March 28, 2008, Square Haven has ceased updates indefinitely. What you see below is an archived version.
E3 2005 Coverage
- E3 2007 - Square Enix gesticulates in regards to Revenant Wings bonus content
Square Enix communicated through wavy, fluttering hand gestures to reporters attending E3 that the English-language localization of Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings will feature new content, including an added boss battle and gameplay tweaks. Director Motomu Toriyama comments, "The North American release will provide a completely different gameplay experience than the original domestic release." Details
- E3 2007 - Amano wants to work with Mistwalker
Today Chris Kohler of Wired interviewed Mistwalker president and former Square executive producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, leading to some intriguing off-the-cuff remarks on the part of the Japanese game designer. When asked if Mistwalker would invite Yoshitaka Amano, illustrator of the Final Fantasy series, "back into the fold," Sakaguchi answered, in English, "Yeah, good idea. And, he wants. Yeah, sometime." Full Q&A
- E3 2007 - Square Enix blames stagnation on gamers
Dragon Quest IX, as you may or may not know, began as an Action RPG. After twenty years of traditional (classic?) grinding, Square Enix was ready to follow the rest of the RPG genre in moving away from traditional combat systems into new, innovative avenues. What happened? You did, apparently. As a Square Enix spokesperson said at E3, "People didn't want the change. When you've sold over 40 million copies, you've got to listen to your fans." Apparently the same syndrome that affects children when they purchase movie-based games and perpetuate the creation of terrible licensed titles has also infected the RPG market. Can there be any hope for change, especially within a flagship series such as Dragon Quest? Kotaku
- E3 2007 - Square Enix laughs in face of PS3 price drop
It seems that a little is just not enough anymore. Earlier this week, European and US Square Enix President and CEO John Yamamoto commented on the $100 price decrease for Sony's poorly-selling Playstation 3. "[It's] still a bit expensive for most gamers," said Yamamoto. "Most of them think that price is still high." When asked if he was concerned by the success of the XBox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, Yamamoto responded, "Looking at Sony's history, Sony is selling PS2 all over. Even in Spain, Italy - they're very strong. I think it will depend on the titles available in each area."
- E3 2007 - Square Enix tactfully flaunts The War of the Lions
That's right, a surprising new detail has emerged regarding Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. What could they be showing off? The answer may surprise you. Indeed, it isn't a slew of new information, nor is it a gem of a gameplay trailer. Sorry, Final Fantasy VII fanboys, it's no confirmation of Sephiroth as a playable character either. What we have here are a new batch of localized screenshots with a surprising twist. Feast your eyes
- E3 2007 - Sony unveils slimmer Playstation Portable; Nintendo counters with edible DS
Sony today announced plans to market a redesigned Playstation Portable console. The handheld gaming device will use less battery power than its predecessor, thanks to the thinner LCD display. The fitter, happier, more productive PSP is currently in the pre-manufacturing phase of its development. Not to be outdone, Nintendo has announced it will be releasing an edible DS. Details
- E3 2007 - Square Enix to bring online store stateside
In addition to its E3 lineup announcement, Square Enix has revealed its scheme to open a North American online store. Square Enix, as a self-described "premiere [maker] of high end-collectibles" plans to stock a multitude of "popular and hard-to-find items" including Master Arms, Play Arts, and Mechanical Arts spanning various series, from Final Fantasy to Kingdom Hearts. Clearly, Square Enix has seen that someone, somewhere is making money selling its products. The immediate consequence will likely find many third-party vendors competing for profits with Square Enix itself. The Online Store
- E3 2007 - Square Enix announces lineup
As the headline above might suggest, Square Enix has announced its 2007 E3 lineup and is ready to showcase some of its most anticipated and exciting titles. Which will be shown? Which will be shunned? Square Haven brings you the latest. Details
- E3 2007 - Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Job System
With the E3 fun underway, Square Haven starts you off with the Japanese Zodiac Job System trailer and a few tidbits about a game that, in all fairness, you'll probably never get to see. Cry with me... Details
- R.I.P. E3As of this point in time, the Electronic Entertainment Expo as we know it will cease to exist. The Entertainment Software Association has emphatically declared the death of the Expo as a geek orgy of P.R. mayhem, to be replaced with a smaller (5,000 attendees), more press-centric "E3 Media Festival." Discuss
- Fabula Nova Crystallis: FINAL FANTASY XIII unveiled at E3
Final Fantasy XIII has been revealed, but it's not like we thought it would be. It's a polymorphic franchise comparable to Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titled Fabula Nova Crystallis and comes in three parts: two for Playstation 3 and one for mobile phones. Each game will feature different characters, locations, and world settings, but share a similar universe and thematic elements. Final Fantasy XIII, in brief, is developed by the Final Fantasy X-2 team, directed by Motomu Toriyama and composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Featuring a female protagonist, the game will feature the "most advanced videogame population to date". Final Fantasy Versus XIII is directed by Tetsuya Nomura and developed by the Kingdom Hearts II team and may relate to KH2's XIII Organisation. Music by Yoko Shimomura. Finally, Final Fantasy Agito XIII is an online RPG for mobile phones from the team behind Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII. Phew. So what do you think?
