Acclaimed Japanese developer Square Enix has revealed that its much-anticipated RPG Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, 360) is being built on PCs, though contrary to reports from other outlets, this news does not necessarily confirm that FF13 will be released on PC.

Much like Capcom's MT Framework technology, Square's PC-based Crystal Tools engine lets the company easily develop for multiple platforms using the same toolset.

"[Final Fantasy XIII] is being built on PC, where it's actually functional," producer Yoshinori Kitase said Square Enix's E3 press conference, according to Nvidia's Nzone. "We're still focusing on making it work on PS3, so it's difficult to know how long the process of taking it to 360 will take."

Though the console editions of FF13 can run on Square's PC development units, this does not confirm that the title will be released for PC, especially as a full-fledged PC version would require additional testing and texture work to ensure... Read more

The 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo officially starts this Tuesday, but a large portion of the exciting news will be hitting tomorrow.

Microsoft and Electronic Arts are both holding their lengthy press conferences, and Square Enix is putting together a last-minute event of their own. We'll also be getting hands-on time with Epic's Gears of War 2.

Inbetween iPhone lightsaber battles and trips to the local Wokcano, the Shacknews crew will be covering all of the events with up-to-the-minute postings. In preparation, we've put together a short list of our expectations and speculative nonsense for tomorrow's big events.

Microsoft Press Conference, 10:30 AM PST

Expectations:

• Release dates for:
  • Fable 2
  • Halo Wars
  • Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
  • Gears of War 2.
• Motion controller announcement.
• Announcement of Lips, the karaoke/dancing Xbox 360 game by Elite Beat Agent creators iNiS.
• Xbox Live Arcade announcements of some kind. More details on the Xbox Live community games.
• New Games for Windows initiative--perhaps digital distribution, which the team has hinted at.

... Read more

Japanese RPG powerhouse Square Enix has revealed the lineup of titles it will showcase at next week's E3 Media & Business Summit.

Going by the list, Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) and its action-based offshoot Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) will not be on display at the conference. It is believed that the company will instead highlight those titles at a separate event in Japan later this summer.

Of the games below, five are said to be playable, while the rest will be demonstrated through trailers and other hands-off presentations.

• The Last Remnant (PS3, 360)
• Infinite Undiscovery (360) (Playable)
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope (360)
  
  
• Chrono Trigger (DS) (Playable)
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS) (Playable) ... Read more

Update 3: Square Enix has officially announced that the enhanced DS port of Chrono Trigger will hit North America "this holiday season."

The company noted that, beyond the changes listed below, the revamp "maintains all of the game's original elements."

Update 2: The DS port of Chrono Trigger will sport a new dungeon along with a wireless multiplayer mode, according to Gamasutra.

As one would expect from a DS release, the enhanced port is said to make use of the handheld's two screens and will feature some sort of touch screen functionality.

Update: More details are expected to arrive on July 7, going by text that accompanies the link on Square Enix's Japanese site. The countdown has also appeared on Square's North American page, implying that, as expected, the project will hit North America.

Original Story: A new page on publisher Square Enix's Japanese website suggests that the company is planning to port its acclaimed SNES RPG Chrono Trigger to the Nintendo DS.

Pointing to a directory marked "ctds", the page (pictured left) shows the Nintendo DS logo juxtaposed with the series' iconic clock image. While the page ... Read more

The team behind Square Enix's action-RPG offshoot Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) has been pulled off the project to aid in the completion of the main series installment Final Fantasy XIII (PS3), Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reports.

Going by a translation from gaming forum NeoGAF, Versus XIII will remain on hold until Final Fantasy XIII has wrapped. Both titles have suffered several delays since their announcement, and a firm release date has not yet been specified.

The latest edition of Square Enix's flagship RPG series, FF13 was unveiled at E3 2006 alongside Versus XIII and a third game, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, for mobile phones. The titles have yet to be demonstrated in playable form at any conferences.

In an industry that is increasingly filled with buyouts and acquisitions, the importance of working with or outright buying other companies has not gone unnoticed by Japanese publisher Square Enix.

"It may be a business alliance or it may be us taking a stake in others, but we need to go beyond traditional Square Enix," Square Enix president Yoichi Wada told Reuters of his company's future. "Economies of scale and breadth of scope are getting important."

The company, itself formed from a merger between Final Fantasy publisher Square and Dragon Quest creator Enix, has no set budget for acquisitions or investments, but can issue up to 250 million shares without approval. At current stock prices, that comes out to about $9.20 billion.

