Every now and then, something comes along that makes even a mega-geek like me clench my fists and snarl “NEERRRRRDDDS!” Atlus’s Catherine is one such item. The game’s announcement made a splash at TGS last year for its weird, erotic trailers and out-of-left-field action/puzzle gameplay. The collective “WTF?” was quickly followed by excitement and then disappointment as Americans saw no planned release for North America. No surprise there, this weirdness is the kind that rarely ventures outside of its native Japan.

Yankees, Canucks…commence salivating like I know you do for anime babes. Atlus has confirmed a U.S. release for Catherine in Summer ’11 (via The Escapist), for PS3 and Xbox 360. Honestly, I applaud Atlus for the potentially-risky move of bringing an unconventional sort of title stateside, and I’m interested to see if it delivers on its mind-trip thriller promise. The U.S. of A. unfortunately has a reputation of being a poor market for goofy/sexy games.