FFXII is shaping up to be very much worth the wait, after receiving a perfect review score from Japan's top gaming magazine, Famitsu.

The game was given a score of 40, with scores being given out of ten by four seperate reviewers, meaning all four of them found the game to be of the highest standard. FFXII is one of only a few elite games to be given a perfect score by the magazine, which include The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the original Soul Calibur, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and, most recently, Nintendogs.

FFXII is set for March 16th release in Japan, with no US release date confirmed as it stands, but as soon as it's announced we'll be right on it.

[Source: Yahoo! Games] ...

No release date has yet to be announced for US and then European release.

[Source: Spong] ...

Two short adverts for Mistwalkers upcoming 360 title, Blue Dragon, have been released in Japan.

The adverts can be found here.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker today revealed its third Xbox 360 title currently in development following hot on the heels of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey.

Although not officially confirmed an advertisement for the next issue of Famitsu Xbox 360 has revealed Kryon to feature spectacular action which combines awesome firepower and breathtaking magic.

Hopefully official confirmation and the first concrete details will be released soon, although given the veil of secrecy surrounding Mistwalker's previous two titles this is unlikely.

[Source: Total Video Games ] ...

After purchasing a 93.70% stake earlier in the year, Square-Enix officials have announced that Taito is to become a wholly owned unit of it's company from March 31st 2006.

Existing amusement arcade operator and wholly owned Square Enix subsidiary SQEX Inc. will take over the company through an equity swap, but the resulting entity will retain the Taito name. As a result, Taito will be delisted from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 7th, according to an AFX News report.

Taito is most well known for it's arcade franchises, Space Invaders, Qix, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble and Chase H.Q.

[Source: Gamasutra]
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A Final Fantasy XI beta will come bundled with the next issue of the Official Xbox 360 magazine, allowing Xbox Live Gold members to test the game before its release.

Due on sale from January 5, 2006, the UK's Official Xbox 360 magazine will come with a cover mounted beta of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI. Although nothing groundbreaking or a game that will push the power of the Xbox 360, it's still a significant game for the console, being the first taste of MMO gameplay for many console owners, and will be free to play for as long as the beta servers are alive.

All that's required to play is a game disc from the magazine, an Xbox Live Gold account and a 360 hard drive. You should then be able to get online and take part in the beta.

[Source: Pro-G ] ...

Square-Enix has introduced new changes to it's online game, Final Fantasy XI, in order to stop players from 'Monster Player Killing', or 'MPK' each other. An MPK involves a player getting the attention of one or several high level monsters and then 'pulling' them onto another player so they get killed.

Square Enix acknowledges that a good MMORPG will have both positive and negative experiences with other players, but that the MPK form of harassment is excessive and harmful to gameplay. Therefore, in the next version update, two changes to the game will be introduced.

The first change causes monsters to disappear under certain conditions. A monster will normally wander around a set area when it is not attacking a player. Under the new conditions, when a player is defeated by a monster outside of that area, or if the player being chased leaves the area, the monster will disappear. This means that the normal method of MPK can't be completed on any player outside of a monster's normal range. As soon as the attacker leaves the area, the threat is neutralized.

The second change affects monsters ...