March 28, 2008, Square Haven has ceased updates indefinitely. What you see below is an archived version.
News / 2007 /
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- NOA considers Japan-only titles for Virtual Console
Wired correspondent Chris Kohler reports that Nintendo of America senior vice president George Harrison is considering bringing certain titles previously available only in Japan to the Wii virtual console. "We are aware that there are some very successful Japanese franchises that have a small following in the US," said the VP. "And that they could never be reached by putting these products out at retail. We're open to games released in Japan if we can get them translated properly." What do you think? Would you pay ten bucks for Mother or Seiken Densetsu 3 on Wii? Wired
- Police enforce Mario Sunshine
Deviant college students were found painting offensive pixel art today on the brick walkways of University of North Carolina's Halton Arena. The mural of reptilian Mario arch-nemesis Bowser rendered in pastel chalk was discovered by the police with the help of several upright student informants on the scene. Details
- Not-quite photo-realistic game images really creeping people out
Roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the term "Uncanny Valley" in 1970 to refer to the anxiety produced by looking at human marionettes that are entirely lifelike... only not quite. Now the term is being used to describe near photo-realistic videogames like French developer Quantic Dream's Playstation 3 thriller Heavy Rain, whose kinda almost lifelike visuals are reportedly really creeping the shit out of people. The term "uncanny" comes from Sigmund Freud's concept of the Unheimlichkeit, the sensation of seeing a dreamlike image in reality. Be sure to weigh QD's Uncanny Valley effect against Square Enix's equally Freudian Sexy Lightning effect when deciding your game purchases. BBC
- Patrick Stewart lends Britishness to Final Fantasy XII
*Update* As reported by kotaku, Patrick Stewart has been hired to record voice overs for the Final Fantasy XII advertisements to appear in Australia and the UK. The lauded Yorkshire-born Shakespearian actor is most widely known as bald and virile Starfleet officer Jean-Luc Picard, and paraplegic and virile Professor Xavier of the X-Men. David Dyett, European Marketing Director of Square Enix Ltd. comments, "As our first and only choice, we're thrilled that Patrick Stewart has provided the voiceover for the Final Fantasy XII television campaign in the UK and Australia." Watch the UK trailer
- Wada talks next-gen; vomits remakes
In a recent interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Yoichi Wada, acting president of Square Enix Co., discussed the company’s next-gen strategy, which appears to be geared more towards milking the past than creating the future. What could possibly be in store? Read More
- Final Fantasy Tactics: Zodiac Brave Minigame
Square Enix has updated their Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War official site with a custom minigame. Flip the cards and match the pictures on the back within 30 seconds and win a special prize: a zipped file including two custom desktop wallpapers and Windows icons. The wallpapers each display a noseless male and female pair of each job class, art by Akihiko Yoshida. The jobs have been given awkward translations like "Doragon Knight" and "Talker" but they are nonetheless visually stunning. The minigame can be highly addictive. Spoils
- ActRaiser first in Japan for Virtual Console
Square Enix has announced that it will be publishing its first Virtual Console title in Japan: ActRaiser, released in 1991 for the Super Nintendo. In March, a new generation of players will be able to look down on the world from the Sky Palace, between stages of hacking-and-slashing through Fillmore, Bloodpool, Kasandora, Aitos, Marahna, and Northwall. No word yet on an English-language release, but chances are likely that Enix's epic side-scroller/simulation title will be descending soon. Gamasutra
- UK cosplayers queue up for Final Fantasy XII
Square Enix held its official Final Fantasy XII Cosplay competition in Central London this weekend to celebrate the release of the epic RPG in the United Kingdom. Free t-shirts and posters were apologetically handed out at the event in an effort to compensate for the late European release, while producer Akitoshi Kawazu and co-director Hiroshi Minagawa were on-hand to sign paraphernalia. Final Fantasy XII is on sale now in Europe and Australia. Pics
- American Anime Award goes to computers/clones
The first annual American Anime Awards gala took place last night in New York City at the New York Comic Con. Over 43,000 fans cast their votes online, resulting in the award for Best Animated Feature going to Square's hour-long computer-generated FMV sequence Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The glorified cut-scene beat out anachronistically nominated Akira and Square-related Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. Alchemist did however manage to pick up an award for best DVD packaging. No joke. The event will be broadcast on the Anime Network on March 23rd. anime_anime.jp
- Tara Strong to voice Kluke in Blue Dragon
