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#finalfantasy One of my favorite features of Final Fantasy XIII-2, time travel allows the player and their party to jump back and forth between different eras in the game's history, small self-contained 'What If?' scenarios filled with stories to experience and items to collect. More »

#finalfantasy This summer, six years will have passed since Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first shown in trailer form. Talk about a long time. More »

#hitmanabsolution Last week, my friend and colleague Matt Cabral wrote up an excellent preview of Hitman: Absolution for Kotaku. I was given the same demonstration by IO Interactive and Square Enix this week at CES and couldn't agree with him more - the game is going to be absolutely bloody fantastic. More »

#impressions What if I told you Square Enix and Tik games were coming out with a game based on the celebrated and psychedelic characters of Nathan Jurevicious next week? What if I told you I've played it and it was a ton of fun? What if I told you it reminded me of one of my favorite PS1 platformers of all time? Would you be as curious as I am as to why nobody has been talking about this game? Of course you possibly might! More »

The term "Square Enix Tax" refers to the publisher's frequent tendency to price its games more than others on the same platform. Most of Square Enix's DS games retailed for $39.99, for example, and even the simplistic Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy carries a price of ¥6,090 ($79!) in Japan.

Even with that background, however, we were a bit surprised when the publisher released an iOS port of Taito's 1993 arcade shmup RayForce yesterday, with a price point of $11.99. It's not that the game doesn't appear to be worth it (the port looks great!) -- that's just more than we'd expect any publisher to attempt on the iOS market. Especially for a vintage game.

We're trying to be excited about this, Square! That price point is not helping.

This is a column by Jason Schreier dedicated to the analysis (and occasional mocking) of his favorite genre, the Japanese role-playing game. Whether it's because they're too antiquated or just too niche, he believes JRPGs don't get enough attention in the gaming industry today. It's time to change that.
On January 31, Square Enix will release Final Fantasy XIII-2, a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, which the developer shipped several years ago to mixed reactions. Some fans adored the game's gorgeous aesthetics and flashy combat; others cursed Square Enix for daring to defile their beloved series.

Perhaps because of that fan ambivalence, a large part of Square Enix's marketing plan for Final Fantasy XIII-2 has revolved around the message "This is not Final Fantasy XIII!" During preview events and demos, the developer has been careful to show off all of the new elements that the first game did not have: towns, NPCs, sidequests, and so forth.

Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 be worth playing? I'll tell you in a few weeks. But while we wait to see whether or not the newest Final Fantasy is worth our time, let's figure out why Square Enix is so eager to make it feel different than its predecessor.

Just where did Final Fantasy XIII go wrong?

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have announced a partnership with Geocaching.com to promote Tomb Raider. What's geocaching, you ask? Essentially, it's a modern day form of treasure hunting, in which participants use GPS to uncover "geocaches" hidden across the globe by other enthusiasts.

Later this year, the promotion promises "a series of unique location-based adventures" in the spirit of Lara's own lust for precious artifacts. The promotion will use a combination of Geocaching.com's own app and "a photo-based adventure project" called Geocaching Challenges from Groundspeak.com. Presumably, would-be tomb raiders will be hunting for objects related to Lara and her adventures, though there's no hint as to what these treasures will be -- we can only hope that scions are involved.

Just in case you forgot to check your calendar, we thought we'd let you know that a Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo is now available on both Xbox Live and PSN. The demo sounds like the same one we played at TGS, allowing players to explore the Bresha Ruins and face off against the mighty Atlas.

Following a demo of Hitman: Absolution in San Francisco last week, I talked to producer Hakan Abrak about this latest entry in the killer franchise. Abrak was tight-lipped on launch timing and the recent trademark that surfaced, but he did confirm to Joystiq that there would be pre-order incentives and special editions for Absolution.

"Right now we're not ready to talk about the special editions, but definitely," he said. Pre-order items were briefly mentioned as well, though without further elaboration. (Different things spread across numerous retailers is a reasonable expectation, we suspect.)

This time it's personal.

It may be one of the worst taglines ever, but for Hitman: Absolution, it's an apt summary of a demo given to me in San Francisco last week. This time around, Agent 47 isn't accepting contract kills -- he's on his own mission.

#gunslingerstratos This summer, Square Enix is releasing a new third-person shooter dubbed Gunslinger Stratos. It's not a home console game—yet. Rather, it's a four-on-four team-based online arcade game that allows players to battle others in game centers across Japan. More »

#squareenix This Summer Square Enix, the home of everything from Final Fantasy to (these days) Deus Ex, will be moving house, shifting its headquarters to a brand new building located in Shinjuku's East Side Square. More »

Square Enix’s Scarygirl, formerly a PSP game, has just been confirmed for a Euro/UK release, and it’s definitely happening on PC. It’s an action platformer, and it’s based on the graphic novel by Nathan Jurevicius. Coming out on Xbox Live Arcade on the 18th Jan worldwide, a PC version will follow “shortly after”, whatever that might mean. You can see a trailer for it below.

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#japan Nothing lasts forever. Not you, not me, and certainly not game companies. Just ask Midway, Pandemic, and Acclaim. They're gone. More »

TikGames is following its licensed Scarygirl release on PS Minis with a new PSN/XBLA game, published by Square Enix. Called simply "Scarygirl," the platform-action game is based on a graphic novel about a girl with a tentacle arm and pirate garb, who goes on a no doubt scary adventure to discover the meaning of her dreams (which are also frightening.) In local multiplayer, she's accompanied by the kung-fu rabbit Bunniguru, with whom she can perform tandem special moves.

