As of yesterday, Square Enix have revised their sales and earnings expectations for the first half of the fiscal year (April 1 to September 30)
Square Enix previously expected 76,000 million yen in sales but now expect 68,000 million yen instead. Although they expect a drop in sales, the company still predicts a rise in earnings: from an initial 4,000 million yen 5,700 million yen.
According to Square Enix, the drop in sales is due to a slower growth for new software releases whereas contributions from March as well as the company's publishing branch aided in the increase of operating income.
Looks like Square Enix's beginner-friendly Final Fantasy will be heading towards Nintendo's Virtual Console in the near future. Mystic Quest first appeared on the SNES as a spinoff from the proper Final Fantasy titles and was "simplified" to say the least.
The game's been approved by Australia's Classification Board and it appears that Nintendo will be handling the publishing, meaning the game is set for release on Virtual Console.
How many have actually played this title? I vaguely remember being quite unimpressed by it back in the day.
The Final Fantasy games, like most RPGs, have upheld the tradition of immersing that one person, the player, into the game entirely. Trying to sink two people into the sixty hour plots simultaneously might be spreading themselves too thin, surely.
But multiplayer in the series stems ten years now, since 2000 when Final Fantasy IX was released. Sure, it wasn't advertised at all and it wasn't a well-developed feature, but it was a step in the right direction. You can assign characters to controllers port 1 or 2 through the configuration menu so that a second player can share your party. It's a basic system, but it latches onto an idea that is synonymous with the new-age Final Fantasy fans. A lot of them grew up watching the games being played by an older sibling. The same story over and over:
"I never played Final Fantasy VII at first, I just watched my big brother play it."
Good news for all you retro Final Fantasy fans, as Final Fantasy IV is now available on the European Virtual Console, the Nintendo Wii's equivalent to the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store.
It's available for 900 Wii Points and allows you to jump right back into the adventures of Cecil the dark knight, as he looks to fight off hordes of evil, and also himself.
It was the first title to appear on the SNES, and when it was released in North America it was dubbed Final Fantasy II. Europeans never even saw the game until it was more recently re-released by Square Enix. So if you missed that, then you should definitely check it out on Virtual Console.
When Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles first appeared on the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2004 it was very well received. It allowed four people to take part in the action, but they had to play using Game Boy Advances, instead of Gamecube controllers. Despite these heavy requirements, the game still ended up selling well over 1 million units and Square Enix naturally thought they were on to a winner.
This lead to Square Enix making the game into a franchise, which started with a prequel in the form of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. It appeared on the Nintendo DS, and like its predecessor, it allowed people to join together to play the game, this time using the Wi-Fi capabilities of the DS. However, its sales didn't manage to stack up to the original game, with it selling just over 600,000 units worldwide.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, over three years in the making, is almost upon us. Due out on the Nintendo Wii on December 26th, Square Enix has less than a month left to pump up anticipation for the game, and as part of that they have today released a new combat-focused trailer.
The trailer starts of with an assortment of doom-and-gloom cutscenes, complete with movie-trailer voice over saying things like, "Harness the power of the Crystal Bearers, uncover a captivating new work, and experience Final Fantasy like never before." Feast your eyes on the trailer below.
According to Japanese gaming website Inside Games, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers will include a screenshot feature that will allow players to take screenshots in-game.
This ability can be used at any time during the game, including cutscenes. The images are saved to an SD card and will have an Square Enix watermark attached.
This is the first time a Square Enix title on the Wii has included this functionality, and it has only been used by a few games on the console, such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Up until now, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers only had a release date in Japan and North America, and fans in Europe were starting to get worried that the game wouldn't be seen in their territory. However, a release has now been confirmed, along with a prospective release window.
Following the merger between Square Enix and Eidos, it was unclear how publishing would work, but it's now been revealed that Eidos will be publishing the title in Europe. According to Eidos France the game will actually be arriving on the Nintendo Wii in February of 2010.
This is great news for fans of the spin-off series, as they won't have to wait that long to play the game.
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