News

On the heels of Elena99's recent news update concerning new FFXII screenshots, Square Enix has released another trailer for the title. This one is a bit longer than the previous one, lasting a lengthy 7-plus minutes.

The good folks at Games_Are_Fun are hosting the video. Pay their site a visit and check out the video.

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I didn't watch the entire video (short attention span++), but the parts that I did see looked great. There seemed to be FMV footage. I'm starting to look forward to the title. The video is quite grainy if the size is increased as the video only weighs in around 15 MBs.

As the release date approaches, we're getting more and more news on the next non-online FF game; FFXII. Courtesy of RPGamer , here are Eight New Screenshots of various scenes, mostly two of the characters, and One New Artwork of the character Pannero.

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I like how the game is looking so far. Although one of those characters still looks like Tidus, the others look interesting. The style of graphics doesn't seem to be too much of a leap from FFX and FFX-2, and it looks like the technology is about the same.

According to IMDb.com , there is now a hint of a plot available for Advent Children, the DVD only sequel to FF7. From the site itself:

"Plot Outline: Two years after Cloud & Co. saved the world from Sephiroth, the citizens of the planet begin suffering from a strange sickness called Seikon-Shoukougun. Meanwhile, Cloud has secluded himself, and is being haunted by demons in his past." (IMDb.com)

There are more plot details on the site itself, as well as Japanese voice actors.

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An expansion pack for FFXI is coming out this fall, called Chains of Promathia. According to the press release found at playonline.com , it will change FFXI in "ways not before imagined".

Source: World Wide Gaming Alliance

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It's nice to see that the online world of FFXI is still healthy and growing.

According to RPGamer, Nintendo has reportedly asked Square Enix to produce a new version of Final Fantasy III for the Game Boy Advance. As the story suggests, Final Fantasy III hasn't seen the light of day since the original Famicom release - the Wonderswan Color version was badly hampered by the premature demise of the system.

Final Fantasy III has never been released in the United States. However, if there's a GBA version done in Japan, there's very little stopping it from coming here. The GBA, unlike the WSC, has brand identity and a stranglehold on the portable gaming market. Given the massive brand appeal of the Final Fantasy franchise and the novelty of the particular title, it seems reasonable that we could finally have a full official translation of this poor forgotten game sooner than we thought.

Full Metal Alchemist, an excellent anime by Square Enix that has not yet been licenced outside of Japan, has another game based off of it for the GameBoy Advanced.

Although release dates are only set for Japan as of yet, for this summer, it will hopefully come to this continent not long after that.

There are 12 new screenshots courtesy of RPGamer that look promising, showing mostly battle scenes. This game and anime may not be as well known as, say, the Final Fantasy series, but it is definitely worth the attention as a Square Enix game.

Source: RPGamer

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I'm a big fan of the anime series Full Metal Alchemist, and even though I have no plans to get a GBA, I would definitely love to play this game.