Square-Enix scores big with their latest installment in the Final Fantasy series, selling a million copies in the first day. The news was disclosed in statement released by Square-Enix yesterday, however, the sale figures did not include the game bundle with the PS3, the extremely attracted Lighting Edition. So one can only assume taking the Lighting Edition into account that the game probably sold a little bit more than a million.

Square-Enix announce a couple of days ago that company shipped  two million copies to retailers, which is probably going to be gone by next Monday. Hopefully our Japanese friends will leave us some Lighting Edition bundles for us to pick up in March.

Earlier today a Final Fantasy XIII webpage went up on the Japanese Microsoft website. It isn’t up anymore, and Microsoft is saying that the Western page got accidentally loaded up to the Japanense site. Seems like bulls**t to me because you don’t just accidentally load up a page with perfect Japanese translations. I mean would it really suprise anyone if Final Fantasy XIII eventually got a release on the Xbox 360 in Japan? Not really.

Xbox Japan PR told Kotaku, “The FFXIII page you pointed out was actually accidentally uploaded onto the Japanese website during web management operations and has now been taken down. There is no change to what has already been announced that this title will be released in North America and Europe.”

Like the above quote says the game has only been announced in the US and Europe on the 360. Though with recent history and now this I bet we see a 360 version on Japanese store shelves eventually.

E3 is all about the footage. This E3 was filled with some great trailers that were released either at the press conference or the showfloor. Here’s my personal opinion on the top trailers shown. No on-stage demos (Sorry God of War & Uncharted 2).

Gran Turismo 5
Forza 3 the day before looked great, but Gran Turismo came back at the Sony Press conference and blew a lot of people away. While Forza 3 looks great, I think most will agree that graphic-wise Gran Turismo is still superior. The thing that really made this trailer great was showing off features that everyone caught onto without saying a single word. This includes the addition of damage to the cars and ability to have a complete NASCAR and WRC expiernce.

Star Wars: The Old Republic
I liked this trailer so much I made a article on it. It’s just straight up bad ass. I mean I could go into details on why it rocks but it just does.

Final Fantasy XIII
Maybe I’m biased on this because Final Fantasy is my favorite gaming franchise, but this trailer rocked my socks. Of course, it would have been better if the game was coming out in 2009. I think Square has finally figured out how to get good voice acting which is a damn miracle after Tidus in Final Fantasy X and Vaan in Final Fantasy XII. The CGI looks great as always from Square, the music is still top notch, hints of gameplay, and a 2010 release date. It’s got everything you need.

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows
Patrick ‘motherf**king’ Stewart. Man this guy has to have the coolest voice ever. This trailer and the Star Wars ones are my favorites of E3. I think the voice acting and music in this trailer are some of the best I’ve seen in a video game trailer. The mood it sets really makes me to go watch a old vampire movie. Honestly the gameplay looks like a God of War ripoff, but a God of War ripoff with Kojima at the helm and this setting and this voice acting is a winning combo. The trailer though is great. I actually feel something when I watch this.

Assassin’s Creed 2
The gameplay they showed at the Sony conference was amazing, but if were only going by trailers this is crazy as well. The first Assassin’s Creed had some great trailers and this one is following the trend. Killer CGI, good story telling, and of course the shooting assassination blade.

Ok, well maybe not the coolest ever, but it’s kinda nice to see Square marketing the game in America now. The ads which went up in LA near the Staples Center, are plastered in a very big marketing spot. The same spot has had GTA: Chinatown Wars, GTA IV, and Tropic Thunder ads up there before.

The middle one with Snow says a 2010 release which could mean December 31st, 2010 for all we know. Hopefully we will get a more exact date at E3. Well hopefully the beginning of a marketing campaign shows that we are closer than expected to getting FFXIII.

Gamers need to realize that when Final Fantasy XIII was announced, last year, as a multiplatform title, the subliminal message that was sent by Microsoft due to that announcement was quite clear. Regardless of whether or not gamers would actually admit it, the undeniable fact remains that such an announcement is destined to create a paradigm shift in the way people view Microsoft forever.

If you pay close attention to the Square-Microsoft relationship and its progression, you would begin to notice a pattern materializing before your very eyes. The pattern is more like water testing. Let me explain, if you are at a lake, and you suddenly feel the need to swim, your first thought would not be to jump in; the first thing you would normally do is test the water temperature; if it’s too cold and you are still feeling the urge to jump in, then you would need to slowly and gradually immerse yourself, in order to avoid jolting your system with a sudden temperature shift, until you are completely immersed in water; only at that point will you be able to swim freely and enjoy the experience. That is exactly what Square Enix has done.

If you notice the gradual story progression of  the Square-developed titles for the Xbox 360, you would easily be able to predict where things are going. In April of 2006, they released Final Fantasy XI Online, a title that was released, over two years ago, on both the PS2 and PC, and was therefore, nothing more than a port of a title that Square has already profited from. In July of 2007, they released Project Sylpheed, a third-person space shooter from a genre that is not one of Square’s strong points.

