Kingdom Hearts mainstays David Gallagher and Haley Joel Osment return for the remake, dated for December 2nd, with a new batch of mini-games being whipped up for the console re-release.

Full details can be enjoyed in press release format after the jump, with a not-quite-done-yet official site going up today.

SQUARE ENIX ANNOUNCES KINGDOM HEARTS RE:CHAIN OF MEMORIES FOR NORTH AMERICA

Fans Can Now Complete Their KINGDOM HEARTS Experience, as the Missing Link Makes Its Way to North American Shores for the First Time

Los Angeles (September 19, 2008) - Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in North America, and Disney Interactive Studios, announced today that KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories will be released for North American audiences on December 2, 2008.

KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories is the essential piece that bridges the gap between KINGDOM HEARTS and KINGDOM HEARTS II. Originally released in 2004 for Game Boy® Advance, this full 3D rendition on the PlayStation®2 has never been released in North America — this is an entry in the KINGDOM HEARTS saga that fans of the series can’t miss!

STORY

Sora, Donald and Goofy travel down a long road that meanders through endless fields, and come to a crossroads. As Sora stands in the crossroads, he gazes up at the night sky and thinks of his lost friends.

Just then, a mysterious man approaches from down one of the branching paths. "Ahead lies something you need," he says, "but to claim it, you must lose something dear." The man vanishes before a single path, leading to a castle that eerily resembles a girl's drawing...

In the coming journey, what will Sora and his companions gain, and what will they lose?

FEATURES

# World-renowned creator and character designer Tetsuya Nomura and his team once again unite the magical world of Disney with the characters of FINAL FANTASY®, inviting fans to an enchanting gaming experience
# An essential piece in the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise, which has shipped over 12 million units across the globe, comes to North America at long last
# In addition to Sora, players can control Riku in this adventure that bridges the gap between KINGDOM HEARTS and KINGDOM HEARTS II
# A full 3D remake of the original GBA release, KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories offers a refreshing rendition of the hit title for the PlayStation 2 system
# The talented voice cast from the North American releases of KINGDOM HEARTS and KINGDOM HEARTS II, including David Gallagher and Haley Joel Osment, return to breathe new life into the beloved characters
# The mini-game catalog has been completely renewed, now with four brand new experiences accompanying the main adventure

KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories has not yet been rated by the ESRB. Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings. KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $29.99(USD).

Official PlayStation Magazine [via GOONL!NE]

スクウェア・エニックス　プライベートイベント「DKΣ3713」にて新タイトル発売時期などの情報発表 [GameSpot, thanks Richard!]

Internet access was nonexistent, perhaps deliberately, for this event so a number of those who attended couldn't get up liveblogs. Also images of the screens were prohibited but you know someone's bootlegged at least one trailer, so if any tumble out we'll try to get them up (send a tip if you see one anywhere.)

We already got up the event's major announcements regarding Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Parasite Eve on the PSP, and the March 2009 due date for the Final Fantasy XIII demo. But there are a couple after action reports if you want descriptions of trailers seen and speculation on gameplay features arising from that. NeoGAF's is a pretty deep aggregation of Japanese blogs covering the show, I'd start there. Some things that caught my (untrained) eye:

• The Kingdom Hearts PSP version will add Snow White to Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in Disney's crossover cohort.
• Final Fantasy XIII trailer showed gameplay but no actual battles, drawing out the tease.
• Versus XIII will cross-promote the ROEN fashion brand. All characters in the game will be wearing ROEN designs. Pure speculation, but I don't think it will affect gameplay, I think it's to make you want to buy those clothes.

Official SQUARE ENIX presents DKΣ3713 Private Party 2008 Thread [NeoGAF]
Square Enix DKS3713 Event Report

The key thing for us is being flexible. We never said that we wanted to move away from licensing, and we don't intend to. Great examples of licensed games that we make that we would love to continue to make those licensed games.

A great example of that is Kingdom Hearts. It's a great collaboration between Square and ourselves. Disney characters are in there, and Final Fantasy characters are in there. It's the kind of collaboration that works, and where we see other opportunities like that, we will do them.

We've got a relationship with THQ, and things with Konami. It's not an aberration for us to be licensing. They stay part of our portfolio. But a big piece of the focus is that we didn't feel that purely following a license would give us the right kind of investment focus on quality, and building our brand in games where we thought we had the potential to do.

