It's been a long while since the last front page update covered something other than Final Fantasy news (or the subject of our missing Chocobo Administrator, who, rumor has it, has been spotted in the most remote regions of Bangladesh).  But today is a new day, and it brings me great pleasure to announce the addition of quite a lot of new pages to Eyes on Final Fantasy.

First up is the all-new Advent Children section.  Eyesonac.com has long been dormant, containing outdated information and screenshots from well before Square Enix released their second film.  It's now been updated to included just about anything you could need to know about Advent Children.  Wondering what the difference is between each and every version of the film?  Want a rundown on the special feature?  Or would you rather just drool over the eye candy of a few hundred screenshots or every single AC trailer Square Enix released over the years?  It's all there--check it out.

In addition, the Final Fantasy IV section, which has long since ...

For those of you who haven't already heard from other sources: Final Fantasy XIII will not be arriving anytime this year.  That means you won't be getting your greedy paws on Square Enix's next major masterpiece until 2008--likely early if you live in Japan, and considerably later in the rest of the world.  Nothing official is set yet, of course.

To ease the blow of this bittersweet news, feast your eyes on an all-new, beautiful hi-res screenshot of Lightning, FFXIII's protagonist.

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Much like the special edition DS Square Enix released with Final Fantasy III in Japan, Square Enix has revealed a white Nintendo DS emblazoned with the Revenant Wings text logo and several of its main characters.  The availability of this special DS will coincide with Revenant Wings's April 26th release in Japan.

It should be noted that it's extremely unlikely this special DS will make its way out of Japan, so anyone who wants one should likely be prepared to import.

To take a look at the Revenant Wings-themed DS, click here.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Anyone who's played Gears of War would tell you that Epic's Unreal 3 Engine can pump out some truly gorgeous visuals.  The folks over at Square Enix may not have played Gears, but they know good technology when they see it.

Square Enix announced last month that they've licensed the Unreal 3 Engine middleware, allowing the developers to focus more on creativity and less on the more complex, technical portions of the design process.

We don't know at this time what, exactly, Square Enix will be using the Unreal 3 Engine for, but it's a safe bet that the Final Fantasy XIII titles for the Playstation 3 and the recently announced MMORPG for Vista and the Xbox 360 will benefit from the technology.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Square Enix has announced that the Final Fantasy XII spinoff for the DS, Revenant Wings, will be available in Japan on April 26th, 2007 for 4,800 yen, or approximately $40 US.

Unfortunately, no release date has been assigned for a US or European version of Revenant Wings.  Hopefully, however, with the game coming out so soon, an English version will be soon to follow.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

Well, it's been weeks since we last looked at images of Square Enix's hotly anticipated DS spinoff, Revenant Wings.  Thankfully, a new batch of magazine scans have found their way online, and they feature a good look at Revenant Wings's gameplay and in-game graphics, which look to be shaping up quite nicely.  Check them out below.

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[Source: Destructoid] ...

As has been reported by various sites over the past several days, Final Fantasy XIII will likely be playable at this year's E3 expo--or rather, what's left of the event, as this May it's being scaled back significantly due to various issues, including the massive cost of such a large-scale show.

On top of the exciting possibility of a playable version of FFXIII, more information has been revealed about the game, and also about its sister project, Versus XIII.  As we've reported before, the world of FFXIII is comprised of the "Cocoon World" where most of the population resides, and the World Below, a mysterious place below the clouds that the citizenry is frightened of.  Apparently, XIII will be starting with a bang; XIII's director Motome Toriyama stated that the game begins with an invasion of the Cocoon World by the World Below, and also had this to say: "The intensity of the opening scene -- it's probably the most in the Final Fantasy series so far."

The Cocoon World is tightly monitored and fearful of outside influence--those who are believed to be a threat are quickly exiled.  Tetsuya Nomura is still designing characters for XIII, implying that not all the important party members and ...

Square Enix has released a couple snippets of information regarding their new Final Fantasy Tactics title on the PSP, Shishi Sensou.  The first is a new job class: the Dark Knight.

The second, and more exciting bit of news, however, is that Final Fantasy XII's Balthier will make an appearance in the game.  What's more, he will, in fact, play some sort of role in hero Ramza's story, proving he's more than a tacked-on guest in this Ivalice storyline.

[Source: RPGFan]
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Apparently, Square Enix has decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Final Fantasy series by releasing yet another remake of the original two Final Fantasy games, this time for Sony's PSP.

This new compilation combines the best parts of each re-release of Final Fantasy I and II; the CG intro videos from the Origins release, and the extra dungeons, monster encyclopedias, and music players of the Dawn of Souls GBA collection.  The graphics have received an entirely new face-lift, and now look similar to the Super Nintendo generation of Final Fantasy titles.  Lastly, the PSP collection will feature artwork by beloved artist Yoshitaka Amano.

The collection has not yet been announced for a US release, but is planned to be launched in Japan sometime this year.  We'll keep you posted as soon as we find out more.

[Source: 1UP] ...

If you live in Europe and have been waiting impatiently for the last several months to get your hands on a copy of Final Fantasy XII, the end is finally in sight.  Square Enix announced a glorious final release date of February 23rd, 2007 for the European territories.

It is currently unknown whether or not the European release will feature both a Collector's Edition and a regular edition, but we'll keep you posted.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Final Mix+, the enhanced version of Kingdom Hearts II being released only in Japan, has been given a release date of March 29th.  The game will retail in Japan for 7,514 yen, or approximately 63 US dollars.  On a related note, Square Enix has announced that the Kingdom Hearts franchise has sold over 10 million copies since the first entry in the series was released in 2002.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

At this year's JUMP Festa in Japan, the "Square Enix Theater" featured lots of trailers for games we're already familiar with, including Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ and Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.  The former is simply an enhanced version of Kingdom Hearts II for Japan, featuring many of the improvements that were added to the US release, while the latter is a 3D remake of the Gameboy Advance title Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and will be packaged with Final Mix+.

After the trailers for these two titles, a sparkly and mysterious bit of text stating "New Project Starting in 2007" was briefly displayed.  And now producer Tetsuya Nomura has blown the lid off the subject by telling Famitsu magazine that there are, indeed, more Kingdom Hearts projects in the works. 

That's right--projects.  Nomura also stated that the new projects don't consist solely of games.  A full-length CG movie, perhaps?  Hopefully Square Enix will provide some more details on these tantalizing promises in the near future, ...

Japan's premiere gaming magazine, Famitsu, recently ran a feature on Square Enix's new Crystal Chronices title for the Nintendo DS, entitled Ring of Fates.  Below are several scans featuring new images of the DS title.

Square Enix also shed more light on the game, which is now heavily into the development process.  They confirmed Mitsuru Kamiyama, the main programmer of the original GameCube Cystal Chronicles, is directing Ring of Fates, and Toshiyuki Itahana has reprised his role as the character designer.  The single player mode features twins named July and Cherinka, while the multiplayer mode allows players to create their own character and battle with parties of four.

According to GamesAreFun's hands-on time with Ring of Fates, the game plays more fluidly than its predecessor, featuring a jump button and the ability to map items and spells to the X button for quick use with only a flick of the touch pad.  With impressive graphics for the DS and limited voice acting, Ring of Fates is shaping up to be the quality title we expect Square Enix to deliver.

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