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Final Fantasy XIII demo expected at E3
According to statements made in Japanese publication Dengeki, Square Enix is planning to feature a playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII at E3 this year. It's also possible, due to E3's downsizing (and more private nature), that Square Enix will reserve the demo for a public platform like Tokyo Games Show. Simultaneously distributing the demo via PlayStation Store would likely generate the most buzz (and could potentially sell some PlayStation 3 units), but Square Enix has made no commitment to do so. However it's delivered, the demo gives us little insight into when the actual game will be complete. Tentative release schedules indicate a 2007 release.[Thanks, Xenokai]
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].
Square Enix surprise: its a PSP port of a GBA port of NES games
It looks like EGM's Rumor Mill is starting to develop into truth. "Square Enix is whipping up a wild lineup for PSP this year ... These guys are serious too! I'm talking new games, remakes of old classics, and an all-new, unexpected Final Fantasy spinoff that will make the fanboys flip."Well, we can check off "remakes of old classics" off the list: Square Enix just announced their "20th Anniversary Series," which will be heading to PSP. First two games on the table? Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition and Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition. Both games will feature the enhancements of the Nintendo-published Final Fantasy I & II Advance: Dawn of Souls, and also include new CG movies and "further enhancements."While these aren't the games we've been clamoring for, I guess it's a step in the right direction. Any support from Square Enix is better than none, right? As it stands now, I'd much rather wait for Crisis Core than these remakes of remakes. Hopefully, we'll see the rest of the "wild lineup" that EGM hinted at.[Thanks, zaki! Via The Magic Box][Update 1: Scans are available at Jeux-France.]
2007 year of the PSP RPG?
The number of RPGs scheduled to come out this year on PSP would not be able to be counted on two hands. In fact, you'd need more than three hands to count them and then you're in Goro territory. Point is, if you're an RPG fan, PSP is the system to own this year. Don't believe me? Well here's the list of RPGs coming out in 2007 according to IGN's release list: JanuaryLegend of the Heroes III: Song of the Ocean FebruaryGurumin: A Monstrous AdventureMonster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner MarchValhalla KnightsDungeons & Dragons: Tactics AprilThe Elder Scrolls Travels: OblivionRiviera Quarter 2Alien Syndrome Quarter 4DC Universe RPG TBA 2007Legend of the River KingFar East of Eden: The Fourth ApocalypseLandstalkerHarvest Moon Boy & GirlCrisis Core: Final Fantasy VIIJeanne d'ArcFinal Fantasy Tactics I don't even want to know what the collective amount of hours all these RPGs would take to beat. Which of these are you looking forward to playing most?
Final Fantasy XII hits Europe on Feb. 23
It's about bloody time news now, with Square Enix announcing the official release date for Final Fantasy XII in PAL territories. Arriving on February 23rd (that's 2007), role-playing fans in Europe are the last to receive a game rife with political intrigue, androgynous street urchins and bunny-eared vixens. We think that might actually be the description on the back of the box.There's no mention of a fancy collector's edition, but rumor has it that the game itself is well worth the asking price. Particularly impatient gamers would do well to pick up Okami in the meantime -- it's finally out in Europe on February 9th.
Hot off the press: FFXII: Revenant Wings scans
A pair of pages featuring Final Fantasy XII from Famitsu magazine have been scanned and shot through the vast series of tubes that comprise the internet, eventually arriving on our digital doorstep. We now present said scans to you in an act of surrender kindness we hope will be valued. You're good people and deserve good scans. We'd include the scans past the post break, but they're fairly huge and would break the site's tables. Also, we'd translate the info, but our inability to translate Japanese script makes that impossible.Anyone want to take a stab at it?
Alive and gaming in Baghdad
"We can't go outside, so I prefer to keep inside and keep myself alive."The words are from Wisam, a gamer living in Baghdad. Wisam is a rarity, and listening to his story on Iraq blog / vlog Alive In Baghdad explains why. Wisam, a recent graduate of the Baghdad University English Department, explains that he spends upwards of $200 on electricity each month -- partly from a local generator that runs 4 p.m. until midnight and partly from the fuel he buys for his personal generator. That's a hefty sumWisam said he learned his English from games such as Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy. MTV News' Stephen Totilo has a thorough piece on Wisam and the crew of Alive in Baghdad. Among the game-related topics discussed, Wisam talked about the decline in interest for war shooters like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty. "We hate the attacking, the gunfire in games," Wisam told MTV News. "We started to hate it."In a sad note, Wisam described how Grand Theft Auto is much like Baghdad right now. Omar Abdullah, who interviewed Wisam for Alive in Baghdad, concurred, telling MTV News that "it was very, very similar to Baghdad. We were like, 'Oh my God. These are the same actions that happen in Baghdad.' There are some places that are divided. For each place, there is a gang ruling that place. You can go down the street and drive any car. If you want to jump on a motorcycle, you can do it."With all the news that circulates about Baghdad, include tonight's U.S. Presidential address, it's thought-provoking to see a often missed perspective on the region.
