Written by contributing author John Rios

The Professor Layton series on the Nintendo DS is a big deal in Japan, and has been making headway here in the States. The recent release in the popular puzzle adventure series, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, is the third Layton title to make it to the US. Japan has four Layton games in total, and is already working on a fifth entry, for the Nintendo 3DS. Add the animated movie released in 2009, and it seems that developers Level-5 have found pay dirt with this franchise.

OBJECTION! The catch phrase of everyone’s favorite Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright. This Capcom-bred franchise is also very near to superstar status, selling like hotcakes in gaming markets across the globe. If Gameboy Advance games are being ported to the Nintendo Wii, DS and iPhone, there is a certain charm and profitability to be found in said games. The Ace Attorney series currently has five titles in the books, with more to come in 2011.

As Capcom seems to have a penchant for co-developing quality crossovers, it was only a matter of time before these two worlds would collide. Last night, the trailer for a collaboration of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 magnitude hit the internet. Level- 5 and Capcom will be crossing popular franchises, under the working title Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney. The trailer doesn’t show much aside from some great animation and what platform it’s being developed for, Nintendo 3DS.

A lot of questions can be raised pertaining to this near perfect mash-up. How did a modern day lawyer end up in medieval England?  Will the gameplay follow the puzzle dynamic of the Layton series, or Ace Attorney’s visual novel and detective format? Will the 3DS’ 3D function play a crucial role?

As a fan of both series’ I’m intrigued and excited to learn more about Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney. Be sure the watch the trailer and formulate your own thoughts. Got any interesting speculation on how this is going down? Share with us in the comments!

John is a technogeek with a gangsta edge. If it's new and cutting edge he probably already owns it; phones, computers, games, you name it. He is a school teacher by day, but a gamer for life.