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Courtesy of an interview with EuroGamer.net, Dragon Quest (or, for those who care little about the continuity of titles, Dragon Warrior) producer Yuji Horii, like many other series heads before him - including Konami's Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima - made it evident at an event held in London last week to commemorate the launch of Square-Enix's largely successful Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King that his reaction toward the prototype controller for Nintendo's up-and-coming Revolution console could be summarized as something more than slightly thrilled, as described by the site's attending journalists.

When prompted by a question regarding the Revolution's controller, Yuji Horii divulged quite a bit of eagerness in response: "I loved the fact that it was interactive, that you do something and you get feedback." According to Horii, a novel concept behind the greatest video game would involve complete interactivity and dictate that consequences are received from the player's every action. Because of the Revolution controller's function, the interactivity isn't limited simply to the gameplay, but extends to the hardware itself. "You do something, and it reacts to you," he stated. "It's human nature that to have some feedback from your actions is rewarding."

So what does all this toying with the idea really amount to? Frankly, the details are too few to draw a solid conclusion, but not too vague to speculate. Oddly enough, the question "Are there any plans to release this title (Dragon Quest VIII) on different platforms or game consoles?" that sprung up on the event's press notes was met with a curious "TBA" (To Be Announced) printed next to it, although nothing yet is confirmed.

The highest selling series in Japan, the very last major Dragon Quest title to be released on a Nintendo console was in 1995, and it's been even less recent for gamers outside its country of origin. But whether or not it's by a gambler's chance, an emergence of the Dragon Quest series on the Revolution may very well have its potential.

Sources: CVG
EuroGamer

Yesterday, the 2006 International Cosumer Electronics Show began its weekend-long run of exhibits of all of the latest and upcoming consumer electronics that will make noise in 2006. As all of the show-goers expected, Sony had a fairly extensive PS3 presentation, including both black and silver console designs and blu-ray technology demonstrations.

However, noticeably missing in the display was the PS3's controller (shown here). The absence of what was originally thought to be a finished product of the controller strongly suggests that Sony took it back to the drawing board. The PS3's controller was widely criticized for a probable lack of comfort and its bizarre shape (often mockingly referred to as a "batarang"), particularly when the PS2's DualShock 2 controllers were so widely popular and successful.

This move is surprising for anyone that made the reasonable assumption of thinking that the batarang was the final build of the PS3 controller. All of the negative criticism of said batarang and the widespread praise of the XBox 360 controller (shown here) appeared to cause Sony to panic somewhat and begin work anew on the controller for the enigmatic PS3.

The PS3 is scheduled for a 2006 release, but the second-quarter release date seems even more unlikely now, with rumors of buggy development kits and this new supposed redesigning of the controller.

Sources
Punch Jump, via digg.com

Mother creator Shigesato Itoi has revealed on his official news site that his much beloved RPG series is far from dead, contrary to some fan speculation. In fact, its third title, Mother 3, is expected to see a release on the Game Boy Advance this coming spring!

This news provides quite a surprise given how long Mother 3 has been in the making, as well as how long it's seemingly been cancelled. Fans no doubt remember the title as the series' formerly intended 3D debut, originally announced for the Nintendo 64 - a few years prior to the console's launch - as a follow-up to the largely successful Mother 2 (known as EarthBound in North America). Hopefully the third chapter will now see the light of day, although no official word concerning the game has yet been made by Nintendo.

Spring 2006 is likely the date reserved for the game's Japanese release - so far there's no mention of a North American or European date.

Source: GameScience

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

Famitsu magazine recently revealed new details concerning the two latest Mana games: Seiken Densetsu 4 and Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana.

The former, according to producer Koichi Ishii, will feature the Havok physics engine used in many recent games including Half-Life 2 and Max Payne 2. The engine will allow for innovative interaction with surrounding environments and objects, giving the feel of a much more realistic world, Ishii hopes. Titles on both the PlayStation 2 and XBox gaming systems have experienced the depth of the Havok engine in the past, as has the PC, but the console on which Seiken Densetsu 4 will be launched has yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, several story, battle and character details from the upcoming Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana have been announced in spades.

The game begins on an island located at the very center of the world, known as Illuja Island, where the familiar Mana Tree has stood since the beginning of time. But an unspecified disaster strikes, killing many residents of Illuja. Three young survivors manage to gather at the base of the Mana Tree, and their adventure begins.

The heroes of the game consist of the following:

• Frick: A young man who, many years prior to the disaster, was rescued by a wandering swordsman who inspired him to learn swordsmanship for himself. Frick's attitude is quite upbeat and cheerful, but his whole family is killed in the disaster on the island.
  
• Tumble: A former dancer and acrobat for a traveling circus, Tumble is very mature for her age, enough to cause others to believe she's much older than she actually is. Both her parents and her brother are killed in the island's disaster.
  
• Pop: A fearless and laid back individual, Pop often speaks and acts before he thinks. Although this leads others to think he's immature, he despises being treated like anything other than an adult. Pop's father dies in the disaster, but his mother passed away years before when giving birth.

The game will once again feature many of the battle traits present in the previous titles. Among the weapons included in Children of Mana, the sword, bow, and flail have been confirmed. The former two will function as normal while the flail will have the added advantage of longer range attacks than the sword and the ability to grapple far off enemies and objects. The length of the main quest itself is estimated to be around 25-30 hours.

Development is currently 60% complete and is scheduled to be finished just in time for its Japanese release sometime this winter. No word yet on a North American release date, but the title Children of Mana has been trademarked by Square-Enix in the US.

(Thanks go out to href="http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/forums/ipb/index.php?showuser=529">laszlow for the links)

Source: RPGamer
Children of Mana Details

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