This morning, I found out that one of my short stories, “Sand,” has been accepted for publication at the Mad Scientist Journal. While I was still bouncing around the room in excitement, I decided to get a little freelance writing done and write a news article on Dragon Age: Inquisition’s release date, when something else caught my eye.

It said “Ace Attorney” and “new” and “unveiled,” and after that, everything else kind of faded away.

As my loving discussion of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies suggested, I really love the Ace Attorney series. So if it seems ridiculous that details about a video game overwhelmed me more than one of my own stories being published, keep in mind that these were just details about some game–they were details about a new Ace Attorney game.

Famitsu, a Japanese magazine, provided new details on the Ace Attorney project being worked on by Shu Takumi–which isn’t to be confused with the Ace Attorney project being worked on by the Dual Destinies/Investigations team, which means we have TWO new Ace Attorney games in our future. …Or at least, in Japan’s future, but with any luck, they’ll localize them.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban, or Big Turnabout Trial, is set in the Meiji era of Japan’s history, and stars a character who seems to be an ancestor of series protagonist Phoenix Wright. The Meiji era lasted from 1868-1912, and it sounds as though the historical context will be important to the game. Since previous Ace Attorney games have been localized for the USA in such a way as to pretend they’re set in California (or Japanifornia, as some fans say), I’m not sure whether they’ll want to do something similar here. Really, what harm is there in having Phoenix’s ancestor living in Japan?

You know, when I first heard the news, I was a little uncertain. I mean, if it’s set in the past, that means I won’t get to see any of my favorite characters. It’ll all be different. Will I still like it? Then I remembered three things:

Turns out a convict prosecutor is just about the best thing ever.

1. It’s Ace Attorney.
2. It’s Shu Takumi.
3. I was uncertain when I first heard that Dual Destinies had a convict prosecutor, and we know how THAT turned out.

So… I’m excited.

Very excited.

Did you see Phoenix’s ancestor?? He looks awesome! And he’s carrying a sword! (I have a slight suspicion that Capcom’s real goal is to continually add to the list of characters more suited for a fighting game than Phoenix Wright.)

Now, my only concern for this game is that it won’t be localized. But hey, until the day Capcom says it won’t be localized, I’ll remain optimistic that it will be–and do my best to make sure they realize how much we want this game!

And Gyakuten Kenji 2, also known as Investigations 2. I’ll spend all of E3 waiting for news of its localization. It stars my favorite character, has a showdown I just have to see (if you’ve played the first game, it’s those two facing off in that disastrous case), and includes a returning character who… well… if you’ve played Justice for All, yes, he returns.

(If you’ve played the first two games, and you have no idea what I mean by those two hints, ask and I’ll tell you.)

But let’s not forget what else we have to look forward to!

The future looks bright.

Join me, and let’s make sure Capcom knows these are all games they should bring to the West!

UPDATE: Dai Gyakuten Saiban now has its first official trailer. Go here for a subtitled version.