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Square Enix delays 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' until April 10th
Final Fantasy fans who've been eagerly anticipating Final Fantasy VII Remake will have to bide their time a tad more. The game had been scheduled to arrive on March 3rd, but Square Enix has pushed back the release date by over a month to April 10th.
Video Game Hall of Fame inducts ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Final Fantasy VII’
The Strong museum has announced this year's inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame -- Spacewar!, John Madden Football, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII. They were selected from 12 finalists that also included Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King's Quest, Metroid, Minecraft and Ms. Pac-Man. "The four inductees span multiple decades, countries of origin, and gaming platforms, but all have significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general," said The Strong museum in a statement. Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII were finalists last year.
Recommended Reading: The Wii U wasn't for everyone
The Wii U Was Great, Just Not For Me Luke Plunkett, Kotaku Before Nintendo revealed all the details about its upcoming Switch console, a lot of us took a moment to reflect on its predecessor: the Wii U. While the console offered compelling gamine experiences for some, it wasn't for everyone. Kotaku discusses just that, including its appeal among younger players.
'Final Fantasy VII' comes to Android
Final Fantasy VII, the classic role-playing game that brought 3D graphics to the series, has finally been released for Android devices. It's now on just about every major platform, as it arrived on Steam in 2013, hit iOS last August, and has been available on the PS4 since December, 2015. While originally intended for the Nintendo 64 console, it was first launched on Sony's PlayStation in 1997 and helped popularize the console.
Watch two minutes of remastered 'Final Fantasy VII' on PS4
Square Enix teased a remastered, PlayStation 4 version of Final Fantasy VII back at E3 2015 -- and today we get a better look at what that remake means. Final Fantasy VII kicked off the PlayStation Experience keynote this morning, with a two-minute trailer for the remaster (embedded below) and news that the original game is available on PS4 today. There's no word on a launch window for Final Fantasy VII on PS4 just yet. Update: That said, a press release issued just after the trailer suggests that the remake could arrive in episodic chunks, in what it's calling a "multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience." Hrmmm.
'Final Fantasy VII' is out today on PlayStation 4
The original Final Fantasy VII is available today on PlayStation 4, Sony announced during its PlayStation Experience keynote. This isn't the remake that Sony teased at E3 earlier this year, but it should tide fans over until that massive project launches.
Um, Cloud from 'Final Fantasy VII' is heading to Smash Bros.
You haven't accidentally stumbled into an alternate reality where Final Fantasy VII was developed by Nintendo. But, the following is still true: Cloud from Final Fantasy VII will be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. This is what we get for living in a world where the Nintendo PlayStation actually exists. Nintendo dropped the announcement right at the end of its Nintendo Direct livestream today.
'Final Fantasy VII' lands on iOS with built-in cheat codes
If you can't find your old PSOne discs, don't want the PC version and don't have a PS4, there's now one more way to play Final Fantasy VII: on your iPhone. Today Square Enix launched the classic jRPG for devices running iOS 8.0 and up. At its core, this release is a simple port of the PC version of the game, but developers have made a few minor tweaks to the title palatable on the small screen.
Recommended Reading: The Jeep hack that led to a massive recall
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway -- With Me in It by Andy Greenberg Wired This piece from Wired actually sparked a recall that affects 1.4 million Fiat Chrysler vehicles. During the test, hackers were able to use an exploit to "kill" the engine, disable the brakes and track location. Pretty scary stuff.
'Final Fantasy VII': The challenge of remaking a classic
Almost 20 years later, Final Fantasy VII is being remade. It's no prequel, sequel, gamified Advent Children thing. It's a proper darn remake. The short trailer shown first at PlayStation's E3 2015 event was fairly obtuse -- we don't even get to see the protagonists' face, but there's still a lot of excited people. A whole lot. How do you break the mold without breaking hearts? With some translation assistance, we asked its producer, Tetsuya Nomura, all about it.
'Final Fantasy VII' is getting a genuine remake on PS4
Final Fantasy VII is being remade. It's coming to PS4 (at least first) and it's all beautiful and goosebumpy. That all-too PC version? Well, that's probably coming too. But this is what I, er, you wanted. The trailer is suitably obtuse, but there are glimpses of a guy with a gun for an arm and some blonde guy toting an oversized "buster" sword. Whoever that is. Get ready to squeal -- well, a little -- after the break.
'Final Fantasy' composer on the pleasures of prog and Abbey Road
Nobuo Uematsu is distinguished amongst game soundtrack composers not just because of his work for Squaresoft in the '80s and '90s or his lustrous mustache. He's one of the few songwriters responsible for the way video games sound across the board, influencing other creators over 30 years. Square's Final Fantasy series, on which Uematsu was sole or primary composer for the first 10 games, molded how storytelling in games should sound. The synthesized minor key melody of series theme "Prelude," the ambient wash of Final Fantasy VII's "Opening/Bombing Mission," and hundreds of other songs are landmarks in gaming's aural landscape.
Square Enix service lets you rent Final Fantasy games on your phone
Want to give Final Fantasy a try on your phone without paying a high price or buying specific hardware? It's time to book a flight to Tokyo. Square Enix has unveiled Dive In, a currently Japan-only streaming game service that lets you rent titles on your Android and iOS devices. Much like PlayStation Now, you pay depending on both the games in question and how long you want to play. If you plan to rush through Season of Mystery in three days, it'll cost you 150 yen ($1.41); if you're content with finishing Final Fantasy XIII over the course of a year, you'll pay 1,800 yen ($17). You can also play 30 minutes of any game for free if you're not sure that you're ready to commit. Dive In will be ready for Japanese fans on October 9th. There's no word on launches elsewhere, although it wouldn't be surprising to see some international expansion if the service catches on.
