Final-Fantasy-XIII
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Final Fantasy XIII-2 domain name registered
"Corporation Service Company" has registered the "Finalfantasy13-2game.com" domain name, according to Superannuation. The company has previously registered domains for Nier, Mindjack, and other Square Enix games, suggesting that this is also the work of Square Enix. This domain name could simply be Square Enix grabbing related names just in case, but it could also be evidence of a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII -- possibly, like Final Fantasy X-2, one built on the engine and assets from the previous, expensive game. Of course, unlike Final Fantasy X, the Final Fantasy XIII "franchise" is already somewhat crowded, with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII on the way sometime before the end of the universe. Square is holding a "1st Production Party Premiere Event" in Japan on January 18, so if there really is a new Final Fantasy to announce, we'll likely hear about it, and any costume-change-based fighting it may contain, then. [Thanks, Vallanthaz]
Unlocking The 3rd Birthday's hidden Lightning costume is a chore
A costume modeled after Final Fantasy XIII's surly heroine, Lightning, is hidden in fellow Square Enix offering The 3rd Birthday. To unlock it, all players have to do is sign up for the game's official members site after completing the game -- or, if you're a madman, by beating the game 30 times.
Best of the Rest: Ludwig's picks of 2010
Vanquish Shinji Mikami is still playing the game of Telephone he started in 2005. With Resident Evil 4, he revitalized Capcom's stagnant survival-horror franchise by turning it into a strictly paced shooter, where standing your ground (you couldn't move and shoot at the same time, remember?) was the only way to advance. The idea made it all the way across the ocean -- mostly intact -- and eventually found its way into Epic's Gears of War. The Mikami-led team at Platinum Games, in turn, heard all the bits about military meatheads and enemies that can be demolished without remorse, but the part about lumbering man-tanks got garbled. Instead, we get a protagonist that can slide across the battlefield in the blink of an eye. At its nuclear-powered core, Vanquish still honors Resident Evil 4's balance of risk and reward. It's an exceptionally hectic shooter where rocketing in and out of critical engagements is key -- but if your suit overheats, you're slow again. And then you're dead. Even Gears of War's train level comes back a little warped. Now there are two trains, and one of them is upside-down.
Best of the Rest: Mike's picks of 2010
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Ninja Theory put a heck of a game together here, with some incredible art direction and animation, level design, and the best adventurous duo since Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher. The world traversed by Monkey and Trip is colorfully portrayed and brilliantly built, the gameplay is perfectly formulated to support the characters and the story, and while I admit the game's early levels outdo the somewhat abrupt ending, this was the best original IP I played in 2010.
Final Fantasy XIII launches on Japanese Xbox 360 to tepid sales
Final Fantasy XIII launched exclusively on PlayStation 3 in Japan last December, beating the multiplatform English release by just under three months, and the local Xbox 360 version by a year. The Japanese Xbox 360 game, dubbed Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International, arrived on December 16th, bringing with it an English voiceover track, an "Easy" mode and a bonus book. According to launch week sales figures, Square Enix's turnaround in supporting the Japanese 360 may have been overly optimistic. Producer Yoshinori Kitase told Japanese mag Famitsu in September that the redesigned Xbox 360 hardware had revitalized interest in a local edition of Final Fantasy XIII. "We feel that there are ... a lot of people in Japan who own nothing but 360s," he said. "Thanks to the new system and such, the situation's a lot different than it was in July 2008." In its first four days, Final Fantasy XIII sold fewer than 22,579 copies -- the cut-off point for that week's top 20 sales as tracked by Media Create -- and landed in the 39th spot. It's not an unsurprising outcome for a year-old title meeting a relatively small user base, but it raises an interesting question: Would Square have benefited more if it had launched its flagship property on both platforms last December, or was this tardy tradeoff its best shot at a small target?
Amazon gets critical hit on Final Fantasy XIII PS3 price for DOTD
Look, guys. Amazon really, really wants you to buy Final Fantasy XIII. For the millionth time this year, the retailer has cut the price of the PS3 version of the game for its Deal of the Day promotion -- this time around, you can grab the lengthy JRPG for $18.99, more than half off the usual cost.
Square Enix lowers six-month financial forecast, cuts expected sales by $100M
It looks like Square Enix characters will have to hold that spiky hair with generic product, as the company lowered its earnings forecast today for the six months (first half of its fiscal year) ending September 30, 2010. The publisher reduced new sales expectations by 10.5 percent to ¥68 billion ($846 million), which is far below the ¥90.6 billion the company took in during the same period last year. Squeenix also lowered its net income expectations for the two quarters to ¥1.7 billion ($21 million), a reduction of just over 29 percent from the original forecast. The company said that the declining figures were due to the "challenging operating environment" in which new games experienced "relatively slow growth." Squeenix's operating income remains high, however, thanks to "profitable carryover sales of major titles released in March of the previous fiscal year" -- i.e., Final Fantasy 13 et al. Square Enix will release its actual second fiscal quarter results in the near future.
