Xseed had two post E3 reveals: one for Wii and one for DS. The Wii announcement turned out to be Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces. The DS one is RIZ-ZOAWD, originally handled in Japan by D3 Publisher. Xseed officially announced they partnered with D3 Publisher to acquire the North American publishing rights.
Since the game is based on the Wizard of Oz story, it isn’t surprising that Xseed have chosen the title “The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road” for the localized release. Dorothy’s movement in The Wizard of Oz is controlled with a virtual trackball and the turn-based battles take place from a first-person perspective. Read our impressions of the Japanese release to hear more about how this works.
Warner Brothers is involved in the North American release, but it’s unclear what impact they will have on the game. They might just be licensing out The Wizard of Oz name.
The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is scheduled for a fall release. Amazon and Gamefly list get more specific with September 29 and 30 dates, respectively.
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