Square Enix

Tight Lips on Final Fantasy Versus [Update with Character Drawing]

At Square Enix’s 25th Anniversary event today in Tokyo, company honcho Yoichi Wada took the stage and briefly mentioned Versus. Very briefly. Here’s what he said (via Japanese Final Fantasy blogger Marshal.Alloc): “I cannot say any more than, ‘We are making Versus!’ Please wait a little longer.” This raises all sorts of questions: Is the…

Square Enix is Releasing 11 Pounds of Final Fantasy (No, Really)

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy. And what better way to say Happy Anniversary than with a FF box set? That weighs 11 pounds? And costs US$445? The box includes the PlayStation disc versions of all the numeric Final Fantasy games from FFI to FFXIII. It also comes with a Crystal ArtWorks…

Sink Or Swim, This Man Deserves A Medal For His Work On Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn

Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn producer and director, Naoki Yoshida wowed audiences with the beauty and splendor of the revamped game at the GamesCon event two weeks ago. On stage and off, Yoshida has been proudly and enthusiastically showing expectant fans what he had in store for them in A Realm Reborn. He should…

A Superior Way To Play Video Games For “Free”?

Square-Enix explains why they’re letting users of their new Core Online service play some old games for free, so long as they watch about a minute of ads for every 10-20 minutes of game time. Quoted from their FAQ. More details on how Core Online works here

Money-Grubbing Square-Enix Is Now Letting Us Play Some Of Their Old Hits For Free*

Old Conventional Wisdom: Square-Enix is ripping us off left and right New Conventional Wisdom: They’re, um, letting us play some of their old games for free. They’re nice people, after all. Look, Square-Enix is such a big company that they can encompass both Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy. They can price-gouge and demonstrate the wonderful…

How Sleeping Dogs Tried To Avoid Chinese Stereotypes

Set in Hong Kong, Sleeping Dogs didn’t just look to the city’s rich cinema tradition for inspiration. It also tried looking to the city itself. But when you are mixing fact and fiction, you must be careful not to stereotype. Here’s Sleeping Dogs producer Dan Sochan to website CVG on attempting to overcome that challenge:…

Disappointed by The World Ends With You iPhone Port? Chin Up.

After a drip-fed countdown, Square Enix revealed that The World Ends With You was being re-released. On iOS. For twenty bucks. The good news is that the port—pricey as it is—ain’t bad. The better news? Square Enix hints at more The World Ends With You. The game’s director Tatsuya Kando said in the upcoming Famitsu:…

New Final Fantasy Isn’t Called “Lightning Saga”. Well, Duh, and THANK GOODNESS!

Square Enix is readying a new Final Fantasy game, which has been referred to as “Lightning Saga”. It’s probably going to be Final Fantasy XIII-3: SOMETHING SOMETHING, but as Yoshinori Kitase pointed out today on Twitter, “The title isn’t Lightning Saga.” Phew! Rather, Square Enix will be unveiling the game’s title at its upcoming Final…

The World Ends With You Is Actually A Pretty Good Port

Look, nothing justifies what Square Enix did. Setting up a weekly countdown that everyone giddily expects will be a sequel to beloved DS game The World Ends With You only to reveal that it’s actually a $20 iOS port? Indefensible. But I bought the iPad port of The World Ends With You today, and after…

How Dragon Quest Just Pissed Off Its Most Famous (and Oldest) Fan

Dragon Quest X is an online MMORPG. That might’ve made some fans pleased, but one in particular—legendary actress Keiko Awaji—is not happy. “What I’m interested in is Dragon Quest,” Awaji recently said on Japanese TV. Instead of, like she has in the past, gushing about why she loved Dragon Quest, this time, she talked about…

Disappointing Everyone, The World Ends With You Countdown Leads to a $20 iOS Port

A rogue online store listing last week meant today Square Enix more confirmed than announced that The World Ends With You-Solo Remix will be released for iOS devices, both in the west and Japan. The game goes on sale tomorrow. That’s its launch trailer above. This isn’t gonna be cheap. the iPhone version is $17.99,…

Ode To The Final Fantasy Games That Weren’t Really Final Fantasy Games

Let’s go back in time. It’s 1990. The Company Then Known As Squaresoft is living large, riding the waves of success earned by 1987’s surprise hit Final Fantasy. Piles of money. Mountains of cocaine. You know the deal. Fueled by glory and riches, Square decides to localize a bunch of their Game Boy RPGs and…

Square Enix Thinks This Mobile RPG Is Worth $30

The folks over at Square Enix Europe are charging a whopping $28.99 for upcoming mobile RPG Final Fantasy Dimensions, they revealed this morning. Presumably Square Enix USA is using the same price scheme, as the Europe blog lists prices in U.S. dollars too. Here’s what they have to say about the game, which is out…

MMORPGs Are Expensive, When You Are a Kid

Kids? They don’t have money. So thirteen bucks might not be much to working adults, but it is when you are a child—a MMORPG playing child, that is. Dragon Quest X is, for the first time in the DQ series, a subscription-based MMORPG. To enable kids the ability to play for two hours at set…

Without Final Fantasy V, This RPG Boss Would Have Been Indiana Jones

Souhei Niikawa is the CEO of Nipponichi Software, the maker of such hits like the Disgaea series, and Phatom Brave. In 1996, Niikawa joined Nipponichi Software to work in marketing, publicity, and game development, and after a successful career, in July 2009, he became CEO. Even after his rise in rank, Niikawa continues to have…

If you needed more convincing that teaser site is for The World Ends with You, check the background music.

Sleeping Dogs‘ New Add-Ons Are The Wrong Sort Of Downloadable Content

Like many of my Kotaku brethren and sistren, I really dig United Front’s Sleeping Dogs. I’m taking my time playing it, doing a lot of the sidequests, and I can tell that when I do finish, I’ll gladly pay for add-on content to expand the game. And look at that, I’m in luck! The first…

Square Enix launched a teaser site with lightning for its new Final Fantasy XIII game with…Lightning.

I Never Thought Driving On The Left Would Be So Much Fun

As I played Sleeping Dogs this past weekend, I kept getting into car accidents. Every time I’d hop onto my motorcycle or into a car, I’d find myself getting into head-on collisions with the residents of Hong Kong; I couldn’t keep a car in good condition for thirty seconds of driving, and I couldn’t manage…

And Now, Sleeping Dogs Will Perform a Magic Trick

Kotaku likes Sleeping Dogs very much. Kotaku also likes magic. You, hopefully, like Sleeping Dogs and magic, too. Have you seen the trick that Sleeping Dogs protagonist Wei Shen can pull off? Watch and marvel. Wei the MagiShen Debuts His Newest Trick! [YouTube Thanks, Praxic!] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing…