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Play Final Fantasy VII in Second Life
Diehard Final Fantasy VII fans have recreated Midgar in virtual world Second Life. To make things even sweeter, they've even created an RPG sim in SL so that residents can fight and upgrade their way to notoriety. Weapons and materia (gems used for magic in the FFVII universe) can be bought for Linden bucks, which converts to real world money at a rate of approximately US $1 for every 270 Linden dollars.According to New World Notes writer Onder Skall, the game has around 300 players. Our experience with the world proved it to be expansive; upon teleporting to the start of the sim, we stepped out of the overlooking portal room and had an exhilirating view of the massive city on our equally massive fall.As to whether or not the game has the blessing of IP owner Square Enix, not even the creators are sure. While they do the developer a service by providing a high quality sim that promotes the Final Fantasy brand to great success, they are making money (however little it may be) off of the brand. SL users can click here to go to Midgar directly. [Via Second Life Insider]
Dream Games: Final Fantasy VII
Dream Games is a new weekly column where we explore a game we'd love to see on the PSP. Feel free to check in, and comment, every week.Final Fantasy VIIDoes this game need any explanation? This 32-bit debut from Square put Sony on the map through the liberal use of CG movies that stunned everyone at the time. Some people really like the story, the characters, and the gameplay as well.Why PSP?It makes a lot of sense to release the original right around when Crisis Core, the FFVII prequel hits our system. Considering UMD's greater storage capacity, the game would most likely fit on a single disc: none of this disc swapping nonsense to worry about!Is it possible?Although Square seems keen on revisiting this franchise over and over again, it seems unlikely that Square will settle for a simple port. The Final Fantasy VII tech demo that appeared on the PS3 makes Sony's next-gen console the most likely candidate for a remake, hopefully complete with new Advent Children-style CGs.
Final Fantasy aliases used by murdering teens
In Germany, Final Fantasy is now being called a killerspiele ("killer game"), likely adding fuel to the movement against violent games. Of course, Final Fantasy isn't often singled out for its portrayal of violence, which by most measures is never gratuitous. But when two teenage boys, calling themselves 'Sephiroth' and 'Reno', allegedly stab a couple to death and kidnap another female, it undoubtedly leads to some unfortunate finger pointing. That the two boys also had a copy of Final Fantasy VII installed on a computer doesn't help the spread of sensationalism.It's unfortunate that during these times of inexplicable grief and confusion there's a tendency to try to rationalize the irrational. Two boys playing Final Fantasy, calling each other Sephiroth and Reno, does not engender such tragedy.[Via The Last Boss]
Final Fantasy remakes bound for PSP
In celebrating the upcoming 20th anniversary of that most contradictory of RPG franchises, Square Enix is once again remaking the first and second Final Fantasy games. This time, it's for the Sony PSP. 1UP reports that Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition and Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition will see release in Japan this year, two decades after the series arrived on the Nintendo Famicom.Perhaps "enhanced port" makes for a better description -- the PSP versions will enjoy graphical updates and will include the extra dungeons found in the GBA outing, along with monster encyclopedias and music players. In addition, the lavish CG videos made for the PSOne's Final Fantasy Origins will be presented alongside a new art gallery containing the works of Yoshitako Yoshitaka Amano. No word on a US release date yet, but [pathetic Haste spell joke here].
Our most wanted PSone games
We have faith that one day, the PlayStation Store will be accessible via PSP without the need for a PS3, and will flourish into a glorious realm of classic games, one that will be untouched by the competition. Of course, homebrew users will rip their own games ... but for the rest of us, this is my personal wishlist of PSone games that I'd like to see available for download.
Jump Festa: Final Fantasy on display
1UP gets mad props for getting footage from Japan's Jump Festa, where the hotly anticipated Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War are on display. A trailer showcasing the game's beautiful new cutscenes is on display, and can be seen after the cut. Crisis Core's demo is available for attendees to play, and it seems like FF fans need not worry about the game's quality: "Combat in Crisis Core takes place in pseudo-real-time, not unlike Final Fantasy XII, though there's only one playable character (FFVII fan favorite Zack), and the action is a lot more active. During battle you find yourself constantly mashing the attack button to pull off combos or backstab enemies for extra damage, but you can dodge and defend as well, and you can use the L and R buttons to cycle through your items and magic attacks... With the stunning visuals and interesting battle system we saw today, it seems to be headed in the right direction."
TGS 06: Every PSP game previewed
There are way too many PSP games at this year's Tokyo Game Show. Because not all of us have time to read all the impressions and previews of all the games coming out, PSP Fanboy has created this nifty guide for all the games that were previewed. You'll get a thumbs up or a thumbs down from the major video game news sites. If a game looks like it might be a real winner, we'll award it "The Official PSP Fanboy Entranced Korean Award." These are the games that'll end up in Korea on giant PSPs, luring people to their eventual doom. And, that's pretty cool. Read on to see all the previews!