Final Fantasy XIII postmortem talks about lack of shared vision on dev team
The latest Game Developer Magazine has a full postmortem of Final Fantasy XIII, featuring Square Enix developers Motomu Toriyama and Akihiko Maeda revealing just what went right and wrong with the thirteenth iteration of the classic series. The main issue with the game, they say, was a lack of "shared vision" among the developers for what the title should be. Some developers wanted to create a game to answer Western concerns about JRPGs, while others wanted it to serve as a showpiece for a crossplatform engine, and still others wanted to simply emulate the feeling of that first trailer back in 2006. In the end, what made the vision concrete was the creation of the demo available with Advent Children -- that demo changed the team's talks "from theoretical discussions based solely on abstract concepts to concrete dialogue," and helped the team realize the kind of work they'd have to do on the title before release. The few clips of the postmortem on Gamasutra don't mention the linear aspects of the game that turned quite a few players off, but the devs say that the more realistic picture of the production brought about by that demo helped them target what to work on by "keeping in mind exactly how the asset would be used in the game." In other words, focusing on one path was supposed to help them make sure that path was worth playing. But of course it's up to players to decide how that worked out.
Square Enix producers have more Final Fantasy 13 stories in mind
Despite the eventual existence of Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, there's apparently still room for more "Fabula Nova Crystallis" games from Square Enix. Maybe. In an interview in the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega guide, producer Yoshinori Kitase expressed an interest in continuing the Final Fantasy XIII story. "I'd like to at some point make a story where Lightning ends up happy," director Motomu Toriyama said. Whether or not this becomes a game depends on demand from fans. The team also revealed content that was planned as DLC but cut from Final Fantasy XIII: an area called "Seventh Ark" that would have offered "free battles." This was axed for quality reasons, as well as for differences in PSN and Xbox Live.
Bonus item event in Final Fantasy XIV's beta
Final Fantasy XIV's open beta is only going to last until the 19th, which is just a stone's throw away. This would be worse news if not for the fact that the collector's edition of the game will be launching three days after that, meaning that the game's fans will have other things to do shortly thereafter. (The game's detractors don't really need the game to run one way or the other.) But if you'd like to take part in one last hurrah before launch, Square-Enix is hosting a special event on the newly-added Karnak and Narshe servers. All characters created on the special servers before 1:00 p.m. PDT on the 16th will have both the Onion Helm and Asuran Armguards added to their inventory. The former is the bonus for pre-ordering the collector's edition of the game, while the latter is the reward for also owning a copy of Final Fantasy XIII. It's not quite the potpourri of good news revealed from the pre-launch event yesterday, but it promises to still be a nice chance for Final Fantasy XIV beta testers to go out with a bang.
Amazon offering PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII for $XX
If you're one of those people who performs complex time vs. price equations before purchasing a new game, Amazon's making an awfully hard sell for the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII. You can now lock down the 45-odd-hour adventure for $19.99, a full 60 percent off its usual retail price. Final Fantasy XIII -- $19.99, down from $49.99
Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy coming to PSP next year
Square Enix just revealed in the latest issue of Shonen Jump (via Siliconera) that a sequel to Dissidia: Final Fantasy will arrive on Japanese PSPs sometime in 2011. Titled "Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy," the new fighter was created specifically as a challenge to website copy editors. Outside of FFIV's Kain and FFXIII's Lightning, no other playable characters have been confirmed. We get the feeling you'll see an expanded roster of fan-favorite brawlers at next week's Tokyo Game Show.
Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International confirmed for Xbox 360 in Japan
Square Enix has confirmed the forthcoming release of FFXIII on Xbox 360 in Japan, dubbed "Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International." The game will be released in December and features English voice acting with Japanese subtitles (other subtitle options are also available). Despite early reports of the release, no additional content will arrive with FFXIII -- it differs from the PlayStation 3 version in Japan in that it will feature content originally only in the US release. It will also add an easy mode and "Final Fantasy XIII - Episode 1" (a short story book). Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase told Famitsu (via Gamasutra) that the new version was spurred by the launch of the remodeled 360 earlier this year, which aimed to bolster the console's install base in Japan. "We feel that there are ... a lot of people in Japan who own nothing but 360s. Thanks to the new system and such, the situation's a lot different than it was in July 2008," he explained. FFXIII will be the first Xbox 360 title released under Square's "Ultimate Hits" budget line, dropping at ¥4,980 ($59.50) on December 16.
