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Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep to be born unto the U.S. this summer
Square Enix is sure hoping that the recent release of its long-in-production RPG hasn't caused you to forget about its other long-in-production RPG: The PSP-exclusive Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. The company recently sent a jolt through the series' dormant U.S. fan base by announcing that the title will come stateside sometime this summer. According to Squeenix's press release announcement, the North American version of the game will include new features, such as "an extra boss and additional multiplayer options," as well as something called "Crown Stickers." That certainly sounds like powerful weapon in the fight against the Heartless. We hear those guys hate stickers.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep sells over 400K in debut week
It seems Kingdom Hearts fanfare is still strong in Japan. Birth By Sleep, the franchise's latest entry, sold over 400,000 units in its first two days of sales, according to a report by Media Create. The PSP-exclusive prequel has claimed the best-performing handheld debut for the franchise so far, besting 358/2 Days' 300K and Chain of Memories' 200K. Like every other major Square Enix game before it, Birth By Sleep had an accompanying limited edition hardware bundle. Expect to see PSP sales spike during our Japanese hardware sales report later this week.
Finally! A 7-minute Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep trailer in Japanese
You might have noticed a serious dearth of Disney characters speaking in Japanese on Joystiq lately -- we sure have, and it's just tearing us to bits inside. Thankfully, Square Enix seems to have taken note as well, recently updating the Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep website with more than just wallpapers (though you'll find three of those on there, too). How about the entire seven-minute-long trailer from Jump Festa 2010? We've embedded it above, though if you're dying to know what the people in it are actually saying, we suggest you check out the full translation right here. And then, once you have it in English, you might ask your nearest Kingdom Hearts fan to translate further. %Gallery-29323% [Thanks, G. Finnsson]
Jesse McCartney confirms Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep localization
It may seem like an unlikely source for video game news, but pop singer Jesse McCartney's Twitter account has confirmed the localization of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Square Enix hasn't announced a US release for the PSP prequel, but considering the franchise's penchant for making money, it certainly was never in doubt. Birth by Sleep would be McCartney's third foray into the Kingdom Hearts universe, having previously voiced Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days. Kingdom Hearts Union suggests that McCartney may be voicing Birth By Sleep's "new" character, Ventus (pictured, right) -- y'know, the one that looks exactly like Roxas (pictured, left). %Gallery-29323%
Here's the requisite Kingdom Hearts PSP
Every major Square Enix release comes with a limited edition hardware bundle in Japan. The upcoming PSP-exclusive Kingdom Hearts prequel is no different. This Birth by Sleep silver PSP-3000 will be available on January 9, 2010 for ¥22,000 (about $250). Unlike other LE bundles, this package only contains the branded PSP system you see above and a copy of the game. We're a little disappointed that Square and Sony didn't make a special edition PSP Go bundle, as that's something we'd love to see. Perhaps that's being set aside for when Square Enix finishes its other big PSP games: The 3rd Birthday and Final Fantasy Agito XIII.
Birth by Sleep awakens in this 'new' Kingdom Hearts trailer
The DS-based 358/2 Days hasn't arrived in the States yet, but Japan is already preparing for the next installment in the hugely popular Kingdom Hearts franchise. The PSP-exclusive prequel, Birth by Sleep, should be arriving in Japan this winter, and Square Enix is prepping its marketing muscle by opening the game's official website -- and with it, debuting a new direct-feed trailer for the masses. (An off-screen capture was taken at last year's exclusive Closed Mega Theater at TGS.)This story-heavy trailer shows off a number of Disney movies in action, like Cinderella, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland. (Hey, where's Stitch?) Birth by Sleep will be a huge presence at Tokyo Game Show soon, so expect our hands-on reporting later this month.%Gallery-29323%[Via PSPHyper]
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep to awaken Japan this Winter
Square Enix has been awfully quiet about its upcoming PSP-exclusive Kingdom Hearts prequel. Birth by Sleep takes place ten years before the events of the original PS2 game, and sets to explain some of the long-unexplained mysteries surrounding the franchise. Although we haven't seen much of the game since TGS last year, it looks as though Square Enix is getting ready to put the finishing touches on the game, readying it for a winter release across the Pacific.If Birth by Sleep follows the footsteps of its DS brethren 358/2 Days, it should only take about half a year for the game to be localized and released stateside. It seems likely (but unconfirmed) that we'll be playing Birth By Sleep in English before next summer rolls around.[Via PSPHyper]
Direct-feed Kingdom Hearts trailer, direct from DVD
Square Enix sure has a lot of love for the PSP. In addition to the next Parasite Eve game, and a brand new Final Fantasy XIII game, PSP will also be receiving a new Kingdom Hearts game as well. A recent trailer rip has hit the web, and now you can watch in glorious direct-feed. No more off-angle shaky-cam for you, folks. Check it out, after the break.[Thanks, Edwin A.P.!]