Nintendo holds key to franchise longevity, profitability
As noted earlier, a list published by UK newspaper The Independent reveals what many already assume; Nintendo's Mario is the best-selling franchise of all time. Coupled with the second best-selling franchise Pokémon (also a Nintendo property), the two series, which have sold a combined 348 million games worldwide, account for nearly 34% of the total sales of the top-twenty best-selling franchises; which include two additional Nintendo IPs ranked in the top ten, Donkey Kong and Zelda. So what's Nintendo's secret?Cross-culture appeal, spin-offs (e.g., racers, sports titles, puzzlers), brand saturation (e.g., apparel, card games, TV shows), and E-ratings all appear part of a profitable formula built for the long haul.
Molyneux, others join GDC lineup, Fable 'talk' imminent
Having the inside scoop, Gamasutra reports that Peter Molyneux, Killer 7's Goichi Suda, and a team of Final Fantasy XII developers led by Taku Murata are joining the GDC 2007 lineup. Molyneux, well known for his mastery of hype-building (and subsequent apologies), will by lecturing on Fable 2, musing aloud about the brilliant innovations that might or might not make the final cut -- Molyneux promises to reveal "a totally unexpected feature" (we've heard that before).Teasing aside, Molyneux is one of the most forward-thinking developers in the industry today. He might not always deliver, but he's earned his street cred for being a risk-taker. Molyneux's colorful presence is a key addition to GDC.Also making appearances during the conference will be Goichi Suda, who will illustrate the experience of working on a small development team (in this case, Grasshopper), along with Taku Murata and other core members of the FFXII team, who will reflect on the lessons learned during the game's development.
Final College Fantasy
His name is Mark Leung. And he's often bored at Massachusetts' Babson College. So he picked up a camera and began to craft a meticulously detailed parody of Final Fantasy; what he calls "College Saga." Here is Mark's introduction:"Once upon a time, when Earth was still a beautiful place, an evil force came to turn all living things into Vegetarians. Three students from suburban Massachusetts would step up against this catastrophe ... to end Vegetarian Supremacy. Mark, Jesús, Maria and their foes would make amazing personal discoveries as the two forces clash. And so began the ultimate saga about friendship, heritage, sex and explosions."Additional episodes: 2, 3, 4[Thanks, Plusmail]
CG cutscenes and gaming culture
In an interview with Lost Planet Community's Brian Dunn, Cutscene Director Yoshiyuki Tonoe and Director Kenji Oguro discussed the differences between how cutscenes are used in Western and Eastern gaming worlds. Their decision to use real-time cutscenes in Lost Planet stems from their research into how Western developers tended to tell the story within the game engine, whereas Japanese developers typically rely on CG graphics for the cinematic storytelling.Tonoe dates the Eastern obsession with CG cutscenes to the original Biohazard (released March 1996), though arguably Square Enix had already begun to look into CG before the horror title's release with Final Fantasy VII, whose long development process began in 1995. "The latest CG movies found in games are stunning and really help sell the game," said Tonoe, "but when I think about how they are used to tie the story to the gameplay, I wonder if they are effective at making the games any better."Pictured are some of the games used as reference material during Lost Planet's development. Tonoe cites The Lord of the Rings games, whose cutscenes were amalgamations of movie footage and in-game footage, as "above what Japanese developers were doing at the time."Specific to their game, Tonoe remarks that there are 33 cutscenes in Lost Planet, totaling 73 minutes, averaging just under three minutes with the longest cutscene at around six minutes in length. What's your preference -- explosive CG eye candy or more immersive real-time storytelling?[Via 1UP]
Best of the rest: Ludwig's picks
Sam & Max Episode 1 : Culture Shock (PC)I never thought I'd actually be grateful to LucasArts for assassinating their sequel to Sam & Max: Freelance Police. Now residing in the capable hands of Telltale Games, the series is setting the standard for episodic content and adventure gaming. Complete failure to laugh at Culture Shock's absolutely brilliant writing, memorable characters and off-the-wall puzzles indicates one of two things: either you're a robot, or you've recently discovered a dead kitten in your lap. (See also: My reviews of Culture Shock and Situation: Comedy.)
