PS3 Fanboy

Square Enix is fast to slam the book down on the recent reports about Final Fantasy Versus XIII being put on the back burner. The company has gone out with a statement on the hot topic: "Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false. The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for both titles is continuing as originally scheduled."

As Eurogamer points out, that statement wholly contradicts what Mr. Nomura had said in the latest issue of Famitsu when he told the publication that Versus XIII was "on hold" and that the "entire Versus team is helping to finish Final Fantasy XIII." Either way, whether Tetsuya Nomura was misinterpreted or perhaps revealed too much and had his words retracted, we're even more intrigued with the behind-the-scenes goings-on over at Square Enix HQ.

It seems there is more here than meets the eye. We'll be keeping a close watch on both titles, especially come August and October when the Square Enix party and Tokyo Game Show pop up respectively.

In the latest issue of Famitsu, an interview with Tetsuya Nomura revealed that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is currently being put on hold. Nomura, the game's director, said that the majority of the team working on Versus XIII is now helping out on Final Fantasy XIII. The main title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation is top priority at the moment.

While both games will appear at the upcoming August Square Enix party (in non-playable form), Nomura hints at a bigger reveal and more info to come at Tokyo Game Show in October. Knowing Square Enix, this means a minute of ambiguous footage in a closed theater. Let's hope we're wrong about that last speculative statement and see if a playable demo comes in October.

What would you do to get into the upcoming Square Enix party? Well, don't get your bloodthirst too ready, as the hotly anticipated games, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII (pictured), won't be making a playable appearance at the invite-only event. Once again, only video trailers will be shown. And, in typical Square Enix fashion, we're assuming no recording devices of any sort will be allowed near these screens. Bah!

Ever since its debut, people have been clamoring for a playable test drive of the upcoming RPG. 2008 is the promised time for playable demos. Perhaps E3 or TGS?

[Via Kotaku]

It appears that the Japanese side of Square Enix is going to hold an event promoting some of the company's upcoming software. The event, dubbed DKΣ3713, will take place on August 2 and 3 in Harajuku in Tokyo. It's invite-only which means there's a huge chance you won't be able to go (read: absolutely no chance if you don't live in Japan); however, SE is giving people the chance to sign up and be selected to receive an invite.

Square Enix is giving away 2,400 invites to eager gamers waiting to see the latest on PS3 games: Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII, and PSP games: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dissidia. The application period starts this June 23 and will end July 13. Invites will be selected after those dates. Check out the full list of games here.

We won't be in Japan for this, but we hope our (few) Japanese readers will be able to enjoy the festivities. As for the rest of you, we're sure you're too excited for Metal Gear Solid 4 today that you won't be too bummed out on missing something like this.

We're counting this as a rumor simply because new Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII footage is a pretty big leap of faith for us to take. Insert your "only the penitent man shall pass" Indy quotes here. Anyway, the new footage is going to be unveiled at the PS Premiere event ... that's all we know. That's not entirely true -- we have the rumored contents of the footage. Bulleted list, here we go:

• There will be a 3-4 minute video showing a three person party fighting on some plains.
• The battle camera will give you motion sickness, according to the original poster.
• The final design of Final Fantasy Versus XIII's antagonist will be revealed. Apparently he has long gold or white hair -- not stereotypical at all.

While it may not sound like much, enthusiasts will drool if the video is released to the public. It's unknown whether or not the video will be behind closed doors or not. If it is, then the video might as well not exist since nobody will see it.

[Via PS3Forums]

Here's a slice of news pie that we wouldn't mind gulping down with a tall glass of awesome. Everyone in the RPG business knows the rule: Japan gets the game about six months before any other area. Right? Maybe that won't be the case anymore. Square Enix's Yoichi Wada went on record recently, stating that they plan to start "making simultaneous releases the norm."

