Square-Enix posted a message/anagram on their North America website earlier today:

A puzzle for FINAL FANTASY XIII fans!

Solve this anagram to find out what lies ahead: A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto. Check back Monday for the answer!

Well, there’s no need to wait until Monday, as hintonmj and Squirrel Emperor, two finalfantasy-xiii.net forum users, figured it out in just under an hour. The hidden message unscrambles to read “Announcement Nov Thirteenth”.

Could this be the North America release date we’ve all been waiting for? My cardboard Buster Sword sure hopes so. Stay tuned.

Our friend Sal over at Scrawl got his hands on some early scans of Shonen Jump (shown above). In addition to showcasing the Chocobo new look and giving us a glimpse at yet another summon, the magazine reveals that Japanese versions of Final Fantasy XIII will come with a beta code for Final Fantasy XIV.

This of course doesn’t mean we will experience the same good fortune here in the states, but I for one will be keeping my fingers crossed. Either way, there will be plenty of leaked internet footage for us to drool over when the time comes.

The wrap up of a recent Square-Enix Financial meeting featured CEO Yoici Wadam assuring smooth development of the Western release, adding that there was a possibility the game could release globally before the end of the fiscal year.

The Japanese fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st, so if development continues as smoothly as Wadda anticipates it will, there’s a good chance we may see Final Fantasy XIII in the United States sometime before the end of March. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks Siliconera

New Final Fantasy XIII screens are in and the game just keeps looking better and better. The latest batch give us a glimpse at how the attack system will work, as it appears that certain in terms of button combinations will unleash different moves.

In addition, we get to see an in-battle summon and a heap of English based character dialog. Check out the screens below. Read more…

Spring of 2010. That is the only release information that developer Square-Enix has shared to this point regarding their highly anticipated RPG Final Fantasy XIII release. But that doesn’t stop the analyzers from analyzing every piece of information they come into contact with in the hopes of unearthing specifics.

An ad placed by Los Angeles based ad agency, Liz Paulson Casting, is our latest “exhibit A” if you will. The placement seeks voice talent to read the script below: Read more…

“Leaked” Final Fantasy XIII Japanese box art has been making its way around the web today with a few people debating its authenticity. The main argument against its validity is based on the fact it was submitted to VGboxart.com, a website dedicated to hosting video game box art, on 9.30.09 by a user named “Stunt” who openly admitted:

“This is actually the Japanese box art. It’s never been released digitally, so I decided to create it in Photoshop.”

As you can see in the image above, the replica on the left does closely (if not identically) resemble the box art shown at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show reveal of the PS3 FFXIII Lightning Edition. The logo is a tad off in size and placement but that’s just nit-picking.

It remains to be seen whether or not the box art shown at TGS 09 will actually become the “final” FFXIII Japanese box art when the game is ultimately released. That said, the fan art is close enough to anything Square-Enix might have made available, had they wanted a digital version of the cover shown at TGS 09 to circulate, that it almost entirely makes the debate as to whether or not it’s “real” a non issue.

Hit the jump for a high-res look at the replica cover shown at TGS 09. Read more…

I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s so close I can taste it, but with a Spring 2010 release date announced, I can certainly start day dreaming about playing it soon. The new FFXIII screens available after the jump showcase English text and reintroduce Oerba Yun Fang, first seen at Tokyo Game Show. Read more…

In a fit of laughter, Final Fantasy director, Motomu Toriyama, and producer, Yoshinori Kitase, revealed that the latest installment of the series (XIII) would have a main storyline that lasted around 50 hours long. This bit of information was unearthed during a Q&A session by Spanish gaming site Meristation.

As  someone who loves the FF RPG series, this means that I will have more time to play and less time to do other bothersome things like bathe and sleep.

Some PS3 Final Fantasy players (like myself) were shocked the day that the latest title was announced for the 360, in fact I almost ran up to the stage and started screaming at the conference, but once the shock faded, concerns started to come into play.

The biggest concern most PS3 owners had surrounded the potential “middle ground” that may have to be reached in order to have the game port successfully onto the 360 console. Namingly, the lack of disc space when comparing a Blu-ray discs to the traditional format.

Well, in one statement, FFXIII Producer, Yoshinori Kitase, put that fear to bed.  Read more…

The other day, someone acquired a copy of the moonspeak Japanese build of Final Fantasy XIII, and through the magic of the internets, broadcast a live stream of about 20 minutes of gameplay online. Approximately 10 seconds after the stream went down, the footage appeared on YouTube for all the world to see. And now it’s here.