"I'm not suggesting we are going to use up all that. But we have a capacity to do that," Wada added. "We face competition not only from Japanese video game companies but from game companies worldwide. We also see some new players from outside the video game industry coming in."

RPGFan has reported that Square Enix's fully-fledged DS remake of its classic RPG Final Fantasy IV will hit shelves this coming July.

Originally released in Japan late last year, Final Fantasy IV DS has not yet been officially announced for a North American release by developer Square Enix, but was recently featured in the May issue of gaming magazine Nintendo Power accompanied by English screenshots.

Shacknews has contacted Square Enix for confirmation of the release date, but the company has not responded as of this writing.

According to DS Fanboy, the May issue of Nintendo Power features a ten-page Final Fantasy IV (NDS) preview boasting English-language screenshots, suggesting a North American localization.

Though the game has yet to be officially confirmed by developer Square Enix for an overseas release, the inclusion of English screenshots indicate that localization efforts are underway for the full-fledged 3D remake of the Super Nintendo RPG.

Final Fantasy IV DS was released in Japan on December 20 of last year. Citing reports of low North American sales figures for the Final Fantasy III DS remake, series fans had expressed concern over its international fate.

The issue also includes an interview with director Takashi Tokita, who speaks on the possibility of a remake of one of his other works—the classic SNES RPG Chrono Trigger. "Chrono Trigger was a no-holds-barred, swashbuckling adventure that was a lot of fun to work on," said Tokita. "If the demand is great enough, it's certainly possible.

"But as a creator, I feel the need to create new titles and not just series installments and remakes," he added. "I realize it's a little strange for me to be saying that in an interview about Final Fantasy IV (laughs). But I need to remind myself of that, too."

The randomly generated dungeons of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii) will hit North America on July 8, publisher and developer Square Enix has revealed.

Telling the tale of a town that losses its collective memory with each toll of the bell tower, the game tasks recognizable Final Fantasy series icons Chocobo and Cid with restoring the lost memories.

Along with a turn-based battle system and a number of character classes, the role-playing title features several mini-games and an online card battling system.

Square Enix announced that its upcoming tactical RPG sequel Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (NDS) will be released in North America on June 24, and unveiled a handful of new screenshots.

A sequel to Square Enix's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA), Grimoire of the Rift features a return to the more storybook-like version of Ivalice, as opposed to the political intrigue and murderous themes seen in Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX) and Final Fantasy XII (PS2).

The game features seven playable races and a slew of new jobs, classes, and sidequests. The oft-maligned Law system has been revamped and retooled, offering a much more forgiving experience than its predecessor. And naturally, this DS sequel will make extensive use of the stylus to command units on the battlefield.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift will be sold for $39.99 when it's released this coming June.

Square Enix research and development manager Taku Murata announced this morning that his company's internal game engine has been renamed from the White Engine to Crystal Tools. The announcement was made during Murata's lecture at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The Crystal Tools engine is being used by Square Enix for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC development, and has been running under version 1.0 since September of last year.

Murata also slipped in the news that the engine is being ported to the Wii, but is not yet totally functional on the system.

Square Enix announced today that its stylish action RPG The World Ends With You (NDS) will hit retail shelves on April 22.

Featuring a distinctive art style crafted by Square Enix designer Tetsuya Nomura, The World Ends With You is an adventure set in modern-day Tokyo and heavily influenced by contemporary Japanese culture.

Known as It's A Wonderful World in Japan, The World Ends With You was originally announced for a North American localization late last year. The game was developed by Square Enix in collaboration with Japanese studio Jupiter, which previously developed Picross DS and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA).

The North American release of Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii) has been pushed up to February 19, Square Enix announced today. Previously scheduled to arrive on February 26, the title represents Square Enix's first retail release for the Wii. Developed by 8ing and Genius Sonority, Swords features a first person perspective and sword-based Wii Remote waggling in lieu of the RPG series' traditional turn-based battles. The North American release adds several new elements over the original Japanese edition, including four hidden bosses and a mode entitled "Payback.".

Publisher Koei has released new screenshots and details for ArtePiazza's upcoming Wii RPG Opoona, scheduled for a North American release on March 25.

Described as a "lifestyle RPG," Opoona tells the story of a lad who crash lands on a mysterious planet after his spaceship suffers a malfunction. Marooned on the strange new world, Opoona must fight a horde of evil creatures, search for his family, meet friends and find a job. Talk about dark. The game features an action-oriented combat system focusing on Nunchuk—not Wii Remote, mind—waggling, which controls all of Opoona's commands.

