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| Square-Enix Website Redesign
Square-Enix has redesigned the layout of their Official Website. Now, the Japanese, North American, and European sites can all be reached from the Global Site Page, and now all sport identical designs. Each region's site contains information relevant to their current news.
Square-Enix Global Site
Front Mission Online Free Play Campaign
As an added incentive to Japanese gamers to purchase the upcoming Front Mission Online, Square-Enix is offering one free month of service of PlayOnline to anyone who buys the game from May 12th to June 30th. Front Mission Online will already ship with an additional free month of PlayOnline service, so consumers who purchase the product in the given time frame can play the game free of PlayOnline charges for two months.
Front Mission Online will release on the PlayStation 2 on May 12th for 6,800 yen ($63.06 USD). Normal Playonline fees are about $11.00 USD per month. Square-Enix also has plans to port the game to a PC version in the month's after it's initial release.
Dear Friends: Texas Style
Square-Enix announced earlier today the next stop of it's Dear Friends: Music From Final Fantasy US Tour. The concert series will make a stop in Fort Worth, Texas on July 1st at The Bass Symphony Hall. Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who conducted the first US Dear Friends show at last year's E3, will conduct The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for the Texas event.
Tickets are available now, and more information on the show can be found at venue's official website.
The Bass Symphony Hall | | |
| Final Fantasy VII: Dirge Of Cerberus Official Site Launched
Square-Enix has launched the Official Site to Final Fantasy VII: Dirge Of Cerberus. At the moment, the site contains only a splash image and information on the game and it's staff. Final Fantasy VII: Dirge Of Cerberus is scheduled for release in Japan sometime in 2005.
News Link
- Final Fantasy VII: DC Official Site
Official Grandia III Website Goes Live
Square Enix has opened the official website for Grandia III. The newest addition to GameArts' popular RPG series centers around the legend of the King of Flight, known as Schmitt. While the legend about the man who explored the farthest skies and rode the best aircrafts has been all but forgotten by the people, for the kids the mere dream of flying an aircraft like Schmitt is reason enough to not forget their hero.
The Sea of Velion covers the world of Grandia III and in that sea one can find the island of Titaros. On this island, the game's protagonist Yuuki lives in a peaceful town, working on an aircraft in his garage. At some point he wants to cross the ocean just like his idol Schmitt. Just as his world moves towards the brink of destruction, he will meet Alfina. From that point onwards, the actions of the two 16-year olds will determine their world's fate. On screenshots showing battle scenes two more characters named Miranda and Alphonso were shown fighting alongside the two main characters.
The development team at GameArts is bringing back the series' traditional fast-paced Ultimate Action Battle system. Players will once again be able to use Counter in order to cancel their opponents' attacks.
Grandia III will be available in Japan sometime this summer.
News Link
- Official Grandia III Website
Romancing SaGa US Trademark
Square-Enix has registered the name Romancing SaGa with the US Patent and Trademark offices as of March 28th. While no official announcement has been made of a US release, the name registration is a sign that one will be made in the coming weeks, possibly at this year's E3. Romancing SaGa is the PS2 remake of the 1992 RPG clasic of the same name.
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song will be available in Japan on April 21st.
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| Drakengard 2 Site Updates
The Official Website of the upcoming Action RPG sequel Drakengard 2: Love Red, Ambivalence Black has had a number of updates recently, most notably in it's Character and Movie sections.
The Character section of the Site now contains information on numerous characters. Featured are Main Characters Nowe and Manah, Legna the Blue Dragon, a new female character by the name of Eris, and returning character Seere from the first game. Also featured are three new playable characters, The God of Death Urick, The Gladiator-esque Zhangpo, and the newest character, Yaha.
Also featured for the characters are their various voice actors, who include Japanese star Rolly as the voice of Yaha, Tatsuya Gashuin as Zhangpo, and Saiku Aibu as Eris. Ryou Katsuji will be the voice of main character Nowe, and actress Koyuki, best known in the US for her role as Taka in The Last Samurai, will provide the voice for Manah.
The Movie section of the site now contains a second trailer, showcasing new scenes of the game's story as well as the newly introduced characters and their voices. A third movie is also available, and is a Two Minute prologue to the game's story.
Drakengard 2: Love Red, Ambivalence Black will be available in Japan on June 16th for 6800 Yen ($62.72 USD).
News Link
- Drakengard 2 Official Site | | |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children North American Site Launched
Square-Enix has launched an impressive North American site for its upcoming DVD Movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. At the moment, the site has many features, such as Characters, Downloads, Story and News. Unfortunately all are marked as Coming Soon for the time being. The English Language Trailer shown last year is available for view at the site however.
