Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix(R) interactive entertainment products in North America, announced an updated lineup for the first quarter of 2009 today.

In addition to the previously announced STAR OCEAN(R): Second Evolution(TM) for the PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) system and STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE(TM) for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Square Enix revealed that both the remade classic, DRAGON QUEST(R) V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride(TM), and the latest entry in the VALKYRIE PROFILE(R) series, VALKYRIE PROFILE: Covenant of the Plume(TM), will be primed and ready for Nintendo DS(TM) owners come 2009.
The countdown begins today for the first offerings of an exciting new year!

STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution
Developer: SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platform: PSP system
Genre: RPG
ESRB: T (Teen)
Ship Date: January 6, 2009

Following the exploits of humankind’s journey across the stars, the STAR OCEAN saga comes to life in the completely remastered STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution, exclusively for the PSP system. Now with a revised game engine, an improved battle system and fully voiced, all-new animated scenes displayed in 16:9 widescreen, players can experience their journey through the rich STAR OCEAN universe like never before.

DRAGON QUEST V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Scenario & Game Design: Yuji Horii
Character Design: Akira Toriyama
Music Composer: Koichi Sugiyama
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Developer: ArtePiazza
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: RPG
ESRB: E10+ (Everyone 10 and older)
Ship Date: February 17, 2009

Never before released in North America, this entry in the Zenithia Trilogy follows a journey that transcends three generations. Travel alongside your father on his quest to see the world, grow to set forth on a journey of your own and face life-altering decisions as you continue your family’s legacy. DRAGON QUEST V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride makes its way to Nintendo DS on February 17, 2009.

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE
Developer: tri-Ace Inc.
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: RPG
ESRB: Not Yet Rated
Ship Date: March 3, 2009

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE is the latest entry in the futuristic STAR OCEAN series of RPGs. Science fiction and fantasy meld in this long-awaited continuation of the celebrated franchise from developer tri-Ace Inc.

VALKYRIE PROFILE: Covenant of the Plume
Developer: tri-Ace Inc.
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: RPG
ESRB: Not Yet Rated
Ship Date: March 17, 2009

Destiny by sinner sought. Tragedy by power wrought. The origins of a cult classic are revealed in VALKYRIE PROFILE: Covenant of the Plume, the third entry in the critically acclaimed VALKYRIE PROFILE series. Development studio tri-Ace returns to craft a gameplay experience that boasts a captivating storyline with ties to Norse mythology and a familiar yet refreshing battle system enhanced with deeper strategic elements. VALKYRIE PROFILE: Covenant of the Plume marks the debut of the series on Nintendo DS with its arrival on March 17, 2009.

Source: Market Watch

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Square Enix’s upcoming Nintendo DS port of its classic Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger will include a brand new ending, to go with the other umpteen different endings that the time-travel RPG featured in its original form.

In addition to the new ending (right) is a new gallery mode, which includes the following:

• Movie Theater: Watch unlocked animated scenes.
• Music Room: Listen to tracks from the game.
• Monster Data: Detailed entries on all the monsters you encounter.
• Treasure Map: Reveals treasure locations.

Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS hits stores November 20 in Japan and November 25 in North America — the European release is set for early 2009.

Source: Wired

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Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix(R) interactive entertainment products in North America, announced today that STAR OCEAN(R): First Departure(TM) for the PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) system has shipped to North American retailers.

The STAR OCEAN saga comes to life in the completely remastered STAR OCEAN: First Departure, developed exclusively for the PSP system. Featuring a revised game engine, improved battle system and fully voiced, all-new animated scenes displayed in 16:9 widescreen, players can now follow the exploits of humankind’s journey across the stars in an adventure that has never before been released to the North American audience.
With the January 6, 2009 release of STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution(TM) for the PSP system following closely behind, the first chapter in the series that has shipped over 2.8 million units worldwide is primed and ready to be reintroduced to fans across the globe.

Story
Space Date 346: The crew of a Terran Federation ship arrives on Planet Roak. With the help of a stalwart band of local heroes, the crew must work together to unravel a mystery and halt a galactic war. STAR OCEAN: First Departure marks the first time that the initial installment in the popular STAR OCEAN franchise is available in North America.

FEATURES

• A classic series evolves – The action-packed RPG experience is recreated on a handheld console for the first time
• All-new animation movies – Fully voiced animated cut-scenes presented in a gorgeous 16:9 widescreen format provided by anime powerhouse Production I.G
• Refined battle system – Intuitive skills and combo system coupled with redesigned 3-D backgrounds provide a stimulating and action-packed battle experience
• Private Action system – Interact and discover riveting episodes between characters with added voiced dialogues and brand-new event face graphics

STAR OCEAN: First Departure is rated T (Teen). Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings. STAR OCEAN: First Departure will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $39.99(USD).

Source: MarketWatch

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Low risk, high return. Companies like Square Enix have been remaking their back catalogues, much to the delight of a generation of gamers who missed them the first time around (or those who like buying things with a fresh coat of polish). Square Enix, however, has been releasing new IPs like the upcoming Last Remnant.

As imperial hot company president Yoichi Wada explains in Asashi Shimbun piece on the remake boom: “The price of games is high, and consumers tend to be wary of buying games they are unfamiliar with. Now, it’s possible for consumers to learn a great deal about the content of new titles through the internet.” Hooray for the internet! Not only can it help you find pornography, but also inform about new video games. Oh, the marvels of modern technology.

Source: Kotaku

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Japanese publisher and RPG specialist Square Enix today announced its first-half fiscal results for the period ended September 30. Net sales dipped from 72.27 billion yen to 67.97 billion yen, but net income rose to 6.05 billion yen (around $62 million).

While other Japanese publishers such as Capcom and Sega have increasingly looked to the West to expand their business, Square Enix’s results continue to be driven by domestic sales. 82 percent of sales were from Japan, compared to 10 percent for North America, seven percent for Europe/PAL and one percent for the rest of Asia and other territories. This distribution is largely unchanged from the first half of 2007.

Driving the publisher’s bottom line was the latest in the Dragon Quest franchise, which is even more popular than Final Fantasy among Japanese gamers. Dragon Quest V for DS sold a whopping 1.15 million units. Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII for PSP sold another 620,000 units bringing its lifetime sales to 1.92 million. Final Fantasy IV for DS sold 440,000 units (1.04 million lifetime). Dragon Quest IV on DS added another 260,000 units, bringing its lifetime total to 1.42 million. And Infinite Undiscovery on Xbox 360 also performed decently with 410,000 units sold.

For the full fiscal year ending next March, Square Enix expects net sales to climb more than 12 billion yen to 160 billion yen, with profits rising nearly 3 billion yen to 12 billion yen. Operating income, however, is expected to drop 520 million yen to 21 billion yen.

Source: GameDaily

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Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, announced the release date for FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo’s Dungeon just a day before its release. Featuring a loveable cast of Chocobo and his friends, the game will be available across Europe and PAL territories today, exclusively on the Nintendo Wii.

Veteran character designer Toshiyuki Itahana delivers a uniquely compelling visual world in which a cast of beloved FINAL FANTASY characters lead players through an immersive storyline. With a carefully crafted narrative and a grand mystery to unravel, FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo’s Dungeon will captivate gamers of all ages.

Players of all ages and skill levels will appreciate everything the game has to offer, from the intuitive Wii controls and adorable characters, to the intricate story and versatile job system. Throughout the game Chocobo will take on famous job classes from the FINAL FANTASY franchise such as black mage, knight, and scholar. Players can unlock more jobs as they progress through the game. The ever-changing dungeons and unexpected twists and turns offer hours of engrossing gameplay, as players explore the newest adventure in one of the world’s most popular RPG franchises.

John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Ltd. comments, “Chocobo has been a firm favorite with FINAL FANTASY fans for years.”

Source: Ds-X2

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Of all the games in the “Fabula Nova Crystallis” series, Final Fantasy Agito XIII may be the one with the least hype surrounding it. That may be misguided on the part of gamers, though, because as the latest gameplay update shows, this PSP spiritual followup to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has killer visuals, killer gameplay, and some killer (and fully controllable) summons.

The heroes of Agito are all trainees at a magic academy, each with his or her own choice of weapons physical and magical. You pick a group of three and build them up RPG-style, either playing by your lonesome or in online co-op, but the big story with this update is the summon system. Every character has the ability to cast summons in Agito, and you’ll be directly controlling the creature you summon right on the battlefield. Lots of the traditional FF summons will be appearing in Agito — screens revealed this week show Odin dismounting his horse Sleipnir and kicking ass with his sword in ways that would look rather painful if this were real life.

Agito XIII is due out 2009 worldwide.

Source: 1up

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I logged in for the first time in a month or so and there were like 200 spam comments. So now I have changed the comments system. In order to comment now, you need to register and login and you must have a previously approved comment, so once you have commented once, your comments will go through from then on. I like to see comments, but no spam ones please.

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Let’s face it- most avid gamers completely ignore mobile phone titles. They certainly can’t stand up to titles on other platforms that were designed to play games, and with all the choices available, something for your phone seems like a colossal waste of time.

Obviously, this is the primary reason why most handheld gamers weren’t all that excited when Final Fantasy Agito XIII was announced for the PSP. Most held the viewpoint of, “who cares; if it’s being made as a mobile title, how good could it be?” We would agree with that sentiment, but we’ve just learned something that should come as good news for PSP owners: according to Forever-Fantasy, Square-Enix confirmed at TGS 2008 that Agito is now exclusive to Sony’s handheld. Furthermore, the press kit they handed out makes no mention of the mobile version, which leads one to believe they’ve halted development on that version entirely. Perhaps they realized their vision simply wouldn’t work on a mobile platform…? That’s what we’re hoping for, because we’d suddenly be a lot more interested in this particular game. Given their history, we can’t see Square-Enix toning their efforts down enough to fit on a mobile device, so this is making more sense to us.

We’ll try to have more information for you over the next few months. But for now, let’s just say you shouldn’t dismiss Final Fantasy Agito XIII as a throwaway title any longer; PSP owners could be in for yet another role-playing treat.

Source: PSX Extreme

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On October 12, at the Tokyo Games Show 2008, there will be one live premiere that will surely gather ’round most – if not all – of the gamers at the said event. It’s from Square-Enix, and can you guess what it is?

That’s right, it’s the Live Premiere of Final Fantasy XIII for the PlayStation 3. The big moment will happen at the PlayStation HALL Limited Live, at exactly 4PM and will go for 45 minutes.

We have no idea what will be shown, but that only makes things more exciting. Although we’re betting it’s gonna be some real-time footage of the game, maybe this time with some action scenes. The first day of the TGS, Square-Enix showed real time footage from the game, with Noctic and Stella talking withough any voice acting.

We’ll keep you updated on this one as more news comes rolling in.

Source: PS3 QJ.net

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