- Second Fullmetal Alchemist title heading for American release
 With the recent announcement of a Teen ESRB rating, Square Enix's Fullmetal Alchemist: Curse of the Crimson Elixir has been portended for an American release. Based on the anim? and recent action-RPG, Curse of the Red Elixir has reportedly seen improved AI and a more streamlined graphics engine; hopefully a substantial upgrade from its rather flawed predecessor. Red Elixir received more optimistic reviews for its Japanese release earlier this September, but US audiences must wait for the official announcement of an American release to see whether these claims amount to anything more than Japanese love of franchise. IGN
- New TV show Heavy Metal Thunder and accompanying game to spur more cross-medial polymorphism from Square Enix
 Watch Impress and Eurogamer today report of news that Square Enix has prepped a TV show that will be airing in Japan on Tokyo TV from April: Heavy Metal Thunder, starring Yoko Kumada as the host and the Sex MachineGuns on the opening theme, seems ambiguous in terms of content at this point, although apparently Squenix intends to announce a game based on the show's image, as well. Yoko Kumada & The Sex Machine Guns: the TV Show: the Game? The Japanese truly are insane. Watch Impress
- Black Mages may be heading for European release
 In an interview with UK gaming website Eurogamer, Nobuo Uematsu has stated that he is "expecting" someone to assist him with releasing the Black Mages in the UK. He also commented on the possibility of European Final Fantasy orchestra concerts as soon as next year, though nothing is confirmed at this point. Eurogamer interview
- Square Enix 'fesses up to lacking Final Fantasy XII details
 Our decreasingly beloved company today released a short comment detailing its plans to release one major game a month starting next business year in Japan, but admitted that its priorities are slightly off-kilter: "It has yet to set a date for the introduction of its newest Final Fantasy game.", as reported by Bloomberg. Jesus Christ. Goddamn
- Drakengard 2 website opens, and then some
 Square Enix recently replaced their enigmatic filler for Drakengard 2 with an actual website and provided expanded information on the game's plot, characters, and battle system. The results may shock you! Full Article
- Final Fantasy XII officially MIA, says Square Haven
 Weekly Famitsu this week reports news from the suddenly curiously anonymous Square Enix development team working on Final Fantasy XII, dishing out the unforgivingly enticing teasers like "When the weather gets a little warmer, we'd like to bring you some big news and the latest information." The rest of the magazine impressively sports a rehash of what we've already seen. The team's spirits remain at an everlasting high, however: "We've had lots of support from everyone, and we've been working constantly without eating or sleeping to increase the quality of the product!" Rewriting the game from scratch, presumably. But the game might see the light of day yet, it seems, as the dev team proclaims, "If we can continue to receive your support this year, we'd be very happy." So that the company doesn't entirely write off your game, then?
- Romancing SaGa release planned for spring
 According to game vendors, the Japanese release date for Square Enix's Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song has been set to April 21, 2005, and the game will be priced 7,140 Yen ($68.87 USD). This release date also gives room for publication of the game's theme song single, which itself will be released just several days before, on April 14. No word yet on any North American or European releases of the game. Square Net
- Chain of Memories breaks 1 million shipped units
 Squenix announced that since its release in Japan and North America last year, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories has shipped over one million copies, which puts it at about half the sales amount that the original Kingdom Hearts hit. Not bad for a game Andrew hates...
