News

The last time I had an update on the A New World concert series was ten whole months ago, but today Square Enix announced five new dates for the new year. Three of the shows are new to the series this year.

• Kansas City, Kansas: March 11
• Seattle, Washington: March 25
• Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois: May 21
• Atlanta, Georgia: May 28
• Portland, Oregon: June 3

The new dates will be in Seattle, Atlanta, and Portland, and the concerts will take place in conjunction with local conventions in Kansas City, Rosemont, and Atlanta. Benyamin Nuss is listed as the featured pianist for all but the KCK show, and Eric Roth (Arnie Roth's son) will conduct all five.

Apologies for being so far behind on news again - I've been swallowed up with other projects for most of January so far. I hear that Square Enix have a big announcement planned for tomorrow, though, so I'll be on the lookout for that!

Source: A New World

I must have missed an email earlier today, because I found out via a sponsored post on Facebook that Distant Worlds is coming to my area again, for their first ever show in New Orleans. I've already secured my tickets, so now my daughter will get her first-ever taste of Distant Worlds too!

There are quite a few new shows that have been announced since I last posted about Distant Worlds - here's your list.

• Newark, New Jersey: January 28
• Omaha, Nebraska: February 3
• Montreal, Quebec: February 11
• Seattle, Washington: March 26
• New Orleans, Louisiana: March 31
• Madrid, Spain: April 29
• Barcelona, Spain: April 30
• Amsterdam, Netherlands: May 4
• Dusseldorf, Germany: May 6
• Milan, Italy: May 12
• Zurich, Switzerland: May 13
• Edmonton, Alberta: May 20
• Calgary, Alberta: May 21
• Salt Lake City, Utah: June 3

New Orleans, all of the European dates, both Canadian dates, and Salt Lake City are all new locations never before visited by the Distant Worlds tours. However, Nobuo Uematsu fans will be disappointed by the dates announced so far this year, as he is currently confirmed to attend only Newark.

Is anyone getting a chance to go now thanks to a closer venue? I just commented recently that I was surprised that they'd never come to NOLA before, and I'm glad to have a chance to be there for the local debut!

Source: Distant Worlds

It's been out three weeks already! And the standard edition is, today (only?) at the cut-rate cost of $34.99 for both XBox One and PlayStation 4.

http://amzn.to/2gXTPJ6

Yeah, okay, this isn't huge news, perhaps I can get some more of that together today, but it's a pretty sweet sale for a game that is brand new and pretty well-reviewed. I just ordered my copy!

After the announcement of the Switch in October, the new Nintendo console hasn't made many appearances. That will change in a big way in just over a month with a two-part Switch event, culminating in the console's first appearance on Western shores.

First, though, on January 12, there will be a streamed presentation called the "Tokyo Webcast," with investors and media live and in person but with the stream presented globally (though, mind, there's no confirmation yet that the stream will also be public). In any event, the price and exact release date are expected to be announced at this time.

The next day, January 13, the Switch will appear in New York. There are no details yet as to what further specifics will appear in this second showing, so it may simply be a new media event for people to get hands-on experience with the console who can't fly to Tokyo. No matter what, we should expect to see plenty of new information that week and will know when to expect preorders to be waiting at our local stores.

Source: Polygon

The time has come. If you weren't the beneficiary of someone accidentally providing the game early, today is the day that Final Fantasy XV is on the shelves of your local retailer or arriving in your mailbox from your preorder. What a long, strange trip it's been, to quote someone with whom I share virtually no aspects of my life.

Because this game isn't your run of the mill release, the information hasn't stopped coming just because the game is playable by the public, no sir. There's a new trailer - yes, a trailer for a game that is out now - with a surprising soundtrack and a mysterious mobile phone call, among other impressive sights and sounds. Square Enix Japan also did one final Active Time Report overnight, which Siliconera provides to us with a nice set of English subtitles. It's full of weirdness that is better seen yourself, but suffice to say that Prompto has a blast at a special party for the game's release and that Yosuke Matsuda, Squenix CEO, pops in to say hello.

And how are the reviews? Solid. Of course, that won't matter to anyone who is convinced that there hasn't been an actual Final Fantasy game since the year 2000, but it is what it is, right?

After a decade, we're actually going to get this game: Final Fantasy XV has now gone gold. Of course, going gold doesn't really mean as much as it did back in the days where every game was on a cartridge or a pressed CD; just because the game's now ready for distribution doesn't mean that there won't be a big day-one patch waiting for you early adopters to download before starting. Even so, though, this is a huge step for Square Enix' flagship franchise and the gamers who are waiting for it.

Since they were announcing that anyway, hey, why not some announcements on DLC and a new trailer? For the former, the XV team announced that there will be DLC scenarios for each non-Noctis party member to have an adventure outside of the main story and collect items and treasures, as well as co-op DLC in which you can play scenarios with partners. For the trailer, Square Enix partnered with Digic Pictures, the company behind Kingsglaive, to produce a new four-and-a-half minute trailer, called "Omen." It's a bit of a stunner - catch it below.

Also, today I learned that the ESRB has put a "T" on Final Fantasy XV, in part due to "partial nudity." So, that's a thing. Reminder, the game will be released here a month from this coming Saturday.

Source: Siliconera