At a strategy conference held in Tokyo today, Tecmo announced the newest addition to its popular monster-raising RPG series Monster Farm and its first PC-based online RPG. Titled Monster Farm 5: Circus Caravan, the former will be produced by Yoshimi Yasuda, a member of Tecmo's board of directors. Monster Farm 5 will not only feature a new visual style, but also a stronger fantasy feeling and an emphasis on the characters. With this new approach, the company is not only aiming at series veterans, but also at RPG and fantasy fans. According to Yasuda the three keywords of the game will be "a story begins with love", "a circus show that invites to dream" and "travelling means becoming closer friends with you". As those keywords suggest, a circus group will be at the center of the game's story and the protagonist will be called Jurio. In addition to well-known monsters, Tecmo also revealed the appearance of Toro in the game. The cute, white fellow is the mascot of Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan, and has starred in the company's popular Doko demo issho series. Makoto Isomine of Sony Computer Entertainment's first production team was at hand to introduce Toro.

Monster Farm 5: Circus Caravan will be available in Japan sometime this year.

Bastard!! Online is a MMORPG based on the popular manga series Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaigami. The game is Tecmo's first forray into the market of PC-based online games.

Bastard!! Online will be released in Japan sometime next year.

• Famitsu