News

The Tokyo Game Show and Yoichi Wada
Begin to bring all of us news fodder
He rumors a new Wii
And shock, in HD!
Note now that this limerick's... okay, forget it. I don't have footbigmike's boundless energy for goofy.

Long story short, Yoichi Wada, president of Square-Enix, is using his press time pre-TGS to postulate on the next generation of consoles, implying that the motion-sensing applications of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will have a small impact at best. Seems that Wada either doesn't think they can do it better than Nintendo, or that nobody will actually care, particularly when the next Wii comes out (for which, not coincidentally, Wada also has theories - mark your calendars for sometime in 2011 and buy a HDTV if you don't have one, says the Man). The gist is this—in a couple short years the console market could look very much like three identical entries in different colors.

Source: Joystiq

So we're coming up to the middle of September,
And I know what you're thinking - it's hard to remember
All the stories of every Final Fantasy game so far
(Even when some of them are completely sub-par)

So I bring to you some enjoyable news
And now the information even your brain can't lose
For the end of this month brings a story to you
Which'll tell you what is what and who is who

Presenting Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero
Start praising me here - I'm like a true hero
"But what does this contain?" - from you I hear
A novelization of the story before the world premiere

"But what's the point - I want the game for that!"
Well, sure - but what about before the fact?
Didn't the War of the Magi leave many mysteries?
And all that stuff about Zack - come on, please.

The story takes place before the game begins,
And hopefully it'll be better than the one from Skins
You'll learn about the characters and why they are where they are
But as of yet we don't know whether from near or afar

And now we'll need some help from the Shiva Indis
Because here's the final drawback - you are gonna hate this
The novelization you're now excited about
Will only be in Japanese - let's hear you scream and shout.
________________________________________________________________________

Yeah, I know, i'm awesome.

Source: IGN, Final Fantasy XIII Official Site

Here's a game that is probably worth following at the Tokyo Game Show next week, especially if you've grown a bit bored with what Square Enix has had to offer lately. Capcom has assembled a pretty solid group of names to build their new RPG, drawing one of the authors of Final Fantasy VII, the composer for Street Fighter II, Parasite Eve, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the character designer of Devil May Cry 4, the producer of Apollo Justice, and the developer of the Luminous Arc series of games. Not much else is known just yet besides the title and platform—"Last Ranker" and PSP, respectively—but the game will appear at TGS, for certain.

Source: Kotaku

Here's the Friday tidbits. I really do like these weekly posts, but I also wouldn't mind seeing someone else do them, heh. It's mostly release dates this week, so hope you have your debit cards at the handy.

In case you missed it last week, the finale of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years popped out on WiiWare. Finish it up and feel free to share your closing thoughts in our thread.

On the PlayStation front, you'll note that the original Final Fantasy Tactics is now DLC in the PlayStation Network store in North America. For $9.99 you can download the original - however, if you're smart you already own the original, right? In any event, just so it's clear, this is not the War of the Lions remake, but instead the nearly-twelve-year-old PlayStation One game.

If you like your games to come on discs, though, there are a couple heading that way too. The Wii will get its new Crystal Chronicles game, The Crystal Bearers, on the day after Christmas, clearly to pick up on that day's typical shopping extravaganza. Finally, if you're a PlayStation 3-only gamer, you can have a shot at the previously-360-exclusive Star Ocean 4 as of February 9, 2010. This new version is "International," and will have a variety of selectable languages, a new menu system, and some new characters.

Finally, for a non-release date bit of news, don't forget that the Tokyo Game Show is starting up next week. Square Enix have already given out a bit of information as to what to expect, but for Dragon Quest fans, note that Dragon Quest VI is going to be remade for the Nintendo DS next year in Japan. Of lesser note is that Dragon Quest III is heading to cell phones in Japan; don't forget that The After Years started the same way, though, so you may see DQ3 on WiiWare someday too.

Source: Kotaku, Square Enix Members Blog, RPGamer

In what is becoming more and more characteristic for the industry as a whole and Square Enix in particular, we got this week another series of tidbits and new media for the next blockbuster releases from the megacorp. We covered only a bit of the Final Fantasy XIII Premiere Party around here, though it happened this week; in essence, it threw out a lot of stuff that the media weren't allowed to show per se, with a lot of little news attached. Beyond what laszlow posted on Tuesday, there was a new trailer, which while kept "secret" at the start, soon showed up on a Japanese morning show, at least in part. After the party, a little bit info came to light as well; Kotaku brings us a new series of screens, while GameSpot has some details of the Uematsu-penned theme song, as sung by newcomer Sayuri Sugawara.

More news from Nier this week, too, as it was renamed a bit to "Nier Gestalt." The reason? Well, it seems that Squenix is already planning to build this game into a franchise, with a teaser for "Nier Replicant" showing up in Famitsu a few days back. Few details to speak of from the new game, but rumor has it that Nier Gestalt might be going to 360 only and Replicant could do the same for PS3. Fragmenting the audience seems a move destined to make the game fail in the long run, but it's not like anyone really thinks Square Enix makes only smart decisions these days, right? In any event, Squenix are saying that these rumors have no bearing on the North American release - who knows what that means? Do we get only Gestalt for both platforms? Do we get both games for both platforms? Is there a magical Wii release coming? (Just kidding on that last one, I think.)

Source: Kotaku, GameSpot

Earlier today, Square-Enix threw a Final Fantasy XIII party, showing off new screens, information, and what have you about Final Fantasy XIII. There was some nifty news, like the announcement of another Final Fantasy-themed beverage ("elixir") and the revealing of a PS3+FFXIII bundle in Japan, but the real reveal was three numbers: 12.17.2009.

That's right, Final Fantasy XIII will be out in Japan on 17th December of this year. That number was accidently leaked by a few different sites over the weekend, but now it's definitely official. FF XIII will retail for 8800 yen, which works out to be about $95 USD or 57 GBP, usually a price reserved for special editions and bundles.

But who cares about those Japanese? When is it coming out in the United States, or Canada, or Europe? Spring 2010. Square-Enix refuses to give Westerners such precise numbers as they did the Japanese, but Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada claimed that FF XIII is aiming for an international release this spring. Details on the specific date are currently nonexistent, but supposedly upcoming. Keep your fingers crossed.

Source: Kotaku, More Kotaku, Guess who?