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When the Pixel Remaster games were released in physical editions for consoles a couple years ago, they sold out virtually overnight, leaving only digital downloads available for players. With a couple years' water under the bridge now, though, and the continued popularity of the remasters, Square Enix have announced that a wider release of the physical games will be available starting October 8.

Like the original limited edition release, this new one will be for Playstation and Switch only. Unlike the original, though, the pack-in bonuses are limited to just a sticker sheet. The release is priced at $75, which seems like a lot - but, thinking back on it, that's still less than I spent for Final Fantasy III (US) on SNES 30 years ago even accounting for inflation.

Source: Gematsu

The releases of the Pixel Remaster versions of the first six Final Fantasy games continues on September 8 with Final Fantasy IV, Square Enix have just announced. As with all the remasters, the releases are for Steam, Android and iOS and will be simultaneous worldwide.

Those who would like to play via Steam can currently preorder Final Fantasy IV alone on a 20% discount and will also receive a three-track soundtrack and two wallpapers. You can also order the bundle and get all the games that have already unlocked, all the future games as they release, and similar OST and wallpaper bundles for all six games also at a discount. The single game package is currently $14.39, and the six-game bundle is $74.82.

Sorry, still no information about a potential Switch release, for those of you asking.

Source: Gematsu

Have you been cooped up in pandemic mode for the last year and a half like the rest of us? Do you want to get out and see some live Final Fantasy music before everything gets shut down again because we're still not winning against said pandemic? The Final Fantasy VII Remake concert series has an absolute shedload of dates coming up in North America that might be just for you. Check out this big list:

• August 27/28: Fort Worth, Texas
• October 16: Orlando
• October 23: Los Angeles
• November 12: Boston
• November 20: St. Petersburg, Florida
• November 27/28: Honolulu
• December 28/29: Atlanta
• January 28, 2022: Nashville
• February 6: Chicago (with a matinee and evening show)
• February 12: Montréal
• February 25: Omaha
• March 2/3: Toronto
• March 5: Guadalajara
• March 18/19: Denver
• March 23: Phoenix
• TBA: Two dates at Carnegie Hall, New York

Most of these dates are already on sale or will be on sale in the next few weeks. So, if one of these dates are near you, go check it out now!

Also, with Final Fantasy IV celebrating its 30th birthday this year, Square Enix have also announced a new vinyl album featuring original tracks and new arrangements of the classic Uematsu tracks. I'm not sure if they have sold through their quantity for pre-order already, but the official site is currently showing a "Waitlist" button. While I personally feel that Final Fantasy IV has one of the better overall soundtracks in the series - come watch me also gush about Celtic Moon in Discord sometime - the $40 price point for vinyl plus digital download dissuades me just a bit. The album is tentatively slated to release on August 25, so if you manage to get a copy please come let us know how it is!

The Final Fantasy "Ultimania" guides have been lore for Western Final Fantasy fans for many years; I remember first hearing about their existence twenty years ago, but I've never seen one in person. Finally, though, those of us who want to see these guides in a format we can actually read ourselves - not you, smug Japanese-knowing CoN fans! - will get a chance to own them in English.

Next June, Dark Horse and Square Enix will release a 300+ page archive of Ultimania guides covering the first six games of the series in a hardbound edition. It's expected to be the first of three volumes encapsulating the entire series. Amazon, at least in the US, has it listed for just $34 currently, and I know I have already preordered my copy.

If you want to do the same, check this AmaCoN link: http://amzn.to/2xhj5SX

Source: Siliconera

Several years back, The Speed Gamers did a fun Final Fantasy marathon for charity, a goal with which CoN was happy to help. It's 2017 now, and it's time to start up again! At 6pm Eastern tonight, TSG will kick off a new marathon for the benefit of St. Jude's Children Research Hospital, with TSG players running through all of the main-series games over the course of a week. I'm posting this a bit before the start, of course, but look right below for a good place to watch if you want to tune in. I know I'll be watching a fair bit and will be doing so in CoN chat as often as I can, so come join me, won't you? They'll be doing the games in order, starting with Final Fantasy I tonight and targeting the next CoN game, Final Fantasy IV, tomorrow night.

This time around, we've provided a bit more support with promotion on social media, and our old friend Gabe provided a number of awesome fuse bead sprites for TSG to give away as donation prizes. We're not sure when they'll be given away, but keep an eye out if you're a Final Fantasy IV fan!

St. Jude has been a recipient of my own donation dollars for quite a while, so I personally think this is a great time to support people playing your favorite games for a fantastic cause. You can donate directly from here, even if you're not watching. Make sure you mention that you found out about their good cause from your friends at CoN! Don't forget that donations at particular times might also enter you for prizes like Gabe's, so pay attention, or, if you want to guarantee that you get something cool, check out these charity t-shirts on Fangamer, with $10 going to St. Jude on every shirt purchased.

Join us in wishing TSG luck over the next week, and have some fun coming up by checking out your favorite Final Fantasy games played at pace!

Source: The Speed Gamers

Well, I guess enough people bought it on mobile phones, then. The Final Fantasy IV sequel, "The After Years," which has bounced from platform to platform since 2008, will have yet another release in May, this time for the Steam platform. This release will be based on the iOS and Android version released in 2013, following the same path as Final Fantasy III and IV took to Windows.

It's worth noting that this sequel has been full of mixed reviews over its lifespan, with the iOS version carrying a Metacritic score of just 62, compared to the iOS version of Final Fantasy IV sitting at 89. The news that this game is getting a Windows port might not sit well with fans hoping for remakes of other games in the series, but this release still makes a great deal of financial sense for Square Enix at this point given that it was likely a relatively easy and low-cost port.

The game's listed at $16 with a 10% preorder discount in the American Steam store, with a release date of May 12.

Source: Steam