News

Yes, you read that correctly. Pokemon will officially begin its fifth generation this fall with Pokemon Black and Pokemon White for the Nintendo DS. A worldwide release is inevitable, but for now has no official date. Nintendo will reveal more in a press conference on 15 April.

The second source listed here is an unconfirmed leaked image of the Pokemon found in the game. It seems genuine, but it should not be assumed true as of yet.

Source: Kotaku, The Black & White Pokedex

Media Vision, developers of the Wild Arms series of RPGs, are working on an RPG for the iPhone entitled Chaos Rings, which looks way too damn pretty to be an iPhone game. Joining Media Vision on this project is Yusuke Naora, who worked as an art director and character designer on several Final Fantasy titles, including Final Fantasy VII and multiple entries of the Compilation thereof.

The game looks like it wouldn't be out of place on the PlayStation in the late 90s, or perhaps today on a DS or PSP. The game's storyline revolves around a fighting tournament and intrigue and drama surrounding it. You can check out a trailer at the end of the newspost.

Basically, if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and are fans of Wild Arms and/or Final Fantasy (some of you, maybe?), then you should probably keep this on your radar.

Trailer

Source: Kotaku

When you think of an RPG that's been released many a time, you might well think of Lunar: The Silver Star Story. Originally released in 1993 for the Sega CD, this game was re-configured and re-released for the Saturn, the PlayStation, Windows, and even the Game Boy Advance over the last fifteen-plus years; now, in 2010, yet another version will be dropping for the PSP.

XSEED, the developer producing Silver Star Harmony (as this version will be known), is calling it "definitive." That seems a bit of a high claim for a game that's already seen so many versions, but if you are a Lunar fan and want to find out, you've got two options. The standard version will set you back thirty bucks, and will give you just the game; the limited edition is just ten dollars more but throws in a newly-compiled soundtrack CD and a package of thirteen collector cards with the "Girls of Lunar."

Source: 1up

Forenote: In keeping tradition of updates every Friday, I would like to point out that it is, in fact, always Friday. But right now, it's Friday in England. So this still counts.

13 - Unlucky for some? Let's hope not Square-Enix. Final Fantasy XIII is now out in Japanland. Over the past week, everywhere has gone nuts. Sure, it isn't out in the West... yet. But even so, we don't have much to go on other than Famitsu's 39/40. My mathematical skills tell me that that means good.

A Final Fantasy XIII branded PS3 Slim is out in Japan, and will also be seeing a release in Korea, despite the fact that I want one. It's white, pink, slim, big (HDD-wise) and is coupled with matching controller and a copy of Final Fantasy XIII. Retailing at the US equivalent of $450 U.S, is it worth it? Even if not, you can bet it'll be worth a bunch to collectors soon enough. For those who already DO have a Playstation 3, you can look forward to Final Fantasy XIII characters and monsters in your Playstation Home! And they're absolutely free.... in Japan.... until January 14th. If we're lucky, we might be able to get to PAY for them eventually!

Square-Enix, always the money grabber, is also releasing the game's soundtrack in two versions. The standard, and the special editions. What's the difference? One disc, about $15 and a pretty box. The normal version is about $45, no prizes for whoever figures out how much the special is priced. But is it worth it without Nobuo Uematsu? Find out for yourself at the Final Fantasy XIII website, where samples of the game's soundtrack are available to all.

In addition, a lot more copies of Final Fantasy XIII were shipped than intended. Almost double, in fact. Square-Enix are definitely confident about this title. Do they have good reason to be? I guess we'll find out in the next few weeks. Or you could hide in a cave until the Western release. This news poster might actually try to get hold of a copy at release date (March 9th)! Try, and fail, because the Xbox version is still pending. Gragh.

Right. Almost at the end here, but something has come up that ISN'T Final Fantasy XIII related. (My aim in this post was to say Final Fantasy XIII 13 times. Did I succeed?) Final Fantasy VIII is now available to all on the Playstation Network for $10.... Oh joy....

When's Final Fantasy IX up?

Source: Ko, ta, ku

Massive amount of Square Enix news tidbits this week, since I took a couple unplanned weeks off, there. Sorry about that, I know that all of you out there are dying to not comment on these posts.

As usual, most of the small news items you might have missed have to do with Final Fantasy XIII. You know, it's coming out in Japan next week and all. With regard specifically to the Japanese version, you might have missed the reveal of this game's Cid, with the surname of Raines. He's meant to be a general in one of the military factions in the plot; however, as is usual, he doesn't seem to have much traditional military look to him. You'll see him somewhere along the line in a game that is fifty-plus hours long, according to director Motumu Toriyama. And, as you may have noticed along the way, the official box art for the US and European versions of FFXIII was first published this week, too. To me, personally, it seems a bit too minimalist, but if you still had any doubts about seeing it for the Xbox 360, well, rest assured that this is not a fake.

With all that real game-type news out of the way, check out some of the goofy hype machine that's still working in support of the new flagship release. If you're in Japan, you can get the chance to smell like Lightning (the character, obviously, not the meteorological event). It's peachy! It's rosey! It's musky! It's over eighty bucks! Probably tough to import, too, as it's no doubt a flammable liquid. Over here, though, your goodies are a little less pricey and a little more useless. Thanks to all the people who tweeted about Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox (you're welcome - ugh), anyone who registers for it on Xbox.com will get, sometime this month, a free baby Chocobo for their Xbox Live avatar. Certainly cheaper than the pets you can buy; I'm sure it will go well with my University of Illinois hoodie just fine, though.

Now, let's move on, shall we? Despite the fact that Squenix is laying off again, in Europe, there are still new releases in other series coming soon. An unofficial Twitter announcment implies that Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep will in fact make it out of Japan, notwithstanding any rumbles to the contrary. Not only that, you'll also get to interact with Zack of the Final Fantasy VII universe. Does that get a fangirl squee out of anyone? Yeah, didn't really think so. Finally, on the Enix side of the house, note that a western release of Dragon Quest IX has just gotten a little closer to reality, now that the game's name has been trademarked in several languages for the European Union. Leave a slot in your DS for 2010 for a cooperative, customizable JRPG, it seems.

Again, apologies for missing a couple weeks. It probably will happen again pretty soon, given the holidays coming up, so if you feel like filling my shoes, go for it!

Source: Kotaku, SiliconEra, Go Nintendo

It's true. See the screenshots for yourself:

Arc Rise Hearts / Kingdom Fantasia

Not that bearing a resemblance to Kingdom Hearts is a bad thing. (Or is it? I've never played the series) The main character DOES look a lot like Sora, though. Maybe it's his long lost brother. Maybe I should stop wondering before the developers take my idea and make it into a crossover game. Just like Kingdom He-OH MY GOD.

Seriously, though. Battle gameplay seems similar to The Last Remnant, at least from what I can gather in one sentence. "The characters in your party share an AP meter, allowing you to strategically queue up your attacks to suit every encounter." Graphics seem nicer in the cutscenes than in-game, but that might be due to the compression. Character artwork looks nice until one of the voice actors tries to draw their own character.

It seems like a cool game, and it's on the Wii! RPG fans and owners of Wiis rejoice! Oh, but since it's on Nintendo, large amounts of cleavage have been censored. Poor you. :(

Source: Kotaku