Square Enix Message Board older than one year ago

#finalfantasy In case you were worried that the Vita couldn't handle your PSOne Classics version of Final Fantasy VII or something, here it is in action. It looks great, too! You might not be able to tell from the video, but the graphics are really slick. More »

#kingdomhearts Buzz Lightyear as a Kingdom Hearts character? Could happen. More »

#kingdomhearts Nintendo released this new trailer for Square Enix's zany action-RPG last night. It's looking pretty neat, particularly the Fantasia and Three Musketeers sections. And Mickey! More »

#finalfantasy It's called Final Fantasy Dimensions, and it will be out for iOS and Android this summer. Looks like Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy V, no? It's not: it's a nostalgia-themed original game with touchscreen controls and some seriously classic gameplay. It was also released in Japan two years ago under the name Final Fantasy Legends. (Not to be confused with Final Fantasy Legend, which is the U.S. version of something that isn't a Final Fantasy game at all, but let's not get into that right now.) More »

#luminousstudio Square Enix caused a lot of jaws to drop at E3 with the unveiling of its new Luminous Studio engine. The new game engine offers a whole new world in high quality graphic content for the creators of Final Fantasy. Square Enix CEO Youichi Wada spoke in an interview with Famitsu about the creation and potential for the new engine. More »

We know how Activision dropped United Front's True Crime: Hong Kong, but what we found interesting during a meeting about the game at E3 2012 is that Sleeping Dogs wasn't even created as a True Crime title to begin with.

"One misconception is we were True Crime from the get-go," said Dan Sochan, producer at United Front Games. "We were a new [intellectual property] from the get-go. Our own story, own characters and gameplay features. After working on it for a couple years, Activision decided it wanted to reboot the True Crime franchise."

Sochan explained the story, characters and features didn't change through the transitions.

"In terms of of our initial vision for the game nothing has changed. From new IP "Black Lotus," to True Crime to Sleeping Dogs, that has always remained intact."

There’s a very good chance this will prove to be entirely irrelevant in time, given this is a blog about Spectrum Amiga board foot-to-ball PC gaming, but I post it as an honest point of curiosity as well as due to the potential that a Square-Enix internal studio might use it for something like a Deus Ex or Hitman or Thief or Sleeping Dogs or something further down the line. Real-time tech demo Agni’s Philosophy is intended to demonstrate Squeenix’s next-generation engine, which will most likely be used for a hiss, spit Final Fantasy game for whatever the next round of consoleboxes turns out to be. It’s impressive stuff for sure, even if it’s transparently impossible that a properly interactive game with hours of content cannot possibly look anywhere near as strong and detailed as this regardless of what graphicsability future-consoles and PCs might have. The idea that we might get anywhere near it is enticing though, most especially because the hair rendering could mean some incredibly convincing beards. Beards are what PC gaming is all about, after all.(more…)

I’m surprised Square Enix don’t hold their own E3 press conference. With their current line-up (Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Thief IV, Quantum Conundrum, Dead Island: Riptide, Hitman) they could have pipped Ubisoft to “win” E3 hands down, rather than offering highlights during console owners’ dismal shows. Also, that conference would have featured the reveal of Gameglobe, a free-to-play, browser-based create-your-own action game. And stop that sighing, because despite everything, you’d have sat up and taken notice.

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#finalfantasy In the wake of the euphoria surrounding Square Enix latest (and stunning) tech demo, the Tokyo-based game company launched a website for the demo. On it, there is a survey in which Square Enix asks people to give their opinions. You know, be honest. And honest I was. More »

#demonsscore Teddy bear? Check. Crazy clothes? Check. Pink machine gun and giant sword? Check, check. If these are all your boxes, then Square Enix's upcoming smartphone shooter Demon's Score looks like it'll be right up your alley when it hits iOS/Android this summer. More »

#fineart Final Fantasy XIV as a game certainly looks nice, but it's also - like most MMOs - a little too cluttered with buttons and bars for my liking. Which is why I like its concept art a little more. It's all the pretty, none of the buttons. More »

#finalfantasy Unreal 4 better watch its back. Square Enix pulled off what may be E3's biggest surprise tonight when they unveiled an incredible real-time demo of their new Luminous Studio engine. I shot video of the reel as it was first shown and you can see that the after-hours crowd took in the whole four-minute-plus demo in silent awe. More »

Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs has a classic storyline -- tough guy with tattoos gets mixed up with the wrong sort, visits some strip clubs, drives fast cars and punches some dudes -- but as its E3 trailer shows, Sleeping Dogs has something more to offer: Power drills to the thigh. Ouch.

#finalfantasy Final Fantasy XIV's launch was so terrible that Square Enix had to pull the game and promise to not bring it back until it was fixed. I don't know if their gameplay tweaks have had any effect, but I do know the game is at least looking a lot nicer. More »

A Hitman HD Collection featuring Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman 3: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money has been listed on Italian retail site 16 Games with a launch date of October 15. The collection is up for the PS3 only so far and runs €30, or $37.

"Enter a world of crime, sin and greed," the description, as translated by Eurogamer, reads.

