Is there any truth that there's a bitter rivalry between Square Enix icons Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura? Is this the reason why they're supposedly working on separate Final Fantasy Versus XIII games? What does he think of former boss Hironobu Sakaguchi's work with the Final Fantasy franchise? All the answers in the full article.

Square Enix and Enterbrain have published a must-have book for all Final Fantasy enthusiasts: the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary History Book. The book contains a lot of details, images, and articles about all the Final Fantasy games released the past years. Check out the full article to find out more about this awesome book.

Famitsu sent questionnaires out to gamers and retailers in Japan to let them be heard, and decide which developers, video games, and industry figures did exceptionally well in 2007. Find the results at the full article.

Have you ever wondered what Hironobu Sakaguchi and his development team went through while they were developing the very first Final Fantasy RPG?

It wasn't a walk in the park, that's for sure. In a recent interview, Sakaguchi admitted that he and his team were off to a rocky start at the time. Sakaguchi has more of a story to tell after the jump!

Whether it's Turkey Day or Christmas, we feel the need to thank the greatest figures in video game history for their contributions that made gaming as fun as it is today. For decades, we've seen creative minds emerge and bring forward games that amaze the world, but they don't get much recognition. But now, we have enough time to list down some of the greatest geniuses behind phenomenal landmarks like Mario, Wolfenstein 3D, and even The Sims.

Mistwalker has finally officially confirmed that a Blue Dragon (working title) game is scheduled to come out on the Nintendo DS next year. Though the Xbox 360 version of the game has long been released now, DS owners finally get in on the action.

On top of the V-jump scan from a few days ago, only a minor few details about the coming game have been revealed now, and the folks at NeoGAF have been able the information out. The game is to be developed by FreePlus+ and published by AQ Interactive. In Japan, it's going to come out by March 2008 - no mention of any Western release.

The game is categorized under the RPG genre (could this mean that it's not a card game after all?), but whether it'll be the same kind of RPG system as the 360 counterpart had is yet to be revealed. Right now, no one really knows if it's a remake or a sequel of the 360 version, but what's clear is that the DS version will not be based on the original manga anime.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is in on the project, but strangely, there doesn't seem to be any mention of Uematsu and Toriyama.

Looks like nothing can stop Mistwalker and the love for Blue Dragon; a poster over at the NeoGAF forums was able to put up a V-jump scan revealing that Blue Dragon, former Xbox 360 exclusive, will grace the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, we don't know much about how the game will be like.

From the scans that focus on the game's other goodies like its anime DVDs, there is a small confirmation that Blue Dragon will indeed appear on the DS. With the company lead by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi working on Ash: Archaic Sealed Heat for Nintendo's handheld, our fingers are crossed for a high quality game as a product of Mistwalker's expertise with the platform.

There is confusion about claims of Blue Dragon on the DS being a card game, but the images we see from the scan show promise of a full-blown adventure. We'll have to wait for any official confirmation before concluding if the game will be tied to the trading card game, or be an entirely new entry to the franchise.

 

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi didn't leave Square Enix for no reason. As many of us know, he founded Mistwalker to make new games. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey may ring a bell, but some have missed Archaic Sealed Heat (ASH) - Mistwalker's tactical RPG for the DS.

In all fairness, we haven't really heard much about the game even if it was announced quite awhile ago. For those who are interested, Famitsu's got some new details on the game's combat with some fresh screens to boot.

ASH may sound like your run-of-the-mill turn-based strategy RPG, but it redefines that concept. During battles, you gain control of three characters that share the same Action Points (AP). You move them around the grid, lose AP and all that, but you don't just watch a simple attack animation when attacking a target.

Using both screens of the DS, you'll see foes on the top and your guys below when you approach enemies. They face off in turn-based combat, something we don't see from SRPGs everyday. If that doesn't sound hot, check out the screens Famitsu dished out. Everything looks good, from 2D character portraits to 3D CG shots.

   

Japanese video game development studio Mistwalker will be attending this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. But even before the company got on stage, Mr. Hironobu Sakaguchi revealed the release dates for upcoming Xbox 360 titles Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey as well as DS RPG ASH.

ASH or Archaic Sealed Heat has been under development for some time now. The story of this game focuses on Queen Aisha who is trying to understand the mystery behind the ancient flame. In this video game's universe, it is believed that people will be burnt by the ancient flame and will then be revived in the future. ASH is scheduled for release this coming Christmas season.

Going over to the Xbox 360 side of the story, Sakaguchi revealed that the long awaited Blue Dragon will hit retail stores in August. The creator of the Final Fantasy series and founder of Mistwalker also mentioned that a new dungeon is already being planned as a Downloadable Content">downloadable content for the game.

Lastly, Lost Odyssey will see the light of day during the later part of 2007 - the holiday season to be exact. Sakaguchi mentioned that the release will be simultaneous both for Japan and North America.

Nothing says "YEEHAW!" like a good old butt-kicking. If you wanted to do it in a very cute yet threatening way, though, you'd need the help of some pixelized mages and warriors.

It's great that Square-Enix's Final Fantasy III is on the DS then! Not only do you get to see a bunch of kiddie-looking adults trying to save the world, but you also get hours of gameplay fun with one of the definitive RPGs to ever grace consoles.

These next few trailers will be showing off three aspects of the upcoming DS version of the game. In our first trailer, you'll get a glimpse of a fun sea battle, where white mages really do pitiful damage when you let them try something. The second and third trailers, which you'll find after the jump, show off the remade world map and status menus and the fun of exploring your surroundings. Not that there's a lot of change, but it's a lot prettier, to be sure.

In any case, enjoy the vids, and don't stop your ship to pick up mermaids next time.



Check out more videos after the Jump!