- Dragon Quest VIII shipping early
 Dragon Quest VIII will reportedly ship one week ahead of its previously scheduled North American ship date of November 22, and thus will arrive at retail stores on November 15. That is all.
- Advent Children sits atop a throne of 700,000
 After the widely-known flop that was the first fully-animated film known as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Square Enix proved that such a fate wasn't destined for their second movie endevour, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Though both share the Final Fantasy tag, Advent Children has reached that heralded mark of 700,000 sales in Japan. This figure includes sales of the DVD, UMD, and expensive limited edition. Unfortunately, even with the obvious success of the movie, there has still been no official word on an American or European release after Square Enix broke their original set date. GameSpot
- Mario Basket 3 on 3 as first Square Enix Mario game since Super Mario RPG
 So yeah, the really funky announcement is Mario Basket 3 on 3, a fully WiFi online 3d DS sports game akin to Super Mario Strikers or the numerous Tennis/Baseball/etc variations we've seen on Gamecube and previous platforms. Except this one is developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo, guaranteeing any of the following: 1) it looks fucking sexy; 2) it's the first Square Enix usage of the Mario mascot since Super Mario RPG, which is a pretty good thing if you ask me; 3) it's wonderfully insane, and we at Square Haven approve of insanity.
- Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI heading for GBA; Final Fantasy III DS lives
 Nintendo's WiFi press conference in Japan today revealed some interesting developments for the DS online service, but the funkiest of them all (and this news article isn't even THE funkiest, see below) included announcements that, yes, indeed, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI are in fact going to appear on Game Boy Advance at some point in the TBA future. Rejoice! Also, gaming news website Gpara reports that Final Fantasy III DS is alive and well and fully polygonal.
- World of Mana production team details emerge
 Masato Kato (Chrono Cross) returns to Square Enix for a try at the helm of World of Mana Full Article
- First screenshot of Final Fantasy IV on GBA; FFV and FFVI to follow?
 Gamefront has a preliminary screenshot of the recently announced Final Fantasy IV for GBA, which showcases a marginal improvement in graphics (including character portraits in dialogue windows) as was present in FFI&II: Dawn of Souls earlier this year. The scan is from the same issue which had the pictures of Children of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 4, and Gamefront mentions that FFIV will be appearing as part of a "Final Fantasy Projects" on Game Boy, presumably indicating that more such ports are on the way in the future. Gamefront
- Advent Children US package details and release date?
 According to a forum poster with access to the relevant details, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children should be appearing on DVD in the US on November 28th -- with a special 2 disc edition containing a feature disc (feature film, "reminiscence of FFVII") and bonus disc (The Distance: Making Of Featurette, FFVII AC: Venice Film Festival Footage, Sneak Peak of upcoming FFVII games, FFVII:AC trailers). Legitimacy is up in the air but I guess the photo is pretty substantial (?). Gallery
- Square Enix reveals Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 4
 So there we go, polymorphism? swerves back into full swing with the arrival of what's presumably the World of Mana brand: a new issue of Weekly Jump reveals that Seiken Densetsu DS is known as "Children of Mana", and that there's also a true sequel on the way to some unannounced main console (presumably this-gen, so PS2 or GC). While Children of Mana is to be a 2d action-RPG in a similar vein to previous entries into the series, the sole screenshot of SD4 depicts a fully 3d world more reminiscent of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, which was pretty Mana-esque to begin with. Children of Mana will hit the DS winter 2006 in Japan (a year to go, yes), and SD4 has no release date. Yet. Gamefront
- Square Enix offers free Dragon Quest VIII demos
Provide some personal info and answer a few questions to receive a free playable demo of Dragon Quest VIII. Demo registrants can also get a "a super-cool clear slime figurine" (their words) by referring a "friend" (my scare quotes), as long as they're not Canadian. Official DQVIII site
- First Front Mission 5 details surface
 The most recent issue of Japanese Shonen Jump has released the first tidbits of information (in the form of these scans) regarding Squeenix's latest foray into Strategy-RPGs: Front Mission 5: The Scars of the War. The title's purportedly more humanistic story will focus around USN soldier Fen Walter and his relationship with Lin Wainright, a fellow female officer, in addition to viewing soldiers' everyday lives and, of course, the war. With luck, Wanzer combat will not be replaced by large sweaty men slapping one another on the ass as they shout sexist obscenities. Oh, the gritty realism! Official site
- Taito joins Sqorg collective
 With its 62.8 billion Yen purchase of a stake in Taito Corp, Square Enix now officially owns 93.7% of the company, according to today's press release. So it went through, then, and I suppose we can start expecting a wealth of new cutesey titles published through the Square Enix strongarm publishing branch. And possibly insane crossovers, like Dragon Quest Slime MoriMori BubbleBobble or Super Bust-a-Moogle? Post a comment and join in with the ludicrous suggestions! Bloomberg
