Level-5 is rapidly rising up the ranks on the list of Japanese publishers.  With the multimillion selling Professor Laytone franchise proving to be a hit worldwide, and several of their other titles garnering critical acclaim in Japan, Level-5 is quickly replacing Square Enix as one of the most prominent Eastern developers.

And as they grow, so do their ambitions.  Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino spoke extensively about the publisher's future goals to some recent college grads earlier today, as reported by Dengeki Online.  In light of their worldwide success, Level-5 is looking into opening a North American publishing arm.  Traditionally, all of their games have been localized by a foreign publisher.

And though their primary platform is still the DS, Level-5 is also working on several unannounced console titles.  Hino casually mentioned they were working on several self-published PS3 and Wii titles, which will be unveiled at a later date.  It should be noted that SCEJ publishes White Knight Chronicles, so whatever PS3 title Hino is talking about is a new IP.

Whatever Level-5 touches seems to be gold, so count my interest piqued!