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New Final Fantasy 15 footage is pos-Cid-ively Titan-ic
Square Enix showed off new Final Fantasy 15 footage this weekend as part of Japanese gaming, anime and maga convention, Jump Festa 2015. While short, there's plenty of new footage to be enjoyed, including first glimpses at series mainstays Titan and Cid. Titan is quite a bit larger than the last time he appeared in a Final Fantasy game, but it's Cid that's been given a more thorough makeover; the character, usually portrayed as a male airship mechanic, is now "Cidney," a female. A tough-n-tumble sort of lady who gets down in the dirt and doesn't run around in a chainmail bikini ... because she's wearing hotpants and a jacket too small for a toddler instead. Kotaku reports that game director Hajime Tabata said the town shown in the trailer will be seamlessly connected to the outside world, and though the development team is aiming to make the whole game seamless, "it may turn out that for important places there will be loading." Tabata also clarified that players will gain experience via battles, but those experience points will not convert into levels until a player makes camp to rest. A demo for Final Fantasy 15 will be available as part of the initial run of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD when it launches on March 17, 2015. [Image: Square Enix]
Watch the Blood of Bahamut trailer from Jump Festa
Jump Festa is currently going down in Japan, which means those of us who don't live there have to watch trailers for these games on the internet. The above trailer for Blood of Bahamut is full of concept art for the game, but sprinkled throughout you'll find various snippets of gameplay. So feast your eyes on the footage above this block of text.%Gallery-36800%
Might as well Jump for new Dragon Quest IX, FFCC Echoes of Time trailers
We're slowly being converted into full-on Dragon Questism by the Dragon Quest IX hype, and this trailer from this weekend's Jump Festa event is certainly effective in that respect. It just looks like pure fun in a genre that is often dour and pretentious! We are officially in love with Koichi Sugiyama's Dragon Quest theme now. Square Enix and Level-5 may have been planning changes to the gameplay at one point, but any traces of action-RPG are gone now, and this is absolutely canonical Dragon Quest. After the break, a trailer for another Square Enix RPG that may not inspire as much adoration in so many: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. Your enjoyment of this trailer may hinge upon whether you think Echoes of Time's cross-platform release is innovative or merely cheap. %Gallery-15248%
Japan now to have two WiiWare manga services
Sunsoft's WiiWare manga viewer, through which users can download manga for a fee, is a great idea. At least, Shonen Jump seems to think so. At their Jump Festa event, the publication offered demos of a WiiWare service called Mangaon, branded with the name of Jump's online manga site Jumpland.Posters indicate that the service, also available on DSi, will have some kind of "game" element -- a 3D world with original characters to interact with. This could be the navigation system for the manga. The real draw here is Jump's stable of manga: One Piece and Dragon Ball were on display in the demo. Surprisingly, the web version of Jumpland actually includes a site for English-language manga, and, of course, Shonen Jump is outrageously popular in the West, so it's not entirely unbelievable for Jump to consider bringing this service over.
Rumor: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days delayed
Flagging this as a rumor for now, though official confirmation will probably come very soon: according to sources reporting from Jump Festa on NeoGAF, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days has been pushed back from February to sometime in Spring of 2009. The delay isn't too surprising in and of itself, but the timing is, considering we only recently learned about the special edition DSi set to release with the title. More news as it develops!
