Games Cheats and Reviews

Microsoft has announced the official release date for Alan Wake, which won’t be too far off of the European and North American launch dates.

With the highly-anticipated Final Fantasy XIII making it’s retail debut in Japan last week, enthusiasm for the title is unsurprisingly at an all time high. Though the Japanese release was limited to a single format, the forthcoming European and North American launch will see both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 graced with Square Enix’s latest title in the bloodline of the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy series, and to that end the publisher has decided to appease English speaking fans with a brand new Final Fantasy XIII Fact Sheet.

How much do you love Final Fantasy? How big of a fan of Final Fantasy XIII are you before the game even comes out?

If the answer to either of these questions is a lot or quite a bit, Square Enix has you covered with the massive selection of merchandise they’re preparing to ship alongside, before and after the game’s Japanese release.

UFFSite has a guide to what’s coming and links to import if you’re so inclined.

With the Japanese release still to come, New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks set to become the third fastest-selling Wii game to date with some strong sales – Wii hardware also sees large increases

4 videos of the Final Fantasy XIII’s Premiere Party speeches have been posted on Gametrailers.com: the release date announcement, the Final Fantasy XIII elixir announcement and the 2 speeches of Kaz Hirai and Yoshinori Kitase/Motomu Toriyama. Sadly the videos don’t include any new footage but they include a rather surprising announcement that was misunderstood by several gaming sites:

Yoshinori Kitase:

"In the past it would be six months to almost a year after the initial release in Japan, so we’re hoping to narrow the margin down. We hope it will only be three months after the Japanese release."

With English translations and voice acting as well as French and German translation already completed, I think this is highly possible. Of course Square Enix said in the past that the game needs to be released after April 2010 to fit in their fiscal year but for such a big title they might make an exception isn’t it?

IGN: Last week, the appearance of NieR in Famitsu under the name NieR Gestalt caused some concern for PS3 owners. The issue wasn’t the name — it was that the game was listed exclusively for the Xbox 360.

Many assumed that the game, announced at E3 as a multiplatform title, had been cancelled on PS3, something which Square Enix’s international offices denied. Today, with the arrival of a new Famitsu, we can confirm that NieR is still on the way for PS3 release — only it may be an entirely different game from the 360 version.

PS3 will be getting NieR RepliCant, a game that was teased through an ad in last week’s Famitsu. As with Gestalt, the game is in development at Drakengard studio Cavia for Japanese release in 2010.

OneLastContinue: "Dissidia: Universal Tuning will launch in Japan on November 1st, a month after the PSPgo hits stores. Because of this, the game will be available both as a downloadable title and on UMD disc; early adopters and importers won’t be too screwed over, though, as their saves from the initial Japanese release will in fact be compatible with Universal Tuning. One piece of advice though, Square; it’s not exactly cool to announce a Japan-only "superior version" of one of your games the week before it launches in the US. It tends to annoy people."

FinalFantasy-XIII.net: A day before it was supposed to be announced, Square-Enix has began an online ad campaign which displays the Japanese release date for Final Fantasy XIII.

The biggest soundtrack box set in the history of game music will be hitting Japan this week, dedicated entirely to Square Enix’s SaGa series. OSV got their hands on the box set ahead of the Japanese release and has an unpacking video of the 21-disc set. It retails for $220, and will likely be a limited print, so be sure to pick it up before it’s gone.

GamingBolt.com writes: "Square Enix have announced that the highly anticipated Kingdom of Hearts: Birth by Sleep will be released on the Playstation Portable between December 2009 February 2010. However release dates for North America and Europe have yet to be announced."