News

Huge news came yesterday afternoon for anyone who spends any time on this website - Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy VI will be released on iOS and Android devices. You may have seen CoN user His Shadow's post in the forums yesterday, but alas, with old age comes slow movement. Or something like that!

What we've got here isn't a strict port, but it should be added that what we've got is no remake either. FFVI will be tweaked in several ways: its graphics, for instance, will be improved - though still 2D. The battle system will be altered a bit for the mobile platform in the spirit of previous FF mobile releases, like the recent FFV. Battle-experience will also be altered in order to require less grinding for the sake of being able to "enjoy the game for what it is." It is possible that this may be accompanied with a dialing back of the random encounter frequency, something everyone has been wanting forever, but there is no indication of this.

These changes, however small, are still generating some discussion. For instance, in the most recent CoNcast, SE took a bit of a hit for releasing games that aren't really sensitive to the nature of mobile gaming; do you think this difficulty altercation will broaden the game's mobile-friendliness or restrain it? I've also seen a few complaints regarding the sprites from earlier FF mobile releases - anyone familiar have anything to say about that?

The announcement concluded rather open-ended-ly, with the statement that "if this Legacy project works out well, we would like to one day be able to work with VII." Let's just take a concluding moment to appreciate how many qualifiers are packed into that statement.

Source: Kotaku

Thanks to a great topic by MetroidMorphBall, we've got another podcast for you today. In his topic, MMB asks, "Are the best Squenix games coming out on handhelds?" As we all know, Squenix have thrown a lot of resources over the last few years into getting games in front of gamers on the go, whether it's on phones or tablets or a handheld gaming console, or whether it's a new IP or a port or a full-on remake. That gives us a lot to talk about, naturally, due to the number of permutations at play. Perhaps some folks like the old games on new platforms; perhaps someone prefers the brand new IPs on Nintendo and Sony handhelds; maybe there's someone out there who just doesn't like console games (or handhelds!) at all.

It's time to listen to the CoNcast to find out. And, of course, to learn more about Cookie Clicker, the game that never leaves Tiddles unsatisfied.

Source: The CoNcast Subscription Feed, The CoNcast on iTunes, Original CoN Topic

Another few weeks, another tidbits. This seems like another good time to remind folks that we would love to have someone willing to write news for us, since all of us are clearly way too busy. Or just bad at this. This time around, we've got a ton of news that came out of the Tokyo Game Show this year. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a bit going on for Square Enix at what is still considered their "home" trade show. Further introductions provide no value with this much news.

Let's start off with 3D remakes, because many people have been aching for 3D versions of their favorite Final Fantasy games since III and IV got them a few years back. Good news on that front - as long as your favorite game is the Final Fantasy IV sequel "The After Years." The initially-episodic sequel that was released also in the Complete Collection of Final Fantasy IV on PSP is now getting a redux for iOS and Android in the vein of its big brother. It's already been confirmed that the West will get the game as well, as is almost always the case for Squenix' iOS and Android games. While I'm sure this will cause some gnashing of teeth among fans, it seems like a pretty easy call for the company to make, given that the engine and art assets that already exist should make this port pretty easy.

Next up comes the Bravely Default franchise, made a franchise by the announcement of a sequel. The confusingly-named upgrade of the original, subtitled "For the Sequel," is true to its word by adding in some enhancements that will also be part of the simultaneously-in-development sequel. According to the most recent news, these enhancements will also form the basis for the version of Bravely Default that Europe and North America will get. It's starting to look like the sequel will be less Default than the original, also, given that Squenix have also trademarked in Japan the names "Bravely Second" and "Bravely Third." Of course, it's way too early to predict anything about those games, but this news does give a gentle nudge to a theory that Squenix are preparing a pretty big new franchise for handheld domination.

Speaking of big new franchises, let's not forget that the Final Fantasy XIII series is soon to come to an end with Lightning Returns. Because it's just what they do with this game, Squenix had yet another new trailer at TGS. It makes one wonder if their endgame is simply to have the entire game released as a series of trailers that fans would then need to recut into the correct order to understand the plot. Speaking of things that they've done with Lightning Returns, here are three separate notes all about more costumes in the game (in these cases, a Final Fantasy XIV Miqo'te catgirl, Yuna, and Aeris respectively). Lightning Returns is still scheduled to be released in Japan next month and in the West in February 2014 - plenty of time to shove more costumes in.

And on the subject of Final Fantasy XIV, it seems like A Realm Reborn is really starting to make up for the bad taste the original created. Say what you will about their launch-window server issues (for what it's worth, I can forgive them), but it really seems like the new version has been pretty well received as both a quality MMO and a solid Final Fantasy game, which certainly differentiates it from the bulk of its competitors. Enhancements are already being discussed for future updates, such as customizable housing, PvP arenas, and even the plan to allow gamers to transition from their Playstation 3 games to Playstation 4.

