News

We've opened the new section of CoN that will display game reviews that our loyal forumgoers write. What makes this different than the reviews you might see on other sites is that you know the author. You interact with him or her in chat, or on these forums.

By being able to identify the author of these reviews, you'll know which reviews are most likely to mesh with your own personal views. You'll know that if a person whose opinon you respect gives a game high marks, that you can probably trust it.

The reviews are available at http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/reviews/ . You can also connect with them from the menu of each game, or you can get a list of all reviews on the right-side navigation of every page outside the forums.

The forum contains directions on submitting a review for inclusion on the site, so read that if you are interested.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the strategy RPG for the Gameboy Advance from Square, has been finally confirmed for a North American release.

Complete RPGamer Article Here

Released in Japan back on Valentine's Day, FFTA has been quite successful there.  The original Playstation Final Fantasy Tactics has been successful in North America (Note:  This is not a port of the Playstation game, it is an entire new game and story), so this news does not comes as much of a surprise.  While a concrete release date has not been set as of yet, Square is currently working on localization (translation) of the gameplay  (And considering the translation of the original, one can only hope this one will be a bit better ).

Source: RPGamer

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There was never really a question whether this game was going to be released on this side of the Pacific, but it's still nice to see a confirmation and to hear that work is progressing well on it.  For those who were unaware of this game's existance or just don't know anything about it, you can see a past news update of mine about it HERE

So... what does everyone think about this game?  Does it have a chance to leap over Ramza and the gang as the best Final Fantasy Tactics game?  

Special thanks goes out to new forum member Silent Moon for pointing out this story.

Square has reported a significant profit in the current fiscal year, which ends on the 31st of March.
Earlier projections estimated the company's net worth at 4.8 billion yen (39.85 million USD). Square now projects a profit  of 11.5 billion yen (95.47 million USD).

This is a significant profit for Square, especially when compared to the 16.6 billion yen (137.81 million USD) that they lost the year before.

Square cites the success of Kingdom Hearts in the US, and Final Fantasty X-2 in Japan as the reasons of their increased profits.

Source : RPGFan

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It's good to see Square getting out of the red, and back on their feet.
Though It was to be expected, with Kingdom Hearts selling 1.5 million copies in the US alone, and FFX-2 selling 1.2 million on it's first day in Japan.
Still it's good news, and we can expect some good things from Square this up and coming year.

Not often I get to leap in and make a news post, but I've just noticed that we passed 10,000 posts on the forums last night.

Ain't that special?  Special thanks to all the regulars and visitors who make the forum what it is.  It's been especially active the last few days, so if you haven't already, why not sign up and talk to us?

We'll have 20,000 in no time.  Keep on postin'.
(Unless it's spam, in which case... just get out of my house.)

Sorry, we didn't have time to get the FFV walkthrough up before launch. However, we do have it done now, and you can now check out another of Darrk Phoenix' excellent walkthroughs here.

The navigation is a bit spotty so far, but we're working on it. It's still perfectly useable and has the CoN-exclusive "w" technology, so you can look up stats on any enemy and any item you come across during the chapters.

Square finally has a release date for its Nintendo GameCube Final Fantasy game:

http://www.gamespot.com/gamecub....93.html

It is set for release in Japan on July 18th.  Square had previously decided to delay the game (see here for more information on that: http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/forums....;t=1071 ) to rework the battle system.

Square also has announced that they will have a big announcement about concerning the game during the E3 Conference (For those of you who don't know, E3 is a big electronics conference in which gaming companies comprise a significant section) in May.

Source: Gamespot

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Not much room for commentary on this one.  It's good to see that they have a release date for the game again though.

The release of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Square Enix's first game for the Nintendo GameCube (and Square's first for a Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo for that matter), has been pushed backed:

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q1-2003/031303f.html

The game was originally supposed to be released this spring in Japan.  As of right now though, a new date yet to be determined.  

The reason for the delay is that Square Enix does not feel the battle system is of good quality.  They are going to do a major overhaul to the system. Because of the possible significance of the changes, the delay could end up being quite lengthy.

Source: RPGamer

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While GameCube owners will probably be a bit disappointed by this news, the delay should be beneficial for the game in the long run.  Battle systems are an integral part of a game.  One of the main issues that people have with Final Fantasy VIII is its battle system.  There are those who will never play the game again just because of the battle system it used.  For Square to hold back the game to rework Crystal Chronicles' system to something they believe in being of higher quality can only a positive delay.  

This is a direct quote from an earlier RPGamer news update concerning the battle system of the game as it was before the changes:

The battle system supports up to four players, whose stats and mini-map are displayed on a Game Boy Advance screen, and uses corresponding buttons to either attack, defend, or use a special skill. The characters' hit points are displayed as hearts. Magic Stones will be required to use spells in the game; these stones are represented by spheres floating above the characters' heads.

You can read the article in its entirety here: http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2002/122102d.html.  From the sound of that quote its appears like the battle system was Secret of Mana-ish in style.  We'll just have to wait and see how the new system will turn out.

Square has shipped 1.8 million copies to japanese retail stores.
Over 200 fans were waiting outside of Shibuya Tsutaya's ( A retail store in Tokyo ) at 7 a. m. to get their copies.

