Posts Tagged ‘square enix’
Square Enix releases official Final Fantasy XIII box art
Square Enix has today uploaded the official box art for Final Fantasy XIII to their e-store which we have pictured for you above. Of course, it’s pretty small and ridiculously un entertaining but it is the official box art and that means something, right?
It’s expected that the North American box art will look the same as the above one is for the Japanese market but we won’t know until FFXIII actually makes its way onto store shelves for the Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime in 2010.
Square Enix laying off 200-300 positions in Japan
Some bad news are rumoring around Japanese mega-publisher Square Enix. According to Kotaku, the company might be laying off up to 300 people soon, as it has been continuously restructuring since acquiring Eidos last year. Given that two publishers merge, it’s inevitable that some positions will be made redundant, and Eidos, which will be renamed Square Enix Europe, has already cut some positions. However, the Japanese cuts are still unofficial, as Square Enix hasn’t announced anything yet.
Tags: square enix
Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada: New Wii in 2011, motion controllers for Xbox/PS3 not a big deal
Square Enix’s President and CEO Yoichi Wada has recently went on record to say that he strongly believes Nintendo is gearing up to launch their next generation Wii sometime next year. He doesn’t go into much detain but does suggest that the console could possibly feature a completely redone controller in addition to high definition graphics, which would make sense.
Furthermore, Mr. Wada has also said that while the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 motion controllers are cool, they probably won’t make much of an impact. He elaborates by pointing to the fact that game consoles now have a wide array of uses from a network terminal to a Blu-ray player and that the list of things you can do with these new motion controllers is quite small.
Read (Financial Times)
Japanese YouTube ad reveals FFXIII release date?
What you see above is reportedly a Japanese YouTube advertisement for Square Enix’s highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII. As you can see, it clearly displays that the game will hit Japanese store shelves on December 17th, 2009, but is that to be believed? We’ll have to wait until Square Enix makes an official announcement regarding the game which is expected sometime in the near future.
As for a North American release date? No word.
via joystiq
Order of War dated
Square Enix has set a North American release date for their first World War II game Order of War, which will be September 22nd. The game is being developed exclusively for the PC. Two campaign modes, multiplayer, Deathmatch and Skirmish are included in Wargaming.net’s upcoming RTS.
A single-player demo for the game has been released recently, titled “Road to Paris”. It’s available on the official website.
I’m looking forward to Order of War; it will be interesting to see how the Japanese RPG giant will handle a World War II game.
Square Enix publishing Modern Warfare 2 in Japan?
In the United States (and most everywhere else), Activision currently has the publishing rights for the highly anticipated Modern Warfare 2. In Japan, however, that may not be the case.
What you see above is a screenshot taken of a teaser site Square Enix has recently put up. As you can see, there is Japanese letting that spells out quotes from Napolean, Patton and more in front of a huge 2 that bares an uncanny resemblance to the one found in all of the Modern Warfare 2 promotional material.
Coincidence? I think not.
Crystal Bearers to take the Wii to its “fullest potential”
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: the Crystal Bearers character designer Toshiyuki Itahana speaks about how Square-Enix is working hard to push the Wii’s capabilities to its fullest. Nintendo’s home console, of course, is not as powerful as its competitors, so it’s really up to the developers to make use of every possible tool available to them.
“We were extra careful about things like making sure to including exciting and heroic highlight scenes at regular intervals in the scenario, and using the visual capabilities of the Wii to its fullest potential,” Itahana said. “Even right now, and for as long as time permits, the development team will continue to pour their efforts into the presentation and sound for a final product that looks and feels great.”
Graphics aren’t always everything, but when it’s a Final Fantasy title, there are certain expectations on the line. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: the Crystal Bearers will be out December 31st.
Kaz Hirai to deliver keynote at TGS
The Tokyo Game Show this year is right around the corner, and today we learn that Kaz Hirai, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, will be delivering the keynote at the event.
The keynote’s title will be “New Tactics For 2009″, and will also feature an all-Japanese panel discussion of executives from Capcom, Bandai Namco and Square Enix about global strategy.
This year’s Tokyo Game Show will be held from September 24 to September 27. The last two days will be open to the public, while the rest of the show is industry-only.
Read (Gamasutra)
Dragon Quest IX sells 2.3 million copies
Considering the hype surrounding the game, this should come as a surprise to no one — Dragon Quest IX has sold 2.3 million copies in its first 2 days on the Japanese market.
That means that in addition to its 2 million pre-orders, Dragon Quest IX was purchased an additional 300,000, for those of you not good with a calculator. Additionally, it was reported that 81.56% of the game’s inventory was sold out nation wide which means it was sure to have sold out at some retailers.
Now all we have to do is play the waiting game until Dragon Quest IX drops in the US. Only then will we know if American gamers have the same interest for the Dragon Quest franchise as the Japanese.
via Joystiq
Concept art of new Tomb Raider game leaks out
What you see above is a supposedly leaked concept art image of a new Tomb Raider game that is in the works. Furthermore, the image was accompained by a few details of the game.