Finally! It's your turn to watch last year's Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer
We're not certain how many months of grinding it took this anonymous cameraman (or woman!) to level up high enough to brave Square Enix's impenetrable fortress, but we do know our hero scored big. Nearly two minutes of Final Fantasy Versus XIII CG footage (shaky as it is) is like the equivalent of all the gil that's stuffed inside the Shinra vault. Better yet, it's aged footage, the type of mana-oozing fluff reel -- note the pretentious, clichéd text in italiano, ovviamente -- that's only ever been eye-balled by suits and trusted VIPs. So let us all take a moment of silence, and push from our minds the gruesome fate that must have befallen our dear hero in the final, and sudden instant that this video is abruptly cut short. Thank you, oh noble ally of the masses, your contribution will not soon be forgotten.[Via Final Fantasy-XIII.net]
A further sprinkling of non-dojo Brawl details
The dojo may be on a well-earned hiatus, but we're still getting various snippets of Brawl news and impressions from the Jump Festa show in Tokyo. Thanks, Jump Festa!The latest selection of tidbits has been rounded up by the folks at Brawl Central for lazy types like us, and deals with all sorts of Brawl minutiae, from Kirby's Final Smash (which we learn deals 35% damage) to more on Rosalina's Assist Trophy appearance (apparently, she distributes health-boosting star pieces over the arena) to Snake's land mines (which are controlled remotely, rather than exploding whenever a foe comes into close proximity).The purpose of the mysterious Clock item is also revealed -- it reportedly slows your opponents -- and we learn about a new Assist Trophy, a Pegasus Knight from the Fire Emblem games. Rad! There's a few more minor details, so hit the link below for the full list.[Via Go Nintendo]
Jump Festa reveals new footage of PS3 Naruto project
CyberConnect 2 is bringing their ninja skills to the PS3 with a currently unnamed Naruto project. The team has been responsible for the Ultimate Ninja series on PS2, which featured a surprisingly fun (and faithful) battle system that followed the events of the early half of the Naruto saga.At Jump Festa, Namco Bandai unveiled a new trailer for their upcoming PS3 project. Unsurprisingly, it looks a lot like the Ubisoft-developed Xbox 360 Naruto game -- although, we're more than certain that the two will ultimately play quite differently from each other.[Via NeoGAF]
Kingdom Hearts details from Jump Festa
This year's Jump Festa wasn't packed with a ton of new info -- unless, perhaps, you're a big Square Enix buff. A few SE games got some major buzz this past weekend, including our own highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. While we have not yet found video of the playable demo that fans were treated to at the event, we do have a breakdown of what was included, as well as other juicy details on the title. The first, and most important bit, is that the devs are aiming for release this summer. Whether or not they'll make that timeframe is debatable, but DS dev cycles seem to be pretty quick, and if there's already demo action, it might just be in the cards. We have culled some specific details from the demos available at Jump Festa and compiled the information after the jump. It goes without saying that some of this info may include spoilers, so if you're looking to stay away from specifics, you might want to skip it.
Jump Festa Brawl impressions: 'Thrilled! ... is not.'
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo/Super_Smash_Bros_Brawl_impressions'; Bloggers from the Japanese site wii-ds.com attended the Jump Festa anime/game show at Tokyo' Makuhari Messe convention center (also the site of the Tokyo Game Show) and made a beeline for Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl demo booth. Nintendo had free play available, and also a tournament-style competition. Players could use the Wiimote or the Classic Controller.Initially, the wii-ds.com fellows were nonplussed by the experience, finding the controls confusing and the lack of playable Lucas disappointing. Later, they went back and played it again, and it clicked. (Because they discovered how to customize the controls, mostly). They also were able to face Lucas, and were disappointed again by the apparently non-Japanese voice actor used.Shockingly, they really enjoyed playing Brawl with the Wiimote, saying (in obvious autotrans-ese) "Surprisingly, the controller make it simpler and easier classic! And finally smap bra that was able to feel the texture." Really, the main reason to read this is the consistent translation of Smash Bros. as "bra smap." That is hilari-tastic.[Via NeoGAF]
First Dissidia hands-on impressions
We're so jealous of you IGN-Anoop. You got to attend Jump Festa, and you were able to play the first ever playable build of Dissidia, a brand new PSP-exclusive fighting game. The impressions, unsurprisingly, are overwhelmingly glowing. Here are a few snippets:"Rather than trying to adapt the Final Fantasy characters into some existing fighting game formula, the designers of Dissidia seem to have attempted to create an original fighting engine around the Final Fantasy characters -- at least the characters as they'd probably combat one-another in a Tetsuya Nomura movie." Yes, your characters will perform all the acrobatic moves that you'd find in Advent Children ... or the upcoming FFXIII games."Dissidia also manages to push the PSP to new visual heights. The game is a visual feast, with detailed combatant models, and plenty of lighting effects. Definitely a step above Crisis Core, which already had some thinking that the PSP really was a portable PS2." Really, it looks better than Crisis Core? That game was already pushing the boundaries of the PSP!Please read IGN's full hands-on, and bring a change of clothes. You might be drooling on yourself the entire time.
