Dragon Quest coming to US/Europe? Apparently, Square Enix is considering bringing Enix's huge Dragon Quest (Warrior) franchise over to the west. Previously, only Dragon Warrior 7 was released for the PlayStation, but Shinji Hashimoto (vice president) has apparently now said that they're looking into bringing over future instalments (and possibly previous episodes). The company is currently working on a Dragon Quest V remake, as well as the upcoming Dragon Quest VIII. MCVOnline (German)
"New Grand Theft Auto!" facefaults Rahul "Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing division of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is pleased to announce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the next iteration in the globally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise." GTA San Andreas
Dragon Quest VIII subtitle revealed According to Gamefront, the recent scans of Dragon Quest VIII Jump magazine stuff show it to bear the subtitle "The Sky, the Sea, the Earth and the Cursed Princess" (loose translation). Five characters' names have also been fixed - Hero, Jessica, Torode, Kukule and Yangus. Eh!?
Hideous three-headed mutant frog discovered in UK "The creature - which has six legs - has stunned BBC wildlife experts who warned it could be an early warning of environmental problems. [...] The mystery amphibian is currently the subject of a frog-hunt after it hopped away and disappeared as staff at the nursery showed it to curious parents." BBC News
First Dragon Quest VIII video shown Squenix's Dragon Quest 2004 Spring Meeting gave gamers a chance to take a look at the upcoming Dragon Quest V remake, Dragon Quest VIII, and more enticing Dragon Quest cellphone titles (yay). The company also announced that it is researching a potential online Dragon Quest title. Dragon Quest VIII will be released before March 2006. Gamefront
Take-Two to publish Drakengard in Europe and Australia Take-Two Interactive has announced that it will publish Drakengard in PAL territories on May 21. "We are optimistic about the opportunity to distribute, market, and support Square Enix titles in Europe and Australia." stated Gary Lewis, President, Take-Two Europe. When told that the title will be Drakengard, however, Lewis remarked "Well fuck, my optimism just went down the shitter."
Final Fantasy XII and Dragon Quest VIII switching places? Game Labo's latest issue has an entry in its rumors section that speculates on Final Fantasy XII's delay to the point that Dragon Quest VIII would end up being released earlier (since releasing both at the same time would have them competing with each other). Final Fantasy XII is currently scheduled for release in Japan this Summer, while Dragon Quest VIII's release date is set at a rather vague "before April 2005". Gamefront
More Final Fantasy on Gamecube? CubeEurope's Q&A section has some speculation on a possible new Final Fantasy title for Gamecube, which connects to Nintendo Official Magazine UK's earlier suggestion that a new title would be revealed at E3: "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was the first of Square and Nintendo being back on good terms. Their next game on Cube will remain a mystery until E3 but we've heard a brilliant rumour. Specifically that the new game will bring Nintendo gamers up to speed in the Final Fantasy universe, taking story elements from the seventh, eighth and ninth in the series, previously only seen on Playstation". Cube Europe
Kingdom Hearts breaks 4 million Squenix announced that dodgy Disney/Final Fantasy mix-up Kingdom Hearts has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, 2 million of which in North America, 1.2 in Japan and 800k in Europe. This puts the title among the bestselling games the company has published, not to mention one of the bestselling games on PS2. Kingdom Hearts will be receiving a sequel later this year in the form of Kingdom Hearts 2, as well as a GBA incarnation, Chain of Memories, both of which will be further unveiled at E3 this May.
Very large girl attacking Japan on PS2 this spring "Check out The Daibijin (giant beautiful woman) from D3 publisher. Seems a 17 year old girl named Riho Futaba has grown to a height of 48 meters, and is attacking japan in her bikini. Slow her down with tanks, helicopters, planes, all the while taking pictures in order to analyze how she came upon this condition. Completely ridiculous (but developed by HuneX!). Release is may 20th, for a Simple 2000 yen." D3 Publisher
Final Fantasy XI out on PS2 today Final Fantasy XI was released today in North America for Playstation2 in the form of a bundle containing the 40GB Playstation2 HDD with the game preinstalled on it. The official Sony website is also up, containing the usual propaganda crap and a pretty sweet commercial that, while cheesy, does a pretty good job of explaining the MMORPG concept. Official FFXI PS2 site
More Front Mission 4 demo details According to Square Enix, the recently announced demo for Front Mission 4 will include a gameplay tutorial, four playable stages, multiple unlockable bonus stages, and a save feature to save your progress for the actual release of the game. You can get the demo by being one of the first 100,000 people to register at the official site. Front Mission 4 is scheduled for a June release. Link
Dragon Quest V out in Japan; 1.3 million copies shipped Released in Japan yesterday, the Dragon Quest V remake for PlayStation2 has reportedly sold 700k copies so far from a shipment of 1.3 million units. Maybe this will convince Squenix that a Final Fantasy VII remake is relevant?