- E3 2006: the Square Enix press conference3 FINAL FANTASY XIII games, 2 Crystal Chronicles games for Nintendo consoles, 1 Dragon Quest Swords game for Wii, and a whole shitload of mobile ports and spinoffs. Click for the juice! Link
- 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
- E3: Youchi Wada Q/A
A Q&A session between members of the press and Wada & Hashimoto unveiled some (fairly obvious) details concerning topics like Xbox 360, PlayOnline, Before Crisis, Advent Children and World of Mana. Full Article
- E3: Valkyrie Profile sequel under development?
In an interview with Yoshinori Yamagishi, producer of Radiata Stories, Yamagishi's response when asked about referring to Valkyrie Profile as a series was cryptic and vague, as if he had something to say that he wasn't ready to discuss. Go speculation and conjecture! Gamespy interview
- E3: Romancing SaGa will actually be Romancing SaGa
According to Square-Enix, action-RPG Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song will drop its subtitle en route to its US release, becoming only "Romancing SaGa". The reasoning behind this, is, of course, that American audiences never saw the release of the original SaGa games for the Super Famicom, so don't know any better. This is reminiscent of the move to make Final Fantasy VI into Final Fantasy III for its US release, a move whose ultimate result was the confusion of small children and the frustration of adults. No US release date has been given, but among new features for this installment of the SaGa series include an alleged lack of repetitive gameplay and a combo system. Because we all love combo systems. RPGFan
- E3: Allard hints at next-gen Square Enix project
An interview with Xbox exec J Allard on Eurogamer had him suggesting -- though he declined to be specific -- that there would be future projects available for Xbox 360 by Square Enix besides the abysmally irrelevant port of Final Fantasy XI, which was announced earlier this week. He refrained from going into detail, however, instead claiming that the interviewers should contact Square Enix themselves if they wanted to know if anything was happening, but did point out that the "tech demo" displayed during the Microsoft conference may not just be that. interview
- E3: Final Fantasy XI on Xbox 360 to look like shit
Well, relatively speaking. Final Fantasy XI will look exactly the goddamn same, causing raging speculation as to whether Square Enix is just screwing around with MS for some extra $$$. Also revealed today was the fact that FFXI was originally under development for Xbox, but MS' stubborn vapidity prevented any kind of useful deal from being made. Looks like they puckered up this time around, though. GI.biz
- E3: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles announced for Revolution
The Nintendo press conference just came to a close, bearing with it several new announcements, one of which was the confirmation that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is under development for Nintendo's next-gen Revolution console. It's unknown whether the previous DS FFCC project has been moved to Revolution, or whether there are now two new games underway.
- E3: Playstation 3 demo of Final Fantasy VII intro sequence raises eyebrows
During the Playstation 3 unveiling at E3, Square Enix showed a realtime demo of a remade Final Fantasy VII intro sequence (with the overview of Midgar and Cloud somersaulting off the train) running in-game (supposedly), and visually styled like Advent Children. This obviously leads to speculation that there may be a Final Fantasy VII remake in the works for PS3, as fans have eagerly demanded for the past several years. Don't expect any confirmation at this point though.
- E3: Crisis Core is a prequel?
