News

Yes, you read that correctly. Pokemon will officially begin its fifth generation this fall with Pokemon Black and Pokemon White for the Nintendo DS. A worldwide release is inevitable, but for now has no official date. Nintendo will reveal more in a press conference on 15 April.

The second source listed here is an unconfirmed leaked image of the Pokemon found in the game. It seems genuine, but it should not be assumed true as of yet.

Source: Kotaku, The Black & White Pokedex

Media Vision, developers of the Wild Arms series of RPGs, are working on an RPG for the iPhone entitled Chaos Rings, which looks way too damn pretty to be an iPhone game. Joining Media Vision on this project is Yusuke Naora, who worked as an art director and character designer on several Final Fantasy titles, including Final Fantasy VII and multiple entries of the Compilation thereof.

The game looks like it wouldn't be out of place on the PlayStation in the late 90s, or perhaps today on a DS or PSP. The game's storyline revolves around a fighting tournament and intrigue and drama surrounding it. You can check out a trailer at the end of the newspost.

Basically, if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and are fans of Wild Arms and/or Final Fantasy (some of you, maybe?), then you should probably keep this on your radar.

Trailer

Source: Kotaku

Gaming mega-giant Activision Blizzard had a major news conference less than an hour ago. While most of it was a pissing contest (look at all the money Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are making!), there was one relevant blip for consumers: the highly anticipated Starcraft II will begin its worldwide closed beta "before the end of this month."

So you know what that means. Blizzard will be looking over thousands of gamers' shoulders as they try to find ways to nerf the new Zerg rush and find the right energy cost for an EMP and what have you. What's most important is that we'll finally have a way to play Starcraft II without going to Blizzcon.

Source: IncGamers

For years, Final Fantasy VII fans have come to verbal blows over a simple question: was Cloud in love with Aeris or with Tifa? Well, nearly thirteen years after the release of Final Fantasy VII, this debate could be over, shot to hell by canon-fire.

Found in the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania Scenario, a picture of Cloud and Tifa sitting together under the Highwind with the following caption, translated by The Lifestream translator Tres Dias:

For the one I love
Through the long journeys, the love of the protagonists develop. Occasionally they become separated, but the two's value to one another gives them the great strength to overcome whatever crisis may come.

If that doesn't sound like Cloud x Tifa, I don't know what does. Although this will probably do little to quiet the legion of Aerith fans that insist that she was Cloud's one true love, this is probably the first truly conclusive item of evidence for either party.

Caves of Narshe is officially taking a neutral position on the validity of this information as well as the debate itself. Personally, I don't really have a horse in this proverbial race, but I have been annoyed and frustrated by Tifa vs. Aeri(th/s) debates for many years. This translated caption could very well be one localizer's opinion, but it's pretty compelling.

Source: The Lifestream, photo evidence

More like Lufia: A Whole Damn Series Resurrected. Square-Enix is bringing back the cult favorite Lufia series (known as Estpolis or Estopolis in Japan) in the form of Lufia: A Legend Resurrected (Estpolis Denki: Yomigaeru Densetsu in Japan), a remake of Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. The game will be a 3D action-RPG for the DS, bringing back the series staples of complex dungeon puzzles and customizable spells and special weapon attacks, but forgoing the traditional turn-based system for an action battle system where party members can perform team attacks.

News of this revival dropped last week in Japan's Famitsu magazine, with a second Lufia spot appearing this week explaining the new battle system. Lufia's developer, Neverland Software, whose more recent games include the Rune Factory series, is running the show once again, this time with Square-Enix producing. If Legend Resurrected is even half as fun as its SNES predecessor, then expect laszlow to make this a day-one purchase.

Source: RPGFan, More RPGFan

Yoshinori Yamagishi is a 20-year veteran of Enix and Square-Enix and a major collaborator with the development studio Tri-Ace - Yamagishi has been a producer on every Tri-Ace game since the first Star Ocean. It's safe to say that he is one of the major architects of the Star Ocean series, although he is not one of the three "ace" designers that inspired the company's name upon its founding. And as soon as the PS3 director's cut or "International" version of Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope is released, Mr. Yamagishi is going to distance himself from the series.

Star Ocean was originally conceived as a trilogy of games. Star Ocean: The Last Hope represented a new, different direction for the series. After the release of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time for the PS2, Tri-Ace began to branch out and create games not named Star Ocean or Valkyrie Profile, with the development of Radiata Stories and Infinite Undiscovery in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Tri-Ace is also currently working on an RPG called Resonance of Fate. According to his recent interview with a Japanese gaming site, Mr. Yamagishi wants to work on new Tri-Ace intellectual property like those three instead of more Star Ocean sequels.

Source: RPGFan