Tomorrow, February 15th, European gamers will finally be able to get their hands on a localised version of the Nintendo DS Real Time Tactics RPG FFXII: Revenant Wings. Following on a year after the ending of the PS2 installment of the game, players will once again get to take control of Vaan, Penelo and a host of other returning characters, as well as a few new faces in their continued adventures across the skies of Ivalice. ...

Square-Enix has recently unveiled a new website for their hugely popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XI. The site opened on the 12th of February, 2008 and features a variety of information and media materials about the game. Aside from the usual story synopsis and character descriptions, and general overview of some features of the game, the website has a beginners section which has some very detailed tutorial movies for new players and interested buyers to watch to give a good feel for the game and what you're in for. To check out the website, click here.

In other FFXI related news, Scholars and Dancers are set to be graced with new quests in the next FFXI update. Dancers will be able to delve into the past and history of Troupe Brilioth and it's leader, Laila, among other things. Scholars will be getting stuck into the secrets contained within Schultz II's Grimoire and see the rise and fall of the Schultz School of Martial Theory. Both sets of quests offer new mysteries and revelations for players to experience and enjoy.

[Source: PlayOnline] ...

To coincide the Crisis Core PSP bundle, on the 13th of September Square-Enix will be teaming up with Suntory to release the FFVII Potion energy drink, much like the FFXII energy drink they released in March last year. The Potion will also come in a limited-edition package, which includes the Drink, a Tetsuya Nomura designed bottle, the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania book (which, apparently, is supposed to be a word invented by Square-Enix that means "Ultimate Encyclopedia") and come in a flashy silver box.

To take a look at the limited edition pack and the design of the bottle (which looks rather suspect, if you ask me), click here.

[Source: Next-Gen] ...

On September 20th of this year, Square-Enix will be releasing a special PSP package to go with upcoming PSP game, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. And yes, as per usual, it's for the Japanese only. (Don't worry, we'll get our revenge. Fellow news reporter Azar came up with the stellar idea of taking over SE and selling the next Dragon Quest outside of Japan only. Justice will be served, my friends!) In keeping with the "7" theme, the deal will be limited to 77,777 copies.

Included in the deal are one Crisis Core designed PSP, the game itself and a special design strap for your Cell Phone, featuring Zack. While we can't provide you with a glimpse at the strap itself, and while SE refuse to supply you with their fancy limited edition goods, we can give you a glimpse at the PSP which you'll be missing out on.



[Source: Next-Gen] ...

We're all used to it by now anyway.

Square-Enix are partnering with Nintendo again to bring out a special edition Nintendo DS to be released with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. The DS features the fancy stained glass window from the cover of the game in a stylish black and white. Of course, this means nothing to 99% of us because we're never going to get our hands on one because as you probably figured out, it's for Japan only! Ah well, at least you can look at it.

Click for visual stimulation.

[Source: DS Fanboy] ...

On April 7th, the Xbox 360 title Blue Dragon, developed by Mistwalker, will begin airing it's animated series on Television Tokyo in Japan.

Since the game was released in December of last year, it's sold 170,000 units in Japan, which is a great figure considering the 360 is not attracting much of a fanbase in Japan.

Mistwalker founders Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu (who you all know from the Final Fantasy series) and Character designer Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball/Z, Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, among other things) are all involved in the series on Television Tokyo in some capacity.

[source: Pro-G] ...

In Japanese game magazine Gemaga, veteran game and character designer Tetsuya Nomura gave a few new bits of information about the latest Final Fantasy game to be announced, Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

The game will feature a new and unique combat system, which is being designed by Toshiro Tsuchida, who has worked on games like Final Fantasy X and Front Mission. According to Nomura, the new battle system is said to be a mixture of styles from Kingdom Hearts and Dirge of Cerberus. A notable feature is that the weapon equipped to the character dictates the view perspective, for instance a Gun will change the view to the First Person mode, while a sword will be used in the Third Person perspective.

On the subject of characters of the game, Nomura chose only to give a small comment about the Blonde haired character who appeared at Japan's Jump Fiesta 2007. Whether he is a villain or hero is unconfirmed, but Nomura said that the character is known as "Mr. 33cm", which is a reference to his shoe size. (Yes, that's right. Tetsy knew exactly what YOU were thinking.) ...

