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In years past, CoN has played many a practical joke on its users. They were all hilarious, and everyone enjoyed a good laugh, mostly at the expense of those fooled. However, this year, starved of inspiration and a decent amount of time, we decided to do something a little different. A treasure hunt, if you will. Easter's coming up, and who doesn't like searching around for the Easter Eggs hidden in every nook and cranny of a house? Or, in this case, a website.

Today, we have initiated a small change to every page on CoN. It's subtle enough that we're breaking tradition to tell you about it, but we've decided to challenge you to find the pieces of our puzzle, and put it all together. Of course, no competitiveness is without rewards for success. At the very least, you can win a special CoN award, and possibly more. Throughout the day, we will update this thread (But not this specific post) with any members who have fully and successfully solved the puzzle. And believe us, we WILL know. We're special like that.

We have no current intention of giving away clues either. That goes for in the forums, in a PM, or in chat. You're on your own, folks - but if you choose to band together as one mighty force, then more power to you. However you tackle it, we masterminds wish you the best of luck.

Ready... set.......... GO.

Nintendo has announced the next in their line of DS handheld gaming - the Nintendo 3DS. Looking to capitalize on the newest visual sensation, the 3DS will use the motion detection of devices like the iPhone to render games in 3D without any sort of special glasses required. Not a whole lot is known, but the system will continue to have two screens (my first thought when seeing "3DS" was a third screen) and will be backwards-compatible with DS and DSi titles.

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This seems like a gimmick at first, but as the article above mentions, Nintendo has always done things that seem goofy at first but typically turn out well in the end. I am skeptical that this will bring a whole lot of development to the DSi that wasn't there already, but if they make the system a full overhaul rather than just an update - meaning greater capability for larger, prettier games - it may bring more developers over. Gaming companies are a lot more creative than I think I like to give them credit for at first glance, and there could be some neat titles coming out for a system like this, but I fear that it's just going to spawn a whole lot of Brain-Age or "Find This" type of games that aren't meant for a generation of gamers that continues to get older.

We will see!

Source: Ars Technica

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

Maybe some of you noticed that there was no news last week. This is partly due to a lot of us being very busy these past weeks, and partly because someone was supposed to write it up, and then didn't. That would be me. Rather than wait for R51 to endlessly berate me on the matter, I figured i'd get the jump on this week's.

It's now only FOUR DAYS until the release of Final Fantasy XIII. Those of us who live in the UK have a chance to be at a launch event at HMV in London. This newsposter is quite likely to attend, though unfortunately, will not be dressing up as any Squenix character. The Final Fantasy XIII Website now has a Developer section, with information about the game's creators. There is a LOT of information about the game here, if you're looking for a last rush of new things before the game itself. We also now know that the size of the installation on the Xbox 360 Version is precisely 18.3 Gigabytes (Except on Weekends). Do you have enough room for it?

Also, now available on the Playstation 3, Star Ocean: The Last Hope International. It actually looks pretty cool, and i've never played any Star Ocean games before. If I had a PS3, I'd be slightly tempted to get it. Other games Square-Enix have published in their newsletter include Supreme Commander 2, and, my personal favourite, Pony Friends 2. Squeeeeeeeeeeeee. In addition, the 18th installation of Final Fantasys I and II are now available on the iPhone, and to make things better, all of the other iPhone/iPod touch games by Square-Enix are now all at least 20% off. Of course, the only one I'd previously heard of was Song Summoner. More on handhelds, Dragon Quest IX will be seeing a Western Release, after performing well in Japan.

Final Fantasy XI, still receiving attention, will be receiving three expansions this year. Three whole expansions. Vision of Abyssea, Heroes of Abyssea, and Cars of Abyss- wait, no, I got that wrong.... Scars of Abyssia....hmm, I like the first version better. From this, I can gather that there's a place called Abyssia that has Heroes, Scars and Vision. And cars. And it seems that there will be a Final Fantasy XIV announcement on March 11th. The countdown begins again.

And that's pretty much it for these two weeks. Honestly, I'm more interested in the absolute insanity of the Portal updates and crazy hidden stuff. It's very possible that the cake is, in fact, not a lie.

Source: Square-Enix, Kotaku, Gamasutra

So apparently Final Fantasy XIII is coming out soon. This is what we refer to as "interesting". As we know, in the Collector's Edition is a sample of the game's soundtrack, but not the full thing. How would one obtain this full soundtrack? Well, you could go the route of some fans and import it from Japan for a fair bit extra money. But these people are fools for one simple reason.

Because it's on pre-order in the US for $30.

Normally I'd be bound by law to plug AmaCoN, but I think in this case I'm forgiven, since it's double the price there. And as the title may indicate, there is no such offer for EU residents...yet. But is this deal worth it? Is the soundtrack any good without Nobuo Uematsu? I can barely remember any Final Fantasy XII tracks, despite having played that all the way through, and yet I can recall so many tracks from 1-10. Despite this, there have been a few good reviews, stating that it's different, but good nonetheless.