Does this include PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy XIII, or the multi-plat Last Remnant? It might. Due to the overwhelming strength of the gaming market outside of Japan, we're seeing a shift in game release ideology. Either this means the US and Europe will get the aforementioned games earlier than expected, or Japan will get them later than anticipated. Who knows -- maybe Square Enix really will start opening up development offices outside of Japan.

It's been a long time since we've heard anything about this seemingly secretive new MMO from Square Enix; however, some promising info on this illusive title has recently popped up. It's been revealed on the Game Developers Conference website that Square Enix has four representatives speaking at the event -- one of which is Taku Murata, general manager of R&D, who will be discussing the technology that goes behind making Square Enix's current-gen games (specifically the White Engine).

The news nugget about the MMO can be found rather subtly on Murata's personal page where it states he'll be talking about the White Engine used in Final Fantasy XIII, the new MMO in development, and other future titles. Of course, this only confirms that the MMO has not disappeared into vaporware, and still leaves a lot of room for speculation. Will we be seeing some new game footage or will new info on the game itself be divulged? We guess we'll just have to wait until GDC rolls in to find out.

[Via Forever Fantasy]

From the pages of Famitsu, translated kindly by the folk over at the PS3 Forums, we've gained a little bit of insight regarding the character design process for the female lead of XIII, Lightning, and some information regarding the mysterious prince of Versus XIII courtesy of Tetsuya Nomura.

As far as Lightning goes, Nomura describes her as having muscular (read: sexy) legs, "isn't sweet", very strict to herself and others, and despises those who whine. She's a lot like a military soldier. He says the scenario writer for FFXIII, Motomu Toriyama, wanted Lightning to be even more muscular and macho, but Nomura thought people wouldn't be fond of her as a main character if she was built that way. She's a little less feminine than Aya Brea from Parasite Eve, apparently.

The hero's clothes from Versus XIII will probably be revised from what we've seen so far. He's not like Cloud or Squall -- Nomura admits that when people hear him speak, a lot of people may not like him. Who knows, maybe he's really whiny. Like Tidus on whiny-steroids. His name will be related to weather as well, but Nomura is bored of this tradition so perhaps it will change, or be a surname of some kind. The next time he talks about Versus XIII information, Nomura says, he will reveal the character's name. It's probably something lame like Snow. What do you guys think?

The theme for Final Fantasy XIII is determination, says a new interview in a recent Famitsu. Looking at the long, painful wait that Square Enix fans are enduring for the release of this hotly anticipated title, we can agree.

Nomura has been releasing a few cryptic keys on the upcoming PS3 games, many of which are sure to keep the Square Enix faithful guessing for days. According to FF-XIII.net, "2008 will be the year. There will be tons of news bits, info on characters and summons, and an unexpected connection between the keywords Cocoon and Farushi."

Thankfully, a playable demo continues to be teased by the development staff, eager to show how the new battle system plays. When asked about the release date, Nomura can only offer the vague: "I wonder when we'll be able to sleep..." If that is a clue, we're guessing it has something to do with Birth by Sleep. Of course, we could be totally off-base with that one. Check FF-XIII.net for more new scans. [Update: Better scans here.]

[Thanks, Rob!]

Square Enix knows how to tease. Finally, a new magazine scan features some brand new images of the upcoming PS3 exclusives, Final Fantasy XIII and Versus. Not much can be gathered from the image other than the obvious: it's pretty. We can see some of the summons, but we want Square Enix to give us some delicious video. Soon, please?

[Update: More scans, courtesy of FF-XIII.net.]

[Via NeoGAF]

A recent report from the British magazine, PlayStation World, dropped a few interesting hints for us to mess around with and speculate and make a sandwich. Sorry in advance -- no new images. We usually try to stay away from spoiling story elements, but in the world of FFXIII we've come to understand that the rebellion against the Cocoon is led by Lightning, the only character we've heard of so far.

The other person we've seen, but haven't been introduced to, is the guy with the blond hair who looks like a mix between Seifer and Cloud (seen in the last new trailer). He has unclear motives for us, the player. We're not told if he's on Lightning's side or not for a long time -- so perhaps he's a villain instead of an ally. Who knows?

