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With the 20th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series just a few weeks behind us, it's high time we had something great to mark the milestone. I'm not talking about a $40 rerelease of the original game--I want something to sum up and celebrate the entire series.

And now, thanks to a PM from Ronin, I have something specific to lust after. Square-Enix has released a 20th anniversary book to collect information and images from the past two decades worth of Final Fantasy games. For about 23 USD + shipping, Amazon will send you 207 pages of images, interviews, and never-before-released content.

Of course, you'd have to be able to read Japanese to fully appreciate the content. This book joins the long list of Square merchandise that is solely, or at least primarily, available to Japanese customers. If you want to feel better about that, go to the product page and make up comments to go with those 2/5 stars reviews.

Thanks again to Ronin for the heads up!

Source: QJ.net

The fourth main-series entry in Tri-Ace's series of RPG space odysseys is in the works, according to a recent article in Famitsu magazine. Evidently SO4 has been in production for quite a long time - the storyboards are already finished and most of the basics of the battle system are already in place. More information will be revealed at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show,

Unfortunately, one object of concern was missing from the Famitsu article - the platform on which Star Ocean 4 will be playable. The source article stated that SO4 will be on a system "capable of displaying beautiful visuals," but this is too vague a statement to make any conclusions.

But console concerns aside, the article reveals some promising details. The battle system is to be made in the Star Ocean tradition and characters and races from earlier games are confirmed to make appearances. Assistant producer Hajime Kojima stated that the previous games never felt like a true star ocean - Star Ocean 4 will feature outer space segments, spaceship battles, and a huge world containing several planets instead of only two or three. The game's protagonist is a blonde boy named Edge Maverick, and the game's principal heroine is his childhood friend Reimi.

There is currently no release date, no platform, and virtually no other information regarding Star Ocean 4 at this time - at least until we learn more at the Tokyo Game Show on the 20th of September.

Source: RPGFan

Last Monday, Square-Enix launched an English-language online store full of merchandise dedicated to various games. Most of the merch seems to be figurines, jewelry, and other accessories. This marks the first time that many of these items are available directly to the US market, if at hilariously high prices.

Source:
RPGFan
The Store

Square-Enix's penchant for remaking their most popular games has been obvious since Final Fantasy III appeared in glorious 3D on the Nintendo DS. In fact, all of the 8- and 16- bit have found their way onto one of Nintendo's handhelds, with a totally new remake of FFIV also on its way. With our favorite series apparently tapped out, what's next?

The answer is SE's other RPG series: Dragon Quest.

According to screenshots from Shonen Jump, remakes are underway for Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI. It appears that graphics will be redone in the vein of FFIII/FFIV.

Will these games make it out of Japan? Square-Enix isn't saying. The series has never been as popular in the United States as it is in Japan, but some of the more obscure series titles have made its way here--Rocket Slime is already available on the DS, with a Wii title and another DS title on the way. Until we have a press release, though, here's hoping!

Source: GameSpot

Namco Bandai's flagship franchise of RPGs, the Tales Of series, just got a bit more crowded. Earlier today we learned of a new entry to the series on the DS, a highly-anticipated sequel on the Wii, a director's cut of a recent remake, and a port to the PSP.

First off is Tales of Innocence for the DS. The game will ship in Japan before 2007 ends, and is being made by the same team that makes the Radiant Mythology games. Also, the DS has been declared officially as the "lead platform" for the Tales Of series, so we can assume to see a great many more DS Tales games in the future; hopefully they won't be made in the tradition of 2006's universally panned Tales of the Tempest.

In addition to Tales of Innocence, there was an announcement for a director's cut of the PS2 remake of Tales of Destiny, which began life as the second game in the Tales series and the first on the Playstation. We don't know what new features will be present in this re-release of a remake, and it's hard to say when we will; the game has an unspecified 2008 release date in Japan.

Thirdly, there was an announcement for a PSP port of Tales of Rebirth, a 2004 PS2 game that never had a Western localization. ToR is notable for being the first Tales game to use fewer bright colors and more realistic character anatomy than most of its predecessors; design-wise, it essentially bridges the gap between the art styles of Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. There is no announcement yet for a Western release of this PSP port, but it is also scheduled for an unspecified 2008 release date in Japan.

Lastly, Namco Bandai announced a sequel that is sure to excite many Tales fans: Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk for the Nintendo Wii. It is set to take place two years after the events of Tales of Symphonia with in the same world, but starring two new main characters. It is unknown what roles the original cast of Tales of Symphonia will play, but it is safe to assume that they won't be completely absent from the game.

So that's four new games announced from this well-milked franchise, including a new stand-alone title and a sequel to one of the series' most popular entries. 2008 looks to be a very busy year for Tales Of.

Source: RPGamer

In the latest tidbit regarding Final Fantasy IV DS, Square Enix has opened auditions to find a vocalist for the game's title song, Theme of Love.

Auditions are open to anyone 18 and older, regardless of gender and experience. Applicants are required to send in a basic profile, self introduction, photo, and demo tape. And, in the spirit of the auditions, Theme of Love composer Nobuo Uematsu as well as Final Fantasy IV Director Takashi Tokita have recorded their thoughts and discussions regarding the topic of love. Radio streams of this discussion are available on Square Enix's website.


Sources:
GA Graphic
Dengeki Online

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I'm tempted to record a demo tape and send it in. Too bad (or, good thing) I'm very aware of how awful my singing voice is. :P

Nonetheless, this seems a magnanimous choice for Square Enix to make. I'd imagine any FFIV fan, diehard or not, would be thrilled to have their own voice gracing the title sequence of the game. And therefore Square is sure to amass quite a few entires to work through after their July 31 deadline.

On another note, and as a followup to one of our previous FFIV DS newsposts, a few more Shonen Jump scans of the FFIV DS teaser pages are available at French gaming site JeuxFrance.