This will probably not come as a shock, but it looks like Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will be coming to North America. The PSP spinoff in the Square Enix/Disney action-RPG series is due out in Japan in January 2010, but actor Jesse McCartney tweeted that he would be once again providing voice work for the series, in what can only be assumed is a localization of the game. A quick Wikipedia search reminded me that McCartney is the douchey tween idol responsible for the infuriatingly annoying song “Beautiful Soul”, and also voiced Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days.

To tell you the truth, I already thought this game was coming to North America, and though I wish I could get excited about it, I’m still peeved that Square Enix has made no progress on Kingdom Hearts III yet, despite KHII being well over three years old. At this rate, the next true installment in the franchise may not even be out in the PS3’s lifetime, and instead we’ll have to settle for handheld spinoffs starring Roxas and some guy who looks exactly like Roxas (his name is Ventus, incidentally, and may be the Birth By Sleep character McCartney is voicing). Looking at past release dates for the series, this could be on store shelves in North America by next summer. If that is the case, then yes, I will probably be picking it up. I skipped out on 358/2 Days, and it’s been way too long since I’ve gotten a Kingdom Hearts fix.

Seriously though, Squenix. Kingdom Hearts III. Get on it.

[Source]