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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

Well strike me down, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord will be released in Europe this Friday, with a North American release still pending. This latest Wii Ware instalment of the elusive Final Fantasy brand will be available for 1000 Wii Points, equal to £7 or $10. Further downloadable content is also on the horizon. Japanese players already have access to a selection of spells and stage packs available from 100 to 500 points. Despite the lack of a North American release date, it's likely to be soon.

My Life as a Darklord follows closely with the Final Fantasy formula of having very little to do with its predecessor of the same name. If you were hoping for a game similar to My Life as a King you may be sorely disappointed, and a bit silly. The gameplay focuses on castle defence: as the daughter of a Darklord, and arguably the sister of Zorn and Thorn, it is your job to use your evil minions and traps to keep the forces of good from reaching the top of the tower and destroying your crystal. It might be worth mentioning that you have a Tonberry lieutenant with a pink ribbon on its head to help you.

It remains to be seen whether this will be a hit or not. Castle defence is certainly a fine concept; it will never get old as long as real-time strategy is an existing genre. What will make or break the gameplay is balancing, something that castle defence modders slave over and Square Enix failed to achieve in My Life as a King. To its credit, the character and monster detail has a certain charm that hasn't been seen since Final Fantasy IX. Regardless of how successful this becomes, it's great to see Square Enix trying their luck with another genre. Maybe My Life as a... is to be a series of experimentation.

Source: Siliconera, Square Enix

One particularly ambitious San Francisco resident has taken Square Enix to court for breach of competition law, false advertising, and unjust enrichment. The class action sets forth the complaint that Square Enix are not clear about the fees and penalties in their MMORPG Final Fantasy XI. The class is none other than the 100,000 gamers on the Final Fantasy XI database. 'All persons who purchased or played the online games four years prior to the filling of this lawsuit to the present' to be precise.

Over $5,000,000, exclusive of interest or legal costs, is sought to be given back to the gamers. If they pull this one off, players will be told of their compensation either by email or on the Final Fantasy XI website. One source believes that Californian courts can be inclined to produce verdicts leaning more towards consumer protection. Don't let me get your hopes up too much.

See below for the complaints against Square Enix, taken directly from the lawsuit:

This case narrowly focuses on Defendants' deceptive advertising, unfair practices, and fraudulent concealment to conceal certain critical information about their online games. The deceptive advertising, unfair and undisclosed business practises, and concealment concern, among others:
i. Licensing of the online games software disguised as a sale;
ii. Monthly fees ("fees") to play the online games;
iii. Penalties for the late payment of the fees;
iv. Interest charges for late payment of the fees;
v. Charges while the online game account is suspended;
vi. Termination of the right to use online games for late payment of the fees;
vii. User restrictions and conditions related to the online games;
viii. Termination of game data for late payment of the fees.

What stands out the most from this complaint is the predominantly negative reception from the gaming community and press. Either they do not understand that this is a conjoined lawsuit, and the complainer merely represents the class, or that this is typical blind support of Square Enix who, ironically, are actually sitting on the opposite side of the table from all players of Final Fantasy XI. Why don't we raise the plaintiff, Esther Leong, on our shoulders and say: "yes we don't want to pay interest and penalties for late payment of gaming fees, this is a fantasy RPG not a credit card."

Source: GamePolitics, Plaintiff v. Square Enix (via GamePolitics), Law of the Game