News

If the title doesn't quite grammatically add up for you, it isn't my fault. That's the currently-official title for what was previously known as the Fabula Nova Crystalis press conference.

The newly-named press event has a new date as well: January 18th, which is seven days later than the original. The name change most likely reflects the content of the event, which, from the beginning, was never going to be simply restricted to games falling under the Fabula Nova Crystalis banner. It seems to be Nomura's party, so we'll likely see whatever else he's up to (Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts 3D).

In addition, the event will now be open to fans. It's in Japan, of course, so that doesn't really have any importance to most of us. Since I have a sneaking suspicion that R51 won't pay for my flight over there to check it out first hand, I'll just keep posting details as I hear them.

Source: IGN, 1st Production Department Premier Site

Oh shoot, I accidentally said everything in the title.

Unsurprisingly, Square Enix has delayed the PS3 release of Final Fantasy XIV. Yoichi Wada, the company's President and CEO, said the following: "We deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that Final Fantasy fans have come to expect from the franchise." He did not, however, explain why a lack of enjoyability did not prevent the company from releasing the PC version. In addition to all the work being done to improve the PC edition, the team responsible for the game is being restructured. The hope is to release a fully updated game that takes into account all of the "improvements we have planned." Looks like you'll have to wait until after the originally-planned March 2011 release date. If you were waiting in the first place, of course.

The Mindjack news is actually quite interesting. It seems that a few people have gotten the chance to test the game's combat system, and the report is relatively favorable. While there are a few complaints with some of the basic combat controls, it appears that the 'hacking' system on which the game is based was done quite well. The host player can take control of fallen foes, drones and enemy combatants. In addition, outside players (called hackers) can enter the game as data clouds and hack the minds of enemy combatants in order to assist the host player. With all these options, players can do a lot of mind-hopping, which should make for a fast-paced, unique combat atmosphere.

Source: IGN, IGN

If you haven't already heard tell, Square-Enix has announced sparse details on a trading card game that offers Dissidia-like gameplay, but without need of a console!

Already developed is a website with a few card samples based around Dissidia-styled Cloud, Sephiroth and Zidane, but some telltale silhouettes should easily shed light on some more heroes to come.

It seems like a potentially exciting game with more to draw on than such gaming TCGs as EverQuest or World of Warcraft, what with Final Fantasy having so many incarnations, with different characters, skills, monsters and summon to conjure up into card form. It seems like an interesting step that will likely only go well for the giant that is Square-Enix and raise an entirely new fanbase for the series, and possibly breath life into the old.

As of yet, there are no details relating to a North American release, but it is still incredibly early in development.

To view some card samples, check out the sources below!

Source: Final Fantasy TCG Site, andriasang.com, RPGFan.com

If you've been wondering what the fellows over at Square Enix have been up to lately (other than the super-exciting stickers and mangas mentioned in the previous news post), you are not alone. As a result, I decided to have a look around at the company's current works in progress and give updates accordingly.

Mindjack, which you may better recognize by the title "that one game kinda trying to be like Inception," is set for a release on January 18 for both PS3 and Xbox 360. Will Mindjack follow in the footsteps of recent bombs Nier, Front Mission Evolved and The Last Remnant? I suppose it doesn't hurt to hope against likelihood.

In slightly more promising news, there is a new Deus Ex: Human Revolution gameplay trailer out (link below). The clip is rather exciting and displays several interesting gameplay features. The newest entry in the Deus Ex series is also expected to make a landing for PS3 and Xbox 360 in early 2011. To hear a bit more about the nature of the game and the multitude of choices it presents players with, check out this fairly recent interview.

There is also news coming from the rather depressing world of Final Fantasy XIV. It looks like the game has been fully ported over to the PS3, and the developers insist that they are working to make this version play as smoothly as possible (unlike last time). When the PS3 version is finally released, it will be accompanied by a PC-version upgrade as well. In addition, PS3 players will be put on the same servers as those playing from PC. This seems slightly problematic given the large time advantage, but developers assure us that there will be features added in order to even out the playing field a bit.

