“The Xbox 360 version is definitely following after the PS3 version, but [we] were finally able to come to a point in the PS3 development where some of the staff could take their hands off and start programming the 360 version.”

Kitase also added that up until right before E3, the only version in development was the PS3 version. FF XIII will ship this Fall in Japan on the PS3, while the game will ship in the US in Spring 2010 on PS3 and Xbox 360.

It seems that a YouTube user with the rather original name allthenamesaretooken has went ahead and captured the entire Final Fantasy 13 demo on film, from start to finish. Great news for FF-heads, bad news for those who don’t like spoilers.

These videos do a great job showcasing the rather amazing cinematics Square Enix has put together for the game. Oh, there’s some gameplay too.

Parts 2 and 3 are included after the break.
Read (Joystiq)

Square Enix was in the news earlier this week, with word that the Japanese publisher was looking to stage a buyout of D3 Publisher. The company also lowered its profit forecast for the fiscal year by nearly 63%, and now we know the reason why: the delay of Dragon Quest IX for the DS.

However, there’s even worse news for the company and us gamers: the delay might impact the release of the long-awaited Final Fantasy XIII.

“There is a possibility that [the] Dragon Quest IX delay could effect Final Fantasy XIII,” said Square head Yoichi Wada.

The company, having shifted DQIX to July, now has no major release for the rest of its fiscal year, which ends March 31. This delay was the reason why the company lowered profit forecasts in the first place.

Final Fantasy XIII was set to hit Japan this year on the PS3; North America and Europe will get the action-RPG sometime next year on Xbox 360 as well.

You can see some of those screenshots you’re craving for. Characters are also to be found there and there’s a Trailers link that won’t work for now. Besides turning off the music I’d love to change the language too. Maybe Square Enix is going to improve the site in the near future. At least we get to see some of those real screenshots.

“We’re making the PS3 version first, and then porting to the 360 later,” said director Motomu Toriyama. “I’m telling them to not think about the Xbox 360 right now…We can think about it after the development kits arrive.”

At this year’s Microsoft E3 conference Square promised that the Xbox 360 version of the game would hit alongside the PS3 version in Europe and North America, though Japan was left out of the fray.

A North American release is yet to be confirmed. However, the same region coding may mean the demo might run on consoles in other territories as well since developers haven’t exercised the region lockout program in the PS3 much since the console’s inception.

In addition to the playable demo, the disc will include new trailers for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which has been confirmed to be a PS3 exclusive, as well as the PSP bound FF13 game Agito.