- Square Enix Europe is serving a crafty survey with dodgy questions about Dragon Quest VIII
 Given the modifications made to the US version of top Square Enix pillar Dragon Quest VIII to cement its probable success on that side of the Atlantic, us Europeans have to wait and see whether the good old European office considers it worth the effort. As such, they've concocted a nefarious online survey about the title, imposing upon your supposed ignorance such vapidity as "have you heard of Dragonball Z" and "do you like the name Dragon Quest", presumably under the precursor of renaming it to something more related to spikey-haired, monkey-tailed flying kids to alleviate the pressures involved with actually marketing the title on its own merits. Funky hey, people! Oh, and if you don't want to fill that thing out, just email them with the subject "SQUARE ENIX SURVEY" to get a chance at "free Square Enix loot" (which I'll avail myself of further speculating on). Squenix Europe survey
- Dragon Quest VIII US to come with Final Fantasy XII demo
Final Fantasy XII will see its first glimpse of public North American soil this November when Dragon Quest VIII arrives on its shores, complete with a demo of the game whose presence will probably draw people more than it will those who don't mind sitting through the super saiyan'ed up uberversion of the Japanese megalith. So you can be glad about that. Besides the DBZ unique selling point and the likeliness of Akira Toriyama's name being plastered on the box, DQ8's US appearence will also introduce a fully orchestrated score akin to that of the Dragon Quest V remake's, as well as numerous improvements to the gameplay system and menu interface design. Suffice it to say that Japanese gamers will probably not have to wait long until they, too, can play this superior American version. For 12000 yen.
- Sales of Advent Children reportedly pass 220k in first week
 Gamefront reports that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which went on sale in Japan last week, sold around 220.000 copies on DVD in the first week. UMD sales haven't been accounted for, and given the popularity of UMD so far, it's safe to say it probably accounts for a fair chunk of the total as well. So I guess we can go ahead and say Advent Children is a success, right? Aside from the 2.5 million people around the world who already downloaded the rip for free and watched it. That means you! *cough* Gamefront
- Front Mission 5 and new FFXI expansion announced
 Remember those two trademarks, Scars of the War and Treasures of Aht Uhrgan? Well, they were pretty easy to guess to begin with, but now they've been confirmed as Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, and a new expansion pack for Final Fantasy XI. But who cares about FFXI and Front Mission in the face of the Revolution and Metal Gear Solid 4, anyway?
- Final Fantasy IV heads to GBA
"Fans can rejoice", says Square Enix, because a port Final Fantasy IV for GBA will arrive in the US on December 12th. On top of that, "additional game elements have been added", including "new towns, caves and mountains". Even though I can't remember exactly how many the original had, the GBA version will sport 12 playable characters with "new abilities, spells and items" and who "join and leave the party at different parts of the quest to keep the game fresh." No word yet as to whether the graphics have been polished up to match those of FFI-II.
- Kitase: Final Fantasy VII remake will take 5 years
 Speaking in an interview with American magazine EGM, Final Fantasy director Yoshinori Kitase spoke out about a potential Final Fantasy VII remake, saying that if Square Enix were to seriously pursue such a project, it would require a staff of 300 and take 5 years. Nomura commented as well, stating that even if the team were to come together to produce a new version of the game, the various members are currently too caught up in their own projects to be able to reserve any time for it. EGM speculated that the possibility of a FF7 remake lies out of reach as long as the next PS3 game to be created is Final Fantasy XIII. 1up
- Chrono Trigger Revolution-bound?
 Rumours are circulating that Nintendo Power has confirmed Chrono Trigger as a possible element of the Nintendo Revolution's backwards compatible retro "Virtual Console" feature, which would confirm that Square Enix is involved in the online download plan laid out by Nintendo at E3 earlier this year. This would presumably mean good things, like other old Squaresoft games from back in the day when jaded old fogeys like ourselves still endeavoured to play games without bitter, cynical controversy. Ahh. Gamefront
- Preposterous 79th consecutive Advent Children delay cited
 The latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly hints at further delay for the North American release of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. The solid September 13 release date previously cited officially by Square Enix has now been annulled for a "holiday" release according to an article in the magazine about Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix, however, has yet to officially delay the release. 1UP
- Square Enix ventures Taito acquisition
 Square Enix intends to purchase a 67% stake in Taito, notable for Puzzle Bobble, Space Invaders and Bust-a-Move titles. Taito has expressed favor to the acquisition, and will become a Square Enix subsidy if and when the 67% stake is purchased. With this latest acquisition, Square Enix is well on the way to becoming Japan's leading gaming conglomerate, just as well as beloved Final Fantasy characters are surely well on their way to being whored out to Taito franchised games. 1UP
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25 Oct 2005 by 
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