Hiromichi Tanaka spoke to Pro-G recently and confirmed that Square-Enix are working on a new MMO game for Windows Vista and the XBox 360. Tanaka also said "PS3 is a possibility." Last April, Tanaka had actually claimed that the MMO was headed for PS3 and said nothing about a possible 360 version, so it would appear that SE have decided to go in a different direction with the game, which is probably going to be a sequel to Final Fantasy XI, but may be a new game altogether.

Seeing as Square-Enix has already confirmed various Final Fantasy XIII games to the PS3, it makes sense for them as a multi-platform company to give this new game to the Xbox first, and they can always create a PS3 version at a later date.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Square-Enix have announced the release dates for the PSP versions of Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II. Final Fantasy I is scheduled to come out on the 19th of April, costing 3,800 yen ($31.48 US). Final Fantasy II is penciled to come out some time in late May, although the specific date has not been mentioned yet.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

At EoFF, we, the Site Staff, are dedicated to not only bringing you all of the most up to date news regarding Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and the Mistwalker games, we are also dedicated to giving you the most comprehensive guide to every single one of these games. We feel we've done a pretty good job, too. However, work has slowed to a crawl recently, and this all comes back to one same reason.

I...I don't know how to break this to you people but...Loony BoB has gone missing. We can't find him. He could be face down in the back of an alley somewhere in downtown Edinburgh, or even worse, he COULD be somewhere like Wolverhampton. Or Rhyll. I don't know. None of us know. And without him here to head our team and organize everything, we're falling to pieces. SamuraiD has disappeared into a pit of despair somewhere, FlyingMullet has fallen back into his old ways and started hitting the bottle again; he can't even tell the difference between FFVI and FFVIII anymore. I've never seen him this bad. theundeadhero recently made a return to the Site Staff forum after an absence, and well...the state of things hit him really hard. You have to remember, ...

Square-Enix have released a video trailer for the upcoming PSP remake of Final Fantasy Tactics. Rather than going into detail of what the video contains, I think I'm just going to go ahead and let you watch this one yourselves. It's looking very nice indeed.

Video can be found here.

[Source: Kotaku] ...

According to Japan's Shonen Jump magazine, Square-Enix are planning not one but two new entries into the Final Fantasy Tactics series much loved by many of the series followers.

The first game is a PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's not a direct port. It will feature two new job classes, cel-shaded FMV's and widescreen display mode. More details should be expected in the near future.

The other game hinted at is still shrouded in mystery at this point. All that's known is that it is titled "Final Fantasy Tactics A2 Fuuketsu no Guurimore." We don't know what platform you can expect to see it on, but we'll keep you updated.

These two games, along with FFXII: Revenant wings, form a Trilogy that Square-Enix is calling the "Ivalice Alliance"  (Ivalice, of course, being the world both FFTactics and FFXII are set in.) With Jump's annual Festa Comic and Video game show coming up soon, we'll hopefully have a more in depth look at both of these projects for you.

[source: IGN] ...

Up until now, very little was known about Square-Enix forthcoming PSP title 'Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core' other than it would focus upon former SOLDIER Zack. Today, however, SE released the TGS 2006 trailer to the Japanese market, which sheds a bit of light onto the game. The video can be found here.

It showcases the games sumptuous graphics, and a few of the characters you can expect to see playing a part in the main story. Not only this, there is also a glimpse at the battle system, which looks to be a turn based/action fusion, similar to that found in the 'Tales' series.

First update in months and not a hint of ring-rust. Oh yeah, baby. Some of us have just got 'it'.

[Source: Kotaku] ...

A video showcasing some in game play from the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy III has been uploaded onto youtube. You can see the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzr2C7GotBU

Here. (I tried to embed the video to enable you to watch it here, but the Shin-Ra owners and staff members of this site have HTML disabled. haet.)

The video contains a short cutscene, some exploring, a set battle, a little bit more exploring, a boss fight against a Giant Tortoise creature, and a cutscene with a shiny crystal. The music that plays throughout, especially in the battle, sounds very much like the music from FFIX in it's style. It looks very promising indeed.

[Source: Joystiq] ...