Sega of Japan has announced in the latest issue of Famitsu Weekly that they (Sonic Team?) are developing Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS, a new game in the Phantasy Star Online series. The RPG will be released in winter 2008 in Japan.
The game’s character designer is Toshiyuki Kubooka (of IdolMaster & Lunar fame); one of his creations is a huge dragon called Rayburn, with the scenario being written by Tooru Shiwasu (formerly in charge of the online quest on the original Phantasy Star Online) and Teru Arai (a mystery novels writer).
The up-to-four-player game features multiplayer over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The chat system supports the sending of stylus sketches (like Pictochat) and it’s said that you can blow into the DS microphone to send messages. Click the thumbnails below to see more screenshots and some artwork.
Translations from Japanese by Neogaf & Kotaku, scans by Wiieveryday