UK authority bans Xbox 360 game ad for using PS3 footage (video)
It's a well-known fact that the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII can't hold a candle to the one on PS3, and now the UK has formally banned an ad for allegedly pulling the ol' bait-and-switch on British TV screens. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority sat down with both copies of the game and noticed a variety of graphical discrepancies, notably that "video sequences appeared sharper and colours were more vivid" on PS3 than Xbox 360. That's all well and good, but the commercial itself is reportedly being banned on a technicality -- though game developer Square Enix admits the footage used was from PS3, it claims the UK ad consists entirely of pre-rendered cutscenes that look nigh-identical on either game machine. But don't take their word for it -- judge for yourself after the break.
Watchdog group dubs Xbox 360 FFXIII ad 'misleading'
According to Telegraph.co.uk, the UK group Advertising Standards Authority has concluded that a recent advertisement for the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII is "misleading." It seems the commercial in question used footage from the PlayStation 3 version of the game. While it's acknowledged that the Xbox 360 version looks slightly inferior to the PS3 version, what makes the ASA's claim interesting is that the commercial is composed entirely of pre-rendered FMV footage. Using a side-by-side comparison of each version of the game, the ASA reached the conclusion that the PS3 version "appeared sharper and colours were more vivid" and thus the commercial "exaggerated the quality of the footage available on the XBOX 360, albeit marginally." For its part, Square-Enix admitted that the FMV was captured from a PlayStation console but added that there was "no substantive difference" between the footage on either console and that only those watching in HD would notice the "slight difference." The ASA has ordered that the commercial not be shown again.
Best Buy sale discounts Bayonetta, DJ Hero and Xbox 360 bundles
Frugal shoppers should take note of a massive Best Buy sale going on right now. It would seem everything must go, as Best Buy is not only discounting Platinum Games' excellent Bayonetta down to $20 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, but also slashing prices across the board on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and DS games. If hardware is more you thing, Best Buy has the Final Fantasy XIII and Splinter Cell: Conviction Xbox 360 bundles for $299.99 a piece, with a $50 gift card. Our strong-wristed readers will likely be interested in the DJ Hero bundle, which comes with one turntable controller -- it's only $40 right now. Wait, what's that sound? It's as if millions of piggy banks cried out in terror, only to be silenced. I fear something -- oh, right.
Best Buy to slash prices for old Xbox 360 special edition bundles tomorrow? (Update: yes)
Let's face it: despite the new Xbox 360 being joyously quieter and more efficient, the previous model still manages to seduce some of us with its sexy curves. Speaking of which -- according to Joystiq's source, Best Buy's going to kick off August by lowering the prices for the Splinter Cell: Conviction and Final Fantasy XIII previous-gen Xbox 360 bundles. For just $299 -- $50 off the current price point (and $100 off the launch price) -- you still get a copy of the corresponding game title, a 250GB HDD, and two wireless controllers. So that's gaming sorted for the summer; now put that $50 towards some cooling aid and you're good to go. Update: and the new prices are live. Grab them while they're hot.
Source: Best Buy offering $300 FF13, Splinter Cell Conviction Xbox bundles next week
On August 2, Amazon is having a pretty sweet deal on the Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 bundle, but if online retailers aren't your thing, Joystiq has just discovered from a reliable source that a new initiative at brick-and-mortar retailer Best Buy will discount both the Final Fantasy XIII and Splinter Cell: Conviction bundles to $299.99 permanently, starting August 1, and lasting until the retailer runs out of stock. How else did you think the retailer would clear shelf space for the new hotness? Each bundle comes with the titular game, two wireless controllers, a 250GB HDD and Xbox 360 console. The suggested retail price of each bundle right now is $349.99 (they both initially launched at a $399.99 price point), so this saves consumers a cool $50.
Final Fantasy XIII Xbox bundle $50 off on Amazon
If you value function over form -- or, rather, Fantasy over form -- you may want to examine an alternative to purchasing the newer, slimmer Xbox 360. Amazon's current Deal of the Day is the Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 bundle, which has had its price reduced by one Grant, down to $300.
Amazon offering Final Fantasy XIII for $37
Yes, we know you've already bought a small handful of discounted PS3 games over the past few days, but if you have any dollars left over in your checking account, you should check out Amazon's current Deal of the Day. This time around, it's the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII, which is temporarily available for $36.99. If you've got the cash (and, well, the time) to invest in Square Enix's slow-starting RPG, this is probably the best deal you're going to see on it for a long, long time.