"Penetrate deeper into the recesses of the mind of Agent 47, the world's deadliest assassin. Remaining anonymous, being quick and totally ruthless: these are the keys to a perfect execution. Follow Agent 47 while executing orders on behalf of slum-living criminals or on behalf of the highest summits of power. Nothing is important except the target."
The series' fifth title, Hitman: Absolution, is scheduled to hit November 20. We've contacted Square Enix for clarification on any rumored HD collections for Italy, Europe, the US or otherwise.

Tomb Raider‘s latest resurrection is scheduled for March 5, 2013. So there’s a while to wait, but it could be worth that extra six months wait, if the latest trailer is anything to go by. There’s some spectacular scenery and ugly violence. Oof, yes, it’s all looking a bit Uncharted to me. Go take a look.(more…)

There's a man - not a very good man - standing in the center of a pagoda-topped gazebo in the middle of Chicago's Chinatown. He's hired police officers to guard him from all angles, but his armor's not without weak points: He likes to eat at a food stand half a block away, he gets drugs from a personal dealer in a nearby apartment, and he drives a luxury car, parked in a side alley.

Kill him.

For those of you who played 2009's Mini Ninjas and thought, "If only I were able to directly control lil' Hiro with my own lithe ninja body," Square Enix and Side-kick Ltd. have just the thing. Mini Ninjas Adventures, out June 29, is an XBLA Kinect game that lets you control Hiro as he fights to save his master.

Using Kinect gestures and voice commands, you'll fight through 21 different levels, complete with bosses. However, mere fighting is not the truest test of your ninja training and abilities - that is what the minigames are there for.

There's a man - not a very good man - standing in the middle of a pagoda-topped gazebo in the middle of Chicago's Chinatown. He's hired police officers to guard him from all angles, but his armor's not without weak points: He likes to eat at a food stand half a block away, he gets drugs from a personal dealer in a nearby apartment, and he drives a luxury car, parked in a side alley.

Kill him.

#minininjas We've not heard much from Hiro and his tiny assassin friends since 2009's Mini Ninjas, which makes sense; you're not supposed to hear ninja. Fans will get a chance to learn that for themselves come June 29, when Square Enix releases Mini Ninjas Adventures, a Kinect-powered fight-fest for Xbox Live arcade. More »

#hitman Hello. Have you heard of the Hitman video games? You may have seen a trailer in which a well-dressed man murders sexy killers who are in the habit of dressing like nuns. More »

#tombraider Our first good look at gameplay from the upcoming Tomb Raider prequel/reboot also gives us a good look at hero Lara Croft...not doing so well. More »

Not since the Ewok have we been so immediately in love with a short chubby hairy thing. Sorry, John De Lancie - this little guy is now our favorite Quantum Conundrum character.

Hey, what’s your IQ? Oh, really, mine is 30 points higher. I pity you. I’m bound to be SO much better at Mensa Academy when it comes out at the end of July.

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Square Enix's E3 lineup is packed with unannounced iOS and Android games (packed), but the one that seems most noteworthy is Final Fantasy Dimensions, due this summer on both iOS and Android. "Drawing upon the roots of the series with such features as beautiful 2D pixel art, job-driven character growth, additional scenarios in which to inherit the jobs of your adventuring companions, and a classic story of light, darkness, and crystals," the description reads, "FINAL FANTASY DIMENSIONS delivers the best of FINAL FANTASY, retro and fresh alike, directly to your smartphone."

It sounds like a new game in the classic Final Fantasy style. Judging by the logo, we're guessing it's a smartphone conversion and localization of the Japanese cell phone game Final Fantasy Legends, which was released episodically in 2010.

The other newly announced game that piqued our interest the most, was "Demons' Score", an Unreal Engine 3-powered "breakbeat action game that seamlessly fuses music and battles."

#mensa Since 1946 Mensa has been bringing together the most intelligent people in the world and convincing them to pay annual membership fees for a card that proves how clever they are. Now the world's largest gathering of large IQ scores teams with Square Enix for Mensa Academy, a game aimed at training others to pay annual membership fees for a card that proves how clever they are. More »

Turns out yesterday's Hitman Absolution tease, which featured a bunch of Kasumi Goto silhouettes, was actually showing off the naughty nuns from the clip above. Using only a minuscule amount of his silent assassin repertoire, Agent 47 takes out an ICA (his former employer) hit squad, known as "The Saints," in brutal fashion.

Those looking for something a little less up-close-and-personal can pre-order Hitman: Absolution now from GameStop and obtain the Hitman: Sniper Challenge as a bonus. Agent 47 runs (and kills) for his life once again on November 20.

There are so many things wrong with this "Attack of the Saints" trailer for Hitman: Absolution, starting with the fact that the Saints don't so much attack as they walk forward in slow motion as Agent 47 takes them out one-by-one. More »

#hitman Teasing tomorrow's release of the official Hitman: Absolution E3 trailer, Square Enix teases us with an image depicting eight ladies dress in vinyl nun costumes wielding a wide variety of powerful firearms. Could Hitman: Absolution feature the world's first nun-based online multiplayer? God I hope so. More »

Final Fantasy XIV, remember that? Remember how Square Enix was supposed to make it all better? Well, according to Square Enix, the game's latest trailer will "skip" E3. [Square Enix] More »