Project Rub sequel revealed

Following hints last week of a sequel to DS launch title Project Rub (known as Feel the Magic: XY-XX in the States), a certain weekly Japanese games magazine has confirmed and previewed it in some detail.

Called "Where Do Babies Come From?", it works in much the same way as its predecessor but has a slightly different set-up. This time, the star-crossed lovers at the centre of the story aren't being pursued by a spiky-haired oaf with a secret base surrounded by cats, but instead by a young girl who's desperately in love with the guy and wants them to be together. Aww. By any means possible. Ahh. As before, the drama is played out in a number of stylus or microphone-controlled mini-games.

Retaining the unique presentation of the original - with silhouetted characters and story-telling in comic-style cels split across the two DS screens - the new game follows the progress of the main couple's blossoming romance and the jealous youngster's feverish attempts to derail it.

There will be twice as many mini-game scenarios as before, which is good news for those who felt the original was a trifle short, and the Japanese preview suggests they're just as peculiar as ever. One example has the bloke rescuing his lover from a snowstorm, carrying her to a cabin and then disinfecting her cuts with a cotton swab controlled by the stylus. Another apparently involves racing downriver chased by alligators.

According to the report, it's due out in Japan on October 20th, and we'd expect it to appear in the US and Europe within a few months of that. The original was entertaining enough, so we'll keep an eye out - although we'd advise anybody doing likewise to remember that the game's views on how to woo the ladies are... eccentric. Women prefer simple pleasures. Not in a patronising way, you understand; just in the sense that they don't like being hunted down by raging bulls or attacked by bees. Anyway, enough relationship advice. New game. Out soon. Interesting. NEEEEEXT!