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Knights Of The Crystals Is Final Fantasy For Facebook
Square Enix takes the winning formula from Zynga’s Mafia Wars and applies it to Final Fantasy to create Knights of the Crystals. Will you party up, or spend some quality time breeding chocobos in Chocobo’s Crystal Tower? Yes, it’s Final Fantasy: Mafia Wars, more or less. Players complete quests using action points, leveling up and…
By Mike Fahey Published November 2, 2010 -
Found In Translation
The opening for the NieR’s Japanese version is subdued. The music is relaxing. It’s a bit like watching fish swim. “Weiss, you dumb ass!” The localized opening is a 180-degree about face. It could not be further from the Japanese version. From the get go, it kicks you in the teeth and grabs you by…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 2, 2010 -
Kane & Lynch, Hitman Dev Going Through Its Own Dog Days
The holiday hits keep coming. IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind Hitman and Kane & Lynch, let go about 30 employees this week, according to sources close to the studio. That’s the second cut to hit the studio this year, the source says, with firings hitting the studio previously in March. The developer shipped Kane…
By Michael McWhertor Published October 31, 2010 -
Voice Actor Confirms Hitman 5
David Bateson, the voice of 47 in the Hitman series, says he’s been asked to remove details on his website regarding his work on Hitman 5. But the actor confirms a sequel is coming, and it will be “gob smacking.” Speaking to The Gaming Liberty, Bateson was asked for details on Hitman 5 and replied…
By Owen Good Published October 23, 2010 -
The 3rd Birthday Celebrates New Clothes
Aya Brea, the heroine of PSP title The 3rd Birthday, doesn’t have much of a wardrobe. Those ratty jeans? She can do better. In the latest issue of Japanese game mag Famitsu, Aya is shown wearing a business suit. Previously, the character was shown in blue jeans. Like with Aya’s denim, damage is reflected in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 20, 2010 -
Tifa Enters The Dissidia Duodecim Ring
Another fighter joins the Final Fantasy battle royale, as VII’s femme fatale Tifa prepares to take on all-comers in Dissidia 012[Duodecim]. Tifa joins Final Fantasy XIII’s Lightning and IV’s Kain as a new character in the follow-up to Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP. She’s bringing the pain with her intense physical skills, aided by…
By Mike Fahey Published October 19, 2010 -
Job Listing Causes Further Final Fantasy Versus XIII On Xbox 360 Speculation
At the 2008 gaming expo in Los Angeles, Square Enix dropped a bombshell: Final Fantasy XIII, previously believed to be a PS3 exclusive, was headed for the Xbox 360. Could the same be in store for Final Fantasy Versus XIII? Final Fantasy Versus XIII designer Tetsuya Nomura has stated repeatedly that Versus XIII is a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 18, 2010 -
The Next Kingdom Hearts Is One Of 2011’s First Notable Games
Eleven days into 2011, we get a new Kingdom Hearts that is unusual even by that series’ standards. On January 11 in North America, Square-Enix will release Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, a Nintendo DS sequel to Kingdom Hearts II that involves fighting through a digital “datascape” of the diary Jiminy Cricket kept during the first Kingdom…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 15, 2010 -
Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial Period Extended, Big Changes On The Way
In the face of overwhelming criticism of the game’s current state, Square Enix is extending the free trial period for Final Fantasy XIV Online from 30 days to 60 days and outline plans to make the game more user-friendly. If you’ve been following my weekly Final Fantasy XIV MMO logs leading up to next week’s…
By Mike Fahey Published October 15, 2010 -
ReviewsReview: Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes Of Light
Four unassuming adventurers set forth on a journey to save a magical kingdom in Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light for the Nintendo DS. Now where have I heard this story before? Take four unseasoned heroes and toss them into a world-spanning adventure filled with mythical creatures, powerful magic, and twisting dungeons with turn-based…
By Mike Fahey Published October 14, 2010 -
The 3rd Birthday Brings Back One Of My Favorite Gameplay Mechanics
Forgive me for having played Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and not Parasite Eve. I cannot detail to you how the upcoming PSP game The 3rd Birthday builds upon the latter. But I can say how wonderfully it echoes the former. The 3rd Birthday is a PSP adaptation of a Square Enix game originally released for…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 14, 2010 -
Let’s Check Those Halo Reach Statues Again
When we last saw Square Enix’s Halo Reach statues in July, half of them weren’t painted. Now they all are. Half of Halo Reach’s Noble Team team will be available in statue form this fall; the other half in early 2011.
By Stephen Totilo Published October 9, 2010 -
This Just Cause 2 Stunt Was Worth $10,000
All Daniel Steinberg of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, had to do to win $10,000 from Square Enix was fly a jet plane through a casino. Steinberg is the winner of the Square Enix Just Cause 2 Stunt Challenge, beating out several solid competitors with his precision flying. It’s not the most impressive Just Cause 2…
By Mike Fahey Published October 8, 2010 -
A Better View Of The Final Fantasy XIII Agito And Versus TGS Trailer
Last month we brought you shaky cam footage of the behind-closed-doors trailers for Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Versus XIII. Now we’ve got a better look. Square Enix has released the trailer on its Japanese website for Square Enix members to view, and now it’s shown up on YouTube as well. It’s a much clearer…
By Mike Fahey Published October 8, 2010 -
Final Fantasy XIV MMO Log Two: Hammering Out The Rough Edges
In the first Final Fantasy XIV MMO Log, I wondered what my motivation for playing the game was. This week I decided to make my own quest. Kotaku’s MMO reviews are a multi-part process. Rather than deliver day one reviews based on beta gameplay, we play the game for four weeks before issuing our final…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2010 -
Taito: Maker Of Games, Builder Of ROBOTS!
During the 1980s, game company Namco started making awesome robots. Robots! But Namco was not alone. Space Invaders developer Taito also took the know-how it attained from the arcade business and funneled that into building its own bots. In 1983, Taito created a walking, talking bot named “Yumemaru” as well as a guitar-playing robot. Yumemaru…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 5, 2010 -
What’s Up With The Tentacles?
The latest trailer for Japanese survival horror game The 3rd Birthday features phallic looking tentacles. Tentacles, again with the tentacles. What gives, Japan? One of the earliest (if not the earliest) pieces of tentacle erotica is The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife (NSFW) by Edo-period artist Hokusai, who is one of Japan’s greatest artists. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 5, 2010 -
Just Cause Movie Gets A Screenwriter
A Just Cause movie, which we got wind of a year ago, now has a screenwriter and another producing partner, signaling that we’re a step closer to an action-movie video game adapted into a video game action movie. Michael Ross, whose credits include the 2006 horror flick “Turistas,” has been brought aboard to write the…
By Owen Good Published October 3, 2010 -
Legless Marathon’s Underground Final Fantasy XIV Adventure
During the Final Fantasy XIV beta stress test, a tiny Lalafell named Legless Marathon fell through the world. It was the beginning of a grand adventure. Normally falling through the world would be a bad thing, but little Legless here has a grand old time. He does battle with vicious creatures that can’t technically touch…
By Mike Fahey Published September 29, 2010
