New Cry On artwork is...wow...

In the latest PSM, the unofficial PlayStation Magazine, some tasty and possibly regrettable claims are made about the graphics of Square-Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy XIII. Invoking the unholy name of Sakaguchi's Hollywood abortion Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, PSM's Kaiser Hwang sets us up for some serious overhyping.

Says Hwang, courtesy of FF-XIII.net:

The graphical quality is simply stunning. In fact, we'd say it's, at worst, on par with The Spirits WIthin. Think about that for a second. Sometime in the next year or two, you'll be playing a game on a home console that's, so far, visually superior to a Hollywood movie that required hundreds of computers to make.

Gah! Despite some very pretty pictures shown off by Square-Enix over the past year, I have my doubts that they'll look like that in the final product. Maybe he's right and FFXIII will melt my eyeballs. I'm just a very sensitive man and can't have my heart broken by another lofty "better than Toy Story" type claim. Hold me. Michael McWhertor

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and his mustache sat down with GameSpot during GDC and dished out a refreshingly honest interview. Sure, Sakaguchi does say that Final Fantasy should come to the Xbox 360 — Sadly, his opinion doesn't matter anymore! He does mention that he dislikes Wii Sports, that he's interested in making a shooter like Gears of War and that he doesn't have an HD TV at home (wha?), the real fireworks are when he lays into Microsoft, who have funded two of his games: Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. So what does Sakaguchi think the reason that Microsoft hasn't had success in Japan?

Japanese marketing guys are not so good. Marketing is important, most important. Just to give you an example...the "jump in" statement, right? Jump in...the tagline. Nobody can understand it or knows what "jump in" means. So it has to be localized to cater to the audience in Japan, to get them to understand what that's about. So paying particular attention to [the marketing]—not just bring everything as is over to Japan—it's not going to do any good. You have to really think about the market, market needs and demands, and then really tailor it to that audience... If you say "jump in" in Japanese. Jump in. It's not so cool in Japanese... "Do, do, do" is not so good either... Yeah, the localization [for Gears] is good, but the marketing is too bad...too bad... Nobody knows about Gears of War.

That's not Sakaguchi talking, Microsoft Japan. It's his 'stache. Brian Ashcraft

Sakaguchi Talks About Stuff [GameSpot, Thanks Andrew!]

Sakaguchi walked us through one of Blue Dragon's boss fights, a mainly hands-off experience, plus one of the three on-rails shooter segments. The Blue Dragon North American release looks like it will be happening this August, with three separate pieces of downloadable content, described as "huge", released over a three to four month time period after launch. English voices were in place, but players who prefer Japanese dialogue are in luck—we were told that the original voiceover work will remain intact as an option for the US release.

The Final Fantasy creater then moved on to his more Western tailored RPG Lost Odyssey, previously demoed at the Tokyo Game Show.

While Sakaguchi prefaced his non-interactive demo with a warning about the early state of the game's lighting, the Unreal Engine 3-powered game still looked gorgeous. According to Sakaguchi, Mistwalker is "working to produce a level of graphics greater than Gears of War." Are they successful? I'll stand by a firm "umm maybe?"

We were shown an extended real-time cutscene, one that involved the male lead, Kaim Argonar, and his female compatriot meeting with their newest partner who just happens to be a womanizing drunkard. The animation and lip-synching was mostly spot on in the early demo. Sakaguchi let us know that the game would be originally voiced and synched in English, with a Japanese dub or subtitle treatment to follow for Lost Odyssey's native release.

Beyond Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and the upcoming Nintendo DS RTS title A.S.H. (Archaic Sealed Heat), Hironobu wouldn't say what else he was working on. Sadly, Sakaguchi declined to answer my request for a Rad Racer III. Michael McWhertor

Tara Strong, who voiced Rikku in Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts II (also Raven of Teen Titans and Rugrats' Dil Pickles) talks about her current gig: Blue Dragon's Kluke. She says:

I am working on that game right now. It its a HUGE undertaking. There is tons of dialogue. It is an extremely tedious job ... but I believe the fans will see it was worth every moment.