Reportedly, the next Tomb Raider game will feature open-world gameplay with a reworked combat system. And, a hint at the game’s plot lets us know that it will be an origin story of Lara Croft showcasing how she came to be.
I don’t know about you guys, but the image art shows a close resemblance to that of what would be featured in a Final Fantasy game. It would make sense considering Tomb Raider’s developer, Eidos, was bought out by Final Fantasy’s Square Enix.
Read (Joystiq)
Japan pre-orders Dragon Quest IX 2 million times
Japanese gamers really are all about their RPGS — Square Enix has recently announced that Dragon Quest IX, follow up to the popular Playstation 2 title, has been pre-ordered in Japan over 2 million times.
Kotaku reports that the game is sure to be a hit considering the 26 million+ Nintendo DS consoles sold in Japan thus far and the generally well reception of Dragon Quest VIII.
Eidos to be renamed to “Square Enix Europe”
When Square Enix took over Eidos, it promised that Eidos would still be “independent”, however, it looks like it will be a little less independent now, since Square Enix is merging several European studios, including Eidos, into one outfit, to be named Square Enix Europe. In addition, layoffs are likely to hit some of the studios to be merged. As for North America, Eidos will simply be renamed into Square Enix.
R.I.P. Eidos brand.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time Game Review–Better Than You’d Expect
‘ll be honest with you, folks–you know I always am, but this time I have to be particularly blunt about what I’m saying. I always get a little freaked out whenever I hear about an RPG for Nintendo’s Wii. There’s just something so very…not right…about the idea. See, an RPG, in the commonly meant sense of the term, involves a huge production and graphical overload and a story that goes on and on for days or even weeks. And when you think of the kind of systems that can handle such a venture, “the Wii” is generally about as far down the list as, say, “Colecovision”.
But even I can be wrong–savor the flavor, kids, because this doesn’t happen very often. I tried Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time and got a pretty good surprise out of it.
As for the plot…wow. On RPG Cliche Day–okay, on a young man’s sixteenth birthday, he oversleeps, gets up late and dashes off to his Coming Of Age Ceremony. Yes, they even CALL it the Coming Of Age Ceremony. I’m both amazed and horrified. Anyway, after completing said ceremony, he returns to the village to discover that his best friend’s little sister has contracted some kind of mysterious illness that resembles nothing so much as radiation sickness. No, really. And it gets better. So now, on his sixteenth birthday, the boy has to violate the laws of his village and actually LEAVE to go find medicine to heal the “crystal sickness”.
Yeah, you heard all of that right. An opening jam packed with cliches leads to a little girl getting radiation sickness that, if she survives it, will actually mutate her into being a super-strong entity with rapid healing powers, which turns out to be the exact same disease the hero had, and then the hero will actually break the law to go fetch medicine but no one seems to care about the legal issues here at ALL.
This may well be the most predictable and yet the most ridiculous game plotline I’ve ever heard. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many tropes in one place, only to be followed up by a ridiculous series of plot holes sufficiently large to drive a herd of chocobo through.
And yet, the game play isn’t half bad. You’ll get some mini-games in the middle of this full-blown series of adventures, and there’s plenty of variety to be had here. Sure, it’s all a bit cookie-cutter and plain vanilla, but there’s nothing necessarily wrong with it. It’s a fairly fun game, and with a little bit of excitement.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time isn’t exactly the greatest game ever, but it’s a far cry from the worst, too. There’s reason enough to give it a try that it’ll make at least a decent rental, even if it won’t wind up taking over your life. If you’ve got a yen for RPGs and a decent tolerance for half-baked plotlines, you’ll probably have a good time with this one.
Tags: Action, action game, Adventure, adventure game, minigame, Nintendo, RPG, square enix, Wii, Wii game
New FFXI DLC gets dated for presale
Square Enix has taken time away from sueing French retailers to announce that an upcoming mini-expansion for their MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, will be made available for pre-purchase on July 5th.
The upcoming expansion is entitled A Moogle Kupo d’Etat – Evil in Small Doses, and reportedly focuses on the Moogles in the game and problems that encompass them. RandomNPC reports that a job level of at least 10 is required to start this new story line.
Final Fantasy XI’s upcoming expansion, A Moogle d’Etat will be available for $9.99 when it drops.
Square Enix sues French retailer for piracy
Square Enix has always been known to holds its own in court, especially on the grounds of software piracy. Unfortunately for a french retailer by the name of la société SAKURA, has come into their targets.
According to Kotaku, the French retailer has a retail store in Paris along with an online presence that sells all sorts of Japanese gaming material. Well, something fishy must have been going on as Square Enix says they “denounces SAKURA for the commercialization of products counterfeiting Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST trademarks and copyrights to the FINAL FANTASY series”.
Common la société SAKURA, how long did you think it would take Square Enix to catch you?