- 3rd Quarter Financial Results for the big SE
 Surpassing last year's results of ?40.71 billion sales with a profit of ?10.99 billion, Square Enix posted their 3rd Quarter results for this fiscal year so far (ending on March 31st). Raking in ?60.93 billion in sales with a net profit of ?13.30 billion, there has obviously been a substantial increase. This can be attributed, in part, to the release of Dragon Quest VIII, which has already broken the 3.5 million units shipped mark, possibly even 4 million. Based on the growth in profits and sales, Square Enix has boosted its projected totals for the full fiscal year to ?26.5 billion (consolidated operating profit). RPGFan
- Fresh Musashi information
 The latest issue of Japanese magazine V-Jump unveiled some new details concerning Square Enix's action RPG Musashi Samurai Legend (also known as Musashiden II: Blademaster in Japan). The story will revolve around princess Misela who asks the warrior Musashi to help her save her world from the evil Gundrake Corporation, which has invaded the kingdom of the Mystic race (led by Misela's parents) in order to attain so-called "Magic Stream Stones", tremendous sources of power. Musashi Samurai Legend is set for a March 1, 2005 Japanese release. RPGamer
- New Romancing SaGa theme song details
 After what may have been a smart move, Square Enix has revealed new information concerning the theme song for classic remake Romancing SaGa:Minstrel Song Reportedly, Yamazaki Masayoshi's new theme song, entitled "Menuett", will be released as a single for 1,100 Yen ($10.63 US), containing both acoustic Karaoke versions. The Japanese release date for Minstrel Song is slated to be Spring 2005. Square Net
- More PS One Books goodies
 Following a similar announcement, Sony Computer Entertainment has released information that both Star Ocean: The Second Story as well Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi will be added to their budget PS One Books Japanese series. The two classics have an expected re-release date of March 3rd, and will be priced at 2,500 yen ($24.41 US) and 3,500 yen ($34.18 US), respectively. There is still no word on any trans-continental release, though little can be expected. Famitsu
- Dear Friends tour coming to San Fransisco
 Nobuo Uematsu's Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert tour will reportedly be arriving in San Francisco on March 7th for the 2005 Game Developers Conference. In addition to the concert taking place in Nob Hill's Masonic Auditorium, where conductor for the North American Dear Friends tour Arnie Roth will conduct the Symphony Silicon Valley, the legend Uematsu himself will be available for a VIP Meet & Greet after the performance. This concert will be the third in the North American series, following the May 10, 2004 Los Angeles performance and the upcoming February 19 Chicago event. GDC Website
- Radiata Stories is released and awesome
 Contrary to expectation by many Tri-Ace haters and comfortably inline with true experts like myself and Rachel, Radiata Stories is performing well in Japan since its release yesterday, selling 152k copies on the first day and beating Resident Evil 4. Square Enix does indeed have a stranglehold on that market. The game also garnered impressive scores from Dengeki PS2 last week, with a review spitting out three 95s and a 90. No NA or European dates have been given yet, but it's more than likely that they will be eventually. Meanwhile, feel free to complain about wanting a Valkyrie Profile sequel.
- What happened to Final Fantasy XII?
 Thanks to Video-Fenky for noting Hiroki Tachibana's column on biglobe that goes into speculative detail about potential reasons for Final Fantasy XII's disappearance from the worldwide gaming radar. More inside!
- Another Advent Children site update
 The official site for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children has received yet another update with new character profiles including Marlene Wallace,
Cid Highwind, Yuffie Kisaragi, Reno, Rude, Zack, and.....Denzel. This comes as the latest in a set of updates crawling towards the movie's Spring 2005 Japanese release. Official Site
- Code Age plans detailed
 Square Enix has revealed that Code Age, a recently announced Yusuke Naora directed title, will first arrive in manga form. Produced by Square Enix, Code Age will appear on February 12 in Shonen Gangan magazine, following in the footsteps of popular manga turned anim? turned Square Enix Action-RPG Fullmetal Alchemist. "In order to survive, mankind must evolve," claims Code Age, but only time will tell how much survival this endeavor will entail. Gamespot
- Front Mission Mobile website opens with new details
 Announced alongside Front Mission 5 at the Tokyo Game Show, Front Mission Mobile is the latest handheld installment in the tactical strategy series, the official website of which has recently opened and stuffed with content. The game's story will return players to the OCU/USN conflict on Huffman island, where they may engage in standard combat or a familiar duel system. Front Mission Mobile will appear for NTT DoCoMos FOMA-900i-Handyseries in Japan. No price or release date has been announced. Offical site
- Three more soundtracks to be re-released
Three more albums are joining the list of soundtrack to be re-released by SquareEnix. The newest entries include Xenogears Original Soundtrack, Final Fantasy VII: Reunion and Chrono Trigger Original Soundtrack. The Chrono Trigger album is the one-disk version released that included not only some original tracks but also some arranged versions. All three albums will be 2000 yen when they are released on February 23rd. RPG Fan
- Fantasy Earth details surface
 Since its announcement in September, Fantasy Earth: Ring of Dominion has tantalized many with an amalgam of proposed genres. Since then, new details have surfaced which dive into better detail about the world of Fantasy Earth and its mechanics. Full Article
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12 Mar 2005 by 
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