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Could this be the start of a trend? First Japanese cellphone-exclusives The Third Birthday and Final Fantasy Agito XIII receive PSP ports, and now we have a WiiWare port for the cellphone-exclusive Final Fantasy IV The After: Tsuki no Kikan.

This sequel to Final Fantasy IV is planned to be released in monthly installments over Japanese cellphones. Virtually all of the surviving characters from Final Fantasy IV make appearances, with a few of their offspring as playable characters (Cecil's son Theodor and Yang's daughter Ursula). Kain makes a key appearance as one of the game's major antagonists. The game uses a traditional SNES-era Final Fantasy interface, with 2D sprites, the ATB system, and random battles. The stats of players and appearances of monsters vary on lunar phases, which can be changed by spending the night at an inn. In addition, players can execute powerful "band" attacks that require any two players taking action, similar to Twin attacks in Final Fantasy IV DS or Dual Techs in Chrono Trigger.

The ESRB (North America's rating organization for videogames, the equivalent of Europe's PEGI or Japan's CERO) has published ratings for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as a WiiWare game dated for 2009. This is all the information we have on a non-Japanese release, and hopefully we'll have more information soon.

Source: Kotaku

For a brief run in the late 1990's, in case you somehow were not aware, Squaresoft partnered with Eidos to release a couple games for Windows 98. These two games, of course, were the two smash hits Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. Of course, back then it was pretty hard to future-proof games like those, so once Windows XP became the dominant OS in the Windows world, a lot of people gave up on making the games work and as such they've been largely relegated to the bin. Since then, Square-Enix has largely turned a blind eye to the platform; while FFIX, FFX, FFXII, and other games from the stable could have been ported to Windows such as the earlier games were, the only Squenix game that's made it to the desktop has been the MMO Final Fantasy XI and its expansions.

Backstory aside, all that is due to change as of the last week of March. That is the day that Square returns to the PC gaming world by releasing The Last Remnant for the Windows platform, first in retail stores in the EU, followed by the same in the US, followed by Japan on April 9. And, in case you don't feel like dragging yourself to the shops, don't fret - part of this return to Windows includes a release on Steam, also on April 9, marking the first time that these two titans of gaming will work together (though hopefully not the last).

What does this mean, exactly? Well, really, it might not mean that much in practice, but there could be several outcomes. First, of course, is that the game tanks or is severely buggy on Windows, driving down sales and ending this new digital distribution strategy before it gets off the ground. However, it could also with success be another hit against the Playstation 3, giving Square-Enix another Microsoft-backed gaming platform on which to release its games. Finally, let's not forget that Squenix actually owns Eidos now, which in theory would pave the way for a prepatched re-release of both of the previous Final Fantasy PC games, give a leg up in producing more ports of other games from the massive library of S-E games, or even lead to a Games for Windows version of Final Fantasy XIII. For those gamers like me who find a new Windows rig every couple years to be a far better investment than a gaming console, the hopes are high.

Sources:
CVG

Wikipedia

Valve/Steam

For those who don't proclaim themselves "otaku" or whatever appropriated Japanese term is de rigueur these days, you've probably never had a chance to play Dragon Quest V. The original was released only in Japan (of course), for the Super Famicom and later in a remake for Playstation 2, but never off the islands of Japan.

No longer, though; as of today, you can get this game for your Nintendo DS in the US (Friday in the EU), with the enhanced 3D of the PS2 remake, but with an additional character as well. Not only that, if you're a member of the Square-Enix blog, there's also a bunch of e-tchotchkes released today as well.

This release means that every Dragon Quest game but VI has been released in the United States now; DQ6 is in development at this time but has no official release planned for Japan, the US, or the EU at this time.

Pick up your copy of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride from AmaCoN:
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (US)

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (UK/EU)

Sources:
Square-Enix Members
Wikipedia

...because the next installment in everybody's favorite RPG series has been confirmed to be a Japan exclusive for 2009. Sadly, North American audiences can't expect to try the first next-gen Final Fantasy until after April 2010... and if you're in Europe, well, don't hold your breath.

Oh, well. In the meantime, why not go pick up Final Fantasy Legend II? Or Chrono Trigger? Or Dragon Quest IV? Again?

Source: GameSpot

First was FF III, then FF IV, and now... SaGa 2? The second game in the long-running SaGa series, the first three of which came to North America as Final Fantasy Legend I, II, and III, is getting a DS remake in the same vein as the recent re-imaginings of Final Fantasy III and IV. According to an advert in the Japanese manga magazine Shounen Jump, the game will come out in Japan later this year. No word on any other release.



Source: Kotaku

If your Squenix fantasies revolve around a mash-up of popular characters duking it out in some bizarre interdimensional struggle between good and (yawn) evil, the recent announcement of Dissidia's upcoming mid-2009 release is the culmination of your crossover cravings. Dissidia is Squenix's latest swipe at the fighting game genre, last attempted with Ergheiz on the original PlayStation and The Bouncer on the PS2, in which the player will have the power to choose between good and evil and stuff and, presumably, play through the story as everyone from Sephiroth to Zidane (complete with that ridiculous tail) to either save the world (because we're good guys) or destroy it (because we just can't help ourselves and, plus, we got thwarted last time we tried, except for Kefka, who, by my count, is still in the lead) as agents of either Cosmos (good god) or Chaos (figure it out) in an epic excuse to pit your favorite Squenix characters against each other in a battle to the most points (or something). Also, there will be summons. (Surprise!)

Source: Google, NPWNFAA*

*News Posters With News Forum Allergies Anonymous