Today at a press conference, Square Enix officially announced the upcoming Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XIII, coming to the Sony Playstation 3. The game will be running on a new engine, titled "White Engine", which next-gen Square-Enix games will use. See the trailer on Gamebrink here.
From Square Enix:"FABULA NOVA CRYSTALLIS, defined in Latin as "the new tale of the crystal," is made up of several different titles based on variations of the FINAL FANTASY XIII universe. "
Square-Enix will be bringing a new "Crystal Chronicle" game on the Wii, "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers". A new Nintendo DS Game "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates", allowing four players to play together, was also revealed.
Visit Square Enix's Official site to learn more about Final Fantasy XIII.
The official Sonic the Hedgehog trailer from SEGA has been released today. Check out this clip, featuring new characters in the Sonic universe, from the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game.
The die-hard Nintendo gang at Infendo.com has come through with a sneak peek at Nintendo's E3 space. Nintendo will be neighbors with Sony (as you can see in the pic), so expect major congestion there during the rest of the week. This is probably the cleanest picture we'll be seeing! Check it out here on Infendo.com.
A playable demo for the upcoming Test Drive Unlimited and a bunch of game trailers have hit the Xbox Live Marketplace, from Xbox's promised "Bring It Home" E3 coverage for Xbox gamers. Here's the list of game trailer content in 720p HD format:
BattleStation: Midway (Ubisoft)
Brother In Arms Hell's Highway (Ubisoft)
Bullet Witch (AQ Interactive/Cavia)
College Hoops (2K7 2KSports)
Dance Dance Revolution Universe (Konami)
Dead Rising (Capcom)
John Woo Presents Stranglehold (Midway)
NCAA Football 07 (Electronic Arts)
Rain (AQ Interactive/Cavia)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)
Test Drive Unlimited (Atari)
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-Earth II (Electronic Arts)
And a movie trailer from Poseidon in 480p and 720p
Let's hope Xbox's maintenance last week prepared it for the traffic today!
Today, Microsoft officially announced its plans to bring a High Definition-DVD (HD-DVD) drive add-on to its Xbox 360 consoles.
"This new accessory will connect to the Xbox 360 console with a USB cable, enabling it to harness the power of the Xbox 360 console for the HD video outputs and digital surround sound. As an accessory, it becomes another shining example of the flexibility of Xbox 360 designed into the console in order to grow and add new features. It's also just one of several new accessories being announced at E3."
Xbox.com has placed a digital magazine online with some exclusive E3 coverage (here).
Check it out for details on upcoming Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games and grab some Xbox 360 coupons from Walmart in the back.
"Xbox Live PipeLine digital magazine, full of in-depth information, tips and tricks, and great offers. This month, check out our exclusive E3 2006 coverage schedule and interview with Rare®'s Perfect Dark Zero™ producer, Richard Cousins. It's only for Xbox Live members, so simply click on the link below, dive in and enjoy."
Playable Demos:
Monday, May 8: Test Drive® Unlimited: Race exotic vehicles on diverse Hawaiian roads in Atari's fast-paced racer.
Tuesday, May 9: Lost Planet™ : Capcom shows off its upcoming action sci-fi shooter set on the frozen tundra of a hostile planet.
Thursday, May 11:MotoGP '06: Experience extreme racing with stunning photorealistic graphics and a blisteringly fast game engine.
Premium Content (Microsoft Points):
Tuesday, May 9: UNO®: The latest additon to Xbox Live Arcade is the classic party card game that’s number one for family fun! Compete against three other players to match colors and symbols, go Wild with special command cards such as Skip and Reverse, and be the first to play all your cards. Add-on theme decks offer new art and new card effects, keeping the game fresh and challenging. Like all Arcade titles, you can download the demo and try it out free. Get ready to shout, "UNO!"
Wednesday, May 10: Call of Duty® 2 Map Packs: Activision has some exciting new premium and free map packs to get you through the week. Battle across new multiplayer maps for this intense WWII shooter.
Bonus Map Pack: These free multiplayer maps bring combat realism to new heights. Both are for online, split-screen, and system-link play. Vossenack, Germany challenges you with limited cover and varied terrain. Wallendar, Germany is perfect for squad-based combat, including hidden paths, rubble, and high-cover areas. Its war-torn cityscape embodies World War II-style urban warfare.
Skirmish Pack (400 MS Points): Two more all-new multiplayer maps, both for online, split-screen, and system-link play. Kalach, Russia is a multi-level war zone with twisting passageways perfect for sniper attacks. Beaumont-Hague, France features open fields for rushes and clustered buildings for ambush maneuvers.
SEGA's Virtua Fighter 5 will be released exclusively on Sony's PS3 next-gen console.
From SEGA's press release: "Virtua Fighter 5 will feature an all-star cast of 17 fighters, including characters from the previous iterations along with two new characters named El Blaze and Eileen. El Blaze is a Mexican fighting champion who defeats opponents with his quick Lucha Libre fighting style. Eileen, originally from China, uses a Monkey Kung-Fu fighting style that she learned from her grandfather, a former Kung-Fu master. Players will be able to customize their characters by selecting from four uniquely patterned costumes and a wide range of attachable items that can be placed onto each fighter's various body parts."
The May 15, 2006 of Time Magazine reveals "Nintendo's New Game". The new game featured is a new interactive series of manic-micro game from WarioWare for the Wii. Using the Wii's controller, the player interacts with mini-games through motions used in turning keys, driving cars, coloring circles, swatting flies and fishing to name a few of them. These mini-games flash on in random order and the player has seconds to figure them out. The pace becomes increasingly frantic.
The WarioWare series has been a good testing ground for Nintendo to try out new ways to have players interact with games. WarioWare: Touched! on the Nintendo DS brought a new level of interactivity through motions with the DS's stylus, as well as WarioWare Twisted! tried out new ways to incorporate motion sensitivity with the Gameboy.
Read more from Go Nintendo here.
Webzen, developers of the anticipated Xbox 360/PC MMOFPS game Huxley, will be showing more of its upcoming MMORPG at E3 2006, which Korean players have been enjoying on the PC platform for a while now.
"Soul of the Ultimate Nation is the much anticipated MMORPG that delivers more fun and more friends in less time. Players can form a party from thousands of gamers using Soul of the Ultimate Nation's Battle Zone System and embark on a graphically stunning and ever-expanding online fantasy world that is ready for action when the players are. With a unique battle system and a captivating cast of characters, "Soul of the Ultimate Nation" is an epic tale in a world of emperors, armies, magicians and monsters. "
A unique feature being added to this MMORPG will arrive in a beta to Korean players on May 8, 2006. Starting tomorrow, a pre-beta test of SUN's "Mission Competing System" begins. The update will incorporate a "survival mode" (players will have to compete with each other in order to survive) and "time attack mode" (players will hunt as many monsters as possible during a limited time). A ranking system will be incorporated as well as a "Area Conquest" system, a "karma-like" system where the player receives benefits depending on the contributions made in an area of the game. An open beta test will open for players on May 15, 2006.
Soul of the Ultimate Nation will be available for PCs in 2007. Let's hope this has a chance of crossing over to next-gen consoles soon too! We'll find out more at E3 this week. Check out some eye candy screenshots of the game here.