Maybe our few members who have played the game can impart their much needed wisdom on the matter? I'm certainly interested.

Source: Square-Enix

It's happening Again.

OK guys, it's time for a long run. Partly because, as you may have noticed, Final Fantasy XIII is being released in but a few weeks. 18 days, in fact. Are you ready with your pre-order from AmaCoN? Let's start with the non-XIII related stuff first. Starting from the start.

As we know, Final Fantasy I and II are being released for the XIIIth time, the platform in this case being the iPhone. There's still no release date, other than a "available soon", however, there is a "Gameplay Video" of the two. They do indeed seem to be based on the PSP version, at least graphically, but we don't know whether it will include all of the bonus dungeons present. My guess? Probably.
Nothing on III-VI, but despite the wishes of a certain someone, it seems that fans of Final Fantasy VII are still confused about the response to a possible remake on the PS3. Well, let me spell things out clearly for everyone. Some day, it may happen. Some day, there may be work done on a remake. It will, however, be from the ground up, a project that will take a long time, especially with the capabilities of the PS3.

In the meantime, there's a remake on the DS. Totally. Confirmed.*

Skipping three more games to XI, there were rumours floating about the intersphere that their MOMGRP would be coming to a close this year. This, not unlike some baked goods, is a lie. Why is this a lie? I shall tell you why. Number one: FFXI is still the most popular PROMMG in Japan, and Square-Enix like this because they have an ego. Number two: That's terror. Number three: Hmm, what's that reason that many fans of Final Fantasy never played XI?... Oh, that's right, the monthly subscription fee. Yep, the prime reason they won't, or can't shut down FFXI (for now, anyway), is because they literally can't afford to. Well, I'm sure the avid players have no problem with that.

Passing over x/0 games now, to the Last Story. Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game has sparked interested in at least one Final Fantasy community, but what of his fellow Final Fantasy developers? Their paraphrased response was: "Why contain it?.........................It's cool!" Apparently seeing a release in Japan this year, Western players can probably expect it in 2011, provided there are no delays, that is. It's still early days.

*footbigmike closes last tab on non-FFXIII news, and opens up his folder of XIII links.

Late last week, Square-Enix released some comparison screenshots for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of Final Fantasy XIII. The observant few of us in the audience may have noticed some peculiarities with the screenshots. You COULD say that they're exactly the same. Indeed, you could, and a few days later, so could Square-Enix. Turns out that they were, in fact, not real. Well, they ARE screenshots, but not the ones you were looking for. They were located a couple of days further on, and released to everyone. Now, I'm no expert at comparing between PS3 and Eggbox, but what we have here is pretty....pretty.

In more and yet just as uncertain Final Fantasy XIII news, one of the next games in the Fabula Nova Crystalis Project (In English: Final Fantasy XIII Compilation), Versus XIII, is still a long way from release. Originally planned for an unveiling at this year's E3... well, yeah, it's not happening. And don't even ask about Agito. Meanwhile, Tetsuya Nomura is sticking to his goal of getting out one Kingdom Hearts game per year. Are they all good titles? You tell me. (Seriously.)

Last week, I pointed out the use of the DLC icon on the back of the Xbox 360 version's game case. It's lying. Not only is there not and DLC planned, but despite all the content cuts that were announced pre-release, which many people presumed would become, Square-Enix see Final Fantasy XIII as a full game, and no cut content will make it into DLC. Now, this doesn't mean that there will be no DLC in the future, some day it may happen. Some- wait, déjà vu. Square-Enix also responded to some.... unfavourable Western reviews of Final Fantasy XIII - a somewhat bitter response, some would say. It definitely sparked a response in one forum of certain interest. Are they right? Well, once more of us play the game, we can retort with more strength.

Other than Final Fantasy XIII itself, how else can Square-Enix make money out of the game? Why, figurines and bundles, of course. Sets of Squenix characters from Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts, and even Chrono Trigger, have been figurine-ized. Are they awesome? Hell yeah. Are they for sale? Not a clue. They were found at the Square-Enix booth at the Toy Fair, so it's possible. As for the bundles, Europe are getting two! One, pretty much the same as the US version mentioned last week, and two, an Elite with FFXIII. No engravings, no insignias. Just a plain old eggbox elite. Not my pick, but hey, if it's cheaper, maybe. Not that we know if it is, yet.

Finally, a few publicity related items. Del_S's favourite singer, Leona Lewis, has been featured in an advertisement for Final Fantasy XIII. According to her, the game is good. She's in two separate ads for the game. In one, she's playing the Eggbox version, and in the other, the PS3 version. Again, no huge discernable difference, but then againk, it is filmed from the TV screen, and not a direct feed. (Leona Lewis Let's Play Final Fantasy XIII?) And as for the NBA Allstars sponsor, Square-Enix ran an ad for Final Fantasy XIII, though there did not seem to be any allusion to a PS3 copy. Interesting.

And that's it. It's time for this writer to wait for a few hours until Beta 4 of Goldeneye: Source comes out. Wanna play with us? Come to chat.

Source: Square Enix News, Kotaku