ArtePiazza previously developed Super Famicom, PS2 and DS remakes of several titles in Square Enix's legendary Dragon Quest series.

Following this morning's detailing of its Q1 2008 software lineup, Square Enix has issued a new batch of screenshots for each title due out in the beginning months of next year.

Included in the barrage of assets are looks at Square's PSP Final Fantasy VII (PC, PSX) prequel Crisis Core and Eighting Co. and Genuis Sonority's action-based Dragon Quest Swords for Wii.

As for the its two Nintendo DS titles, the company provided new shots of its action-RPG Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates along with those of Jupiter's stylish DS action-RPG The World Ends With You, which was fomerly known as It's A Wonderful World.

Acclaimed RPG powerhouse Square Enix has revealed its portable-heavy lineup for the first quarter of 2008.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the action-based PSP prequel to the immensely popular Final Fantasy VII (PC, PSX) and the only PSP title on the list, arrives on March 25.

On the DS side of things, the action-RPG Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates hits March 11. Square and Jupiter's The World Ends With You, a stylish action-RPG previously known as It's A Wonderful World, was not given a specific release date, but is slated to appear in the spring.

The above portable efforts are joined by Eighting Co. and Genuis Sonority's Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii), which is Square Enix's first retail Wii title and its sole Q1 2008 console release. A first-person action title set in the universe of the classic RPG, series, Dragon Quest Swords arrives February 26.

Square Enix's first retail Wii effort, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, will hit North American stores on February 26.

The title offers up offers a sword-based and action-filled first-person perspective on the classic RPG franchise. Series creator Yuji Horii, renowned manga artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama all contributed to the game, which was developed by 8ing and Genius Sonority.

The English version adds several new elements over the original Japanese edition, including four hidden bosses and a mode entitled "Payback."

A tally of the past four weeks of Japanese hardware sales shows that Sony's PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo's Wii for the first time, according to magazine publisher and marketing data provider Enterbrain.

The figures, as reported by Reuters, show that the PS3 sold 183,217 units throughout November, whereas the Wii only sold 159,193.

The strong sales of the PlayStation 3 are attributed to this month's releases of Konami's soccer title Winning Eleven 2008 (PS2, PS3, X360) and Omega Force's slash 'em up Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS3). Both series are extremely popular in Japan, and tracking firm Media Create states they were the two best-selling PS3 games between November 19 and 25.

In terms of overall software sales, Winning Eleven 2008 was the third best-selling title of that time, topped only by the PS2 edition of the game and Square Enix's DS remake of Dragon Quest IV. Dynasty Warriors 6, which debuted earlier this month, came in at #13, with only two Wii games--Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy and Sega's Mario & Sonic at the Olympics--outselling it.

We recently asked for you to execute an elegant merging of two disparate gaming properties, repurposing them for the greater good. So is it Kingdom Hearts or Rapture on Ice? The skating Big Daddy I can definitely see. Interpretive dance splicers would probably convey the horror well too.

So, without further ado, here's what you guys came up with, with following highlights:

• Helvetica has the type of face that masterminded Final Counterstrike, the N-Man and Super Mario Fortress.
• Trips puts together the peanut butter and chocolate of this seasons's Shack gaming flavors.
• Out of all of Romsteady's entries, this one really went for baroque.
• By all accounts, Yemeth is sending Gordon on a nice vacation.

The winners will be able to select from Heroes of Mana (NDS), Front Mission (NDS), Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (NDS), and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP). There were some really great entries for this contest and I hope everyone enjoyed seeing them. Even if you weren't a winner this time around, stick around for as we will surely have more contests in the future.

Given Square Enix's pedigree, it's hard not to have played something by the company responsible for Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Mach Rider and more. I for one fondly cherish my days designing Gummi Ships in the Disney-meets-Square world of Kingdom Hearts. Since the company is kind of big on constantly reusing and occasionally crossing its licenses, today we're going to ask you to craft the finest, or at least funniest license mashup game concept. This time around, we want you use a photo-editing program to merge your favorite video gaming icon (it doesn't have to be from Square Enix!) with another notable license from... well, anything. Entries will be graded on execution and humor, so serious and funny entries are both welcome. Up for grabs are copies of Heroes of Mana (NDS), Front Mission (NDS) and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (NDS) and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP).

The contest will be open until 11:59 PM CST on Saturday, November 17. Don't forget to specify whether you've got both systems or just one of the two!