Studio Ghibli’s DS game, Ni No Kuni, not coming to the West.

But it's not the game itself that's stopping it - two guesses as to what it is...

Quite possibly the most depressing news to come out of today – the much awaited and revered collaboration between developers Level-5 and animation group Studio Ghibli, Ni No Kuni, will not be coming to the west any time soon. In an interview with AndriaSang, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has said that the main reason is quite a big one – the “Magic Master” spell book that comes bundled with the game will prevent the game from being released and localised for overseas distribution.

Blame this.

We should note that the PS3 version, which is being localised, is using a digital version of the Magic Master book, and as such it doesn’t face the same problems – could cartridge size be holding Level-5 back?

Either way, it’s nice to speculate, but it’s a huge shame we won’t be seeing Ni No Kuni on our DS consoles any time soon. Were you looking forward to Ni No Kuni? Do your plans change with this announcement – will you buy the PS3 version instead or just import it?

James Mitchell

Avid gamer since I was as young as three years old when I received my first NES. Currently studying full time and consider myself a balanced gamer. Enjoy games on all systems, from all genres, on all platforms. Sometimes feels like he's too optimistic for this industry.