The footage is pretty much what you should expect- a lot of shooting and jumping and real-time RPG fighting, but it looks really good. It’s almost exactly like the trailer we saw at E3 eons ago, which is a great thing. The best thing about this gameplay is that it confirms that the game is on the right track to be released later this year on the PS3, and sometime in the future for the Xbox 360.

GameZine reports that the early demo, released with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children on Blu-Ray, has a special message at the end: “Coming Winter 2009″. The game will release at some point in 2010 for Western fans, but in the meantime it might comfort some to know that the Japanese version will be ready for release this year, at least on the PS3. Final Fantasy fans who can read Japanese will be interested in this as well, no doubt.

Famitsu have got their hands on some brand new screenshots showing us mainly the Active Time Battle system in Final Fantasy XIII. We get a first look at the ‘Battle Results‘ screen as well, which gives you your stats, TP bonus, and rank. The rank is out of five stars.

Right now, the battle system’s looking pretty great. As much as I’m looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII though, I can’t help but wanting to hear more about Versus XIII instead. It just seems so much more Final Fantasy VIIish. Hit the jump to see the screens. Read more…

A recent Gamespot interview discussed the February’s NPD sales figures with representatives of both Microsoft and Sony. The writer, Brendan Sinclair, closed the piece by making the following statement:

“The [Microsoft] representative added that Microsoft expects entries in other formerly Sony-exclusive series such as Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XIII to also sell better on the Xbox 360 than the PS3.”

Wha? The Gamespot interview lounge must serve more than milk and cookies to their guests. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Xbox 360 (I loved it more before it broke), but I’d like to have some of whatever that representative was smoking. Now, it’s worth noting that in the Gamespot interview touting this alleged comment, that the wording is that of the writer and not an exact quote by the MS rep. Read more…

A new Final Fantasy XIII trailer has been revealed on the Square Enix countdown website. The video shows off some new characters and locations, as well as real-time gameplay! The game is looking better everytime I see it, but is still aways off. It’s already my most anticipated game of 2010. If you haven’t already, hit the play button on the above video to see what’s up.

According to Kotaku, via Reuters, Final Fantasy XIII won’t be coming overseas until 2010. In an interview with Reuters, Square Enix Boss Yoichi Wada confirms that the Japanese release of FFXIII will be in 2009, but the Western release won’t be until at least April 2010. This sucks because FFXIII was one of the biggest games I was looking foward to this year, but shit happens. Sorry Final Fantasy fanboys, we still got over a year until it’s out.

Source: Kotaku via Reuters

Got a little somethin’, somethin’ for you Final Fantasy fanatics out there. Here’s a short video of Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase talking about the upcoming game and showing off some clips. Too bad it’s all in Japanese and I don’t have a clue what he’s saying, but the footage of the game sure looks tight.

Source: Kombo

Want a glimpse at two of the sickest Final Fantasy trailers you’ve ever seen? Well, if you love Final Fantasy as much as I do, the answer is most definitively yes. Hit the jump for a look at two FF trailers from the recent Square Enix DKΣ3713 event. Read more…

Several new FFXIII screens surfaced on Famitsu’s website today and I’ve got them, along with a Google translation of the copy from the page, included for you after the jump. Read more…

Just last week, we reported that the Japanese magazine, Shonen Jump, had uncovered the identity of that blonde haired boy from the Square Enix FFXIII trailer we’ve all seen about a million times now. His name — “Snow”.

Some of the older gamers out there may be thinking of this guy, and as shown in the image above, they aren’t the same — but they might as well be. Anyway, the latest Famitsu scans of the game, available after the jump, reveal Snow’s last name to be “Villiers”. Not sure how I feel about that just yet, but I guess it’s better than “Cone” or “Ball”. Hit the jump. Read more…

The latest issue of Shonen Jump in Japan finally revealed the mysterious blonde character who has appeared in trailers and screenshots for Final Fantasy XIII. His name is Snow, and the new render shown in this issue does make him look a bit psycho, but that’s always welcome in video games.

Anybody notice the pattern of weather named characters in Final Fantasy XIII? Okay, sure there is only two named so far, but they are Lightning (the girl) and Snow (just revealed). What an odd mix.