How to play Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, eventually
To get players ready for the Jump Festa demo, Square Enix has posted the control scheme for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days on the game's official website. While we don't necessarily need to know which button does what, it's an easy way to find out what can be done in the game at all. NeoGAF's Kyoufu translated the diagram, and revealed some details of the game's multiplayer in addition to the awkward control scheme: In multiplayer, one player controls Roxas and others control spikey-haired pretty-boys Organization XIII members Xigbar, Axel, and Saïx. As for the control scheme: it is an attempt to cram all of the functionality of the original games' dual-analog, four-shoulder-button control scheme onto the DS, and it sounds about as natural as you would expect from such an endeavor. For example, you have to hold both L and R to lock onto an enemy -- the individual shoulder buttons handle camera control. Also, menu control has been moved from the d-pad (of course) to the X button -- we think that you scroll through options by tapping X. Kyoufu's translation is reproduced after the break.[Via NeoGAF]
Nintendo taking SSBB, other games to Jump Festa
Nintendo slipped this one right under the wire -- Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be joining Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games at Jump Festa this weekend. Will it be playable? There's no confirmation, though the game was playable at E for All. Wouldn't it be lovely to have new playable content? We crave new and exciting Smash Bros. footage. We'll keep our eyes peeled for the videos that are sure to be rolling out this weekend.
A closer look at Blue Dragon
The deluge of pre-Jump Festa info continues, and with it comes a three-page spread on Blue Dragon, complete with new images. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of blue in the pictures. Who'd have thought?We've seen and heard a lot of rumblings about whether or not Blue Dragon can make the leap from console to handheld, but it's worked for so many other games and franchises that we don't have any major worries. Certainly it will look good, but after the mediocre reaction to ASH, we've got fingers crossed concerning the game play. We'll have to wait a bit longer to see that, however. For now, you can check out the scans after the break.
V-Jump teases Kingdom Hearts
With Jump Festa right around the corner, Japanese magazine V-Jump is teasing readers with spot coverage of games we can expect to see at the event ... and that means Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. While there's only one page (which we've tucked away for you after the break), there's a mix of old and new images that should have fans salivating for more. We can't wait to see the footage out of next week's event! There have been so many scraps that we're about ready for a full meal on this one.
Phantasy Star Portable playable at Jump Festa
You really better book your flight to Tokyo. Jump Festa just got a little bit more exciting, as Sega has announced its plans to unveil PSP to the public during the show. The game joins another hotly anticipated PSP exclusive, Final Fantasy Dissidia. The portable Phantasy Star is supposedly 60 percent complete, and these early images of the game showcase that even at such an early stage of development, it looks quite spiffy.[Via PSPHyper]%Gallery-11817%
Kingdom Hearts playable at Jump Festa
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/New_DS_Kingdom_Hearts_playable_at_Jump_Festa'; We knew the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days would be at Jump Festa, but before, we thought there would be only a carefully prepared (and short) trailer hidden away behind closed doors. Not so! Apparently, the highly anticipated title will actually be playable at this month's event. Even better? Multiplayer mode will be on display. That's a huge difference from a hidden trailer, and we can't wait to see what is unveiled for the next DS game in the franchise.
Final Fantasy: Dissidia playable at Jump Festa
It's been a while since we heard about Dissidia, the PSP-exclusive Square Enix fighting game. The brawler looks to be inspired by Nintendo's Super Smash Bros., as it meshes characters from various Final Fantasy games into one ultimate nerdgasm.Well, hope you booked your tickets to Japan, because attendees of Jump Festa will be amongst the first in the world to get their hands on this hotly anticipated game. Square Enix revealed that Dissidia will be among the playable offerings at the show. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days for DS will also be playable.Other titles, like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep will be presented in video form only. We're certain that once the show begins, some incredible news should make its way on the web. Jump Festa begins on December 23rd.[Via PSPHyper]
Jump Festa has Square Enix fans covered
Square Enix has announced their lineup for this month's Jump Festa, and though it's not extensive, there's enough variety to please even the pickiest of SE devotees. Final Fantasy IV, which releases right before the two-day event, will be playable, but what's really exciting is that we've been promised videos of both Front Mission 2089 and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. With the dribs and drabs we've seen so far from the very intriguing upcoming DS Kingdom Hearts title, that footage promises to be popular.Of course, now that we're building it up in our minds, it will be precisely four seconds longer than the last footage we saw, and we'll still know very little about the game.
New trailers for Square Enix titles at Jump Festa
The annual Jump Festa is right around the corner and Square Enix has done us a favor by revealing their lineup of games to be shown and/or played at the event. While a lot of the titles are for Nintendo systems, there are a few titles of PSP fame that will get their time in the sun. A new Final Fantasy Dissidia trailer is getting shown behind closed doors, along with a Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep trailer. The remake of the first and second Star Ocean titles, subtitled First Departure, will get a public video but will not be playable. Since the first two are behind closed doors, we actually don't know if the trailers will be entirely new, or just some recycled secret stuff we're still not allowed to see. Either way, we'll keep you up to date on these videos just in case a leak is sprung in the dam of information Square Enix has built.
