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Final Fantasy III figurines
Alright fanboys and fangirls, Final Fantasy III is out in Japan and America has a release date. You have seen the millions of videos, screens, previews, news articles, pictures from E3, web site, wallpapers, special Crystal DS Lite and more. We bet you didn't think that there could possibly be something else Final Fantasy III, did you? Well, there is! It's time to squeeze the last drops of milk from the Final Fantasy cash cow and put out some FF III figurines. We aren't sure if these tiny guys are for sale or if they are going to be for sale but they sure are, brace yourself, cute! These, in our opinion, aren't as cool as most FF figurines, (Bahamut pwns) but they carry a different kind of air to them. Suddenly, we are reminded of Final Fantasy Tactics...
Final Fantasy III package art
In the words of a poodle toting glamor gal, "that's hot." And the drooling begins. This simple display of the different versions of the Final Fantasy III box is enough to get us giddy and remember why we love games. Well, why we love RPG's. We love seeing a few samples of the character classes in action. Could this be the box that they special Final Fantasy III DS Lite comes in? Probably not but we can dream can't we? [Via Go Nintendo]
Chocobo and the Magic Picture Book Screens
Go Nintendo has three or so screens from Chocobo and the Magic Picture Book. The game definitely has an interesting look to it and you would be better off translating the original Japanese site the images are from to get a better feel for what it's all about. In spite of all the spin-offs from Final Fantasy, we can't help but want to play this one. There have been games based around the chocobo's before and we are excited to see where they are taking these lovable creatures next.
Final Fantasy III Wallpapers
Yeah, is that not absolutely beautiful? Absolutely breath taking. Best thing about this wallpaper? There are more. Square updated the Final Fantasy III official site today and gave you loyal fans more things to drool over and believe us, you will. [Via Go Nintendo]
Final Fantasy V screens and artwork
Yeah yeah yeah. We all know that this is overkill of FF. But thats what makes our world go 'round. There are more screens and artwork than you care for but it keeps us preoccupied until something Final Fantasy comes out to kill this craving. For those of you wondering about graphics, take a look. The site they are from is a little tricky to navigate around but we have faith in you.
Final Fantasy III & Rune Factory go head-to-head in Japan
On August 24, Final Fantasy III and Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari (Harvest Moon spinoff) will be released in Japan fo DS. While FFIII certainly has the brand edge, both titles look to boost the DS's credibility as a viable RPG platform. Famitsu recently published its reviews for the two games, suggesting that FFIII is slightly superior: Final Fantasy III (Square Enix): 9/8/9/8 - 34/40* Rune Factory (Marvelous Interactive): 8/9/7/9 - 33/40 Keep in mind that, back in March, Children of Mana scored even higher than FFIII, earning a 36/40, and will be released in the US on October 30. FFIII will land stateside in November (hopefully). Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari has not been confirmed for release outside of Japan, but Harvest Moon DS is scheduled for September 12. *C3 News notes that Famitsu's score for the original FFIII (NES) was 35/40.
Square-Enix hints at desire to go into hardware
Yoichi Wada, president of Square-Enix, recently gave some opinions about the game industry over at GameSpot. He said that users will demand more innovation and originality. He makes note of the Nintendo DS and the iPod and their subsequent successes in the industry for being innovative. Wada also said that "entertainment is not a necessity, so the users don't know what they should demand." Whatever! I demand nine-thousand more World War II FPS's! Not really.Wada describes that in three years, things may be changing as the next big thing could come from anywhere (maybe even Squeenix, nudge nudge). He summed up his speech with this statement: "This is one of the reasons 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." It definately isn't! What's your take on it? What could Square-Enix-Taito possible create that would be innovative and new as far as hardware goes? Will they pull support from PS3 to make this hardware a success? PS2 was held up pretty well by the Final Fantasy franchise. What would happen to the PS3 should it lose that?
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]
Chocobo's Magic Picture Book starter site
A pair of big blue eyes and some feathers falling from random places is all you get from Square's teaser site for Chocobo's Magic Picture Book. If you don't read Japanese you can at least poke around Chocobo's eyes and listen to his theme song until you want to scratch out your own eyes. But don't sharpen your fingernails just yet! We can tell you that the site does say that its official launch date is in September. Did someone say Tokyo Game Show appearance maybe? See also: Wark! Chocobo coming to the DS
Enchanted Arms embraces bilingualism
Due for release on 29 August, Enchanted Arms is the fully localized version of From Software's more awkwardly named and rather annoyingly capitalized [eM] eNCHANT arM, the first traditional Japanese RPG to emerge on the Xbox 360. For its American release, the fine French folks at Ubisoft have bravely volunteered to publish the game and translate the gratuitous amounts of Japanese voice and text into something more palatable to a Western audience. Then again, many localizations turn out be anything but palatable, representing the aural equivalent of vicious food poisoning. The mere memory of Shenmue's soulless soccer kids causes great discomfort and anxiety, feelings that are slightly dimmed by Ubisoft's intentions to include both Japanese and English soundtracks on the Enchanted Arms disc. Excellent news, to be sure, but frustrating in the sense that Ubisoft is one of the few publishers that actually does put a great deal of care into cinematic presentation, generally avoiding talentless talkers who end up in the recording studio through sheer chance. Based on Grandia II, their English efforts might not be nearly embarrassing enough to warrant this feature.And really, "feature" is a good word to describe it. With advanced compression techniques and new, Blu-tinged storage mediums arriving, there should be no reason for gamers not to have a choice in who they hear blathering about chosen ones and ancient, poorly imprisoned evils. It's about time that publishers and developers realized that poor voice acting is no laughing matter.[A video involving magical limbs is embedded in the second part of the post.]
