We've got some hack-and-slash action straight from Ertain's upcoming PlayStation Portable video game, Warriors of the Lost Empire (or Lost Regnum in Japan). See the four different character types in action in a new gameplay video. Check it out after the jump!

 

After a long period of wondering when the game will hit Western shores, more details of Ertain's Warriors of the Lost Empire for the PSP (known as Lost Regnum in Japan) is now out, along with three new screenshots.

Mercury Games attained the European publishing rights for Warriors of the Lost Empire, a fantasy RPG. The game is set in a land built by the Emperor Hadrianus for his wife Antinos. But when the Emperor disappears into a temple, people fled the land and things generally go downhill from there.

To investigate the mystery behind the lost empire, players can choose from any of the following characters: High Lander, Amazoness, Gladiator or Dark Searcher. Each of the characters feature full character and weapon customization.

To keep players occupied, there will be 150 collectible weapons in the game as well as a total of ten different dungeons to explore. Adding to the replay value is the Co-op mode between two players via WLAN connection.

Warriors of the Lost Empire will be released on September 14, with the suggested retail price of GBP 19.99 (US$ 40, or 24.99 Euros).

  

Ever dreamed of painting like Picasso? Van Gogh? Michelangelo? Maybe even Da Vinci. Well here's your chance. Introducing Paint by DS, a new "non-game" on the DS by Mercury Games and Ertain's series on the Nintendo DS.

This game explores a very young concept in gaming: non-violent and non-competitive. In fact, it aims to help the gamer relax. Using the stylus, the player mixes oil and water-based paints to emulate the colours and consistencies of real paint, then paints the colors unto the canvas. This game offers a palette of 15 colouring challenges with a dash of mini games based on the works of famous artists.

  

The developers created this game aimed for the DS owners who need to relax and tone down once in a while. Paint by DS is the first of their Zen series.

Limited editions will be sold with a paint set or a paint book.  It will be released in Europe this August 24, priced at £ 19.99 / € 24.99.  The US will Paint by DS themselves later this year.

Stress relief on your DS? Not a problem. Almost everything's possible on Nintendo's diminutive handheld, and now there's a portable version of the Aquarium Channel coming to the DS.

Mercury Games and Ertain BV just penned an agreement that will make more recreational DS non-games possible on North American shores this year. No nerve-wracking competitions or gameplay here, just the good ol' R & R. Nintendic revealed three titles slated for release: Paint Pleasure, Aquarium DS Real, and Calligraphy DS.

Paint Pleasure lets you replicate classical artworks with various mediums - watercolor, oil paint, coloring pencils (virtual, of course).

Aquarium DS Real is the aforementioned Aquarium simulation for the DS. Design your own fish tank, place rocks, plants or strange figurines. Aquarium customization and fish caring is very in-depth, even letting users change water temperature. Bored with the usual fish? Put a whale in your tank.

Calligraphy DS, the third of the three titles, is a calligraphy simulation using the stylus as brush. Now, this is where it gets tricky: it wasn't clear whether Calligraphy DS will feature Japanese or Western calligraphy.

The upcoming releases of more "casual non-games" will certainly add more depth to the Nintendo DS' library, offering more genre and choices for the incredibly varied DS crowd, broadening its appeal and not limiting the device to serious gaming. Tomo Ohno, COO of Ertain BV said:

Teaming up with Mercury Games is a great way to enter the Western market. We can develop our position alongside them and firmly establish our presence. The timing is great and we feel that we have the right mix of product, ambition and partner. We look forward to a great relationship.

Leo Zullo of Mercury Games concurs.

This is a great strategic step for Mercury Games. Japan has long been a source for innovative products. Now with Ertain, it is a great pleasure to be working with fun and expansive products that don’t necessarily follow a trend, but cater to a distinct market, and follow a great ethos.

It's been waaaaay back since out last update on Lost Regnum and even after its presence over at TGS 2006, we hadn't picked up any info on this PSP title, its existence lost to us (flame count on for the lousy pun). That is, until now.

Ertain just opened up the Lost regnum official site, and if you don't mind the horrid load time - Funny, considering the game's bragged-about fast load capability - the site treats you to a some nicely designed web pages, all obviously taken from the game's set designs.

Conan-esque backgrounds aside, the site also hosts links to important game-related topics, such as character profiles, maps, and screenshots. The entire site's in Japanese, so you'll either have to put up with the Engrish churned out by Babelfish, or pray that the US release pops up soon. Speaking of releases, this game's only slated for Japan in 2006, with no news on a U.S. release. For now, enjoy the source link, which zips you right to the site.

Lost Regnum by Ertain (makers of Boxer's Road 2) seems to be an action-packed, hack-and-slash, dungeon-crawler type of RPG. It doesn't seem like a title that would make it to store shelves outside of Japan, but as far as first impressions go, the game looks like it's set to be a very decent import.

The game is a mix of button-mashing joy, and RPG elements. You can either play solo in the story mode, or bring a friend along for a two-person dungeon crawl. Although the details on the character models are quite nice, the quality of the environments are a bit on the low side. Thick "fog" is used to cover up distant areas. The benefit, however, of having less-detailed environments is that the load times are instantaneous - a huge plus for an exploration game.

Here are a few screenshots of the game courtesy of IGN.

Check out more images after the jump (click on the Full Article link below).

Nothing says boxing better than pictures taken out of context from a Japanese promotional presscon for a boxing sim.  In this case, you are more than welcome to think of any appropriate (or otherwise) caption for the above picture. Just don't put in any swear words, and you'll be fine.

Seriously speaking though, Boxer's Road 2: The Real does look like a pretty accurate Japanese boxing sim, and it's great that Ertain and Grand Prix Games got to license more than a hundred boxers for the game, along with their respective gyms. You can make your own character or play as one of those licensed boxers as you fight your way to the top ranks. Of course, there's no word yet on how the game plays and whether we'll get to see Boxer's Road 2: The Real in Europe and America, but we can always hope.

At the very least, we can still keep our dreams of beating up complete strangers.

  

A very long time ago, we mentioned that Grand Prix Games and Ertain were planning to make a sequel to their 1996 boxing game Boxer's Road. Finally, there's something new to talk about it.

There's a Japanese trailer up for Boxer's Road 2: The Real that's finally out, and it looks like a cool game. You can't go wrong with realism, and in this case, you can choose between 139 real boxers and 79 actual gyms from Japan to start with. You can also make your own character from scratch.

The basics are simple. You're new to boxing and you're trying to get to the top and bring your home gym with you on the road to boxing glory. Not only do you have to train, you also get to mess with your diet to help make you an effective fighter. Even more fun is being able to play from a first person view, which seems to be implemented to some degree here (might want to call it 1.5-person view as you can see inside your hollow character).

In any case, we've got a trailer up for you to look at, courtesy of Gametrailers. Enjoy! And if you like what you see, you might want to know this: the game is dated for a September 28 release.

Download: [Boxer's Road 2: The Real - Japanese Trailer]