News / 2006 / April / day01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

9 articles

• Final Fantasy XII goes double-platinum
  Now two weeks into its Japanese release, Final Fantasy XII has sold an estimated 2.08 million copies, making it more popular in these, its early days, than either Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy X-2. Could this be a positive sign or just another instance of mass fanboyism? Game Science
  01 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ -17 ↓ discusss permalink
• Sakuraba to stage Valkyrie concert
  You won't be hearing any Wagner at Roppongi's Laforet Museum this June 4th, but fans of Tri-Ace are in for a treat. Famed composer Motoi Sakuraba will be holding a concert to celebrate the impending release of Valkyrie Profile Silmeria. The concert's instrumentation will consist of only a bass, drums, and piano (the latter performed by Sakuraba himself) and will feature music not only from Valkyrie Profile and Silmeria, but also the Star Ocean series as well. Tickets will be available tomorrow at Square Enix's official site; Valkyrie Profile Silmeria releases June 22nd in Japan. Famitsu
  01 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ -12 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix drops Everquest II like bad habit
  After one year of vaguely successful support, Square Enix will end its Japanese administration of Everquest II and pass the title's reins to Sony Online Entertainment beginning in July. This may be an effort to clear up room for Square Enix's new rumored MMO, but could your favorite MMORPG be next? GameWatch
  01 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ 12 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix and friends lay sights on 360
  Own an X-Box 360? Ready for some real Square Enix RPG goodness? Keep waiting. In a recent Microsoft press conference, Square Enix unveiled Project Sylph, their newest foray into next-gen first person shooters. Thankfully, Star Ocean creators Tri-Ace also announced an RPG being developed for Microsoft Game Studios while Squeenix expatriate Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker provided trailers for Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. Given some time, your 360 purchase may have actually been worthwhile. Maybe. Joystiq
  16 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ 29 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix profits fall and tumble
  Despite more optimistic initial numbers, Square Enix has since lowered its projections for the 2005/2006 fiscal year, with net sales at 125 billion yen ($1.06 billion USD) and net profit at 10 billion yen ($84.67 million USD), the latter figure a whopping 42.9% lower than previous estimations. Although high-profile titles such as Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy XII helped to bolster sales, profits were damaged by the lack of top-sellers during the period from April through September. And despite the relative success of Final Fantasy XI, Squeenix's other MMO ventures have not gone successfully; likely the cause of their discontinued Everquest II support. What course will the company take in light of these events? That is difficult to say, but with the inability to point a finger squarely at Hironobu Sakaguchi, a renewed business strategy may be necessary. Game Daily
  20 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ -17 ↓ discusss permalink
• Final Fantasy XI producer to create new PS3 MMO
  In a recent interview, Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka let slip his possibility of his working on a new MMORPG for the approaching Playstation 3 and Windows Vista. Though he offered no more pieces of information, Tanaka did mention that a PS3 version of Final Fantasy XI would take two or three years to construct, thereby making any such endeavor an inefficient use of resources and his team's time better spent developing a new title. gamesindustry.biz
  20 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ -19 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix forces pirate to walk plank
  In a recent press release, Square Enix announced their settlement in a piracy case involving Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children and declared their intentions toward increased anti-piracy efforts. On April 17, the company reached a "confidential settlement" with a copyright infringer who uploaded Advent Children in its entirety to Google Video, only to be swiftly discovered and forced into an admission of guilt by Square Enix's persistent legal department. Though it is arguable this poor soul was only attempting to provide a service to parts of the world plagued by the company's long localization times, Square Enix sees things differently. "In connection with [...] Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children," said Yasuhiko Hasegawa, Square Enix's General Manager of Legal Affairs, "we are actively pursuing those who commit intellectual property infringement against our company." Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children releases legally in Europe and North America on April 24 and 25, respectively. Square Enix
  22 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ -14 ↓ discusss permalink
• An E3 2006 approaches. Command?
  Square Enix's lineup for this year has 14 HP and a lot of mana to spare. Oh, and there's a new title for Seiken Densetsu IV... Link
  24 Apr 2006 by Rahul ↑ -49 ↓ discusss permalink
• Nintendo whoring out Pokémon for profits
  Suffice to say that these Pokémon have been around anyway, but now Nintendo's Pokémon Company has struck an agreement with Square Enix to develop Pokémate, a chat and mail application doused with Pokémon media and soon to be made available on Foma 900i series phones in Japan. A wise decision, especially considering Square Enix's success in mobile exploits such as Before Crisis. Though releasing this summer for a paltry 200 yen ($1.74 USD) per month, Pok?mate will likely not see a stateside release, seeing as how the franchise's popularity in the US has taken a swift kick to the groin in recent times. IGN
  25 Apr 2006 by Ziyad ↑ 26 ↓ discusss permalink