I have sad news, friends. It was confirmed on August 7th that The Black Mages, the Japanese instrumental rock band formed by Nobuo Uematsu, Kenichiro Fukui, and Tsuyoshi Sekito, has disbanded. The reason for the break up is unconfirmed, but issues involving copyright and distance between band members are speculated as possible causes. Thank you for all of your great music, The Black Mages, and we hope for a possible reunion in the future.Details regarding which classes will be playable in flagship game, Final Fantasy XIV have been made available to the public. 18 classes with several subdivisions will cover what is and what is not allowed for player characters. Along with classes, the recommended hardware and software requirements for FFXIV have also been revealed. A forum thread has also been started, so come join in on the discussion.
In related news, flagship game Final Fantasy XIII has also had its fair share of PR: certain rumors have stated that based on recent company actions, FFXIII may be headed for the XBox 360 in Japan. The game is also set to have a drama CD associated with it. Drama CDs are a popular medium by which the canon of the universe may be expanded cheaply and efficiently.
Source: Classes (FFUnion, RPGFan, FFXIVCore, Forum Thread), Specs (FFUnion, Official Site), Microsoft in Japan (andriasang, FFUnion), Drama CD (andriasang, FFUnion)
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Tantalus 4 is currently running a Final Fantasy series playing marathon. The adventure started sometime yesterday, and will attempt to play through all of the single-player, primary entry games (every number except XI and XIV, a rather reasonable decision).
Come join them as they make their progress through. Discussion encouraged.
Source: Tantalus 4, Forum Thread, Forum Announcement (by Levian)
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Coming to you from the Short Notice Department: Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii will be present at Nintendo's launch event for Dragon Quest IX for the DS this Saturday, July 10th. Horii will be signing the first 30 copies of the game sold, and I imagine he'll be hanging around for photo ops and fan adulation afterwards. If you can't get an autograph from Horii, I can give you my autograph since I'll be there too. I promise it'll be worth something, someday...
Hosted at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, the event will also feature DQ music, snacks (from a Dragon Quest Ice Cream Truck!), giveaways and an opportunity to have your picture taken in a Dragon Quest themed booth. It takes place from 1pm to 4pm at the store.
Seriously though, if anyone else is going and they want to link up, the easiest way to contact me is through Twitter @JKTrix.
Details: Nintendo World Store
...The evolution of the Apple iEverything series is one way to appeal to a larger market. In this case, Crystal Defenders has been released on the App store for the iPad, going for $7.99. Though the game does not contain the title "Final Fantasy," the game features in the same continuity of FFTA2: Grimoire of the Rift. A sequel, Vanguard Storm, also exists, where both games are of the tower defense genre.
In other news, those keeping tabs on FFXIII's piano soundtrack will be able to sample some of the songs.
Meanwhile, Kingdom Hearts fans may treat themselves to the newly opened Re:Coded Official Website.
Lastly, in continuing to follow the progress of Final Fantasy XIII: Versus, Tetsuya Nomura has confirmed that many portions of the game have been finalized.
Source: Square Enix, andriasang (Piano, Re:Coded), KH Re:Coded Official Site, Magic Box, RPGFan
...Final Fantasy flagship MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV has received a release date of September 30, 2010. Come join in on the discussion in our FFXIV Forums.
Addendum: Additional information has been obtained regarding the release of FFXIV. The game will also be released in a Collector's Edition, set to release a few days earlier than the standard. The game itself will retail for a cool and reasonable $49.99; the CE retails for $74.99.
In related news, an interview with director Hiromichi Tanaka reveals that other races may feature in FFXIV. Stay tuned for more details.
Source: andriasang, RPGFan, FFUnion
...Development details about Final Fantasy XIII Agito have been revealed in an interview with Hajime Tabata, the director of the game. Agito is yet another sister title to flagship game FFXIII. Only very sparse tidbits about the game have ever been given out to the public.
In other news, gameplay screenshots of Final Fantasy XIII Versus gave surfaced, in the form of magazine scans. Accompanying the scans is yet another interview, this time with Tetsuya Nomura.
I swear, I wasn't at Niagara Falls over the weekend. And I definitely wasn't re-reading my Calvin and Hobbes collections.
More details about the Kingdom Hearts series have been collected from gaming expo, E3. One could say that pictures are worth thousands of words.
In other news, Square Enix has elected to explore a new market: the group of people that are both Final Fantasy fans and severely lacking of a candle for when the power goes out. Yes, Square Enix has decided to sell candles, but that's still better than a free set of matches at your local BP station.
Source: RPGFan (KH: BBS, KH Re: Coded, KH 3DS), FFUnion, Square Enix (I wish I were joking)
...It's actually more like Calvin and Hobbes. In the continued interest in covering majorly important gaming expo, E3, it has been discovered that a new game has been announced for the Nintendo 3DS. Chocobo Racing 3D is a follow-up to the PSX's other chocobo racing games.
In less news-like fashion and more of a commentary fashion, the transcript of a Famitsu interview with Tetsuya Nomura reveals some insight into the newest installation of the Kingdom Hearts series. Additionally, there are some first-hand experiences of FFXIV, KH: BBS, and 4 Heroes to be analyzed.
Source: Magic Box, andriasang, RPGFan (FFXIV, KH: BBS, Heroes)
...After many hours, a slew of revelations have popped up from Square Enix at gaming expo E3. But before that, it may interest some to know that FFIX is now out on the PSN. For the measly cost of $9.99, one can relive or experience this excellent game for the first time. Enjoy.
In E3 news, two new trailers for FFXIV and KH: BBS have surfaced. Both can be found on YouTube, along with respective discussion threads on our own forums.
Lastly, several Square Enix titles have been announced fpr the newly-revealed Nintendo 3DS, one for the Kingdom Hearts series, and one for flagship series, Final Fantasy.
In addition, the KH: BBS website has also been updated.
Source: RPGFan (FFIX), YouTube (FFXIV, KH: BBS), Discussion Threads (FFXIV, KH: BBS), Square Enix (KH3D), Magic Box (KH3D), FFUnion (FF N3DS), KH: BBS Official Website
...I'm afraid I can't go into detail on the contents of this flashy site since I'm stranded at my parent's house in Bermuda for a few weeks with their slow internet, but these kinds of things are always better when you look at them yourself. So, go look!
......a third person shooter called MindJack. Siliconera discovered trademarks for it last month, and now there is a trailer for you to smirk at. The whole premise is rather ridiculous. I love me some over-the-top games, but I'm not sure Squenix has it in them to make something tongue-in-cheek. This is being developed by FeelPlus (LostOdyssey), which is kind of an offshoot of Mistwalker which is kind of an offshoot of Square. Got a bit of in-breeding going on here.
Source: Siliconera
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