In September of 2008, they released Infinite Undiscovery, a JRPG title developed by tri-Ace, one of Square’s most important second-party developers. In November of 2008, they released The Last Remnant, a JRPG title, developed by Square’s internal studio, that was initially announced as a multiplatform title, but was suddenly released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Finally, after being fully immersed in the Xbox 360 waters, in February of 2009, they released Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope, a JRPG title, developed by tri-Ace, that was a sequel to one of Square’s biggest first-party franchises, exclusively on Microsoft’s console!

If we also add the fact that, at E3 08, Square-Enix announced Final Fantasy XIII as a multiplatform title, and the fact that Front Mission Evolved has been recently announced for the Xbox 360, it would be quite clear to us where things are going. Therefore, it is my belief that in 2009, one or more of the following predictions will surely be realized:

1. Final Fantasy XIII will finally be announced for the Xbox 360 in Japan.

2. Final Fantasy Versus XIII will finally be announced as a multiplatform title.

3. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive!

To any gamer that developed an embolism from my last prediction, may you rest in peace.

God Bless You All

Master Samo

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It’s 2009, and Square Enix is still one of the few major developers that take anywhere from 3-6 months to localize some of their games. While companies like Konami and Capcom have games released within a week of each other worldwide, many expect Final Fantasy XIII to hit Western shelves either 6-12 months after the Japanese release.

With Square Enix already revealing that Final Fantasy XIII will be released in Japan this Holiday Season, will they now announce the Western release date at the biggest American video game conference, e3? It seems highly possible since head honchos at Square Enix have already revealed that they have started the voice work and subtitles for the english version. Square Enix also wants to appeal more to Western audiences so instead of making a small announcement blurb, it seems likely that they would like to make some type of bang at e3 and this could do it.

The real question is how long will it be before they release the Western version? With subtitles and voicework already in the works it should cut down time by a lot, but have they started development on the Xbox 360 version yet? They say they want to cut down the loaclization time to less than what they have done in the past, so that must mean the 360 version is in the works, right? Hopefully, but here is to another big reveal at e3, an actual release date….

Since the release of Gears of War 2 last fall many people have been wondering how much power or juice is left in Microsoft’s system. They were curious as to whether developers could pull much more graphically out of the hardware. With the PS3 producing games like Killzone 2, Uncharted, and more it seemed the PS3 was blowing by the 360 graphically. Then the new Final Fantasy XIII demo came out, and changed all preconceived notions of the potential on the 360.

Now the 360 may need a lot of discs to pull off the magnitude of the game, but power wise the 360 version of the game should look very similar to the demo gamers have been amazed by the past couple of days. The reason for this logic is simple: nowadays ports do not look nearly as bad as they once have. Game companies have worked to make ports look near equal on both consoles. This generation it has also been obvious to all gamers that the 360 version of multi-plat games have either looked equal on both consoles or better on the 360. This happens because of the easy to use hardware on the 360. Porting games to the 360 is much easier than the other way around.

Also as many PS3 owners know, Square Enix has been very friendly this generation to the 360. It’s not known why Square Enix has been shady to their Playstation fan base, but one thing is obvious they have a strong relationship with Microsoft. With this type of relationship, do not expect Square Enix to release a shoddy port of the game . If anything, their history with Microsoft will make it easier for a high quality 360 version. Their programmers should now know the 360 hardware very well and with the games engine, Crystal Tools, being built on a PC then a smooth transition should be able to occur to the 360’s PC-like hardware.

What is amazing about the possibilities of this is that it shows gamers that the 360 power was far from tapped in games like Gears of War 2 or Resident Evil 5. Besides the lack of a large memory disc, like Blu-Ray, the game should basically be the same expierence for both consoles.

The game looks great with some amazing cut scenes and painting-like gameplay.  This will hopefully show gamers around the world just how powerful the 360 is. To be able to pull off a work of art like this takes a lot of power, and Square Enix will prove with Final Fantasy XIII that it is possible. The game looks like it will be the benchmark of graphics when it is released, and the great thing about this is that it will not only be enjoyed by PS3 fans, but 360 fans as well.

Written By MattG

The upcoming Final Fantasy XIII demo, which comes with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, apparently announces a Winter 2009 release in Japan after beating it (Screen Above). The movie which drops in Japan this Thursday has excited many Final Fantasy fans because of the demo. If this is true expect either a Spring or Summer ‘10 release in the West for both the PS3 and Xbox 360.

If we have to wait much longer I’ll probably cry, and no one wants to see me cry. Also if this is from a Japaense demo then why is the announcement in English? Anyone?

Written by MattG

SOURCE: EDGE MAGAZINE MAY ‘09