Though I'm not quite the Nipponophile that my job might suggest, I utterly love Atlus' Persona series. Proof? This review. And this one. And this other one. This one too.

So when I heard that Atlus was joining forces with the people behind Guilty Gear to make a 2D fighter based on the Persona cast, I was ecstatic. Until I read the fine print and found that the game was only scheduled for release in Japan.

Well, as of a few moments ago, that's changed. Persona 4 Arena will hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sometime this Summer.

Hit the jump for choice details from the official press release.

Developed in partnership with genre master Arc System Works, Persona 4 Arena uses gorgeous, hand-drawn, high definition 2D anime-style fighters and colorful, over-the-top special effects to bring to life characters from the acclaimed, highly popular Persona 3 and Persona 4. Backed up by an original, hardcore fighting engine from one of the most respected 2D fighting game developers in the industry, Persona 4 Arena represents the biggest, most noteworthy expansion of the esteemed series to date.

"The Persona series has had tremendous success in North America, and Persona 4 in particular opened the series up to wider audiences than ever before," said Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at ATLUS. "Now we're looking to expand Persona even further by teaming up with a very strong partner, Arc System Works, to move the franchise outside of the RPG genre and develop its potential in new and exciting ways."

As for why you should also be excited for this thing, here, have a couple trailers in a language you likely don't understand: