EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: finalfantasyxiii
Final Fantasy XIII upheld the series’ high standards in the graphical department, but there was little in the way of player choice outside of battle. There were no sprawling, non-player character-filled towns to explore and few side-quests to complete. In short, the game was a linear, lifeless affair to many long-time Final Fantasy fans.
The bigwigs behind FFXIII are hoping to right these wrongs in the upcoming sequel for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In a video interview conducted during E3 2011 by GameTrailers, director Motomu Toriyama and veteran producer Yoshinori Kitase talk about the multiple changes they have wrought upon the sequel.
[Update] Added English version of the trailer below. [End of Update]
When Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII would receive a follow-up in the form of Final Fantasy XIII-2, things got a little… crazy.
And by crazy, I mean people started unofficially releasing a low quality trailer for the game, shown during Square Enix’s announcement event.
Us gamers sure know how to live it up!
Now that the extreme party has settled down a bit, an official, high quality version of that trailer has been released (as opposed to ‘leaked’), and you can watch it below:
[Update] Added new information, including release window data, the first official screenshot, and a teaser trailer below. [End of Update]
After a tornado of rumours hit the ‘net earlier this year hinting regarding the existence of a sequel to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII, the publisher has recently gone and officially announced that a follow-up to that RPG is currently in development.
Bad news for Final Fantasy XIII fans looking forward to continued game support from Square Enix – it looks as though the company has cancelled plans for future downloadable content (DLC).
According to the game’s director, Motomu Toriyama, while speaking to Japanese game magazine Famitsu:
Square Enix has released its full fiscal year financial results for the 12 months ending March 31st, and things are looking good for the Japanese publishing giant, as sales rose 42 percent over the year previous, up to $2.07 billion (¥192 billion) as profits climbed 50 percent to $102.8 million (¥9.5 billion)
This record performance for the company was stewarded by excellent market performance by titles released last year, as five Square Enix games sold over one million units apiece, while Final Fantasy XIII sold over five million copies.
God of War III has released in the UK this past week to claim the top spot on Chart Track’s Software Sales chart for the region, crushing the likes of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Final Fantasy XIII ‘neath its boot.
Chart Track reminds us that this is the second time Sony Computer Entertainment has enjoyed some time at the top of the UK sales chart this year, as Heavy Rain attained the same position some three weeks ago, after Killzone 2 also managed to reach No. 1 in 2009.
After releasing on March 9th, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII has managed to sell an impressive one million units in North America alone during its first five days on sale, making it the biggest first-week launch in the history of the franchise, the publisher says.
It’s the thirteenth Final Fantasy and it’s most likely anything but the final one if history means anything. And after so many games in a series well known for each game being completely different while remaining recognizable as a series, has Square Enix been able to keep things interesting? I would say yes, definitely, but not quite as interesting as they might have.
There’s so much to say about Final Fantasy XIII, but I’ll offer this brief synopsis first: fast battles and a great battle system, interesting setting, mediocre script, incredible cut-scene animation, breathtaking creature designs, all-over-the-place voice acting, varied characters (some you’ll enjoy, some you’ll be annoyed by), minimal variation in gameplay rhythms, beautiful varied music, uninteresting leveling-up system, mediocre equipment upgrading system, impressive bosses, great graphics and art design.
Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Final Fantasy XIII.
As is to be expected (it’s only the middle of March after all), newly released videogame titles are constantly jostling for position in sales charts and bragging rights, breaking sales records left and right in different regions around the world, and the UK sales chart is no different, constantly crowning a new ‘fastest selling’ title almost every week.
Last week, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 snatched the honour away from Aliens VS Predator, which had in turn taken the crown from Bioshock 2 (which had been stolen from Mass Effect 2). According to Chart Track, which game is the new fastest selling title in the UK for 2010 so far?
Why, the newly released Final Fantasy XIII, of course!
In its debut week on sale, Final Fantasy XIII has managed to shoot straight to the top of Chart Track’s UK Software Sales Chart to become the top selling game in the region, ahead of last week’s No. 1, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and chart stalwart Just Dance.
Square Enix has announced that its latest blockbuster RPG, Final Fantasy XIII, has shipped over 5 million units worldwide, with the North American and European releases of the game accounting for over half of the total this week.
I’m not even going to say it. I’m not even going to try to engage you in ‘witty’ banter, and point out that, once again, we’re trying to compare the graphical fidelity of a single game across multiple platforms, and suss out which of the consoles is ‘superior’ based on such skin-deep perceptions.
Oh, I guess I just did…
Watch the Final Fantasy XIII graphics comparison video below, where you’ll be able to see the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game going head-to-head in selected scenes, and try to spot the differences between the two. Get out your microscopes:
Sony Computer Entertainment is giving gamers a bit of an extra incentive to pick up Final Fantasy XIII (which launched today) on the PS3 today, as it’s been announced on the US PlayStation Blog that if you choose to do so, you’ll not only get a secret in-game item for Final Fantasy XIV, but your chances of entering the beta for that game will increase by… a margin of sorts. From the post:
The day has finally come: Today, Final Fantasy XIII launches around the world on PS3 and Xbox 360, into the clamouring, sweaty palms of series fans everywhere.
Square Enix is keen to remind us that Final Fantasy XIII “marks the dawning of a new era” for the Final Fantasy series, and has been created by seasoned veterans of the franchise with the likes of producer Yoshinori Kitase, director Motomu Toriyama, character designer Tetsuya Nomura, art director Isamu Kamikokuryo, musician Masashi Hamauzu and movie director Takeshi Nozue all serving to build on the “rich tradition of the series.”
Square Enix Ltd., a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. announced earlier this month that it has renewed its distribution partnership with Nu Metro Interactive of South Africa.
The partnership will see Nu Metro Interactive continue to distribute Square Enix published digital entertainment in South Africa. Export Director at Square Enix Europe, Justin Gaffney said of the agreement:
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