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News / 2007 / September /
17 articles
- Near Death Experience: an interview with Yoshitaka Hirota
Yoshitaka Hirota began his career in music as a sound designer for Square. He worked as a synthesizer operater and sound arranger, contributing to such classic titles as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, and Parasite Eve. As a composer, he has undertaken the musical scores for Sacnoth's trilogy of Shadow Hearts games and the arrange album titled "near death experience." His newest album is a collaboration with vocalist Rekka Kitakiri called Kinema in the Hall. Today Square Haven talks with the composer on the subject of his career in game music. Square Haven Interview
- TGS 2007 Lineup - Tobal returns
That majestic time of year is looming, and Square Enix has just announced its lineup for the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, featuring Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in various forms. Click on for more details and tell us which title you're looking forward to seeing most. Full List
- First Star Ocean 4 details, images
A recent issue of Japanese Famitsu finally revealed the first details regarding Tri-Ace's forthcoming Star Ocean 4, its latest venture into the sci-fi action RPG series. Fans of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time might be intrigued to find that the next installment of the series will take place in a slightly different universe, which, spoilers aside, will make for some interesting continuity. Further, Tri-Ace has taken the jabs of its fans and critics to heart, penning a story which places the main character at the helm of an exploration spaceship and allows for more non-linear gameplay. His name? Edge Maverick. Let me say that again. Edge. Maverick. He partners with his childhood friend Reimi to deliver an adventure that promises to be broader in world scope. Unfortunately, assistant producer Hajime Kojima did not reveal the console due to receive this next Star Ocean iteration, citing only that it would be one "that can display beautiful graphics." I suppose that rules out the Wii. Scans
- Wii ostracized by Square Enix MMO team
In an unsurprising turn of events, Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of Final Fantasy XI, stated after his keynote speech at the Austin Game Developers Conference that chances of his newest cross-platform MMO hitting the Wii is slim to none. Citing resolution differences and Nintendo's current aversion to cross-platform titles, Tanaka finished by saying "Currently we're not looking at Nintendo Wii as a platform." Though still technically possible to include the Wii in the fun, chances are slim that it will make the cut.
- Wada tells Sony to get its shit straight
Reuters reports today on the critically bad state of Playstation 3 in Japan, and underlines it with an equally critical comment from Yoichi Wada, who you may recognise as Captain Polymorph. Says the -- otherwise fairly benign -- president, "[...] after some badgering from game companies, [Sony] shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine." Reading between the lines, perhaps we can infer from Wada's comments that he's not enthralled by PS3's dismal sales given that the company has practically banked its next-gen success on the platform with Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII -- and similarly, perhaps this is the reason we're not seeing any new announcements short of sudden commentary that the games' underlying White engine technology is now "cross-platform". Reuters
- A young FFCC clambers to 250k; old man FFXI still pushing 500k
The newest Japanese Software Chart reveals that the late August release of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates has reached 256,000 sales, putting it at number one. Similarly, Final Fantasy XI has finally reached 500,000 players worldwide. Unfortunately for FFXI, the five year crawl to 500,000 has been significantly dwarfed by FFCC's stampede up the charts. Hopefully, the long-term investment in FFXI has warranted enough profits to compete with resource reinvestment in various smaller projects.
