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.

“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…

“A little Japanesey, way off kilter,” is how Pit Crew Panic was initially described to me at Hudson’s event last week. I just sort of blinked as the six creepily babelicious, bobble-headed gals busied themselves about a giant wedding cake. It needed fixing. Read more…

Sega’s PS3 exclusive Valkyria Chronicles looks good. It looks really good. Alternate WWII-timeline, elegant painterly graphics, cameos from Skies of Aracdia characters and some newfangled take on strategy-RPG gameplay? We won’t even have to wait too much longer for it, either, as Sega has announced that the game will come out on American shores on November 11.

For the serious Japanophiles out there, the game will include the original Japanese voice-over work – a nice backup option in case the American voice-overs are too hammy. Hit the jump for more info. Read more…

I love it when developers take the complaints of reviewers and the requests of their fans and deliver a sequel that addresses every one. It looks like Eidos Hungary is prepared to do that with Battlestations: Pacific, the follow-up to last year’s Battlestations: Midway. Read more…

Coming this July… A toy like no other toy in the history of forever… A plastic stopwatch the likes of which is barely even fathomable… Nothing can prepare you for the experience you receive in just five seconds with this thing. Nothing, except perhaps the commercial. Read more…

If there is one thing that Etrian Odyssey 2, a.k.a. Sekaiju no Meikyu II, succeeds in doing, it is throwing in additional content. After only a short time playing, I can honestly say that if Atlus chooses to release the sequel to this first-person RPG in North America, fans of the original will be quite pleased. Read more…

Tables continue to be turned this week as the formerly dead-in-the-water PSP fended off all contenders for this week’s sales crown. Most people will point out that the PSP was never exactly a failure, it just hasn’t had the monstrous success that the DS has enjoyed. Read more…