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, The 3rd Birthday TGS trailers leaked
That gorgeous girl above is Aya Brea, the star of the Parasite Eve series of games, in a concept drawing for the latest game in the franchise, The 3rd Birthday . According to Siliconera, the upcoming PSP exclusive (mobile phone version has been scrapped) will be developed by Hexadrive, who was responsible for Rez HD. What's more, we've got the leaked TGS trailers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and The 3rd Birthday. The Birth by Sleep one is quite the long one, and it begins at about the 2:00 mark -- it includes both cut scenes and gameplay -- most of us haven't seen the game in action, so this is quite a treat. The trailer for The 3rd Birthday, is considerably less exciting, with no gameplay, but keep in mind this is the first trailer. Check them out after the jump.Source -- SiliconeraSource -- Youtube[Thanks, dsvw56!]
PSP Fanboy hands-on: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
The Kingdom Hearts series was first born on the PlayStation 2; however, it has gone and spread its wings into other realms since then and now it carries a new bundle of joy in the form of portable PSP title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. While the title radically takes the story aspect of the game farther away from the original setting with Sora and friends, this new game will focus on the three (slightly) new faces pictured above (from left: Aqua, Ventus and Tera).Birth by Sleep was indeed playable on the show floor at TGS and we sunk in some time with the title. The playable build that was available let us try out both Ventus and Tera in battle. We decided to just go with trying out Tera's abilities and then go straight into the action. Tera's level starts off in a forest area which gets you into a fight right away. Kingdom Hearts vets will notice that the controls are incredibly familiar; they're nearly identical to the original console games from the past, though with slight differences due to the change in input interface (ie, shoulder buttons once again control the camera since there are no dual analog nubs).%Gallery-29323%
What's playable, and what's not, at Square Enix's TGS booth
2008 looks to be yet another excellent year for Tokyo Game Show. There's a lot of excitement over the potential surprises at the show. Square Enix has posted its lineup for this year's show, and we're a little saddened to see Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) still not playable. At the very least, we'll be getting some one-on-one time with Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP). Check out the full PlayStation list here:Playable Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP) Trailers-Only Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) Final Fantasy Agito XIII (PSP) The 3rd Birthday (PSP) Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (Blu-ray) We're expecting many of these trailers will be shown behind closed doors. Fear not, though. We'll provide detailed impressions of the trailers live from Tokyo next month.
Birth by Sleep and Dissidia: video, Famitsu scans, trailer summary
Wowzers! So there is a lot more information out there on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep than we anticipated. First we got some translated hands-on impressions gathered from various Japanese sites over at KHInsider, along with a trailer summary. Some of this information we know about already, so here are highlights of the new stuff: The new enemies are called Unbirths. Xehanort and Maleficent are both after the Princesses of Hearts Ven's level is the Castle of Dreams, Cinderella's world. Ven cooperates with Jaq the mouse to collect materials to make Cinderella's dress. After going through a maze and finding the necessary items, a boss fight ensues with Lucifer. No, not Lucifer the demon, but rather the cat from Cinderella. Secondly, we have 3 pages of Famitsu scans courtesy of PSPHyper. Reading the hands-on impressions while looking at these scans, you can almost pretend you were playing the demo. Lastly, IGN has a few seconds of video footage of both Birth by Sleep and Dissidia from their Game Scoop show. Look for that after the jump.[Thanks, Kristopher G. and MonkeyKHI!]Source -- PSPHyper; Famitsu scansSource -- KHInsider; trailer summary and hands-on impressionsSource -- IGN Video; Game Scoop: Square Enix Party%Gallery-29323%
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep dated for 2009 in Japan
Not only did those who were invited to the ultra-exclusive DKΣ3713 Private Party get a chance to play Dissidia, they also played through two levels of the upcoming Kingdom Hearts prequel Birth by Sleep. As we predicted, Square announced that a Japanese release will occur some time in 2009.IGN had a chance to play through the two stages, and here's what they had to tell us, after the jump:
New skillz fo' Kingdom Hearts' Terra
Japanese publication Shonen Jump is providing us with another small update on the Kingdom Hearts prequel Birth by Sleep. A new special skill for Terra (not to be confused with Final Fantasy VI's Terra, whose name is Tina in the original Japanese version) named Shock Lock System is shown, along with a screenshot of Ven. PSPHyper has the entire scan for you right here. Nomura has commented before that the DS Kingdom Hearts title 358/2 Days will likely debut before Birth by Sleep. Since the scan shows 358/2 Days coming out in 2008, we can safely assume Birth by Sleep won't be arriving until 2009.