Square's President Mr. Wada Youichi, Enix's president Keiji Honda and Koda Kumi, the singer of the main theme, were on hand to greet the assembled fans.

Source :  Square Insider

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Wow, 200+ is a  good bit of people to be waiting outside a single store for one game..
Geesh, I wonder how fast this game will sell out it's first shipment.

I wonder if I could get my hands on an import soon.

Thanks to the great members of the CoN forums, we now have new, good FAQ sections for you all to enjoy. We currently have them up for FF4 and FF6, and will be adding FF5 when we have a few more questions and answers.

This is part of an ongoing effort to make CoN more user-friendly and useful for all of our visitors. You may feel free to submit any more questions that you think might be useful - just visit the game's forum for information!

According to RPGFan and the Japanese site Quiter, Kingdom Hearts 2 has been confirmed by Square to be in devolpement.

No other details have been released yet, except for the KH ending teaser, and the Deep Dive FMV in KH : Final Mix, though you can't get much out of them.

Source : RPGfan Article

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Ok, raise your hand if you didn't think this game would get a sequel? :-P

I'm really looking forward to this. From the rumors that have been circulating from the two hidden FMVs, this one will have square's complete control. A darker world, with darker characters. Who doesn't want to see a Dark Mickey?

Popular Japanese gaming magazine recently reviewed the upcoming Final Fantasy X sequel:

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,33794,

The game was given scores of 9, 9, 8 and 8 by the magazine's four reviewers for a very respectable 34/40 and a Gold Award.  In comparison, the original FFX received a three scores of 10 and one 9 when it was reviewed.  

Games Are Fun also has some new screenshots of the game HERE


Source:Games Are Fun

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I don't think one can't base if he or she will enjoy a game solely based on how a magazine reviews a particular game. It is a good initial sign at least.  There are still those who are not even willing to even give this game a chance.  Hopefully, the review will help lighten some of these people up (specifically you 19 who voted "I think it'll be terrible" here: http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/polling/index.php?dispid=9&vo=9)

Pop Idol Yuna aside, I'm willing to give the game a chance.  Another one of the Final Fantasy games might have led to a better sequel in my opinion, *coughFF7cough* but I'll at least rent it.  I enjoyed FFX's story.  Plus they are bringing back the job system.  I think that just might be interesting.  We'll just have to wait and see how the game will end up turning out.  There isn't any reason (even if it is an "Oh my God" Final Fantasy sequel) to not give a game a chance before it has even been released to the public.

And a question for those among the "19" mentioned earlier:  Why will this game be so terrible? I have complete respect for your opinions, but I'm just trying to feel out the reasoning behind your feelings.  Discussions are always nice and encouraged. :-)

We've added a new topsites - we were the first member at the brand new topsites hosted by our friends at FFGurus.

You'll find the voting button at the bottom of every site page, nestled between our two W3C compliance buttons. It's also been added to all forum skins - look near the top of every page, on the right-hand side. The button looks like this:

I ask that if you like the site, please help us net some traffic by voting for us once a day when you come here to visit. As always, the more traffic we get, the happier the staff is to keep improving the site for you. Thank you!

EDIT: This is now confirmed. More details when I get home from Uni.

This is yet to be confirmed, but the next installment in the Earthbound series (which goes by the name of Mother in Japan) is again in development. This time it is for the Nintendo GameCube.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,24103,

For those who missed out on it,  Earthbound was quirky, comical RPG for the SNES that stared Ness, a boy on an adventure to save the universe (just your typical kid, right?).  It still remains a favorite of many RPG fans.

This installment of the series was originally in development for the Nintendo 64.  It was plagued by developmental problems and other issues though.  The game was canceled as a result.  There is no word on a release date in North America, but it is believed to be ready for gamers in Japan by August.

In other Earthbound news, Earthbound Zero and Earthbound (Mother 1 and Mother 2, respectively) are also planned for the GameBoy Advance.  Neither one is a straight ports; both are believed to have reworked graphics.

Source: Games Are Fun

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More Earthbound?  I think this is fantastic news.  I have neither a GameCube nor a GBA, but this makes me wish I had both.  I found Earthbound to be a breath of fresh air the first time I played it.  I was quite disappointed when I heard Mother 3 was cancelled for the N64.  I still don't think I'd get a GameCube because of this (it wouldn't change the fact that I can't justify spending money to buy a second console when I probably shouldn't have bought a PS2 to begin with),  but it is just another reason why the GBA would be a decent purchase.

This brings a good topic up for discussion.  Would anyone here buy a GameCube or GameBoy Advance solely on these games alone?  If not, would they help contribute to the purchase of either?  Or are you someone who just doesn't care about the Earthbound series?  As a bonus, you can substitute Zelda: The Wind Walker (with its release soon) for the new Earthbound game for the questions.

OPGaming.com reopened on March 1st, 2003, at around 5:00 PM Eastern time. The site was reworked since November by R51, Tiddles, and myself, along with my personal staff who helped fill in content. So what's new?

The Latest Gaming News & Media
Coverage for Gaming on ALL major Platforms, as well as old ones.
New Forums
An Extensive Games Database
Weekly polls
A huge, 64 character tournament, which is already underway.

Plus lots more to come. R51 told me to be a spammer, so yell at him, AFTER you check out the new OPGaming.com.