More Final Fantasy III Screens!
Our immediate response to the sight of more Final Fantasy III stuff is "ZOMG FF III PWNES!! :-D". After a few minutes of calming down with meditation we remember that it is only a game...Wait, what are we saying?! This is FF III people! We found some nice, new and very attractive screenshots for you to ogle at. Careful, mind the keyboard. Drool is not your friend. We have been keeping side-by-side with this game and biting our nails everyday we have to wait. And wait we do. Word.
FFIII preview: everything old is new again!
Though we could have used some screens, the Final Fantasy III preview at Gameworld Network does have a few juicy details, plenty to ramp up our already frenzied excitement for this title. For those who've lived and breathed Final Fantasy over the years, the turn-based battle system is old hat, but in this version it's served up with a twist: during battle, you chose every character's actions at the same time. Sounds like it's going to take a little getting used to, but when a game looks this good, we're up to the challenge. The Gameworld preview gushes over the stylized new look, as expected. It's exciting to see these characters get their own unique faces, stories, and even names for the revamped game. It's a whole new world ....
Square-Enix says "No!" to FFXI sequel rumors
Seems a lot of people hopped on the rumor-wagon this past week. Regrettably, Squeenix debunked this rumor today by denying any FFXI sequel altogether. They say the gameplay footage of their next-gen MMO is a completely independant project, original in title and story. Some may say "great! FFXI was terrible! Now then, back to WoW..." while others may say "Aw, poo, no Vana'Diel on my PS3..."What kind of newfangled MMO could Squeenix be working on, then? It's hard to think about what a new, original project could be like, since the MMO world has pretty much two options: fantasy world or post-apocalyptic world. Would they go to the latter? More like a Final Fantasy 8 world, but online? It's more futuristic at least. Or it may be unrelated to the Final Fantasy franchise altogether. Anybody have thoughts on what Square could possibly toss at us?
Square Enix won't confirm Final Fantasy XI-2
Square Enix has posted a statement on its website, rejecting Nikkei Net's report that the RPG vet has revealed its upcoming MMO as the sequel to Final Fantasy XI Online. While Square Enix does not outright deny that its project is FFXI-2, the company states clearly that it "did not make such an announcement [about FFXI-2] and has not made any decisions resembling those detailed in the media report."The statement reconfirms that Square Enix is developing a new MMORPG, as was announced in May 2005, but adds that specific details, including the game's platform(s), are still pending.[Thanks, mathew]
Final Fantasy XI sequel revealed
According to Japan's Nikkei Net (via IGN), Square Enix is working on a sequel to Final Fantasy XI. The upcoming MMORPG is being developed for PC (Vista), PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Prior to this revelation, Square Enix had hinted at a new MMO project, previewing a trailer featuring a 'next-gen' MMORPG engine. However, at this time, it's unclear if the FFXI sequel is indeed the game that will utilize this engine.[Thanks, Master X]
Final Fantasy III gameplay footage
A Final Fantasy III (DS) video -- minus the fluff -- has surfaced on YouTube. Although edited, this clip is 3:44 of gameplay footage: a lil' exploring ... a surprise skirmish ... some more explorin' ... a lethargic giant-tortoise boss battle ... a shiny crystal -- you know, classic Final Fantasy. Sure it's garden variety, but it's a proven formula and looking extremely polished at home on DS.
Moogle joins Mario Hoops team roster
A recent Famitsu scan seems to indicate that the obscenely colorful cast of Mario Hoops: 3 on 3 will be joined by a fluffy Final Fantasy favorite -- Moogle. Franchise crossovers are always amusing, though we thought that Square Enix would at least have the good sense to toss Quina Quen from Final Fantasy IX in there. We're convinced that Mario would rather have a freakish, grammatically challenged cook on his team as opposed to a little white creature that's probably a bit crap at playing basketball. [Via 4CR]
Final Fantasy III DS wi-fi feature revealed: emailing?
ClubSkill.com reports that a leaked screenshot from Jump, a Japanese publication, reveals that Final Fantasy III will make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, at least in part, by allowing friends to send 'letters' to each other. Exchanging these emails is said to trigger special events in the game.Fair enough, but we're still holding out for some true co-op functionality, or even just a simple battle mode. C'mon Square Enix, we play games to take a break from emailing!
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]
Up to 7,000 PSOne-to-PSP titles by 2007, reports UK PSP Magazine
"Riiiiiidge Raaaaacer!" Kaz Hirai's famous declaration at Sony's E3 media breifing might not have garnered much applause, but, according to UK PSP Magazine, there are plenty of other emulated PlayStation titles (for the PSP) that will. These five AAA titles should be available when the emulation service launches: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VIII Silent Hill Tomb Raider In addition, UK PSP Magazine reports that up to 7,000 PlayStation titles will be available for download by the end of 2007. Say what?! 7,000! Yes folks, it's possible -- Wikipedia: "As of March 2005, there were 7,743 software titles available (this figure counts games released in multiple regions as separate titles)."Forget PSOne, the PSP has officially become the first, truly portable PlayStation. We knew the thing would find its calling sooner or later...
