That's the spirit!

Nnooo has made a name for itself on the downloadable Nintendo scene, with titles as varied as Pop+ Solo and myDiary, and now it's ready to show off the latest game in its line-up, the spirit-hunting DSiWare title Spirit Hunters Inc. Shadow/Light.

Using the DSi's camera to perform augmented reality actions, where in-game graphics merge with the real world, the first developer diary shows off the game's artificial intelligence along with its graphical technology. Nnooo head Nic Watt talks us through the game in this first video, so stay tuned for more on Spirit Hunters Inc. here and on the game's official website.

Nnooo release video footage of Spirit Hunters Inc and launch website.

Australian based games developer Nnooo have released the first in a series of developer video diaries showcasing their next game, Spirit Hunters Inc™, for Nintendo DSiWare™.

Spirit Hunters Inc is a role playing game in which the player hunts, battles and captures spirits which inhabit our physical world. The game uses the Nintendo DSi’s front facing camera to create an augmented reality, merging computer generated spirits with the player’s real environment where battles take place.

“We have worked really hard to create a great augmented reality system which will really engage the user and encourage them to explore their local environment”, said Nic Watt, Creative Director at Nnooo. When the player is battling these spirits on their Nintendo DSi, the augmented reality will give them a real feeling that the spirits actually exist in the physical world. This literally adds a new dimension to the RPG genre.”

The player is part of an international task-force called Spirit Hunters Inc which is charged with capturing mischievous spirits and sending them back to the spirit world. Players will have to hunt down these spirits and coax them out of their hiding places before doing battle with them through their Nintendo DSi. On capturing spirits, players will be rewarded with either experience points or in-game currency with which they will be able to level up, replenish health, buy useful spirit hunting items and traps and learn new battling abilities.

The game will be released in 2 versions, Light and Shadow. Both versions will have the same core spirits but each will contain a certain number of unique spirits to battle and capture.

“We have released video footage showing how the augmented reality and artificial intelligence works”, said Watt. “We will be providing more updates over the coming weeks featuring different parts of the game and gameplay. Go to the new Spirit Hunters Inc page on our website, www.spirithuntersinc.com and www.nnooo.com for the latest updates, videos, spirit portraits and screen shots.”

Spirit Hunters Inc is scheduled for release in the next few months.