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Final Fantasy XIII Release Date Confirmed
Square Enix confirmed tonight at a Japanese press event that Final Fantasy XIII will indeed be out on December 17. Least, that’s when it’ll be out in Japan. The date isn’t a surprise – not after it was accidentally leaked by Square on the company’s YouTube site – but still, it’s nice to get confirmation.…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 8, 2009 -
Square Enix FFXIII Event Liveblog Incoming
Tonight in Tokyo, Square Enix is holding a Final Fantasy XIII event, and we’ll be there liveblogging our brains out. By “we”, we mean “me”. The event will start at 7:00pm Japan Time (which is 4am Kotaku Time) and is expected to run for two hours. Be sure to check back for our liveblog and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 8, 2009 -
Square Enix President Played Dragon Quest IX For 30 Hours
Not every game exec plays video games. Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada does. Or rather, says he does. The businessman claims to have spent 30 hours over the course of four days after Dragon Quest IX was released this past July. But for Wada, it’s not simply a matter of “I like videos games”. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 8, 2009 -
Final Fantasy XIII Dated For December 17
Embedded in a flash site is apparently the Japanese release date for Final Fantasy XIII. That release date is December 17. Thank URL twiddling. The flash site’s URL had “_Before_” in it, and typing “_After” seems to bring up this image, which clearly states that the game goes on sale December 17, 2009. Previously, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 7, 2009 -
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Multiplayer Impressions: Gaming Without Icons
The draw of Kingdom Hearts is the mash-up of Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters, yes? Hopefully you have a second answer, because the multiplayer demo of the latest game in the series offers neither legendary roster. The Nintendo booth at PAX is showcasing a few DS games, including this month’s Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days,…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 5, 2009 -
Order Of War Preview: Almost Everything Is In Order
Please forgive the author as her headline-writing guy seems to be out of the office at the moment, along with the chick who comes up with puns. Order of War is a World War II strategy game for PC with a slightly different angle than all the other WWII strategy games out there: it’s not…
By AJ Glasser Published September 4, 2009 -
Final Fantasy XIII Odin Summoned In Figure Form
Over the weekend, figure and hobby event Chara-Hobby was held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. It’s the home of the Tokyo Game Show, you know. The event had loads of new figures on display, including this prototype of Final Fantasy XIII‘s Odin. Odin is the summon for FFXIII heroine, and this unpainted figure…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 3, 2009 -
How Square Enix Ports DS Games To The Wii
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time was released on the DS and the Wii. How did Square Enix port it over? Easily. The game’s director Mitsuru Kamiyama explained at the recent CEDEC game conference in Japan, “The DS version was the original source code, we made a system that automatically generated the Wii version.”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 3, 2009 -
Final Fantasy XIII To Cost $89 In Japan?
That red kiosk is called “Loppi”. It’s located in Japanese convenience store Lawson. It’s a ticket selling machine, but customers can also go shopping and even pre-order video games and consoles. The Loppi screen lists the Xbox 360, the PSP 2000 1seg tuner and right below that? Final Fantasy XIII. The game is priced at…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 2, 2009 -
Square Issues Order Of War This Month
Square Enix releases their first Western-developed game outside of Japan this month, bringing Wargaming.net’s World War II strategy title Order of War to North American PCs on September 22nd. Order of War is only the first of three Western-developed titles coming to North America via Square Enix and its new global agenda, along with Gas…
By Mike Fahey Published September 2, 2009 -
What Square Enix Games Are Playable At Tokyo Game Show?
This month brings the Tokyo Game Show to…Chiba, Japan. And what games is Square Enix bringing to TGS? Minus the Japan-only Lord of Vermilion II arcade game and Japan-only cell phone games like Kingdom Hearts: Coded, the list of Square Enix console games appearing at TGS are: Final Fantasy XI: The Vana’diel Collection 2: Trailer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 1, 2009 -
No Final Fantasy Versus XIII At Tokyo Game Show
According Square Enix game designer Tetsuya Nomura, Final Fantasy XIII will be playable. His title, Final Fantasy Versus, won’t be anywhere to be seen, however. Unlike last year, Square Enix will not be screening trailers for upcoming titles like Final Fantasy Versus XIII and instead will be focusing on playable demos for titles due out…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2009 -
A Look at Final Fantasy XIII’s Combat System and Strategy
The English localization is almost done. But the Japanese build of Final Fantasy XIII, shown off at Gamescom, gives you a good idea of what to expect in the gameplay when the title releases next year for Xbox 360 an PS3. FFXIII’s developer notes the game’s combat mechanism employs something they call the “paradigm shift”…
By Owen Good Published August 29, 2009 -
Guess Who’s Publishing Modern Warfare 2 In Japan?
Square Enix, that’s who. Known best for Final Fantasy, the Japanese game company is once again attempting to expand its portfolio by bringing eagerly awaited first-person-shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to Japan. The company has yet to make an official announcement, but there’s a teaser site with a large “2” that fades in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 28, 2009 -
ESRB Details Unannounced Raystorm, Thexder Revivals
While neither game has been officially announced to the best of our knowledge, both Raystorm HD and Thexder NEO have recently been fully described by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. So you can expect their respective North American announcements soon. Both Thexder NEO and Raystorm HD appear to be remakes of the 8-bit and 32-bit…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 28, 2009 -
Dragon Quest IX Sells Less Than 100,000 (Oh Noes!)
According to the Japanese sales figures released last week, DS title Dragon Quest IX sold 127,000. According to the ones released this week, it did not. The game moved 79,000 copies — making it the first time it fell under 100,000. The game has already sold 3.7 million copies, so who cares, right? 3.7 million…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 28, 2009 -
New FFXIII Screens Show Different Angle of Glasses Lady
That’s Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat, Final Fantasy XIII‘s icy queen commander of the Holy Army. Famitsu has new screens of her, silver-haired Yaag Rosch, FFXIII heroine and her summon Odin in horsey Gestalt form. Final Fantasy XIII is headed for the PS3 in Japan this winter.
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 28, 2009 -
Square Enix Doesn’t See PS3 Price Cut Impact This Year
……but the company sees a big impact next year. When does Final Fantasy XIII come out again? Oh right, this winter. According to Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada, the cheaper US$299 PS3 will spur game sales, but not enough for the company to revise this year’s financial forecast. “In terms of the impact (the PS3…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 26, 2009 -
Square Enix Answer Final Fantasy VII Remake Question
Square Enix has remade numerous games in its back catalogue. One title that it hasn’t remade just yet is Final Fantasy VII. At the Gamescom convention in Germany, website VG247 asked Square Enix producers Yoshi Kitase and Motomu Toriyama about the possibility of a FFVII remake. The translator replied: There’s not official project that’s up…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 26, 2009