Namco has opened the official websites for Tales of Rebirth and Tales of Symphonia for PlayStation 2. Tales of Destiny character designer Mutsumi Inomata will return as Tales of Rebirth's character designer. The site also revealed some more information on the game's main character, Veigue Lungberg. The 18-year old human boy, who is living in a chilly but beautiful northern village, has been an orphan since early childhood and is living with the family of his long-time friend Claire. However following an incident one year ago, Veigue has shut his heart and stopped talking to other people. Hence people assume the young man is cold, whereas in reality he is anything but. Still, he did not think about going on adventures until he and his hometown came under attack.

As far as Tales of Symphonia is concerned, less new information was available. The official website however mentioned that the PlayStation 2 version will be more than just a simple port of last year's original GameCube release.

Tales of Symphonia for PlayStation 2 is heading for a release sometime this year. Tales of Rebirth has yet to receive an official release date.

• Tales Channel