New Bandai games announced

Bandai has announced plans to publish two new titles for Sony's big black box and shiny little handheld.

First up is Legend of Heroes for PSP, a turn-based RPG that offers more than 50 hours of gameplay, apparently.

Known as Eiyuu Densetsu Gagharv Trilogy: Akai Shizuku (Legend of Heroes: Crimson Tears) in Japan, the game is being developed by Nihon Falcom - the same studio behind the Ys, Brandish and Sorcerian series. We're promised that while it'll remain faithful to the console games, newcomers to the series will find it easy to pick-up-and play.

There will be more than 100 characters to interact with, all designed by ex-Falcom artist Minako Iwasaki who's redrawn them especially for the PSP game.

The PS2 title is an as yet unnamed mech combat RPG "featuring an original storyline and characters set in a massive alternative world of the future."

It follows the adventures of a young boy who is left orphaned and friendless after a mysterious army of machines appears from nowhere and wreaks havoc across the world.

Our hero somehow winds up in charge of a team of rebel pilots and must journey via air, land and sea as he strives to sort out the evil machines and make everything all right again, meeting allies, dealing with rivals and collecting lots of useful items along the way.

There are 200 parts and weapons to customise your machines with, and you can turn them into specialised units or design "agile melee combat machines for an intriguing one-of-a-kind gameplay experience." The main character has been designed by Akira Yasuda, best known for his work on the Street Fighter series.

Legend of Heroes is due out in the US this September, with the mech combat game following in winter - we'll let you know as soon as there's news of a European release schedule.