FFXII: Revenant Wings trailer
A trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings has hit the 'net and, in watching it more times than a person honestly should, we've seen some interesting gameplay and characters who will join Vaan and Panelo in their adventure. The video quality doesn't do the game's graphics justice, in our eyes, so we assume to be blown away even more upon getting our hands on the title.As always, video is available past the jump.
Final Fantasy website wants you to look at it... probably
We've all wanted an official Final Fantasy site just as much as we've wanted a Wave Runner -- not too often, not in the front of our minds, but every now and then we remember just how awesome a Wave Runner is and how you can't possibly be sad while driving one (thus money buys happiness, says comedian Daniel Tosh -- "go ahead, try to frown on a Wave Runner"). With that horrifying comparison out of the way, may we present the official Final Fantasy website? We may.This crazy site has news about every game in production in the FF world to date (and some history lessons for the n00b gamers who jumped in at FF7 and therefore call it the greatest RPG ever... let's not get into that argument, please please please), listing the people involved in the projects and even some movies to watch/download. There are some pretty character shots, because the guys and the girls always have to be far beyond beautiful and we'd have it no other way. There is a catch... the site's in Japanese, but you guys are resourceful. You can find a way to translate it, even though it's not that necessary. The pictures do most of the talking.
FF: CC screens show off single player and multiplayer screens
Famitsu published some screens and info via their website today. The screens (the top two are from single-player, with the bottom two providing a glimpse into the game's multiplayer) show some in-game sections of the title, but don't really reveal much. Aside from that, any online translation aid we've tried online has spit back indecipherable code. So, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment in trying to gain any further information than the game stars twins.
Blue Dragon busts into Japanese sales charts
The first thing you should do when this sort of thing happens is somehow confirm that you're still in the same dimension you were in moments before. Examine newspapers, have a look in the mirror and make doubly sure that nobody is sporting an angry orangutan for a head. With that out of the way, you can return to the matter at hand -- there's an Xbox 360 game sitting in the fourth position of the weekly Japanese software sales chart. With a healthy 80,348 copies sold, it would appear that Microsoft's Blue Dragon is at least making some strides in the publisher's continuing battle against apathy in Japan.Examining the other bits of the chart on GamesAreFun, it's easy to imagine some of the cheaper headlines that could have been used for this post. "Blue Dragon crushes Zelda in Japanese sales!" While Blue Dragon enters the chart in fourth place, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has since slid down to 17th in its second week. Post-launch Wii shortages could be to blame, as Wario Ware: Smooth Moves also fails to make it past the 23rd spot. The fact that Tales of Destiny and Final Fantasy VI Advance wind up below Blue Dragon, however, could be seen as more reassuring. Ah, but what about "Blue Dragon defeated by Pokemon?" In its tenth week, Pokemon Diamond occupies the third slot, with second and first place going to Sega's Yakuza 2 and Gundam SEED: Federation vs ZAFT II respectively. The install bases of the PS2 and DS make those games particularly tough opponents, so to snag fourth spot seems like a solid accomplishment. Keep an eye out for the infamous Japanese hardware sales later today to see how effective Blue Dragon is at shifting consoles.
Revenant Wings gameplay shots
And with the screens come the new details. We've already heard that the battle system for FFXII: Revenant Wings will be a simplified version of that in FFXII proper, with specialized stylus functionality -- now we see it in (still) action. Now we also know there is no battle screen -- all fights take place in real time, and the player uses the stylus to position characters for battle. Sounds like a lot for the DS to handle, and we can't wait to see it in action.Check out a few more shots from Vaan and Penelo's upcoming adventure after the jump.
Another Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles scan emerges
And with it comes the juicy details. RPG site has some translated information from the scan, and we've scavenged the best bits here for you: The director of the game is Mitsuru Kamiyama, a coder for the original Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (nice promotion!), and Toshiyuki Itahana, character designer for FFIX, will be reprising that role for this game. Single player mode requires the player to swap between characters ala Lego Star Wars. We just hope it's less buggy. Ring of Fates will feature some voice acting, but will not have a fully voiced script. Check out the new scan after the jump!
Final Fantasy Tactics sequel on the way
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_sequel_on_the_way'; In the latest issue of Japanese mag Shonen Jump, it's confirmed that some new Final Fantasy Tactics action will be gracing both Sony and Nintendo's handhelds, however, as usual, Nintendo is getting the better deal. See, the PSP is getting a remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, while the DS (or GBA, it's unconfirmed which handheld the game will appear on at this time) will be receiving a true blue sequel in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: The Sealed Black Book.Considering the recent release of Final Fantasy III, as well as Square's support of the DS with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, not to mention the recent announcement of Dragon Quest IX being exclusive to the DS, we're banking on the game coming to the dual-screen handheld, as well. What do you guys think?[Via Joystiq]