An aspect of the game we haven't heard about previously is a type of "split-screen" that shows different characters in different places at the same time. Speculation is that the split-screen function is for cut-scenes, but we think it'll play a slightly more prevalent role. We have no idea what -- it's just our speculation. What think you, masses?

First revealed a while back, Sony's The Agency is touted to be the first major MMO title to get released exclusively on a console. It takes some stealth, some action, some FPS, and some RPG elements to make a pretty decent looking title that could swerve either into the "overhyped junk" pile or the "hidden gem of the PS3 universe" pile. We won't know until it gets a release date.
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Saying that Final Fantasy XIII is a major PS3 exclusive is an understatement. Even if you don't like RPGs, it's ignorant to believe these games haven't shaped the console world as we know it -- the titles on the SNES rocketed the success of that console, the release of FFVII cemented the original PlayStation as the best console released and FFX greatly assisted in the adoption of the PS2. This latest installment looks drastically different from the others, but we're hoping it turns out as stellar as the other titles have been.
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That Game Company made a weird title with flOw. They weren't scared to try new things and they're not scared to do it again with the spiritual successor, flOwer. We still don't know what you're supposed to be doing -- guiding a flower in a field? Guiding pollen from a flower in a field? Guiding the sunlight to vitalize flowers spouting pollen in a field? Who knows. Until it gets a release date, the mystery continues.
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It's been a while since we've seen anything on The Getaway -- one of those PS3 titles announced long ago and subsequently swallowed up in the black hole of vaporware. We aren't giving up, though -- little drips of information appear every now and then and until we know when the game's coming out, we can only imagine what's in store.
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Shown off at E3 as a secret surprise title, we don't know what to make of Infamous other than a sandbox hero/villain creation story where you can protect or destroy a city. We're making assumptions, but it's probably not too far off the mark. We've seen and heard nothing since the original trailer, so a release date is anyone's guess. Fall would be our assumption. Since we've made enough of those so far.
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Square Enix has unveiled its lineup for their annual Jump Festa event and among the sea of trailers and playable games is yet another lovely video of Final Fantasy XIII -- not just the game, but advertised is the entire Fabula Nova Crystallis series. We don't know if this "new" trailer is going to be a remixed version of what was shown behind closed doors at the Tokyo Game Show or not, because this one is also going to be shown behind closed doors. If it's all new footage, that'd be grand, but we just won't know. Hopefully someday Square Enix will allow the general public to see how their titles are progressing, but until then, we'll just keep you up to date on potential videos that may or may not get leaked.

If you're really starved for anything related to Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII, then we might have an appetizer for you today. It's not much at all, but GameInformer has gotten a hold of five screenshots that, for the most part, haven't been seen. Whether or not these are hi-res screencaps of the closed-door videos shown at TGS are anyone's guess, but they seem to detail predominantly summoned creatures, a big ol' airship of ultimate destruction, and that funky Seifer-meets-beanie guy. Whether or not five screenshots tickle your fancy is up to you, but it's good to see a trickle of info about this game every now and then.

It was bound to happen eventually. Final Fantasy XIII has been confirmed to have entered the land of PS3 hardware. Yep, the White Engine is up and running on the PS3, so those graphics we've drooled over are apparently going to be exactly what we see in the final build. No surprises -- this is Square Enix, after all. What isn't clear is how recently this change took place. Was it on PS3 hardware at TGS? Was it on PS3 hardware at E3?

Either way you paint it, the canvas is still mostly empty; if FFXIII is just not getting onto the PS3 hardware, we'll probably not see it in 2008. Not very surprising, since FFXII took nearly five years to develop, granted there were a lot of hardships felt by many of the people involved in the game during development. Also revealed is that the December issue of EGM is going to feature FFXIII as one of its headlining previews, so if you're itching for info on the game, run out and snag that issue when it comes out. We'll be on top of it as well!