Scarygirl will begin her jaunt on XBLA January 18. A PSN release will follow on January 24, with a PC version due in "early 2012."

RPG fans will get a chance to test drive Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy XIII sequel weeks ahead of it's release with a demo due January 10 for the PlayStation 3 and January 1 for the Xbox 360. [Square Enix] More »

So you think you can ride this chocobo? You can find out for yourself next week, when Square Enix will release a demo for Final Fantasy XIII-2. According to the Square Enix Members blog, the demo will be available worldwide on Xbox Live Arcade, and on the European PSN January 11, with a North American PSN release on January 10.

We don't actually know if you'll be able to ride a chocobo in the demo. We do know that Final Fantasy will face some competition for our trying-stuff-out time, from Asura's Wrath.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't all about chocobos and improvements to the first XIII's formula, you silly kupo. There's also a serious focus on your personal Moogle and his repeated use of the word "kupo," kupo, as evidenced by this latest trailer. Also: kupo.

#finalfantasy They're not just about floating about saying "Kupo" anymore. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, many of the game's most important mechanics are Moogle-powered. More »

Skyrim is going to get tons of accolades all over this year, and deservedly so, but Deus Ex: Human Revolution pulled me into its world more effectively than any other game in 2011.

It didn't do everything right. Obviously, there were the boss battles. They required a narrow combat approach, playing to some of Deus Ex: Human Revolution's weakest elements. But those encounters were only disappointing insofar as they contradicted the fluidity of gameplay styles and approaches the rest of Human Revolution offered.

#finalfantasy Back in late 2009, Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama wrote on his blog: "The world of Final Fantasy XIII is starting from here on out." It hinted that FFXIII DLC was on the horizon. It wasn't. More »

#dragonquest To mark 25 years of Dragon Quest, Square Enix is releasing this Dragon Quest "Map Diorama Collection Box". More »

A 2009 lawsuit brought against Square Enix over alleged concealment of fees for Final Fantasy XI has been dismissed. Plaintiff Esther Leong filed a class-action suit against the company, claiming that monthly fees, late payment penalties, and other charges weren't sufficiently disclosed at retail.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the lawsuit on December 20, meaning Leong and the unspecified "class" she represented are not entitled to the $5 million in damages sought. Here's something else to think about, as you ponder the nuances of this case: right now, someone in the world is still playing Final Fantasy XI.

Need a way to express devotion and desire for the Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I, II, III collection ... beyond importing the game? There's always a cool diorama of Alefgard split into several pieces and featuring figures of monsters from the game. There's only one catch.

The Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Map Diorama Collection requires buying a "blind box" with nine different boxes inside at ¥4,620 ($60). That means you could conceivably spend significantly more than intended to complete the set.

On the bright side, the item isn't available until March, 2012. By the time June rolls around, it should be possible to find completed maps from bankrupted importers on eBay for cheap.

Did that almost reasonable 24-month turnaround time between Final Fantasy XIII and the just-released-in-Japan Final Fantasy XIII-2 rock your understanding of reality? Who could blame you? The development time of the last "direct" sequel was also pretty short -- two years between Final Fantasy X and X-2 -- but it was five years between Final Fantasy XII and XIII. Did Square-Enix make some dark sacrifice to summon the new game so quickly?

You'll probably need to talk with Tri-Ace about that. According to Tri-Ace programmer Yuichiro Kitao (courtesy of Twitter), the Star Ocean/Valkyrie Profile developer assisted with design, programming, and art on the all-too-rare Final Fantasy sequel. Animal sacrifice may have also been involved, but that's not the kind of thing you talk about on Twitter. That's okay, Square-Enix; even Santa had the elves for help with that Christmas(ish) miracle.

Final Fantasy XIII-2, the latest sequel-sequel from the androgyny JRPG veterans at Square Enix, has closed its first week of sales in the land of the rising sun, with somewhat mixed results. The PS3 version of the title has sold 524,000 units according to Andriasang's translation of Media Create's extremely Japanese sales data, making it the number 1 selling title for the period. This is in stark contrast to the 360 version of the game, which entered the charts at number 48 with a comparatively minuscule 10,000 units sold.

Having the number 1 game in Japan is definitely nothing to be ashamed of, but the accomplishment seems somewhat less impressive when compared to Final Fantasy XIII's combined first-week sales of 1,502,000 copies, nearly three times XIII-2's combined 525,000. Media Create attributes the drop in sales to a drop in interest among Japanese female gamers: 22.2 percent of women surveyed were interested in XIII-2, down nearly ten points from XIII's 31.3 percent Japanese female interest rate.

It's also possible that the interest decline among Japanese women was negligible at best, considering that the game was the best selling gaming in the country.

#finalfantasy In case you were having trouble telling your pink-jaired girls from your purple-haired not-quite-girls, Square Enix has released a handy video pointing out which character is which in the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII sequel. More »

#finalfantasy Because, honestly, it's getting to the point where I cannot. And that is not a bad thing! Multiplatform games should look relatively the same. More »

#finalfantasy A slew of new downloadable outfits are coming to Final Fantasy XIII-2, including a low cut "resort style" getup for FF character Serah. Lucky her! More »

It's a Christmas miracle! Taito Claus has bestowed five new downloadable Groove Coaster songs upon all the good little vector dots and Invader icons of the world -- including a techno-y Christmas tune. We're not going to be listening for the tapping of reindeer feet this Christmas because we're going to be tapping out music.

Even better, the game is on sale right now for .99 -- joining other seasonally discounted Taito games including Cooking Mama and Space Invaders: Infinity Gene.