- Review: Heroes of Mana
The power of Mana is waning on all fronts. Does this outing for the DS have what it takes to finally take back the series after two failed attempts or will Koichi Ishii find himself scrubbing toilets over at Mistwalker? Click on to find out. Full Review
- FF Tactics A2 is serious business
With a little over a month to go before the release of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire, Square-Enix has released details on two new tribes found in the game. The Seeq, a pig-like race first seen in Final Fantasy XII, and the Gria, a female clan with dragon-esque qualities, will be available to the player, including their Bastard class. Look for FFTA2: The Sealed Grimoire on (Japanese) shelves near the end of October. DS Fanboy
- A non-violent acquisition: Infinite Undiscovery
Well, sort of. A recent Microsoft press conference was host to the announcement that tri-Ace's most recent Action RPG outing, Infinite Undiscovery, which was created with the assistance of Microsoft Game Studios, would not be published directly by Microsoft but rather by Square Enix. Being the good buddies that tri-Ace and Square Enix are, this comes as no incredible surprise. Announced just over a year ago, Infinite Undiscovery is a title slated for the XBox 360 which features incredible amounts of exploration and...erm...discovery? In case you're wondering about the title, producer Yoshiharu Gotanda explained in an interview that the word "Undiscovery" arose from the combination of "cover" with "Dis-" and "Un-" as double negatives. Suddenly other naming schemes, such as those which brought us Edge Maverick, begin to make sense. Full Coverage
- Crisis Core shipment met by large lines and Shinji Hashimoto
Japanese Famitsu, which also happened to give Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII a score of 35/40, took some time to chronicle the release of the highly-anticipated Final Fantasy VII prequel. According to its reports, a line of 250 had formed in front of Bic Camera's main store in Ikebukuro thirty minutes before opening and another had 200 gamers standing in wait at Yodobashi Camera's Shinjuku West store just south of that, where managers opened early only to have the line to expand to 300. Now that the line had adequately prepared for glory, Square Enix executive director Shinji Hashimoto made an appearance to guffaw mightily while piles of yen flew into his pockets compelled by sheer force of greed. In truth, Hashimoto pointed out his concerns about sales with the very recent release of the updated PSP hardware and, noting mothers in line with their children, commented that he had felt the flow of time since Final Fantasy VII's release. It's okay, Hashimoto-san, no need to cry. It looks like Crisis Core is going to give the PSP's reigning sales champion, Monster Hunter 2, a run for its money.
- Voices of the Lifestream; 4 discs of remix goodness
If you ever thought the track "Heart of Anxiety" needed vocals or just wanted a coherent collection of Final Fantasy VII remixes, then OC Remix has answered your prayers. Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifesteam is a four disc collection of some of the best VGM remixers on the web paying tribute to the FFVII soundtrack. Nearly half of the original soundtrack is featured on this monster of an album, including fan favorites such as "Opening - Bombing Mission", "Tifa's Theme", and the ever popular "One-Winged Angel." The release is available as a free download from their website as both a torrent (including WAV and MP3) or as individual tracks. The discs themselves are named for the spin-off titles centered around FFVII, namely "Crisis", "Dirge", "Advent", and "Order." Since the album is being distributed for free, there should be no excuse for not at least giving it a try. Download the Album
- Who would have guessed; more Kingdom Hearts
Revealed in the past few days through a recent 1up podcast and the Japanese magazine V-Jump, Square-Enix has started talks about their newest venture into the world of Kingdom Hearts. While no titles have been mentioned specifically, the chance of one hitting the PSP is very likely. Square-Enix has assured its fans that none of the new titles will be remakes and will in-fact be completely new adventures. These new titles are also said to include Roxas and Axel.
- A triple shot of Kingdom Hearts
The first day of this year's Tokyo Game Show saw the official announcement of three new Kingdom Hearts titles: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and Kingdom Hearts: Coded will appear on the DS, PSP, and mobile platform respectively. No release dates have been announced for any of the titles yet. Details on the new games
- PSP sales not abysmal this week!
Thanks in part (or solely) to the large popularity of the PSP title Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII (which sold approximately 480,000 units its first week), PSP system sales for the week ending on September 16 has increased more than six times that of the previous week. With 95,487 units sold, PSP has outsold DS (79,974) to take the number one spot on the Japanese Hardware Sales list for the week. Now that everyone who will ever want a PSP now owns one, expect the sales to bottom back out at just this side of nothing in a week or two. Rounding out the bottom of the list was the Gamecube with an impressive 97 units sold. Gamesindustry.biz
- Square Enix to devote more attention to U.S., European markets
Square Enix is reportedly looking for a publishing partner to increase its presence in North America, Europe, and other oversees markets. This means increased attention to these markets and a more varied array of genres that will appeal to their endemic gaming palates. Full Article
- Sales update: the Crisis continues
Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII's stride upward continues with 109,000 copies sold this past week and 595,000 since its release a little under a month ago. This is good news for PSP owners, as Crisis Core appears to have been dragging the PSP upward. With more solid titles (read: remakes) heading for the PSP and system owners emerging everywhere, the promise of a viable Sony portable is steadily becoming a reality. On a side note, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (another PSP title) released in second place with 93,000 copies sold and Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Toki no Tankentai came in third with 85,000 copies and 385,000 since release.
- Infinite Undiscovery becomes a little less undiscovered
With as little known about the Xbox 360 title Infinite Undiscovery as is possible, Famitsu was kind enough to offer up some details on the tri-Ace RPG. Full Article
01 Sep 2007 by 
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