Square Enix has just announced the final release dates for Final Fantasy XIII-2. Japan will be getting the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game on December 15th for ¥7,980. Meanwhile, oversea releases dates have been set for North America on January 31st and Feburary 3rd for Europe.
For the PS3 edition, there's a special bundle titled "PlayStation 3 Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Edition Ver.2", which includes the game and a 320 GB hard drive for ¥37,960.
There has been no confirmation on whether the bundle will be released overseas, however from prior situations having to do with special-themed PS3s (such as the Advent Children and Final Fantasy XIII-themed PS3s) it will probably remain a Japanese exclusive.
We've got more news coming in from the FF Crystal Bearers front, and this time, it's the exciting kind--Square-Enix has announced the game's release date!
The game is set to be released in North America on December 26 of this year. A bit odd, considering it's the day after Christmas, but only a few more months to wait!
Thanks to a Japanese ad for Final Fantasy XIII, we now know the official release date for the game in Japan, which beforehand was given a vague Winter 2009 estimated release date in Japan.
The game will be released on December 17, 2009 in Japan. No word on the finalized North American and European release dates, which are both set for sometime in Spring 2009.
The official website has yet to reveal this information (still shows the Winter 2009) date, so it is likely this ad was leaked earlier than Square Enix was expecting.
Alongside the flurry of news coming from Square Enix's press briefing today is news that the company will be revealing the official Japanese release date for the game in the next few weeks.
Square Enix had previously announced a vague Winter 2009 release date for the eagerly awaited role-playing game. This year's Tokyo Game Show is in a few weeks, so it is likely the company will be revealing the release date there.
The same Square Enix exec stated that the game's development was going favorably, for all those who might be worried about the game.
Towards the tail end of last week, Square Enix announced that Dissidia: Final Fantasy would be released in Europe on the 4th of September, 2009. While this doesn't sound overly significant in itself, the date is only a week after the North American release.
For those who have been following Final Fantasy for some time, especially those in Europe, delays between regions are usually quite substantial. It's not uncommon for there to be a 4-5 month delay between the North American and European versions, and it's something that's always been very disappointing to European gamers.
However, the announcement that Dissidia: Final Fantasy will be coming so soon after is huge. Square Enix have gone on record numerous times about how much more detailed Dissidia's dialogue is than Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII's and if they can get the localisation done so efficiently on a game like Dissidia, it definitely looks positive for Final Fantasy XIII. There is of course The Last Remnant too, which was released worldwide on the same day and while Square Enix have claimed it's something they're striving to do, up until now it hasn't been overly evident.
Up until now, gamers in PAL territories had been left in the dark about when Dissidia: Final Fantasy would be released. While many online retailers had produced estimates based off of the North American release date, nothing official had ever been announced by Square Enix until now.
They are pleased to announce that Dissidia: Final Fantasy will be released on the 4th of September, 2009, which is only a week after the North American release. This quashes any fears gamers had about having to wait months for a localised version, and really sets a precedence for Square Enix moving forward.
The bundle will be released on the 25th of August, but no release date for the actual game was confirmed at the time. Many thought that it could come after its release, like with God of War: Chains of Olympus. However, after contacting Square Enix we can officially confirm that Dissidia: Final Fantasy will launch on exactly the same day.
To repeat: Dissidia: Final Fantasy will launch on the 25th of August, 2009 in North America
Dissidia: Final Fantasy sold almost 1m copies in Japan, and it's set to be a huge success when it's released in North America.
On the eve of the Eidos takeover, Yoichi Wada, Square Enix's CEO, came out and fielded questions about how things will work moving forward. One of the questions pertained to how Square Enix will influence their qualities on Eidos and Wada proceeded to offer a response that was rather unexpected.
Instead of suggesting that Eidos games will be approached with the same diligence that Square Enix titles are, he suggested that Square Enix actually spend too long developing titles and that he'd like to see shortened development cycles with the same amount of quality. Now, it's unknown how long games are actually in development for, but it's assumed that Square Enix have two teams that work on Final Fantasy titles, and that work on the new title generally starts 1-2 years before the release of the previous title.
When looking at a graph of how many years there have been between the releases of main Final Fantasy games, it doesn't necessarily back Yoichi Wada up; unless he wants more than one main Final Fantasy game a year, a move which would obviously saturate the market.
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