Tara Strong, who performed the role of Rikku in Final Fantasy X-2, is currently at work voicing the character of Kluke in Blue Dragon. "I love playing 'Kluke,'" the veteran voice actor says. "She's cute and strong and different." The game is produced by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and features Chrono Trigger character designer Akira Toriyama, as well as music by Nobuo Uematsu. Q&A
- The Pioneers: Hiroki Kikuta
A professional writer, illustrator, and game producer, Hiroki Kikuta is best known as the musical innovator behind Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, and Soukaigi. After several years of silence, the composer has returned recently, both with a self-published album entitled Lost Files and in Dawn of Mana, where his Seiken Densetsu themes have been remixed for the Playtastion 2 console. The Pioneers
- MMO-OST: Final Fantasy XI gets soundtrack box
Available for import at the price of $99, the newly announced Final Fantasy XI Soundtrack Premium Box Set will include seven discs and a piano score sheet. The limited edition item marks the fifth anniversary of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game in Japan, available for the PC, Playstation 2, and XBox 360 console. The CD collection composed and arranged by Naoshi Mizuta, Kumi Tanioka, and Nobuo Uematsu goes on sale in Japan on March 28th for 10,476 yen. Details and order info
- Square Haven to cover Game Developers Conference
The 2007 Game Developers Conference starts tomorrow with a keynote speech by Square Enix chief strategist Ichiro Otobe. Also scheduled to present at the conference is Final Fantasy series programmer Taku Murata, giving a postmortem of Final Fantasy XII, along with localization director Richard Mark Honeywood, talking on the videogame translation process. Square Haven will be in San Francisco wearing flowers in our hair to bring you the latest news from the event. Details
- Square Enix unveils "Project Game Brain"
This year's Game Developers Conference began with a keynote speech by Square Enix chief strategist Ichiro Otobe, entitled "Serious Games Squared." Focusing on the development of serious games, or interactive media designed for instructional and training purposes, Otobe stated that in the near future players could expect such titles to be published under the auspices of SG Lab, a joint venture between Square Enix and the manga publishing company Gakken. Programmer Tadashi Tsushima then demonstrated a prototype of Square's "Project GB," a serious game which will instruct Nintendo DS players in developing basic videogame programming skills. GDC 2007
- Miyamoto Wife-o-Meter rating at all-time high
In his keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference today, game designer Shigeru Miyamoto addressed Nintendo's goal of winning a more expansive audience. "It is not enough to just please those of us who already love videogames," said Miyamoto. "We must reach out to those who aren’t really interested in games." His wife, who has shown little concern for videogames, has been converted by Brain Age and Wii Sports. Miyamoto claims the victory earns Nintendo a high "Wife-o-Meter rating." GDC 2007
- The Playstation 3 finds its Home
Phil Harrison's keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference centered on a new downloadable service available for the Playstation 3 console. Called Playstation Home, the service will offer players a virtual space to decorate with furniture, wallpapers, and trophies acquired by completing special objectives in Playstation 3 titles. Following the announcement, Harrison turned over the stage to the designers of a network-friendly collaborative game called LittleBigPlanet. GDC 2007
- Iga: 2D games will never die!
Koji Igarashi, the producer of the Castlevania series, stated in a lecture delivered at the Game Developers Conference that he will continue to work on 2D action titles. Not unlike the fame of his hallmark series, or the caped vampires who inhabit them, the game designer proclaimed, "2D games will never die!" GDC 2007
- Koji Kondo paints interactive musical landscape
Koji Kondo's lecture delivered at the Game Developers Conference described the evolution over the years of the interactive component of his game music. Isolating examples from the original Super Mario Bros. to Zelda: Twilight Princess, the composer described ways interactive media provide an entirely different approach to communicating with the listener than what is possible with film or television. GDC 2007
- Eiji Aonuma reflects upon the history of Zelda
Eiji Aonuma, Producer of Software Development for Nintendo, has been the creative director of the Zelda series since The Ocarina of Time. In his Game Developers Conference lecture "Twilight Reflections in the Hourglass," Aonuma described the evolution of the series and his current project for the NDS: Phantom Hourglass.
. GDC 2007
- Final Fantasy Tactics goes multiplayer
Square is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of Final Fantasy Tactics by releasing a considerably expanded edition of the game on the Sony PSP. The Lion War will include a mutliplayer function for use with the PSP's wireless feature, allowing both versus and cooperative modes. The portable remake is set for a May 10 release in Japan. Multiplayer details
15 Feb 2007 by 
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