News Link
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children North American Site
Code Age Official Website Launched
Square-Enix has launched the Official Website of it's latest series, Code Age. Featuring shared webspace, the website for the moment focuses on the two as yet announced parts of the saga, Code Age: Archives & Code Age: Commanders.
Featured on the Commanders side of the site is a brief overview of the game's storyline. Also available for viewing is the first trailer for Code Age: Commanders, as well as a brief introduction to our main heroes, Gene, a blue haired young man with his arm transforming into a weapon, and a female counterpart by the name of Aliz.
Over on the Archives section of the site, we're introduced to two new characters. Thayne, a young man with features similar but not alike to those of Commanders star Gene, and a young female companion by the name of Nico. A third spot is also featured for another character to be revelaled, with the words Coming Soon waiting in its stead. Also featured on the Archives side is a Seven Page preview of the the manga's next volume, as well as a two page recap of the first two released volumes, or "Codes" as they are called for this series.
The site is very easy to navigate thanks to it's color coordination system. Blue for Commanders, Red for Archives, and Yellow for the upcoming anime edition of the saga.
Code Age: Commanders has yet to recieve an official release date. Code Age: Archives is currently running in the Square-Enix publication Young Gangan.
News Link
- Code Age Official Site
Romancing SaGa Cover Art Revealed
The Official Cover Art for the upcoming PS2 RPG Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song was released today. The front shot features a very simple shot of the Game's Main design, a familiar trait of all Square-Enix game covers in Japan. The back contains the usual descriptions of the story and various game features, as well as some in game screens and more Official Artwork from Character Designer Tomomi Kobayashi
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song will release in Japan on April 21st. A release outside of Japan has yet to be confirmed.
News Images
- Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Front Cover
- Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Back Cover
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie Release Date & Information
New information has been made available regarding the upcoming movie to the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conquerer Of Shambala. As a note, please be aware that if you have not seen the anime in its entirety, that reading beyond will spoil the anime's ending for you.
Two Years have passed since Edward Elric passed through The Gate to restore his younger brother Alphonse Elric to his normal self. Now, Ed finds himself on the otherside, in a strange land known as Germany searching for his way home, while back on the other side, his brother Alphonse searches for a way to bring him home to Risembool.
It's 1923 Munich, Germany, a world completely unfamiliar to young Edward Elric. Unable to use Alchemy in this strange land, Ed focuses his thoughts on Rocketry, hoping to use it to blast through space and back to his own world. It's in his search for a way home he encounters a young man, with looks identical to his younger brother back home. His name is Alphonse Heiderich.
With the fear of the rise of the Nazi Faction, the loss of Alchemy, the appearance of an Alphonse identical to his own brother, and the thought of the Homonculus Envy also being on this side of The Gate, Edward's struggles seem to be at an all time high. And what has become of the Homonculus Wrath on Alphonse Elric's side of the gate?
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conquerer Of Shambala will be released in Japanese Theaters on July 23rd 2005. As of yet a US Release has not been announced, but expect it to appear in sometime after the series ends its intial US run in late 2005.
It was also confirmed that popular J-Rock act L'arc~en~Ciel will perform the Movie's theme song. The group also provided the Anime series with it's second opening theme, READY STEADY GO!!
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| The Major Announcement Revealed
Last Week, Square-Enix announced it would be making a Major Announcement thru Japanese Publication Weekly Famitsu regarding upcoming RPGs from the company. With rumors of Release Dates and Revived Projects abound, today we can report what exactly this Major Announcemnt entails.
Earlier Today, Famitsu scans were revealed confirming the production of Two New RPGs from Square-Enix.
The first of the New RPGs will be Code Age: Commanders. Based off the manga series Code Age: Archives currently featured in the Square-Enix publication Young Gangan, Code Age: Commanders, or Code Age: COMM will be a PS2 exclusive Action RPG. Very little was revealed for this games specifics. One note of interest is a feature to be implemented in the game known as the "Ring Gauge" system.
Character designs for Code Age: COMM will be handled by Yusuke Naora (Front Mission 4, Unlimited SaGa) and will be Directed by Toshiyuki Itahara. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Producer Akitoshi Kawazu will be handling Executive Producer duties for this new game.
Code Age: COMM will likely be the third part of the Code Age puzzle, which will start as a Manga, Continue into an Anime, and branch off as a Game. Square-Enix used a similar strategy with the wildly popular Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.