If you think localizing it is tedious, try grinding through the game's second disc. Brian Ashcraft

Interview With Tara Strong [Square Haven via Anime News Network]

The first download Mistwalker is releasing for Japan's Xbox Live Market place is called "Strong New Game," which offers an item called "Super Hard Chip." After clearing the game, it lets players restart the game with all their old stats. The name for this is "new plus." Yeah, I know. Speaking of new, there are some new game difficulty settings as well: Hard and Super. Download is available in Japan tomorrow night at 8pm for free. Yes, the nice price! Brian Ashcraft

Blue Dragons Downloads Are Totally Free [Game Watch]

And not by that much, too! Famitsu has passed out its Japanese industry awards to individuals who had the biggest impact last year. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata came in first with 201 votes, followed by Sony's Ken Kutaragi with 181 votes. In next, Blue Dragon creator Hironobu Sakaguchi received 126 votes. Nintendo's resident genius Shigeru Miyamoto and Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima rounded out the top five with 41 and 33 votes respectively. Sure, laugh at Kutaragi, but he is a force to be reckoned with in gaming. (A kooky, bat-shit insane one, but a force nonetheless!) Brian Ashcraft

Industry Honchos Awarded [Joystiq]

Of course, the next big Hironobu Sakaguchi RPG after Blue Dragon is Lost Odyssey. Both games are scored by legendary game music composer Nobuo Uematsu. Makes sense that music from Lost Odyssey will be performed at PLAY! From the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., December 1, 2006 - Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. announced today that Nobuo Uematsu's music from Lost Odyssey will be a permanent part of the regular PLAY! A Video Game Symphony-series concert programm. The video game is designed by Final Fantasy series originator Hironobu Sakaguchi. PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a highly acclaimed symphony concert world-tour featuring music from a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles.

Says Jason Michael Paul: 'We are very proud to be able to present the works of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu as part of our concert for the first time. From the sweeping score to the awesome graphics and crisp battle effects this game promises to be something special.'

Can't wait! Brian Ashcraft

Uematsu Music at PLAY! [Japanator]

No duh. A Blue Dragon anime, and now a BD manga. Shueisha announced a comic version of the Xbox 360 RPG called Blue Dragon ST. It will be drawn by Ami Shibata (Nangoku Shounen Papuwa-kun, Freeman Hero). This December 16th, it will hit the January issue of Monthly Shonen Jump. The game, of course, was developed by mustached Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama. The game launches in Japan on December 7th. Can't wait. Brian Ashcraft

This Could Be Big [ComiPress]

The Land of the Rising Sun might not be a lost cause for Microsoft. There are rumblings that pre-orders for the limited edition Blue Dragon bundle are selling out. The 29,800 yen (approx. US $250) set includes a striped down Xbox 360, BD faceplate, a copy of Blue Dragon and five Blue Dragon figs. There are apparently only a thousand of these puppies. One site even claims the first-run limited edition bundle's pre-orders are selling out faster than the PS3's! And some retailers, such as Bic, Sofmap, Yodobashi Camera, Rakuten's Edigi and Seven Dream have supposedly stopped taking pre-orders. Just did a quick internet check, and yes, some of these retailers are have ceased pre-orders on the limited edition bundles. Some haven't. Regardless, this title looks poised to moved consoles. Could Blue Dragon be Japan's Halo? Could it? Brian Ashcraft

Is It Selling Quick?! [Wabu Wabu via NeoGAF Thanks, Devin!]

