Every Final Fantasy fan has their favorite game from the series. Hell, some even break the franchise down into two eras, pre and post-PlayStation. For myself and good percentage of the FF fanbase, Final Fantasy IV (II in the U.S.) is that game. The story was deep, the characters memorable and well-developed, and the graphical leap from the NES to the SNES made it the prettiest version of the game to date. Now Square Enix has upgraded FFIV in the same fashion as they did FFIII precious, bringing the game to the Nintendo DS with new graphics, voice overs, and new mechanics to keep things fresh.

Remakes of classic games are often a dangerous proposition, risking alienating fans of the original games in order to attract new players. For this week's Frankenreview we've gathered opinions from RPG-centric sites along with the more mainstream gaming press to see how Final Fantasy IV measures up.

Gridrunner+++ for XBLA Screens

Old-old-old school developer (and hooved animal enthusiast) Jeff Minter put some screenies up on his Live Journal of Gridrunner+++, the Xbox Live Arcade port of Gridrunner ++. It looks like an acid trip. There's a sheep in the upper right of this screen, in case you were wondering. The other two are on the jump.

Shader-stuff In Game [Stinkygoat (Jeff Minter)'s Live Journal, via GamerBytes and thanks reader Ryan L.]

The coming week will be completely dominated by E3 coverage. Come to think of it, the previous week was completely dominated by pre-E3 coverage. After the jump we've compiled a scene-setter of sorts, aggregating together all the lineups announced, so you know some of what to look for in the coming onslaught of copy.

Kotaku's crack staff on the scene will be Brian Crecente, Michael McWhertor, Brian Ashcraft, Mike Fahey, Leigh Alexander, and Adam Barenblat. They're going to be very busy.

EA's E3 Line Up - We're Going To Need A Bigger Website

Don't expect me to sum up Electronic Arts' E3 2008 presence in a couple of paragraphs. It's far too huge for just a quick rundown, so I'll just give you the pertinent points. The line up includes soemwhere around 38 games, including four games for the iPhone, three for the iPod, and four mobile games - including the upcoming Wolfenstein RPG.

They got a demo room filled with top-notch titles like Dead Space, Warhammer Online, Mirror's Edge, Mercenaries 2, and Madden 09, as well as the EA Software Showcase booth, which will be showing off even more games - The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Crysis Warhead, and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 to name a few. Throw in partner games like Rock Band 2 at the MTV booth and Valve's Left 4 Dead and you've got a whole lot of real estate for the gaming press to cover in a very short time. Hit the jump for the full monty, including listings of which games are up for coveted E3 awards.

SouthPeak's E3 Line Up - Brave Choices

SouthPeak Games has revealed their line up for E3 2008, where they'll be showing a wide variety of games in all shapes and sizes. Most prominent is their just announced reinvention of the Brave series, which started with Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer on the PS2. Brave: A Warrior's Tale for the Xbox 360, PSP, and Wii has a now elderly Brave telling tales of his youth, with a new character named Courage who uses Brave's wisdom to stop a current-day threat. Meanwhile Brave: Shaman’s Challenge for the DS is a platforming tale starring Brave himself.

Aside from the new Brave title, SouthPeak will be showing off their anime action game X-Blades for the PC and "next-gen consoles", Igor The Game for PC, Wii, and DS, the RTS/FPS hybrid Raven Squad for PC and 360, Big Bang Mini for the DS, and the PS3 version of Monster Madness. The game I am most looking forward to? Going to have to go with Ninjatown for the DS. Have to represent my deadly peeps, yo.

Way back in 1991, PC publisher Microprose released Sid Meier's Civilization, and some fans still haven't slept since. The game is widely considered to be one of the greatest PC games of all time. Now with three sequels plus expansions for each, multiple ports, and even a rather fine board game under the series' belt, 2K and Firaxis are taking the franchise where no original Civ title has gone before - the console. Shoddy PC to console ports aside, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is the first game in the series to be built from the ground up with game consoles in mind.

Will this new direction bring all-night Civ sessions to the console crowd, or should it be put to bed early? Get the verdict from the reviewing public, after the jump.