Producer: Final Fantasy VII on mobile is 'years away'
Just a few days after reporting that Final Fantasy VI will soon be heading to iOS comes word that Final Fantasy VII on mobile may be years away. In an interview with Shacknews, Square Enix director and producer Takashi Tokita explained why fans of the RPG series may have to wait a while for Final Fantasy VII to hit the App Store. "Unfortunately, it's not that it's not impossible for us to develop Final Fantasy 7 for mobile," Tokita told Shacknews. "It's that currently, space will be an issue. Phones won't be able to contain the space it takes. It's over a gigabyte. People are probably going to have to wait a few years." As it stands now, the maximum size for an iOS app is 2 gigabytes. So while it can be done, perhaps Square Enix wants to ensure an adequate ROI, something that might understandably be hard to achieve when many people struggled to make room for Apple's recent iOS 7 update.
Final Fantasy VI headed to iOS, VII may not be far behind
Several classic Square Enix RPGs have already seen new life thanks to iOS ports, and now the company has confirmed to Kotaku that Final Fantasy VI will indeed get the same treatment. The game will be a modified version of the RPG that originally appeared for the SNES back in 1994. The game will be tweaked for touchscreen devices with a refined battle system and sharper graphics. Square Enix director and producer Takashi Tokita also shed some light on the future of Square titles on mobile platforms. Now that Final Fantasy I through VI are taken care of, the next logical step would be to port the beloved PlayStation classic Final Fantasy VII to smartphones and tablets, but Tokita stopped short of making any promises, stating, "If this Legacy project works out well, we would like to one day be able to work with VII."
Special Edition Advent Children PlayStation 3 unboxed in all its matte glory
There's a lot to love about the special edition 160GB Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete Cloud Black PlayStation 3 bundle that was unleashed this week in Japan -- a fancy Strife Wolf emblem, a copy of Advent Children Complete on Blu-ray, and a Final Fantasy XIII demo you can't play anywhere else -- but perhaps our favorite part is the console's matte finish. For us, a smudge-resistant PS3 is well worth the 49,980 yen (US $505) price of admission. 1UP has the unboxing, hit up the read link for more pics.[Via Joystiq]
Sony goes Cloud-hopping with Final Fantasy VII edition PS3
Like some greedy vampire that just won't rest, Final Fantasy VII keeps coming back again and again to suck the contents out of your wallets. Its latest incarnation is a re-release of Advent Children, and Sony's getting in on the game with yet another special edition console to celebrate it. The upgraded movie is said to boast 30 more minutes of gratuitous high-res animation action while the new PS3 features a 160GB HDD and a matte "Cloud Black" paint job with Cloud's Strike Strife Wolf emblem engraved (or at least appliqued) on top. The bundle with the movie (including a demo of Final Fantasy XIII) will sell for about $550 in Japan when it releases next month -- naturally there was no mention of a US release.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Square wins plagiarism case against Korean music video
Imitation isn't only the sincerest form of flattery, it's also the most legally actionable. At least it is to Square Enix, which recently won a plagiarism case against South Korean music video producer Fantom to the tune of 16 million won (approx. $17,400).The case centers on the video for the song Temptation Sonata, in which live actors recreate a scene from Square Enix's animated movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. According to a judge for the Seoul Central District Court, the video "illegally used 80% of the storyline, setting, characters and their styles of dress and their demeanors," from the movie scene. We're not sure how the judge came to such an exact statistic, but who are we to argue with such an official sounding pronouncement?A comparison of the videos (both viewable below the break) shows much more than a passing similarity between the two, and Square was definitely within its rights taking legal action. That said, we have to wonder what Square Enix felt it had to gain from a court case. Is this video really hurting the company's ability to milk insane amounts of money out off the Final Fantasy franchise? Does seeing the video makes someone less likely to buy a copy of Advent Children? What's next, a legal case against the makers of College Saga? We just hope the negative PR associated with this case is worth the massive $17,000 pay day Square Enix made off of it.
No Final Fantasy VII -- for now
Square Enix told petitioners yesterday that their pile of signatures was in vain -- there are "no current plans" to produce a remake of the wildly popular and much-in-demand Final Fantasy VII. Of course, earlier this year, Final Fantasy III producer Hiromichi Tanaka did not rule such a remake out, but merely said it was a matter of timing. By timing, we can only assume that Square Enix means to go through Final Fantasy V and VI first, after finishing up with the fourth installment of the series, which is as it should be. Right, Square Enix? Right?... please?The sheer size of the title is often cited as a reason such a remake may be unsuitable for the DS, but we would just like to point out that such obstacles are not insurmountable. After all, Archaic Sealed Heat, our favorite game that we've never seen, is set to be released on a larger-than-normal game cart.
Fans want it: FFVII
We've been discussing this notion of a (DS) remake of Final Fantasy VII around here for the last few weeks, particularly since the confirmation that Final Fantasy IV was getting the makeover treatment. It turns out we're not alone; at the Square Enix Party in Japan, fans were given a chance to scribble their dreams on sticky notes for a suggestion board, and Cloud Strife's story was a little popular. Gamefront has several images of the boards, with a good luck at the variety of suggestions offered by fans. Final Fantasy VI makes an appearance as well.