As tempting as it can be to dismiss a lot of the more casual and kid-geared offerings from companies like Disney, those markets are growing by leaps and bounds - a lot of kid games may fly under the proverbial radar while they're snapping up new users like no tomorrow. It's interesting to read how one company with a very well defined image is trying to cater to a number of pretty diverse markets.

Evolving Disney: Graham Hopper Speaks [Gamasutra]

Make the jump to check out a small gallery of screens.

[Thanks, ryuzaki]

For a list of what will be on hand December 22nd and 23rd at the Makuhari Messe, you know what to do.

The confirmed playable and already released titles are in bold. Everything else shows up in trailer form only.

• 
  
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS)
  
• Dragon Quest IV (DS)
  
• Final Fantasy IV (DS)
  
• Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (Wii)
  
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Little King and the Promised Land (Wii)
  
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
  
• Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (DS)
  
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
  
• Kingdom Hearts: Coded (mobile)
  
• Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
  
• Final Fantasy Agito XIII (mobile)
  
• Final Fantasy VII AC: Complete (DVD)
  
• Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
  
• Front Mission 2009: Border of Madness (DS)
  

Full details and tiny screenshots at Square-Enix's official Japanese site.

Square-Enix Jump Fest 08 Line-up [Square-Enix via Forever Fantasy]

Ultima Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts [eBay]

Once we went in we sat on these rather odd long cushioned bar things, giving me the feeling of being a bird perched i a cage. Guys holding signs that said "No Photography" patrolled the aisles throughout the entire presentation making sure no one was recording the presentation. It was a little awkward and hard to ignore considering there were so many of them.

Finally, the lights went down and the presentation started. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but what it ended up being was a long line of trailer after trailer for all of Squares various upcoming games. It started off with a bang with a Final Fantasy XIII trailer that was truly a sight to behold. It was one of the most beautifully crafted pieces I'd seen in a while and actually made me excited for this game to come out. I will note here that from here on out, all the trailers were in Japanese so I did what could to glean as much info as I could gather from the visuals.

From there we moved to an onslaught of Final Fantasy VII trailers for games every platform including the kitchen sink. FF VII Snowboarding, FF VII Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode, FF VII Crisis Core, FF VII Before Crisis and last but not least FF VII Advent Children Complete to come out on Blu-Ray in 2008. But still no straight FF VII remake, go figure. Final Fantasy Dissidia for the PSP made an appearance.

Mobile phone games were up next with the rather unexplainable Monotone, the mysterious gun toting bride game, Third Birthday (actually a Parasite Eve Game) and Final Fantasy XIII Agito. Mobile phone games are hugely popular in Japan and cell phone games had a huge presence at TGS, but more on that in a later post.

Then came the moment I was waiting for, the Kingdom Hearts titles, kicked off by the KH mobile game, Kingdom Hearts: Coded, which oddly was the only of the three titles announced that starred KH mainstay, Sora. The other two titles, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep featured Roxas for some inexplicable reason as he seems to be the Jar-Jar Binks of the KH series.

KH: 358/2 Days has you taking on the role of Roxas and features the mysterious Organization XIII characters as your playable team including Axel and takes place in the interim between KH 1 & 2. The title will have single and multiplayer modes and will be available on the DS.

KH: Birth by Sleep will be for the PSP and is a prequel to the original game, following the story of the original keyblade masters. New characters and familiar settings were seen in this one and I immediately recognized Sleeping Beauty's castle and Hercules' Stadium as locations, but it was unclear who exactly the playable characters were.

The forty five minute presentation finished up with a trailer for the breathtaking Final Fantasy XIII Versus which looked extremely polished and every bit as in depth and interesting as the one for FF XIII. Once it was over, the lights came back on and we were ushered back out into the bright lights, booth babes and shouting crush of TGS leaving us all wishing we could go to some quiet place and reminisce about what we just saw but alas, it was not to be.

Thanks, Tarthus!

"We wanted to take it into our own hands. It shows our scope as manufacturers of collectible figures."

The example they gave was a figure that's $24.99 retail would be marked up to $34.99 on other stores, so making this store will save people a ton of money in the long run. In addition, their store will have exclusive items that won't be found anywhere else.

