News

Perhaps it was merely overlooked, but regardless a third Paper Mario title has been announced. In this new game you'll play as Mario, of course. But joining your playable characters will be both Peach and Bowser, though their parts seem unconfirmed, it seems possible that they might actually be playable in battle and normal gameplay, rather than just the bit parts they had in previous Paper Mario titles.

The game is slated for release sometime in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Source: IGN

One of Square-Enix's head honchos presented a ton of new delicious tidbits of news in a recent interview with the Japanese gaming site Dengeki Online, primarily concerning the upcoming PS3 games Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII as well as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for the PSP.

First of all, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII were both originally slated for the PS2, but eventually production was moved to the next generation of consoles because Tetsuya Nomura, who was Versus' project director, was still working on Kingdom Hearts II at the start of production. We know that the three games in the FF XIII project (the two previously mentioned as well as Agito for mobile phones) will share the same universe but other than that we have only speculation. Anyhow, here's some big news: FF Versus XIII is going to have an intense action battle system, but the "real" FF XIII is going back to the ATB, with an extra emphasis on speed and chain comboes. The girl from the trailers is the game's main character, but she'll also have allies in battle (surprise, surprise...). Also worth noting, both FF XIII and Versus XIII will have classic Amano logos, but FF XIII's background will be white and Versus' will be black.

Nomura is really set on making FF Versus XIII different from the classical FF tradition, so his team is combining members of the FF VII and VIII teams for visuals and his Kingdom Hearts team for the game's engine and interface (FF XIII is being worked on primarily by the FF X / FF X-2 team) to create a classic FF feel with a new action-oriented battle system. Nomura also emphasized the fact that the word Versus also has two meanings: the English definition of identifying two or more opponents and the Latin definition of changing directions.

And now, here's some interesting news for FF VII fans. The PSP game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII will be centered around four characters: Zack, Aeris, and two male characters yet to be identified. The game will implement voice acting, a materia creation system, and the abilities of Shinra's SOLDIER members. Unfortunately, Nomura refused to give out any more details.

Source: RPGFan

While very little is thus far known about Square-Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy romp (the thirteenth one, that is), Japan's Famitsu magazine earlier this week revealed a few previously masked details apparent in the screenshots featured within the article: Next to the protagonist's Hit Point meter below the screen, an ATB (Active Time Battle) Cost stat can be seen. This would not only indicate the return of the Active Time Battle system (and possibly an accompanying ATB gauge), but more importantly suggests a required "price" in points for every move each player executes. Another new feature, visible in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, is a gauge in the shape of a circle. Famitsu speculates that a number inside the circle must, through some unconfirmed means, be met and, along with varying accomplished conditions, will allow characters in battle to enter an "Overclock" status - perhaps Final Fantasy XIII's version of previous games' hyper-powered attacks attained in similar fashions. This alleged Overclock status forces all but the active character into a sort of slow-motion state, but at the same time can reportedly be quite precarious business to carry out.

Lastly, the article has informed that the words next to the ATB Cost stat read "Lighting" (although it's unclear whether or not this is a misspelling of "Lightning" by the writer) and has been judged to be the protagonist's first name. Additionally, the weapons used by the female protagonist - a gun and a sword - are in reality two weapons in one; as dictated by the predicament or the enemies involved, this changable weapon can be toggled from one to the other.

As to be expected, the subject of a Japanese release date for Final Fantasy XIII has not yet been openly negotiated.

Source: RPGFan

Koei president Kiyoshi Komatsu, who recently spoke to the Tokyo press of an unrelated issue, noted at the time that a Sony Computer Entertainment press conference is scheduled for the 15th of this month, suggesting that "some details about the PS3 might be announced there." Sony Europe, while not implying whether or not Komatsu's prediction was true, later confirmed that a largely important announcement will indeed be made at the conference next week.

With the company's fiscal year soon coming to a close, and the San Jose Game Developer Conference only a scant week away, a major announcement made by Sony on Wednesday - perhaps even regarding a definite target date for the PlayStation 3 release - would occur at the perfect time. By revealing the revised info as public knowledge, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment's worldwide studio, Phil Harrison, would greatly benefit by being provided with several topics to divulge during his essential GDC speech; the local press and businesses in Tokyo would also receive a head start on any related news prior to the San Jose conference.

On the other hand, although Sony's recurring stance is that their spring launch schedule will continue on despite difficulties with production, a more realistic viewpoint would be that these problems can indefinitely hold back the console's release from their projected time frame, thus resulting in a possible lack of any new information of the sort in the near future. Probably even less assuring is the latest word concerning COMPEQ, the manufacturer of the circuit boards for the PlayStation 3: As of now, the system allegedly will not be ready for launch until this fall at the earliest, seeing as COMPEQ reportedly plans to do their crucial part in either June or July.

Source: EuroGamer

Famitsu Magazine, reputed to be the #1 gaming review magazine in Japan has recently reviewed and ranked Final Fantasy XII giving it a perfect score across the board, which apparently is a rare thing, when you consider that with this game included, they've only ever given 6 games a perfect 40 points.

The game looks, appears, and sounds better and better with every morsel of it I hear.

Source: Imgup (Thanks to Phunbaba for the link)

Head of the Mother series of quirky RPGs, Shigesato Itoi, has updated his Mother 3 website with a handful of new features, including screenshots of various scenes throughout the anticipated GBA game.

Judging from the screens, it appears as though the isometric view present in Mother 2 (EarthBound) has been replaced with the more standard overhead, fixed perspective used within most 2D role-playing video games. The three scenes also point out a small but satisfying amount of characters and locales, such as a blond-haired boy and his dog at a town park and museum, and a cowboy standing near a forest in the rain. At the moment it could be speculated that the game may contain some sort of day/night cycle and possibly changes in weather.

As for the additional updates to the site, there are a total of sixteen "gifts" displayed on the main page - each leading to new media. A different box opens on a particular day - about every week or so - up until the Japanese release of Mother 3, in a way similar to an Advent calendar.

There's still been no official talk of a North American or European release.

Screenshots