The second of the New RPGs announced today is the continuation of a popular Enix franchise, Grandia III.
Also slated as a PS2 exclusive, this entry of the critically acclaimed Grandia series will differ heavily from its predecessors in terms of Story, Atmosphere, and Overall Feel.
The games Main Characters have already been revealed thru various screens and artwork available in the issue of Famitsu. Below you will find links to the three revealed characters thus far, made available by SquareNET:
Yuuki
- Yuki Artwork
Alfina
- Alfina Artwork
Emerius
- Emerius Artwork
Character designs for Grandia III will be handled by Yo Yoshinari (Valkyrie Proflie), with Directing of the game being left to long time series director Hidenobu Takahashi.
Below are links to the scans of Famitsu showcasing Grandia III's artwork, In Game Screens, Battles, FMV Sequences, and the game's Official Logo:
- Famitsu Scans of Grandia III
With Square-Enix planning to launch the Official Website of both game's by the end of April, we'll be sure to keep you up to date with the latest news on these Two New Square-Enix properties.
Fullmetal Alchemist To Take A Break From Adult Swim
The Second Season of the popular Fullmetal Alchemist anime series will complete it's run on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on April 30th 2005 with Episode 25 - Words Of Farewell. The series will however return after it's short hiatus from the programming block in September.
This break is to accomodate both Cartoon Network's Adult Swim branch, which airs the series every Saturday at 11:30pm EST, and FUNimation, the company handling the English Dubbing for the series. FUNimation will use this break to complete the dubbing of Episodes 26-51, while Adult Swim will replace the show during this period with the anime Samurai Champloo.
Fullmetal Alchemist has been rated in the Top Two of all of Cartoon Network's programming since it began airing in the US in November of 2004.
New Advent Children Scan Provides A Few Details
JUMP Magazine has published a new scan of the upcoming DVD movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The scan contains only two new images, one of Cloud, the other of Kadaj, and offers very little in terms of new information.
The scan does contain a revelation that new information will be made available about FFVII:AC thru JUMP Magazine in their May 16th issue. This for the most part confirms that the movie will not be releasd until sometime after E3 2005, which begins the same day.
News Link
- JUMP Magazine Scan
PlayOnline Friend List features to appear in Final Fantasy XI
Square Enix has recently updated the Friend List in its PlayOnline Viewer with new features like the Group Friend List, potraits, and much more. It has been confirmed that now many of these features will be making their way into the Friend List available while playing Final Fantasy XI.
The changes are set to be made later on this Spring 2005.
News Link
- New PlayOnline Friend List features
Story Details on Code Age: COMM
The story of Code Age Commanders is set in Dyson Sphere; a hollow world with people living on the inside. The middle of the sphere is home to the "Central Code." Every ten thousand years, the Central Code goes through a transformation, which results in the total destruction of the Dyson Sphere, followed by its rebirth. Of course, this outcome is less than desirable to the people living within the Dyson Sphere. Thus, they tried to escape by creating a gigantic station around the Central Code itself. As things usually do, things went somewhat amiss, and the station finds itself sunken to the surface along with its passengers.
Jean, one of the passengers of the station, fills the main character role in Code Age Commanders. Dropped into a world which he no longer recognizes, he sets off to find his sister Alize, another passenger from the station. Alize had been with him when the station "sank," but was soon kidnapped by a strange creature.
Thanks to the Central Code's impending transformation, the world has found itself heavily populated by strange and warped creatures. One species, called "Othelos," seek out and possess humans, turning them into what are called the "Coded." Completely stripped of free will, Coded humans become nothing more than extensions of a hive mind. On rare occasions however, humans won't turn into Coded, and instead mutate into "Warheads," who are Half-way between human and Coded and can still act on their own free will. Warheads have bodies that have evolved to the extreme, and certain actions lead to permanent abilities.
Jean finds himself becoming a Warhead, and gets caught in the middle of an Othello battle soon after setting out in search of his sister. At first glance, his body doesn't seem that much different from ordinary humans, but when a battle occurs his whole arm transforms into a weapon. As Jean levels up, this weapon levels up with him, becoming better and more versatile.
It seems as if it doesn't take long before Jean gains a few allies, but no details concerning other playable characters have been released as of yet. The battle system is also shrouded in mystery, with the only thing being known is that it will employ a "Ring Gauge System," which looks to involve a ring gauge that appears around the character. Furthermore, there will be differences between night and day in the game, though more details concerning this is also unknown. | | |
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