Square Enix Japan Brings Cult Puzzler Yosumin. to Xbox Live Arcade

Square Enix Japan officially announced their entry into the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace earlier this week, beginning with a port of Crystal Defenders from Japanese cellphones. The company’s second DLC offering has been revealed as a remake of its cult-hit Nintendo DS puzzler Yosumin., and will be released some time in Spring as Yosumin. Live.

The pop-happy, candy-colored Yosumin. sported one of those so-simple-it’s-genius Japanese puzzle game concepts: Visually scan the board for two tiles of the same color on a diagonal line, then select the pair to turn all tiles between them the same color. The further like-colored tiles are apart, the more points earned. Hugely addictive for single-player gameplay versus the clock, but the version of Yosumin. coming to XBLA will reportedly feature competitive multiplayer as well.

Perhaps more intriguing than Yosumin. itself is a line in Microsoft Japan’s press release (translated from the Japanese): "Beginning with these two games, Square Enix plans to release a steady stream of its popular titles -- as well as original content -- on Xbox LIVE Arcade". Does this mean more mobile ports are coming? Final Fantasy IV: The After, or the recent remake of SaGa 1, perhaps? Time will tell.