News

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, the PSP prequel to FF VII starring Zack Fair, is selling awfully well for only a week on the market. According to VGChartz (linked below), Crisis Core sold approximately 350,000 units on its first day and an additional 100,000+ units in the following week - VGChartz admits that these estimates, while impressive, are still probably lower than the true numbers. And These sales figures don't include the special limited-edition 77,777 units sold along with a customized new-model PSP, bringing the total to a minimum number of 527,000.

There is still no confirmed release in North America or Europe for Crisis Core, but once it's announced it should be posted here shortly after. With sales numbers like those in Japan and FF VII's popularity in the United States, it's a foregone conclusion that we'll see it eventually.

Source: VGChartz, via Digg.com

Square-Enix's official website for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII recently updated, giving us a great deal of new information. The game takes places seven years before Final Fantasy VII, when Shinra is gaining influence in the world by controlling the planet's supply of Mako energy. Sephiroth, Zack, and a third SOLDIER named Angeal Hewley are dispatched to Wutai in order to investigate the mysterious disappearance of another SOLDIER unit and also to resolve the military situation taking place there. Many other characters from Final Fantasy VII, including Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris, are confirmed to be in the game, but their role in the plot is unclear as of yet.

So that's all. Crisis Core does not have a confirmed release date, but is slated to be released in Japan later this year.

Sources:
Crisis Core's official website
RPGfan

The title says it all. You can see the full list here. Virtually every cast member from Kingdom Hearts 2 that portrayed an FF VII character has been recast in Advent Children. I say KH 2 rather than the original because Lance Bass (Sephiroth) and Mandy Moore (Aeris) declined to reprise their roles in the much-hyped and critcally acclaimed sequel, and have been replaced by George Newbern and Mena Suvari, respectively.

Also, the US release date was finally confirmed to be April 26th, 2006. The date is fairly concurrent with what Square-Enix had announced earlier this year. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will be a 2-disc set released to DVD and UMD and has an estimated price of around $26.85 at release.

Source: RPGamer

The world certainly is full of oddities. Gackt, a very popular singer in Japan, recently reached an agreement with Square-Enix concerning the game Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. More specifically, the deal entails the following:

• Gackt will provide music for the game, including two songs entitled 'Redemption' and 'Longing'.
• He'll be reserved a place in the game itself as an "important character". Instead of using a CG likeness, Gackt will be filmed by a camera and then entered among the computer generated scenes.
• Gackt will receive a custom clothing design by illustrator Tetsuya Nomura, and he'll be able to wear the same outfit on his next concert tour.

This won't be the first time Gackt has had a major part in a video game title; he starred in the main role in the beat-em-up Bujingai: The Forsaken City last year and has served as the physical inspiration behind a number of other characters. It's currently unknown just what significance Gackt's presence will have in the game, especially with Dirge of Cerberus only three months away from its January 26th launch date.

Source: Games Are Fun

Since its Japanese release on September 14th, Square-Enix's Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the movie continuation to the critically acclaimed RPG, has sold over 700,000 copies. In addition, it's been reported by the company that the limited edition DVD Box and first print limited edition have all been sold out, and the UMD version is also selling very strongly, although its offical sales numbers were not announced.

This overwhelming popularity has served to encourage Square-Enix to surpass this success in the future, according to the CG movie's producer Shinji Hashimoto, who added that expectations for the North American and European releases are extremely high.

Source: RPGFan

Advent Children has been given an official Japanese release date of September 14, 2005. Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Final Fantasy VII digitally animated movie sequel, announced the date and promised that the movie will experience no further delays. US release is expected to closely follow that of Japan.

According to previous announcements from Sony Computer Entertainment, Advent Children will be available in DVD and the Sony-PSP-friendly "UMD" formats. It will carry a price tag of 4,800 yen ($44-$48) in Japan. No word has yet been given on a US price tag.

This will be Tetsuya Nomura's first feature-length film, though he has long been affiliated with Square Enix and the Final Fantasy series. Nomura has worked on character design and graphics for such games as Final Fantasy X and Chrono Trigger, as well as the original Final Fantasy VII.

Further information may be found at Square Enix's Official Advent Children Site and the unofficial AdventChildren.net.