The World Ends With You gets an iOS remake, sequel looks less likely

After posting a countdown hinting at a new The World Ends With You, the Square-Enix e-shop leaks details of an iOS remake.

So you spiked your hair up and died it a bright red. You got a sweet pair of new Skullcandy headphones that modded out the wazoo, and made about 300 custom buttons. You’ve been taking martial arts classes and practicing coating your hand in a variety of chemicals so you can safely set it on fire. You’ve covered your dog in a variety of colorful cardboard prosthetics and forced him to chase you. You’ve started ending sentences with “yo” an inordinate amount.

We get it. You’re excited about The World Ends With You 2. We all are. But come here and sit down. I have some bad news.

As reported by Andriasang on Friday, Square accidentally ruined its big teaser website surprise with a listing on its online store. In updating its soundtrack descriptions, The World Ends With You was suddenly listed as both a Nintendo DS and an iOS game. This is actually a never version of the game’s widely respected dubbed Subarashiki Kono Sekai Crossover (Subarashiki Kono Sekai is the Japanese name for TWEWY, which literally translates as It’s a Wonderful World.) The listing says that it includes the original soundtrack, remixes of those themes included in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, as well as new arrangements exclusive to the iOS version of the game.

As of this writing, Square has removed all references to the iOS version of the game, though the soundtrack and all its other features remain listed on the site.

This isn’t confirmation that the countdown timer on Square’s teaser “Subaseka” website is only ticking away to an iOS version reveal, but that’s more likely than anything else. In the past five years, Square has announced myriad re-releases via countdown teaser websites. Fans of the Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger were duped in 2008 when Square opened a teaser site featuring nothing but a countdown timer and select sounds from that game. The company then revealed a DS port of Chrono, that was later brought to iOS and Android.

A sequel is still possible, but unlikely. Why invest in new product when perfectly good old product can be converted for Apple’s popular devices?

The conversion process for TWEWY will be more complicated than most though. That game was very specifically designed for the DS. All the action is arranged on two screens, the bottom of which is controlled entirely with touch commands. The top screen however requires you to use the DS’ D-pad. Both the visual and control arrangements of TWEWY make it a very difficult game to imagine on iPad, let alone the 4-inch constraints of the iPhone.