Stick a big fat "unconfirmed rumor" on this post, but there are rumblings that a Blue Dragon anime are in the works. A page on *get this* a toy hobby figurine page that seems to hint an upcoming anime for next spring in Japan. The game is the brainchild of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Dragon Ball/Dragon Quest creator Akira Toriyama. Even though we're still at the getting-info-from-Japanese-toy-sites point, a Blue Dragon anime makes way more sense than, let's say, a cartoon about pinatas. Brian Ashcraft

Blue Dragon Anime? [X-Factor]

This December, Microsoft is hoping, praying that Blue Dragon will spell Japanese hit. The company is releasing a special "Xbox 360 Core System Blue Dragon Premium Pack" on December 7th. Along with the game, an original faceplate will be included in the bundle. Pre-orders start on October 18th. The Hironobu Sakaguchi created game does have a good buzz, thanks to a strong TGS showing. But is it enough to move consoles?

Haven't done a poll in a while, so let me throw the question out to you:

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Blue Dragon Faceplate [Game Watch Impress]

Wired's Clive Thompson puts forth a burning question: Who are these mythical 40-hour gamers? Thompson, like most, wants to tear through an involved game title, but doesn't have the time to play for 8 or 9 hours at a stretch in order to finish it. A job, family, etc. make only short bursts possible for most, and gaming comes an hour at a time. Thus, the problem writes Thompson:

The demographic schism over 40-hour gameplay is gradually becoming a big problem for game designers. Their options are unenviable. If they develop a game aimed at the hard-core crowd, a wuss like me will almost certainly never finish it. If they do the opposite, the power cartel will blow through the game in afternoon and feel justifiably ripped off: I paid $50 for this?

At Sakaguchi's TGS press conference, I remember the famed game creator saying it took him 40 hours to finish Blue Dragon. And that's the guy who made it, so it will take normal players longer. That's supposed to be a good thing? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Wired]

At last year's TGS, Microsoft rolled out the Xbox 360. The company staked out a huge booth, filled with with companions and new hardware. The 360 was the first next-gen console the Japanese would see. The country look a look and collectively went "meh."

A lack of titles saw a disastrous and embarrassing launch. No matter which way you sugar coated it, the 360 was a failure in Japan. 2006 saw a reshuffling of Xbox Japan leadership, a new ad campaign fronted by a J-pop boy band and a handful of Japan-friendly titles. The perception was that the machine was picking up steam. Very slowly.

Last Wednesday, Microsoft held its Media Briefing in Shibuya. The company's Peter Moore and its Japan leader Takashi Sensui took the stage. Upcoming games where highlighted. The likes of Trusty Bell, Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon are set to give the console a huge boast. We didn't see price drops, but bundles rather, because Microsoft loves the bundles. One includes packaging Project Gotham Racing 3 and Ninety-Nine Nights with the Core System for 29,800 yen (US $265). Sensui added that this makes the 360 the most affordable next-gen console and even cheaper than the Wii.

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi took the stage and showed both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Both titles are getting the maximum Microsoft marketing push, with an hour-long playable Lost Odyssey demo appearing in an upcoming issue of Famitsu. A limited-edition Xbox 360 Core System Blue Dragon Premium Pack to kick off the game's launch and include the game software. This pack will retail 28,381 yen (US $244).

Microsoft has been going after Japan full on, bringing in the best game creators imaginable. Still, so far, that hasn't been enough. Sitting in the Media Briefing and listening to Sakaguchi give a Blue Dragon run through, I couldn't help but think: If Blue Dragon, a game made by the Final Fantasy creator with characters designed by the Dragon Quest creator, does not help the 360 in Japan, nothing will. A ninety-minute wait to play the game at the Microsoft booth gives hope that it just might. Brian Ashcraft

After the Sakaguchi presser yesterday, Microsoft gave all attendees Blue Dragon toys. I've taken mine out of the box and have decided that it'll make a nice place on my shelf. Either there, or eBay. Hit the jump for it out of the box, but wrapped. Brian Ashcraft

We're swimming in big time game designers! Peter Molyneux is sitting at the end of our row, and Hironobu Sakaguchi and facial hair are positioned across the way. Check back for the latest developments on Molyneux's 360 title, Blue Dragon and Sakaguchi's tan.