Nintendo Europe announced three DS and DSi surprises today, Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, Art Academy and Face Training. All three will be filling out the Fall 2010 release schedule overseas, with Art Academy launching first on August 6 is Last Window. Almost a month later, on September 17, Last Window debuts. Finally, the DSi-exclusive Face Training rounds out the pack with a September 24 release date.

The first game, Art Academy, is a collection of Japanese DSiWare games launched all together on one cartridge that will work with the DS or DSi. It features lots of art lessons, where you can learn how to draw and paint using the touch screen. You can then use the skills you learned in real life.

Last Window: The Secret of Cape West comes next, and is the one most gamers are probably excited about. It’s the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215 after all…

Good news for fans of the Nintendo and Cing adventure game / visual novel Hotel Dusk: Room 215 – a sequel is on the way. A Japanese blog has leaked the news that Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku, Last Window: Midnight Promise in English, is going to be released in Japan on January 14, 2010. Based on the informational image provided, it looks like it’s going to carry a Cero B (Ages 12+) rating.

Specific facts on Last Window haven’t been released, so we don’t know anything about the story or how it relates to Hotel Dusk. What we do know is that it will follow Hotel Dusk star Kyle Hyde as he conducts some kind of investigation in Los Angeles, California in the 1980′s. Since Hotel Dusk took place near Los Angeles in 1979, I think it’d be safe to think it’s a direct sequel to the first game.

A price is mentioned on the bottom of the informational image as well, but it’s nearly impossible to read. It could be ¥4,340, or ¥6,360. I just can’t tell. I’m going to guess ¥4,840, since that seems about right for a DS game…

Tecmo’s going to have a busy March. The company has announced it will be releasing two DS games in March, 2010 – Again and Monster Rancher DS. It’s a case of something old and something new. Again is a brand new release for both Japan and North America, while Monster Rancher DS was released in July 2007 as Kaite Shabette Hajimeyou! Monster Farm DS.

The Monster Rancher DS game allows players to raise and battle monsters. In the PlayStation entries in the series, people would use CDs and DVDs to create new monsters, and the Game Boy Color and Advance versions used passwords. Monster Rancher DS uses the GBA slot, touch screen and microphone to spawn new monsters. It also offers local and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer.

Again, formerly known as Again: Eye of Providence, is a an adventure game along the lines of Hotel Dusk and Trace Memory. It figures, because the Again developer, Cing, made both of those games. In it the detective has psychic abilities that allow him to see the past and discover evidence and crime scene clues…