Also, apparently Disney saw the Kingdom Hearts figures, and they liked them so much they commissioned Square Enix to make them for Disney games that Squeenix doesn't even have anything to do with.

This is the Hexagon Theater, which is, we guess, shaped like a Hexagon Theater has trailers. No photography is allowed, because describing is so much better than seeing!

Here's what we learned: An announcement for a Kingdom Hearts announcement at the Tokyo Game Show.

What else? Sephiroth popped up in the possible PSP fighter Dissidia. There were also Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailers, which were longer versions of previous trailers. What others were shown for us at the Party to describe? Dragon Quest IX was shown, but minus gameplay footage. There ya have it! Brian Ashcraft

Square-Enix's Tetsuya Nomura previously revealed that he wasn't making straight out Kingdom Hearts III. No, his next title sounded like it was going to be in the Disney/Square-Enix KH universe — A spin off of sorts. (Can you imagine Square making a spin-off? Impossible!) Nomura further explains:

It is not Kingdom Hearts III, but it is an anecdote... I want to explain what Mickey did in the World of Darkness, and also how he got his keyblade... I want to make this [new project] slightly different from the Kingdom Hearts' series, and change the system a little... The multi-developing makes me want to put it on something else... If we follow this idea, it would be hard to choose if to make the game for the "PSP", "NDS" or the cell phone.

Tetsuya, no need to be picky! Make it on all three. With tons of sequels. Brian Ashcraft

More KH Info [KHN via Dark Diamond]

Of course, because we're calling it a 'new' series, it won't be KHIII. Also, it's a series, so it probably won't be just one title.

I'm a little excited. Kingdom Hearts was one of the only games I could actually beat my ex-boyfriend at. Kim Phu

Life after Kingdom Hearts [Eurogamer]

Every wonder how mainstream Square-Enix games are in Japan? Like would people, business people encounter ads for a new Square-Enix title on the way to the daily grind? Guess so! Writes Kotakuite Landon:

I spotted these giant advertisements for Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix in the underground station in Shibuya, leading to the Den-en Toshi line. There were quite a few of them around the many pillars, and it was the first time I had seen a game advertised down there.

And probably not the last! Brian Ashcraft

Individuals registered in "Square Enix members" (think Club Nintendo, but mopey) have a shot at winning one of thirty 60GB PLAYSTATION 3s. Just buy Square titles put on sale this month and enter the PS3 raffle. This month, three titles are on sale: Seiken Densetsu, Front Mission 1st and Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. In each package, there's a member's point card. So buying all them of them increases your odds at winning a PS3. Kinda expensive, but still way cheaper than a 60GB PS3. Brian Ashcraft

PS3 Campaign From Square [Game Watch Impress]

His name: Mr. 33 cms. That refers to, uh, his shoe size. Besides large feet, he also has a humorous fighting style. (Don't we all?) In a recent interview with Japanese game mag Gemaga, Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura dishes on Final Fantasy XIII. What we learn:

• Versus XIII has a myriad of combat types which incorporate styles from Kingdom Hearts and Dirge of Cereberus. The player's POV changes according to their weapon. So if you have a gun, the perspective might change to FPS. A sword could be third person.
• Nomura says he can't concentrate on two games at once. So after he finishes Versus XIII, he'll jump into Kingdom Hearts 3. Apparently, he'll incorporate elements of Versus into KH3.
• Versus will be the last Final Fantasy for Nomura, who wishes to concentrate on the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

If that Versus XIII combat system pans out as cool as it is in my head right now, that game seems very exciting. The key word here though is "if." And it always is. Brian Ashcraft

Versus Info [Flame War Advance]

Don't tell me that Square Enix can't figure out how many copies of their Kingdom Hearts games they've sold. Maybe they can't get a precise number, but I know they could ballpark it.

Shipped, pfffft!

Nothing against Kingdom Hearts, because I'm sure most of those shipped titles actually sold, but this sort of piffle needs to stop showing up in press releases... and on....um... sites.

Yeah.

So Square says that the game is one of the top selling Playstation 2 titles of all time.

"When we first started developing KINGDOM HEARTS, we never imagined we would pass the 10 million mark so quickly," said series producer Shinji Hashimoto. "We are delighted and extremely grateful for the support from our fans around the globe. We hope to continue to provide games which fulfill your anticipation in the future."

