News

Well, what have we here. A number of assorted snippets from this week, some interesting, some annoying, and some just silly. Let's looking!

Number One
Final Fantasy Anedote Release Date
The Anecdote will be released in Japan on October 29th, so it will reach international shores in 2010. If we're lucky.

Number II
0807
Remember how countdown clocks were used for Final Fantasy Anecdote, and everyone groaned because it's the most boring way to announce a new game? Square Enix are NOT LEARNING! We have about VI days and XXII hours before we know what this, so be sure to throw a brick or II through their official building's windows before that time.

Number Three
Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots
And there are many of them. They look cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

Number Four
Star Ocean 3 != PS3?
Star Ocean 3 being listed as a PS3 game temporarily was confirmed as a database error. All seventeen PS3 owners that play Star Ocean can hang their heads in disappointment.

Well, that's all, folks. Isn't there more important event today you should be reading about?

Source: Kotaku

Edit: Josh can take his news system and put it where the sun don't shine.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, a model of a large horse was unveiled by Square Enix as Sleipner: Odin's armour-clad, red-eyed mount. Odin himself will be in Final Fantasy XIII, but not atop his trusty steed of old. Rather, he will transform into it for Lightening et al to ride, much like Shiva changing into a motorbike.

According to certain sources, familiar summons Ifrit, Carbuncle and Siren have been revealed in non-public trailers of Final Fantasy XIII. What could they possibly transform into? Siren the dolphin? Ifrit the bull? I, personally, would be thrilled to see Carbuncle the helicopter.

Aside from this, there have been more screenshots made available for our collective criticism to feed on. Most notably, we see Hope's dual boomerangs and Vanille's fishing hooks in action. The battles do indeed seem very similar to those of Final Fantasy X-2, with individual positions changing and a more fluid succession of actions than the typical Active Time Battle. Interestingly, we can also see what looks like Bravery and Faith from Final Fantasy XII returning on the character's status in the battle alongside old favourites such as Protect. Overall it still looks like The Bouncer, but with more to do in battle.

Final Fantasy XIII is currently due for a Japanese release in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the second quarter of 2010 for all other regions.

Source: FF-XIII.net, Destructoid (screenshots), Destructoid (Odin)

For those of us who do not yet know, Eidos has been acquired by Square Enix in a bid to involve itself more in western markets. Eidos, based in south London, is responsible for the iconic Tomb Raider series as well as more recent titles such as Age of Conan and the upcoming Arkham Asylum. The reported price of acquisition was £84 million.

It was announced earlier this month that the name 'Eidos Interactive', which was believed to remain the name of the newly acquired company, will be changed to 'Square Enix Europe'. The merging will change more than just the name of one company. Larry Sparks, current vice-president of Eidos, will be in charge of Square Enix's Japanese catalogue of titles. It appears that Square Enix is entrusting many of the current employees of Eidos with its future development in the west.

This lends credence to the claim that the assimilation of Eidos into Square-Enix will provide faster release dates in North America and Europe, and also that more previously-exclusive Japanese titles will be brought to the fans in other countries. Direct leadership and investment in the west are certainly how Square-Enix could go about accomnplishing this. Maybe we will finally see a Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System, which is currently limited to the international boundary of Japan and South Korea. Or maybe that is setting expectations a little too high.

Source: Play.tm

It looks like there's a demo for DISSIDIA: Final Fantasy on the Playstation Network. It can be downloaded onto PS3s as well as PSPs, but only runs on PSP.

This looks like a good idea for people who haven't decided whether or not to buy it yet, as well as a fun little teaser for those who have it pre-ordered.

DISSIDIA: Final Fantasy comes out in the USA on 25 August, 2009.

EDIT: Thank you to user Ruin's Fate for telling us that the characters usable in the demo are Onion Knight, Cecil, Terra, Cloud, and Sephiroth.

Source: Final Fantasy Union, PR News

Earlier this year, Final Fantasy Legend II, also known as SaGa II, was announced as being the next in a series of remakes on the Nintendo DS. What with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the series, Square Enix decided to put the SaGa names all over a shiny new DSi. All of the names. Unfortunately no word on a Stateside release, but the official SaGa II site is up, running, and pretty. If anyone who speaks Japanese can point out where it says "This is our game, and it will never ever be released internationally, HA!", please let the rest of us know.

OFFICIAL SITE

Source: Kotaku

Jump Magazine (from Japan) released information about a new character in Final Fantasy XIII. According to Final Fantasy Union, his name is Hope Estheim; he uses a boomerang as a weapon and has a history with Snow.

Details remain sketchy at this time, though as with all such new information about new Square Enix games, we should see more coming in quite short order.

Source: Final Fantasy Union