Capcom, Namco Bandai and Sega are teaming up for a mega crossover 3DS strategy RPG called Project X Zone (pronounced Project Cross Zone). So who came up with the idea for this collaboration?

In an interview in Weekly Famitsu, which has a first look at the game this week, Namco Bandai's Kensuke Tsukanaka, the game's producer, revealed that Namco Bandai got the talks started by approaching Capcom. Internally, Namco Bandai staff had discussed making a game that mixed characters, and they brought Capcom in on the discussions, and then Sega.

Also sitting in on the interview were Capcom's Tatsuya Kitabayashi and Sega's Yasushi Yamashita. Kitabayashi said that he and Kazuhiro Tsuchiya are overseeing the project on Capcom's side.

Regarding the game's name, they originally considered selecting something with all three companies' names, but this would end up being too long. Tsukanaka mentioned Namco x Capcom, a previous crossover strategy RPG involving two of the parties. If the new game were a sequel to that, it might have been possible to use the company names in the game, sais Tsukanaka. However, because it's a totally new title, and it's a "project that realizes a dream crossover," they decided on the Project X Zone name. (The reasoning doesn't make sense in Japanese either).

We already shared the currently confirmed cast of characters. See this story in case you missed it.

Each character has moves that fans should recognize. Ryu and Ken have their various Shoryuken and other fighting moves. X and Zero have such moves as X Buster and Z Saber. Ulala (who's said to be voiced by "herself") has a "Tension Blaster" move.

The character list is not final. There will be other characters besides the initial announcement, said Tsukanaka, including hidden characters.

Some of the characters may not appear to lend themselves well to strategy RPG style combat. They'll still fight, but using actions one might expect of them, explained Tsukanaka.

Famitsu does not have specifics on the game's combat system, only saying that in general, characters fight in teams -- Ryu with Ken, for instance, and Jill with Chris. However, there are some exceptions. The magazine promised combat details in a followup report.

We'll be getting a closer look at Project X Zone some time this month as Namco Bandai releases a first trailer. As for when we'll get some screenshots, Famitsu.com usually posts screens from its latest Weekly Famitsu issue on Thursdays, so check back tomorrow.

Project X Zone is currently 50% complete. A release is planned for 2012.

Bruce and Fong-Ling.