Square Enix News Tidbits: Release Us, XIII-2

Okay, yes, there's even more Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC coming. You want to know part of the reason why it's so hard for me to write tidbits these days? Even as much as I like Final Fantasy XIII (and have -2 sitting on my desk, waiting to be played), when most of the news coming out is about DLC, it starts to be a bit soul-deadening. My scarred essence notwithstanding, there's a lot coming down the chute in the near future: Snow and Valfodr are coming to the Colosseum next month, to be followed closely thereafter by a massive update including Lightning's "Requiem of the Goddess," White Mage and Black Mage costumes for Serah and Noel respectively, and a pack of sixteen different costumes for your Moogle. Oh, yeah, and Snow got put in Prada too, and they forgot to tell us before. Almost missed out on that one!

Now that we have that out of the way, check out the new Square Enix streaming music site, which is almost like a Pandora for Squenix tracks. Once you fight your way around the interface a bit, you can listen to tracks streamed through your browser from a variety of Squenix properties. The selection appears to be a bit small at the moment, but it's still a potentially interesting new branding push for the gaming juggernaut, as the music produced by Square Enix remains well-received even as the games it produces sometimes are less so. Were the company to add more tracks and improve the interface, this could be a big winner down the line.

For those waiting to try Dragon Quest X, the first MMO to be put in the hands of Enix' biggest property, you'll still be waiting a while. However, a release date has been announced for Japan, which naturally brings us in the West one hypothetical step closer to playing. The game will be out on 2 August in Japan for Wii; again, no information on whether it will appear as a WiiU launch title in any market. The game will cost 1000 yen per thirty days of play, with small discounts offered for paying instead in 60- or 90-day chunks. You'll be able to register 100 friends within the game, as well, and be able to see what servers they're on and potentially what they're up to. Additionally, the Japanese release will feature free play for children from time to time. There's no age limit, though - not that they'd be able to enforce it, really - and that makes it seem to me more like a creepy trap than anything else. The beta's going well, too, with it looking to expand to up to fifty thousand players in the near future, and 24-hour server uptime coming soon as well.

Source: Final Fantasy XIII Net, andriasang