Briefly, on the subject of MMOs, did you remember that Enix has one for Dragon Quest? Nah, of course you didn't. It's still not out in the West anyway. However, if and when it does come this direction, you might be able to play it on the go - a version for iOS and Android will be out this winter in Japan. Apparently, this version of the game will have the same content as the full game, simply optimized for mobile hardware. That should allow players to take their game off their console and then continue it on the train; wonder if XIV could pull that off?

Last thing: the Final Fantasy X/X-2 remaster is still coming. On the official Playstation blog, that is confirmed directly, in case you'd forgotten. There's also, yes, another trailer, and a bit of talk about the art book that preorder customers will get.

That's a lot of tidbits, and I didn't quite cover everything I wanted to. Sorry about that, but I'll see if I can't get a more specific post up to cover the rest soon. Hint: it's Type-0 related!

Source: siliconera, Final Fantasy Network, Kotaku

*That aren't really sequels.

After all kinds of cheeky proding from Josh, I've decided to finally get my act together and do that news thing!

First off, what is already old news: the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix release last week. The package deal includes a remake of the original KH game, KH: Re: Chain of Memories, and videos from the DS title 358/2 Days.

Next, we've a series of news regarding Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. The game, as you may remember, has been out in Japan for over a year now and selling/reviewing very well; earlier this spring, it was confirmed for a 2014 release stateside. Recently, however, a separate, enhanced version of the game has been announced - Bravely Default: For the Sequel - which will be released in lieu of the original outside of Japan (still in 2014). The enhancements are drawn in large part from a whole heap of player suggestions, making this a bit of a standard of late for Square Enix. Check out those two Siliconera links below if you'd like to see a taste of what the anticipated title will look like via comparisons to its original incarnation.

But here's where things can get confusing if you haven't been keeping up with your Square Enix handheld news lately. Bravely Default: For the Sequel isn't a sequel in itself; it's a version of the original improved in large part for the sake of making the also-recently-announced sequel-proper... about which we know little as of yet!

And now on to that other piece of Square Enix news, FFXIV: A Realm Reborn (all these colons in titles are cramping my style). As of only a few hours ago, digital sales of the game resumed for PC and PS3 after having been closed only a few days after its late-August release due to widespread complaints regarding excessive wait times. Square Enix apologized for what it described as 'unprecedented demand,' and has spent the last month adding new servers in order to increase overall capacity as well as capacity for individual Worlds (as well as refunding some of folks who got in on the party late).

How has the new title been received, you may ask? Places like Metacritic and Gamerankings are giving it scores in the mid-80s (out of a hundred), which isn't too shabby, especially when you consider the scores for the original FFXIV were about half that, and that (I assume) awful load times were taken into those considerations. But no need to trust them! Here's what our members had to say about its Beta phase. I know several of these folks have kept up with the game: what do you think?

Source: Siliconera, Siliconera, CVG

While we fall behind on news, we keep up on CoNcasts, so that's something. Wait... no, we're a week late on this episode of the CoNcast too, aren't we? Well, isn't that fabulous.

This is lucky episode thirteen, and as luck would have it, we couldn't manage to get a full set of four this week. What's going on in the world? Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! Carrying on, though, Tiddles, lasz and I took it upon ourselves to put out a good show talking about some of the big hardware news that has come out recently, as well as the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. We cover the updated Playstation 4 release date in Japan, the announcement of the Vita TV, and the interestingly-shaped Nintendo 2DS, some of the big games we expect to see out of TGS, and we throw in a lot of silliness about fast food and other random topics.

To wrap up both this news post about the podcast and the recording itself, we announce the opening of the CoNcast mailbag. If you've got something to harass us about specific to the CoNcast, such as an argument against something we said, a topic you want us to cover, or a plea to join us on an upcoming episode, the mailbag is the place to do it. You can yell at us via email using [email protected]; of course, we'll be happy to take your feedback through any of our other points of contact as well, but the email address will be the most direct and noticeable way to make your opinion heard.

If you're feeling lucky yourself, download it now. If you're feeling less than lucky, that's probably all the more reason to hit that link.

Source: The CoNcast Subscription Feed, The CoNcast on iTunes

In this episode, we're talking about sequels. It seems like every game is guaranteed a sequel these days, and some of them are warranted, and some are not. Of course, which ones are which are a matter for debate, so Neal, lasz, DP, and I spend some time talking about games that need more sequels, and games that instead need to be put on the shelf.

We even talk about Final Fantasy and Square Enix a bit, but, spoiler alert: nobody actually says that Final Fantasy should be a series that dies with a whimper. Why not? You'll have to listen.

Source: The CoNcast Subscription Feed, The CoNcast on iTunes