News

Even though it's still not the E3 of years past, there's no way to not get a little interested in the gaming industry this time every year. For my part, personally, I'm a little disappointed that I no longer work at home and therefore can't watch some of the live coverage; however, I'm sure there will still be some live chatting going on at the house of CoN as news breaks. That being said, there have been some pre-Expo, Square Enix news dribblings that have come to light over the past week, so why don't we get you primed up for this week's events by recapping them briefly here?

First off, check out the massive adverts for Final Fantasy XIII that were hung in Los Angeles last week. There are three, one with Vanilla, one with Snow, and one with Lightning (luckily, the names aren't plastered on the adverts, so non-gamers will have less to mock), all on adjacent buildings. Since the game isn't coming out for a bare minimum of seven months, and probably more like twelve, this might seem premature; however, it seems like these ads might hang for quite a while, since they were covering up similar banners for Grand Theft Auto IV, a game that launched fifteen months ago.

In other news, it's been announced that Final Fantasy XI, the numeral that won't die, is getting another platform on which to hang out. This time it's Playstation 3; however, it's as yet unknown whether this version will sport any sort of refactoring, or whether it will be a straight rollup of all content previously released for Windows and the 360. However, does it really matter? Surely this game is reaching its critical mass of gamers, and simply releasing it for another system isn't alone going to breathe new life into the game. In other words, don't you think anyone who had much intention of playing FFXI has done so by now?

Famitsu has also been talking again with Tetsuya Nomura, and he threw out some typical but interesting tidbits of information. Top of that list is that Squenix is getting more involved with Playstation Network downloadable content; it's come out since that he was specifically referring to a PS3 (and PSP) release of Final Fantasy VII, though there's surely more to come. Additionally, it seems that Final Fantasy XIII must be making great progress, as Nomura himself has moved on from being involved in development to focus most of his time on Versus and Agito. And, in what is clearly the most interesting news for me (or would be if I had a PSP), the newest Parasite Eve sequel has not yet been cancelled!

And, finally, the Square Enix Members Blog also published late last week the official list of titles being shown by Square Enix at E3 this year. Look for more information on some of these as the week goes on.

• DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY


• FINAL FANTASY XIII Ed: look out for a new video trailer, here.


• FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS


• FRONT MISSION EVOLVED


• KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days


• NIER


• ORDER OF WAR


• SUPREME COMMANDER 2


• FINAL FANTASY IV: THE AFTER YEARS


• FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a Darklord

Enjoy your E3, and tip us off if we miss any big news!

Sources: Square Enix Members Blog
The Magic Box
Kotaku

And none of them are games!

To commemorate the series' 20-year anniversary, Square-Enix are releasing the full soundtrack to the series, on 20 discs! In addition to the soundtrack(s), the package also comes with a bonus DVD filled with unspecified extras. "How much?" I hear the crowds cry! Well, this little bundle is just a bargain at a mere $220! Aren't Square-Enix so generous?

Honestly, i've never played a SaGa game, but I have heard selected parts of the soundtrack, and while i'd rather take a Final Fantasy collection, SaGa definitely has a soundtrack worth listening to.

Source: Kotaku

To anyone interested in the potential of a Chrono Trigger sequel, here is some news for you. It's not the good kind. But not bad, either, unless you were following it. You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?

Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes was a fan-made sequel created by hacking the original ROM. If you remember Chrono Resurrection, you'll see where I'm going with this. After over four years of production, the developer received a cease and desist letter from Square-Enix. The project was due to release at the end of this month. A bit of a harsh move on their part, in my opinion, but if you're an optimist, it may mean that they have plans for a CT sequel of their own...

Here's hoping.

Source: Slashdot

Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase recently revealed some interesting titbits on demos and PAL releases for FFXIII. Following the recent release of a blu-ray demo in Japan, the prospect of an English demo was always on the cards. Kitase however has stated that the demo would not be on a disc, but if there is one, they are thinking of making use of the Playstation Network and XBox Live to release the demos as downloads.

He also stated that localisation, translation and English voice recording is already underway partially, which hopefully means a fairly speedy translation to English and a release date for North America fairly soon after Japan. Those of us in PAL regions will be thrilled to hear Square's famed ability to quickly release their games in PAL regions after the Japanese and North American versions come out is being upheld, with Kitase saying those of us in such blighted regions can expect to see it "within a year" of the Japanese release.

The most interesting news of all this is of course the prospect of the demo, and sarcasm aside it is nice to at least hear something that can let us guess release dates for outside Japan. However, the word on the demo is still leaving the bases covered on Square-Enix's part. Potentially, this leaves up in the air the question of in what format, if any, American and EU gamers will see a Final Fantasy XIII demo.

Source:
FF Insider
Some new Demo screencaps

That's about all we have. A website went live a few hours ago, with the only clues being a city on a cloudy day and a quote from John F. Kennedy. Writers at Kotaku speculate that it is one of two existing S-E trademarks: either Front Mission Evolved or Vanguard Storm. We know nothing concrete about the game other than the info on that teaser site, but those two theories seem to be solid guesses.

Also, tomorrow at 2 PM ol' lasz will have taken his last exam as a college undergraduate. History of Rock and Roll. Woo.

Source:
Kotaku
The site

Starting next Tuesday, gamers worldwide who participate in Final Fantasy XI will have the option to purchase a physical key token that is purported to enhance account security for all aspects of the PlayOnline network (I know, that still exists. Crazy, right?)

This token appears to be similar to other security tokens that you may have seen in workplaces or other environments where active security is required for information techology; about the size of many USB flash drives, the key generates a "random" number every thirty seconds that is used as part of the server login process, thereby requiring a thief to have your username, password, and token in hand to access your account details.

It appears that this token will be optional for the near future, but as Squenix purports the token to be compatible with future online initiatives, it may someday be a requirement for S-E gaming online. Orders are being taken for the tokens now at a cost of $9.99 for American gamers; anyone who orders the token will be delivered a special FFXI item to increase their item capacity, the "Mog Satchel."

Hit the source link below to learn more and see an image of the token. I, for one, didn't realize that account security was such a problem for FFXI; however, given that Blizzard has had a similar option since last year seems to indicate that yet again Square is trailing behind in online gaming innovation (and actually charging a bit more for it, in this case!).

Source: PlayOnline - Final Fantasy XI