Here's their UPS numbers:
KINGDOM HEARTS (North American Release: September 1st, 2002, PlayStation 2)
Japan: Over 1.5 million - North America: Over 3.0 million - Europe & PAL: Over 1.1 million
KINGDOM HEARTS: Chain of Memories (December 7th, 2004, Game Boy Advance)
Japan: Over 0.4 million - North America: Over 0.9 million - Europe & PAL: Over 0.2 million
KINGDOM HEARTS II (March 28 th, 2006, PlayStation 2)
Japan: Over 1.1 million - North America: Over 1.7 million - Europe & PAL: Over 0.7 million

Brian Crecente

Kingdom Hearts is a cash cow. I know it, you know it, Square damn sure knows it and bet your ass Disney knows it. The game's producer Tetsuya Nomura says that the animation company has already asked Square Enix about making a third installment into the highly successful series. Nomura dishes:

We've already been approached by the Disney side saying that they want us to make it. What I can say at this time is 'We have various ideas, but we're not at the point where we can say that.' It's physically impossible at the present. I feel that it's not the right time to talk about the future of Kingdom Hearts.

Yeah, like a gazillion Final Fantasy incarnations and spin-offs. So Mickey, chill the fuck out. Brian Ashcraft

Disney Wants More Heart [IGN, Thanks Pete!]

Japanese site Nyasoku has a neato thread going of imaginary iPod ads that feature loads and loads of video game superstars. Hit the jump to view some of the standouts. —Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Nyasoku]

Sephiroth and Riku get gay in the Sims 2. What is it with Squeenix fans anyway? Half of them seem to think they've been beamed straight from a homoerotic, bobble-headed universe where Riku and Donald Duck share a special, furry bond.

How very, very strange. I suppose if they can turn Hello Kitty into something for self-pleasuring, they can do it with anything. They thing I don't get is why they slapped the Kingdom Hearts name on it. I mean, it's not like it's in the shape of Goofy's head or anything.

Hit the jump for a less than safe for work, out-of-the-box view.

The Kingdom Hearts Vibrator [Sex & Games]

Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
This is apparently some roleplaying game with Disney characters from Square-Enix. Has anyone heard of this? News to me.

Rumble Roses XX (Xbox 360)
Hot girl-on-girl wrestling action gets ported to the 360, with better breast shadowing, better breast physics, and deeper breast customization.

Far Cry: Instincts - Evolution (Xbox)
Jack Carver is back and shootier than ever! Tropical mayhem with more weapons, more vehicles, more first person violence.

Far Cry: Instincts - Predator (Xbox 360)
Two Xbox games, Far Cry: Instincts and Far Cry: Instincts - Evolution, get the Xtreme 360 makeover.

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers (PC, PS2, Xbox)
Pandemic's sequel to the modern military tactical combat shooter (phew!).

Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires (PS2, Xbox 360)
Strategic Chinese hack and slash as Dynasty Warriors 5 gets the expansion (and 360 port) treatment.

Harvest Moon: Magic Melody (GC)
It's... another farming RPG. Expect the usual sheep herding, carrot harvesting, and fallin'-in-loving.

Until Microsoft sends me a free Xbox 360 I'll be holding off on everything on this list. But, what are YOU getting this week?

Swung by the Instant Ramen Museum over the weekend and was surprised to see this Kingdom Hearts packaging. Instant ramen maker (and Cup Noodle inventor) Nissin hocked the popular Disney/Square Enix PS2 title back in 2002. Wonder how the RPG noodles taste? Like chicken.

Visit the Museum in Osaka [IRMA World]

March 28th. That's when the English-language version of the Square-Enix and Disney's love child Kingdom Hearts II gets unleashed on the US market. The game will feature an impressive ensemble of Hollywood vox talent with the likes of James Woods, Rachel Leigh Cook, Christopher Lee, Mena Suvari and the kid, err man child, from The Sixth Sense all picking up decent paychecks and paying off the mortgages on those summer cottages. Ka-ching!

Full Story [IGN] Thanks, CJ!

Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura (director of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children) says that a theatrical Kingdom Hearts anime could be in the works. After they base an animated film on a video game that has Disney characters in it, I sure hope they make a new video game based on that anime. This is getting way too post-modern.

Cartoon Gets Gamed Gets Animed [AnimeNews]