According to news from the show, a short trailer for Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII mainly features Zack and the events in Nibelheim 5 years before Final Fantasy VII. This obviously suggests that the game is not a sequel set two years after Dirge of Cerberus, but in fact another prequel along the lines of Before Crisis. That is, unless freaky shit is going on with Zack.
- E3: Square Enix and Final Fantasy support planned for Playstation 3"Square Enix is extremely honored to have had the chance to provide you with this technical demonstration of what the Cell processor can bring to the PLAYSTATION 3 and the world of gaming. We are committed to fully backing SCEI's new computer entertainment system and plans to bring the FINAL FANTASY series to the PS3 are just beyond the horizon." Now I'm going to bed.
- E3: Final Fantasy XI confirmed for XboxWTF? Yes. Microsoft has managed to convince Square Enix into allowing FFXI onto its dying platform. It's currently unknown how exactly Square Enix and Microsoft intend to combine Xbox Live and PlayOnline to make cross-platform gameplay in Final Fantasy XI possible, but there must have been some big deal struck for either of the two to buckle with their priorities. What's more, the situation begs an answer to the question of whether FFXI on Xbox is even that much of a beneficial move, considering the game is over three years old now and probably won't be seeing another expansion pack in its lifetime. Oh, and reports are indicating that the Xbox360 will give the game a graphical boost of some kind, whatever that means. Forbes
- E3: World of Mana teaser; multiple new Mana games confirmed (Seiken Densetu DS + World of Mana?)
"From ages past to ages yet to come, the tale of the Mana tree and the Sword of Mana grows with each telling. New installments in the World of Mana series exploring the history of this fantastic world are on the horizon. Stories yet untold await in the World of Mana." Jeux France photo
- E3: Final Fantasy XII delayed until 2006?
A photo taken by French gaming website JeuxFrance shows the release date overview Square Enix showed at its press conference, which quite obviously displays Final Fantasy XII as a 2006 "fiscal year" release (now - March 31 2006). This puts the game into 3 years of development time. Bah.
- E3: Advent Children will release simultaneously in US and Japan; Square Enix to pursue networked games
A new trailer for Advent Children has been made available (warning: spoilers) which shows just how much crazy action is in this title, which is due out on September 13 in the US and September 14 in Japan on DVD. The trailer is underpinned by a new piece of music: a rock version of One Winged Angel, which sounds similar to the guitar work prevalent in the Black Mages albums recently produced by Uematsu. Additionally, Wada has come forth to state that his desire is for the company to pursue networked gaming, which further underlines the importance of PlayOnline and obviously the suggestions of last week that there may be more to reveal between Square Enix and Nintendo. IGN: Advent Children Trailer
- E3: World of Mana is a next-gen titleLittle of interest was mentioned at Square Enix's press conference (presumably because the major unveilings will be handled by the console manufacturers themselves later today and tomorrow), but it was confirmed that World of Mana is in fact scheduled for release on an unknown next-gen console (which is probably Revolution). More news as it happens.
- E3: Pirates of the Caribbean's Jack Sparrow in Kingdom Hearts II
Square Enix's E3 press conference has revealed one of the probably many surprises in store for us with Kingdom Hearts II, namely that Pirates of the Caribbean hero Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp in the movie, though whether he stars as a voice actor in the game is unknown) will be a character in the game. Rachel is overjoyed. You should be too. IGN PS2
- Code Age movie to be shown at E3; site updated
The official Code Age website has been updated with a new E3 trailer (select movie, then the one on the right) which showcases several scenes from the three upcoming expositions of the franchise (Archives, Brawls, and Commanders). There isn't much to see with Archives other than what seem like anime cuts, whereas Brawls seems to be a fairly generic low-framerate beat'em-up for mobile phones. Commanders looks great and seems to combine crazy Radiata Stories Tri-Ace battles with Zone of the Enders-esque animation/chaos. Let's hope it actually turns out good. Code Age
14 July 2007 by 
Top of Page |
Staff Contact |
Bug Report |
Support Square Haven |
Jobs @ Square Haven |
Haven Web Hosting
Square Haven and all contents herein © 1998-2008, some rights reserved.
Terms of Use |
About this Site |
Copyright © Notice