as evidence in order to give you clues on how to solve the case.

The interview talks about this and tons more, including plans of porting the game to Wii (since Cooking Mama, Big BrainAcademy, and their other titles have made the jump). So if this has piqued your interest and you wanna learn more about Touch Detective, simply click on the read link below to read the full interview.

Currently being developed by BeeWorks, Touch Detective is slated for a U.S. release on October 24th.

Touch Detective touched a nerve. First time we saw this girl, we have to say she gave us the creeps. With those round, large, black eyes unceasingly staring, she reminds us of those Japanese horror movies where the ghost would just stare at the audience for a long time. Well, she seems to grow on a lot of people, including most of the QJ staff, hopefully she'll have the same effect on the others. Besides a creeped-out feeling, we sense that we've played something like this before.

The game reminds us of old Commodore 64 RPGs where the hero has to go through different places, get some items from the background, and put it together to create something new or use it in a particular event. They were called Point and Click games - point your arrow on the item or person, do a right mouse button click, and the character picks it up, or interacts with whoever it was clicked. Games like those were nice in the beginning but tends to get stale in the end.

This one has good Cartoon Network-like graphics, average game audio, and a funny yet mysterious script. The only thing we noticed was that there were times that the top screen was showing some info while there was something else happening in the second screen (maybe we just need to get used to it?). How'd we get all this info? From some videos of course.

Last time we showed you the game's box art and a lot of screenshots. This time we're offering you not one, nor two, but four in-game videos. Yeah! This will definitely give us a much better preview of the game, eh? Will this be as successful in the US as it was in Japan? We'll see in October once it ships out to our shores.

Download: [Touch Detective In-game Video]
Download: [Touch Detective In-game Video 2]
Download: [Touch Detective In-game Video 3]
Download: [Touch Detective In-game Video 4]

What you see above is the box art for Touch Detective, a game that's being brought over to our shores by the awesome people at Atlus. The game looks like it could be the next Phoenix Wright! It has a very unique art style and an interesting premise. As the name of the game implies, you'll be a detective who solves mysteries by using the touch screen.

Touch Detective should be released in October of this year. Look out for it because it'll likely be very rare, just like all Atlus titles. Hopefully, it'll be good enough to get us through the wait until  Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All!

The newest batch of screens for the Altus-published mystery adventure game has just arrived. Touch Detective, also known in Japan as Touch Detective Osawa Rina (Osawari Tantei Ozawa Rina), is a great video game that harnesses the power of the touch screen to solve mysteries. The English release is slated to be on October 10th this year.

The official site is already up and it contains "How to Play" feature, which tells how the game is played as explained by Jll (Sangyou), the Osawa family's butler. The other feature of the site is "Download", which contains wallpapers of Kinrui, Sangyou, and Rinkan. Here are the screenshots...hope you enjoy them:

More Touch Detective screens after the jump!

The guys over at Atlus USA have released the first batch of screenshots from the English version of Touch Detective. Known as Osawari Tantei in Japan, Touch Detective is a mystery adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Gameplay revolves around the touchscreen as you gather evidence and talk to witnesses to solve four bizarre cases.

These screens are from the first of the game's four episodes. Atlus USA says that they will release screens for episodes 2, 3, and 4 in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes on the QJ DS blog. We'll be posting those screens as soon as we get 'em.

The release date for Touch Detective is October 10, 2006. While we all wait for this quirky little title to become available, enjoy these screenshots.

More screens await after the jump!

See this girl on the left? Her name's Mackenzie. She may look like one of those ghosts in Asian horror films but I found myself loving her. I don't know why. And if you're feeling the same unexplainable attachment to her, you might want to pick up a copy of the game Touch Detective where she is featured.

Titled Osawari Tantei in Japan, Touch Detective revolves around Mackenzie's life after her father unexpectedly passed away. Inheriting the family business, a detective agency, she sets off to prove that she is worthy of being dubbed as the 'Touch Detective'. She is aided by a cheerful mushroom-man Funghi (and no, Funghi doesn't look anything like Mushroom of Mario's Mushroom Kingdom) and robotic servant Cromwell.

Sharing a publisher with Trauma Center: Under the Knife, this Nintendo DS game contains the same kind of innovative touch-screen gameplay. According to Project Leader of publisher Atlus U.S.A. Inc. Jamie Ortiz, “[Touch Detective] also has wonderfully unique character design, a great sense of humor, and a ton of challenging puzzles.”

There will be four bizarre cases you need to solve – including a stolen dream. Now how do you track something abstract? How can it be stolen in the first place?! Guess I have to wait till autumn when this game debuts to find out.