While there isn't really anything new to say about Final Fantasy Versus XIII, IGN has put together an article summarizing what we know about the upcoming title that would be good to read if you haven't been keeping up to date with the information as it's been coming out. Basically, we have one modern kingdom still protected by the ancient crystals of the past: "an isolated nation protected by an ancient line of kings. A modern civilization alive with the Crystal's songs of swords and sorcery." This nation is ruled by the game's main character, and it is surrounded by several crystal-less nations (one of which is ruled by the woman in the white dress seen in several of the trailers).

Remember Final Fantasy Agito XIII? I definitely forgot about it. A quick checkup, though, showed that I am entirely forgiven for having forgotten: there really isn't much information about it at all. It turns out that the game will be released for PSP as well as cellular devices(totally didn't know that). The plot appears to feature crystals (surprise) and a big bad empire (surprise). There's something about royal crests, chocobos and real-time battles in there as well.

All in all, with these new releases and the Fabula Nova Crystalis news conference on the horizon, the first quarter of 2011 should be an eventful one for Square Enix.

Source: Mindjack Site, Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer, IGN

We all love a good incentive to pre-order a game, don't we? Making-of DVDs, Beta Test Passes, Dog Tags, Figurines of the Characters, and so on. It's with that sort of mentality in mind that Square Enix have generously elected to give Gamestop and Amazon.com customers pre-ordering Kingdom Hearts Re: coded the lovely incentive of... A stick!

Oh, sorry, I misread that, Stickers. Yes, stickers. Perhaps you can put them on your DS or something. If you're a sucker for stickers, you canalways use AmaCoN for your pre-ordering needs in both the US and the UK stores for those of us in the relevant catchment areas with a desire for a pre-ordered Kingdom Hearts game. It should be noted that the bonus stickers may not apply to the UK pre-orders, but just in case you're still interested the link is there.

In a semi-related fashion that nicely leads onto a following item, there's some other Kingdom Hearts related news. Aya Brea, star of the Parasite Eve games and the upcoming PSP title The 3rd Birthday, has popped up as a Kingdom Hearts Mobile Avatar. Quite adorable when she's not knee deep in entrails it seems.

And speaking of knee-deep in entrails and Parasite Eve, a tie-in Manga is to debut next month in Square Enix's Monthly Shounen GanGan magazine. And yes, I have no idea what that means. I do know these things are generally in black and white so those of a nervous/psychotic disposition will be pleased/dismayed to learn there may not be much detail to the entrails.

Moving onwards and stretching a metaphor out just to link the stories up, as you all probably know, Final Fantasy XIV hasn't been having a good time lately, and has been having some problems that can be politely described as stomach trouble, or more accurately described as being a laughing stock with largely negative reviews. The higher-ups and designers at Squenix have been surprisingly candid on admitting that the game is not quite up to scratch, and have pledged to fix it. To that end, they have announced their plans to do so. Various overhauls and tweaks to the game are on the table, and it seems Square-Enix hope this tactic will help reduce and repair the damage the bad press has caused before the Playstation 3 launch next year.

And finally, speaking of tactics, Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, recently released for PSP in Japan, has downloadable content in the form of new scenarios planned. The three planned scenarios add new stories into the game once certain conditions have been met, and though no release dates are confirmed in North America or Europe as yet, those interested in the game will be pleased to learn that Square-Enix is embracing the concept of DLC for more than just fixing mistakes in already released content.







Source: Kotaku, AndriaSang

Mario Sports Mix, a Nintendo game set to come out for the Wii next year, will feature several characters familiar to the Final Fantasy universe.

The game, which includes basketball, volleyball, dodgeball and hockey, is being produced by Square Enix. As a result of this, Cactuar, Moogle, Ninja, White Mage and Black Mage will all appear as playable characters in the game. The Dragon Quest copyright is also included, it's likely that there'll also be a character from that game in the mix.

I suddenly want more than anything to see Cactuar spike a volleyball.

Source: IGN, Mario Sports Mix