Looks like MMORPGs are not meant exclusively for PCs (and Xbox 360-some of them), but one of these fantasy games will make its way to handheld consoles. Apparently, the South Korean MMORPG Maple Story will come to Nintendo DS consoles.

As reported by 4colorrebellion, the game's publisher, Nexon, confirmed rumors circling the web as regarding a handheld version of the game. The whole fuss started when David Lee, CEO of Nexon's Japanese division revealed that they plan to start developing games with Nintendo. Apparently, Maple Story will first come to DS Lite on the 18th of January, and the DS version of the game won't be hitting stores until late September of this year. Needles to say that these release dates are confirmed for South Korea, and no other word is out on plans to publish the game in other territories outside Korea.

Playing this game appears to be free, but you are required to cough up some real money for some player appearances and gameplay enhancements that can be purchased from the "Cash Shop" using real money. There are several versions of the game available and over 50 million players are members of this MMORPG, in all its versions.

In the game, players are required to defend the Maple World from monsters and develop their character's skills and abilities, a common feature in role-playing games. You can interact with other players by chatting, trading or playing minigames together. You can also team-up in "parties" with your friends, hunt monsters together and share the rewards.