Uh oh, looks like we missed the news roundup for Friday, my bad, but here it is anyway. This week's been particularly slow with regards to anything Final Fantasy related. Last week had a whole slew of news on Square Enix's next MMO, Final Fantasy XIV and it looks like the momentum has carried on into this week as well.
Now on to the star of this week. The Final Fantasy XIV PC Beta Test has been dated, and starts, well, today actually! So if you've got your keys, congratulations and good for you. Do feel free to share your experience with the community. While PC users get to enjoy the beta as well as play the game this September, PS3 users will have to wait until March 2011 due to technical difficulties the team has run into with the PS3 version. Keep in mind that March 2011 is a tentative date and should Square Enix fix the issues, it might just release earlier than that. We've got our fingers crossed.
Square Enix will be re-releasing its hit fighting mash up game, Dissidia: Final Fantasy, this Fall in both retail and downloadable formats under the Ultimate Hits label - that means lower prices! It's not too surprising that it's taken Dissidia this long to attain Ultimate Hits status, what with its battle against the pirates and five million illegal downloads.
Both the original Dissidia as well as Universal Tuning will be made available in Square Enix's budget line up come September 16 and are set at a lovely ¥2940. Their online counterparts are slightly cheaper, coming in at ¥2100. Apparently there are slight changes between the two versions such as the voice acting.
The addition of Dissidia to the Ultimate Hits label is, according to Square Enix, to commemorate the label crossing its three million shipped mark. Whether this makes it across the Pacific remains to be seen, hopefully it does.
According to the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, aka CESA, Square Enix's hit portable title Dissidia: Final Fantasy has been downloaded well over 5 million times - and no, that's not downloads from the PlayStation Store. In fact, that is the number of times that Dissidia has been downloaded illegally.
CESA has apparently been tracking these illegal downloads for the top handheld titles available for both the DS and PSP. Dissidia has been downloaded 5,281,223 times since its release, easily costing Square Enix roughly 30,631,093,400 yen in damages.
Piracy has been quite the issue in regards to handheld consoles like the DS and PSP with custom firmware enabling users to run custom applications; however, an unfortunate by-product of custom firmware is also the ability to download ripped games.
Other top-downloaded titles include Phantasy Star Portable 2 which was downloaded well over 4 million times, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite was downloaded almost 2 million times and another Square Enix game that topped the charts is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, which was downloaded just over a million times.
For anyone still holding out in Europe for the downloadable version of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, today is your day. Square Enix has announced that as of now, the Final Fantasy fighter is available for download on the PlayStation Network via PS3 or PSP, for £24.99.
The game was previously released in Europe on disc around the same time as it did in North America, but for whatever reason North America received the PSN version of the game way back in November, leaving Europe and other PAL regions out in the cold.
Dissidia: Final Fantasy, one of this year's biggest releases on the PlayStation Portable, is now available on the PlayStation Store.
Fans have been clamouring to download the game for a while now, and Square Enix have finally made the option available - something which is sure to see a short surge in sales of the title.
This might even help to increase the Western sales enough to warrant Square Enix talking again about a sequel to the title. Previously they stated that they would only consider a sequel if the sales were strong enough in the West.
According to Pulse, the PlayStation Network show, there will be a Dissidia: Final Fantasy demo going live today, which players will be able to download via the PlayStation Store.
Fans have been eagerly anticipating the title and after its huge success in Japan, expectation was also raised considerably. However, many are still wondering what the gameplay is actually like. Well, now players will be able to find out.
For those already convinced enough to purchase the game, it is scheduled to come out on the 25th of August, 2009 in North America.
The Dissidia: Final Fantasy demo mentioned previously is now live for download on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store.
It can be downloaded using a PSP or PS3, but obviously it can only be played on a Sony PSP. For those that are on the fence about this game, it will serve as the perfect opportunity to check the game out.
When we got to try it a few months ago, we found it thoroughly enjoyable, so if you're in doubt, definitely check it out. Any Final Fantasy fan should love it though.
Following on from the announcement of Dissidia: Final Fantasy's release in PAL regions, Square Enix have also unveiled the box art which will feature on the Limited Edition version of the game, scheduled to come out on the same day.
For more information on the Limited Edition, please view the full story.
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