Square Enix talks up innovation, hints at new hardware
Though you might be inclined to give Square Enix president, Yoichi Wada, an incredulous stare as he discusses the merits of innovation before the release of Final Fantasy Thirteen, a recent interview with Nikkei Business Online points to his fairly levelheaded approach to the topic. "If we don't see some [next-generation] titles that differ from traditional games, the industry is in trouble. Nintendo's DS lineup gives you an idea of the potential..." However, Mr. Wada goes on to say that immmediately tossing out all previous conventions and concepts isn't necessarily the best solution. "We must change. But if we change all at once, the system will collapse, and since our profits are built on that system, it's a difficult question. So you have to introduce change from a completely unrelated direction within a separate budget framework. This is something all the companies are worrying about right now. Fortunately, we're financially prepared to handle change." It raises the interesting point that change may be easy to trumpet but difficult to usher in, requiring gradual steps and some assistance from current franchises. The earlier point regarding the DS' success is an interesting one, since Nintendo's many franchises and characters were arguably instrumental in introducing a different way of playing games.The ability of unique hardware to funnel innovation in certain ways also intrigues Square, which is why "Square Enix will collaborate with Taito, a company that produces physical hardware. In our talks with Taito, ideas for an actual physical product have come up. In any case, we will be releasing some 'thing.' It's interesting in that it's not the sort of thing you expect from Square Enix." With that in mind, we now can't wait to play some sort of Final Fantasy game on a Square Enix thing at an undisclosed time in the future.[Via Gamasutra]
Final Fantasy XII releasing this Halloween
For those dreaming of the gorgeous gun ballet glimpsed in Final Fantasy XIII, it may come as a rude awakening when we loudly exclaim, "Hang on, we haven't even gotten number 12 yet!" Thankfully, Square Enix has answered our call by officially announcing the North American release date for their next inevitably epic RPG. Final Fantasy XII will be in stores this Halloween, 31 October 2006. If ever there was a good reason for Sephiroth and Rikku cosplayers to head out into public and purchase the game in full fantasy garb, this is it.Not to be left behind on the platform as the Collector's Edition trend train heads off, the game will be arriving in two distinct versions. The vanilla package will retail for $49.99, whereas the Collector's Edition, laced with interviews, series featurettes, trailers, art galleries and ancient evils, will be available at Gamestop and EB Games exclusively for $59.99. Depending on how fond you are of the non-final franchise, that's either a trick or a treat.[Image: Advent Children.net]
What if the cast of FFVII ran a fast food franchise?
Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken finally answered the one question that's been on gamer's minds since the completion of RPG classic Final Fantasy VII. No, not can we expect a remake on PlayStation 3, but rather what would it be like if the cast of Final Fantasy VII ran a fast food joint. 3/4 persepctive and Meteo FTW!See also: For role-playing times, make it Suntory time
3 Final Fantasy XIII games; 2 just for PS3
Final Fantasy XII won't be out for the PS2 in the States until October, but we now have a glimpse of Final Fantasy XIII thanks to Square Enix's pre-E3 press event -- and this installment in the series won't be coming alone.Like the different titles in the Compilation of FFVII collection of games and movies, the initially announced installments in the FFXIII universe will span multiple platforms which, in this case, include both the PS3 and sufficiently advanced mobile handsets. Not much is known about the mobile-bound Final Fantasy Agito XIII, but the subtitle-less version of FFXIII will concern a gun-and-sword-toting heroine in a futuristic world, while Final Fantasy Versus XIII will focus on "a spiky-haired character," "extreme action elements," and a primary theme of "bonding" (whatever that means). Anybody ready to "resist the world"?The multiple titles might explain the earlier rumor reported in March that FFXIII was "practically close to being finished" (maybe only one of these games was nearing completion). Whatever the case may be, we're just happy that more than one not-so-Final-Fantasy will be hitting the next PlayStation in relatively rapid succession. RPG feasting: on the way.[Via Joystiq]
Top 10 most memorable villains
IGN has posted a list that is sure to generate some grumbling. But that's what's to be expected anytime you try to cram the baddest evildoers into a list of ten. Here goes: #10 - Bowser (Super Mario) #9 - Dr. Robotnik (Sonic) #8 - Dracula (Castlevania) #7 - Evil Otto (Berzerk) #6 - Psycho Mantis (MGS) #5 - Kerrigan (Starcraft) #4 - SHODAN (System Shock) #3 - Wesker (Resident Evil) #2 - Sephiroth (FFVII) #1 - The Nazis ("too many games to count") What?! No Ganondorf? Blasphemy. So how does your list compare?
