Final fantasy: Concept art for a Wii HD version of Crysis.
(Credit: vgoboxart.com)This isn't the first time we've heard rumors about a new Wii HD coming in 2011, but when the head of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, predicts it, you tend to pay more attention. Wada, whose company is behind the uber popular Final Fantasy franchise, was recently interviewed by the Financial Times and had some interesting comments about a potential Wii HD, as well as the future of motion controllers.
Not surprisingly, Wada predicts the new Wii will feature similar graphics capabilities as the current PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles (why the Wii doesn't at least have an HDMI connection at this point seems ridiculous). While he thinks Nintendo will bring out a brand new motion controller, his more biting comments were reserved for Microsoft's and Sony's upcoming motion-enabled systems. He largely dismissed them.
"Present game machines already have a lot of functions: they are a network terminal, a Blu-ray or DVD player, and a gaming machine. Compared to these three pillars, the (new motion) controllers are quite limited, so the impact may be small," Wada said.
I tend to agree with Wada. Then again, I think the whole motion controller thing is pretty gimmicky at this point, with so few Wii games out there that are truly enhanced by using a motion control scheme.
What do you guys think? Is the Wii destined for tepid sales for the next couple of years, even with a price drop to $199? Or is 2011 the prefect time to come out with a new system?
(Source: Gizmodo via Joystiq via the Financial Times)
Let's say you're interested in getting together with a few people and creating a video game. Now let's say said game is a sequel to a known, copyrighted property and you'd be using assets from the original game. Logic dictates at this point that you'd get permission from the copyright owner doesn't it?
A screen from the original Chrono Trigger, developers of a sequel have gotten a cease-and-desist letter.
(Credit: GameSpot)Last week, Square Enix, maker of the original Chrono Trigger--an RPG originally released for the SNES in 1995 that garnered a huge cult following--sent a cease-and-desist letter (PDF) to a team of developers who'd been working on a "true" sequel to the game dubbed Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes. (The followup to the first game, called Chrono Cross, did not continue the storyline from the original game; thus the general consensus among fans was that it was not a true sequel).
The letter was sent just a few weeks before Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes was to be released.
In the letter, the team is instructed to stop all development and destroy all materials relating to Crimson Echoes, and not to release the ROM.
Created by a team of fans using Chrono Trigger sprites (2D graphics), Crimson Echoes has been in development for four and a half years.
I know I have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight here, but really, in all probability, this had to be one of the more likely scenarios, right? I'm sure the team made the game out of love for the property and knew there was a chance this could happen. Similar projects, however have been completed and released, so why not this one? Who knows really, but I'm sure every company would have their own reaction to something like this. Just sad to see four and a half years of work go spinning down the drain.
I hope the developers can take what they've learned while developing their title and apply it elsewhere--hopefully an original property or something they get permission to make beforehand.
I feel for the fans who were anticipating this, though. Seriously, if there was a fan-made true sequel to the first Phantasy Star that got canceled weeks before release, I'd be pretty irked too.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Yes, you read it right. The new game called Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes is for the iPod, not the iPhone. In this role-playing game, you are the protagonist Ziggy who goes on a quest to save his brother from the evil Mechanical Militia. Along the way, warriors created from the songs in your iPod can be summoned to fight your battles.
According to Square Enix's press release, the game is controlled by the click wheel (what else is there, anyway?) and is said to be as easy as selecting music. It's slated for release today at the iTunes Store at $4.99 per download and can be played on the iPod Nano with video, iPod Classic, and fifth-generation iPod.
(Source: Crave Asia)
The box of doom?
(Credit: CNET)As I've mentioned before, I believe Sony is in for a rude awakening with its PlayStation 3. The company's expectation that video game consumers will flock to the PS3 because of its technical prowess was disastrously incorrect, and the notion that Sony can sell hardware that is too expensive and difficult to develop for is something it has yet to address.
And while some Sony fanatics have called me biased, I assure you, I'm not alone in my assertion that very little can save Sony and the PlayStation 3.
Yoichi Wada, president of game publisher Square Enix, told reporters Friday that Sony must change its strategy if it wants to see the release of the PlayStation 4. According to Wada, "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine. (The future of the PS3) would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up."
The verdict is in: one of the most important video game developers in the business is saying the PS3 is in trouble. Isn't that enough for Sony to overhaul its entire strategy?
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior for you NES-era gamers) might be the dopey little brother of Final Fantasy in America, but it's one of the most popular franchises over in Japan. 2005's Editors' Choice-winning Dragon Quest VIII helped renew American interest in the series--and with Dragon Quest IX on the way to the Nintendo DS, it's clear that Square-Enix isn't planning on letting the beloved franchise go with anything less than global enthusiasm.
Square-Enix has just revealed that even more Dragon Quest titles are on the way to the DS. The company is remaking Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI for Nintendo's portable. Their graphics and gameplay will be enhanced, much like the Final Fantasy III and upcoming Final Fantasy IV remakes. They'll probably be individual game releases, but I wouldn't yet rule out a multigame card, like Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. We'll see what happens when Square-Enix reveals more details about the games.
(Credit:
Newlaunches)
Call us old-fashioned, but we'd think twice before ingesting something billed as a magical elixir created for a game. Yet Japanese distiller Suntory is apparently confident that it will sell thousands of vials containing a special "potion"--77,777 to be exact--to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII.
The potent-potable company is teaming with game developer Square Enix to distribute the limited-edition liquid, which Newlaunches says will be sold in Japan starting this September. For the record, the potion is made of "jelly enriched with vitamin B1." Yum.
Final Fantasy 6 Advance shipped yesterday, but it actually will be hitting stores today. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, or who started with Final Fantasy 7 on the PlayStation, FF6 (FF3M when it was released in America on the Super Nintendo) was one of the greatest entries in the entire Final Fantasy series. It had complex game mechanics that made each character uniquely useful, a truly epic story, and some of the best graphics a 16-bit system could produce.
Most importantly, Final Fantasy 6 had Kefka. Sephiroth might be popular because of his huge sword and pretty hair, but Kefka was by far the better villain. He was crazy, sadistic, and completely evil, and those were his most redeemable qualities. He was also a clown, which makes him at least seven times scarier than he would have been otherwise. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't played yet, but halfway through the game, Kefka really shows just how great a villain he is.
To commemorate the release of Final Fantasy 6 Advance today, here is an amazing and frankly terrifying YouTube video of a Kefka fan at Metrocon in Florida. This guy goes all out with one of the craziest acts I've ever seen at a nerd convention, and I've been to many, many nerd conventions. Pay close attention to 1:15 in the video, where this Kefka cosplayer faces off against a Sephiroth cosplayer. It's hilarious.
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