Majesco's E3 Lineup - AWAY With Major Minor

Majesco is bringing it's 'A' game to E3 this year, with a strong line up of titles for the Nintendo Wii and DS ranging from the quirky and curious to the deep and involving. By far the most intriguing game in my opinion is Major Minor's Majestic March for the Wii, which reunites the Parappa the Rapper team of Masaya Matsuura and Rodney Greenblat. Along with Major Minor, Majesco's Wii line up includes Cooking Mama World Kitchen, the house remodeling title Our House, and Zoo Hospital, which is a bit like Trauma Center for the arguably less-evolved set.

On the DS they'll be showcasing the recently announced Mistwalker RPG AWAY Shuffle Dungeon, featuring the combined talents of famed RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Trying desperately to outshine that title on the DS will be Wonder World Amusement Park, Babysitting Mania, and physics-based puzzler Marker Man Adventures.

Between Major Minor and AWAY, this is shaping up to be the most exciting Majesco line up in years. Hit the jump for more info.

So what does RPG giant Square Enix have in store for E3 2008? Why RPGs, of course. The publisher's lineup doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the company since last E3. Starting on the portable side of things they'll be showing the remake Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS, along with Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen and the Final Fantasy IV remake, with the PSP represented by their two Star Ocean remakes First Departure and Second Evolution. In console land we'll get a look at Xbox 360 exclusives Infinite Undiscovery and Star Ocean: The Last Hope, as well as The Last Remnant for the 360 and PlayStation 3. Topping things off will be Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, the company's new iPod game.

Also represented will be two DS titles from Square Enix subsidiary Taito, EXIT DS and The Legend of Kage 2.

Notice anything missing here? Not one mention of any of the Final Fantasy titles for the PlayStation 3. This could mean there is something special in store from PS3 FF fans, or it could simply mean they aren't showing anything, which would make me very sad. Hit the jump for more info on Squeenix's E3 08 line up.

This is a very special week for Xbox Live Arcade, as it heralds the release of the first XBLA game created using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio. Torpex Games' Schizoid (800 MS points) might look simplistic, but the game mechanics are far from it. One player controls a red ship, the other (or the computer) a blue. You have to ram enemies of the same color as your ship to clear them, while hitting enemies of a different color kills you. More than 120 levels plus online multiplayer for you and a friend should equal a great number of insults shouted over headsets in the coming weeks.

Also on XBLA this week we have Golf: Tee It Up!(800 MS points), Housemarque and Activision's answer to Hot Shots Golf, with customizable golfers, online tourneys for 2-4 players, and two full golf courses, a number I am almost certain will grow with downloadable content down the line.

Last month I had to choose between flying out to Paris to check out Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational and, it turns out, Diablo III or going on vacation. I sided with my sanity and decided to take a short leave from the site.

I've been spending my day or so back from vacation reading through all of the coverage that came out of the City of Lights. There's been quite a bit to read. If you missed out over the weekend here's the full run down.

Blizzard Announces Diablo III

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Diablo III In-Depth

Diablo III Webpage Filled With Trailers, Screens, Evil

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Counting Down

Epic Blizzard Swag Get!

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: How Much Is Your Goody Bag Worth?

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Day One

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: “There Is No Penguin Level.”

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: The Blizzard Museum Show Diablo 3 Concept Art

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain Level Up

The Man Behind Diablo III Talks Plot, Lore and Battle.Net

Court Confirms Ziff Davis' Bankruptcy Plan

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court has OKed 1Up and EGM owner Ziff Davis' bankruptcy reorganization plans, the company said today, adding that it expects to emerge from Chapter 11 on July 1.

“The Court’s confirmation of our Plan is a major milestone for Ziff Davis as we look to emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring,” said Jason Young, Chief Executive Officer of Ziff Davis Media. “We are very proud of the progress we have made during our short time in Chapter 11 to become a healthier company. We remain grateful for the unwavering support of our customers, vendors and employees throughout this process and we look forward to continuing our work with all of our stakeholders after our emergence. After concluding our restructuring, we will be better positioned, with the financial strength to grow and capitalize on our strengths.”

The plan, in a nutshell, splits the $428 million in debt between new stock and a $57.5 million debt.

I'm happy to see that both 1Up and EGM survived the turmoil. Let's hope that they both recover as stronger entities than when ZD first filed.