Some stellar fan-made Kingdom Hearts box arts
We stumbled upon a great collection of fan-made box art for the upcoming PSP Kingdom Hearts game. Many of these efforts do a great job of capturing the spirit of previous Kingdom Hearts games. In fact, many of these look like the real deal. Check them out here.
Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia playable at Square Enix party
Finally! It seems like we're inching ever closer to the releases of Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts on PSP. Dissidia has been playable before, so we're excited to hear that Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is in a state where it can be played as well. Unlike the other Kingdom Hearts spin-off titles, Birth by Sleep looks to most closely resemble the PS2 games -- not just graphically, but in terms of gameplay as well. For many, that's exactly what they're looking for.Invitations to this closed party are incredibly limited, so we're hoping that someone will be fortunate enough to attend the show and report on how both of these games play.[Via Kotaku]
Square Enix Party announced for August
It appears that the Japanese side of Square Enix is going to hold an event promoting some of the company's upcoming software. The event, dubbed DKΣ3713, will take place on August 2 and 3 in Harajuku in Tokyo. It's invite-only which means there's a huge chance you won't be able to go (read: absolutely no chance if you don't live in Japan); however, SE is giving people the chance to sign up and be selected to receive an invite.Square Enix is giving away 2,400 invites to eager gamers waiting to see the latest on PS3 games: Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII, and PSP games: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dissidia. The application period starts this June 23 and will end July 13. Invites will be selected after those dates. Check out the full list of games here.We won't be in Japan for this, but we hope our (few) Japanese readers will be able to enjoy the festivities. As for the rest of you, let's just look forward to Secret Agent Clank and Space Invaders Extreme next week.
Kingdom Hearts trailer, back online with subtitles
Square Enix is notorious for being overly secretive about its upcoming projects. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the upcoming PSP addition to the popular Disney franchise, has been no different. When a new trailer leaked to the web, Square Enix's ninjas destroyed the video.Well, it looks like a new vid is making its way through the web, this time with English subtitles. However, considering how cryptic the story of Birth by Sleep is right now, maybe the translation doesn't help too much! Regardless, we're excited (and we hope this trailer doesn't get taken down too soon). [Thanks, Saigon!]
New Kingdom Hearts trailer gets leaked
In case you've forgotten, there's a brand new Kingdom Hearts game coming out on PSP. Entitled Birth By Sleep, very little is known about this mysterious addition to the franchise. Finally, a video has been leaked to the web, showcasing some of the characters and environments in this PSP-exclusive adventure. The quality suffers due to its off-screen capture, but it's clear that Square Enix is working its magic on PSP yet again. We can't wait to see more. [Thanks, Monkey!]
Kingdom Hearts battle system gets Fatal Mode
Birth by Sleep looks good. And, new details and screenshots from Famitsu make it even better. The article highlights two new features of the new PSP Kingdom Hearts game's battle mode: the Command meter and Fatal Mode. Players are encouraged to battle furiously, as each attack they execute will fill the Command meter. Once the Command meter fills, players will be able to launch a special attack (which can supposedly be custom mapped).Terra (the guy that looks a bit too much like Zack from Crisis Core) also has an extra mode: Fatal Mode, which unsurprisingly delivers one-hit kills to enemies. Make sure you check out the screenshots by visiting Famitsu.[Via PSPHyper]