It's official. The next next PlayStation 3 firmware update—version 2.40 for those keeping score at home—will bring in-game access to the Xross Media Bar (XMB) and the addition of "Trophies," a previously rumored feature that looks to emulate Xbox LIVE Achievements. That's our best guess, obviously, as Sony Computer Entertainment America is shy with the details, something it will be providing later.

The official PlayStation blog adds that the 2.36 update, coming sooner, will improve "system stability" for select PlayStation games. Stability? Pfft! We want shiny trophies and we want them now!

Firmware (v2.36) coming soon, (v2.40) to include trophies, in-game XMB [PlayStation.blog - thanks, Sean!]

Microsoft/Activision News Leak: The Round-Up

Just wake up? Boy, did you miss a ton of stuff! Marketing research firm Intellisponse forgot all about standard internet security protocols and left a whole bunch of secret, yet-to-be-announced game information accessible to the public (first spotted by MMaRsu@GAF). Stuff that, you should be made aware, is totally unconfirmed. But also stuff that, from the looks of it, may well have been due to appear as official E3 announcements (for Microsoft) or official same-time-as-E3 announcements (for Activision). If you were sleeping, or otherwise missed it, catch up on it all by hitting the links below.

Leak Seems to Confirm Xbox Live Avatars On the Way
Leaked Details On Lips, Microsoft's Answer To SingStar
More Leaks: Forza 3 and Call of Duty
Game Show Channel Coming To Xbox Live
Guitar Hero World Tour's New Guitar Control Revealed, Priced
Ultimate Band for Wii: Music Games in a More Casual Style
Spider-Man Wii Games To Use Wii Fit Balance Board, "Web Shooter" Controllers
Rumor: "Trioxide" To Allow Console Games To Be Played On PC?
Powers & Titans Probably Announced For 360, PS3, PC
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance II Details, Platforms
Microsoft Avatars Will Be Playable, Licensed?
New Tony Hawk Game To Employ Motion-Controlled Peripheral?
Racing Equity Probably Announced
You Don't Know Jack Probably Announced For The Wii

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Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally upon us. The game that launched a million PlayStation 3 consoles has reached the eager hands of gamers and reviewers all over the worlds. Solid Snake's swan song, Kojima's masterpiece...call it what you will, there's no doubt that MGS 4 is one of the most important titles in the PS3's short history, and will set the bar for action adventure games on the console for years to come.

Now, as millions of gamers all over the world immerse themselves in Snake's final adventures, we take a look at how the game fared in the hands of the reviewing public.

Plenty of high praise has flowed to Metal Gear Solid 4, but N'Gai Croal offers a different take in his latest posting over on Level Up. The game, like others, makes timely use of Private Military Corporations (read: mercenaries) to create an environment players want to explore and a story they want to advance. But MGS4's true point lies in its "war economy," which governs or responds to the choices made by players.

Ziff Davis Wraps Up Restructuring, Cuts Debt

Back in March 1Up promised that all of that nasty business with parent company Ziff Davis' bankruptcy would soon be behind them and that they would be a stronger publication for it.

Today, speaking at the 11th Annual Electronic Gaming Summit, Ziff Davis Media CEO Jason Young told the gathered summit members that the restructuring process will be wrapped up in June. More importantly, he noted that their $400 million debt will be reduced to a paltry $57 million, leaving them with the cash flow to invest back in their products, which includes 1Up, EGM and GameVideos.

Sounds like Simon Cox, , Vice President of Content for the 1UP network, hit the nail on the head when he said they would be bigger, better, faster, stronger when they came out of the restructuring.

Stay tuned later today for reports on talks given to this small group by Microsoft's Jeff Bell;, analyst Michael Pachter; Tanya Giles, of MTV; and the always energetic Peter Moore.

Zoo Games' Order Up! Reminds Me Of That Chef Ramsay Show

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka sounded off to CVG recently about the "SeXbox" controversy centered on Mass Effect, calling it an "interesting experience," and sticking by video games as an art form:

It's very tasteful, but it is an emotionally intense scene, and there's a number of similarly emotional scenes in the game, not just romances but across the board - different relationships between characters.

I see videogames as an art form, and they're an emergent art form. They're a commercial art form, but they're still art regardless. And the good thing I think is the fact that people are talking about that kind of scene; it had an impact on them.