final fantasy

Sony trims price of PlayStation Vita, adds new color

With a little less than 48 hours to go before the world gets a glimpse at the PlayStation 4, there's some news for the PS Vita coming out of Japan today.

Sony announced that the company lowered and equalized the price point for the Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi-versions of the PS Vita to 19,980 yen ($212) from 24,980 yen ($265) and 29,980 yen ($319), respectively. Sony didn't carry the announcement over to the U.S., but it's possible that the company may use a portion of its PlayStation event in New York on February 20 to announce a similar price cut. … Read more

Square Enix considers same-sex marriage for Final Fantasy XIV

One new feature in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn lets avatars get married. When it launches sometimes next year, only opposite-sex avatars will be able to get hitched, but that may change.

Square Enix discussed the matter of same-sex marriage, among other topics, in a nearly two-hour video posted to YouTube. A representative from the company said Square Enix has been carefully considering allowing same-sex marriage, though no final decisions have been made.

Read more of "Square Enix considering same-sex marriage for Final Fantasy XIV" at GameSpot.

Video Game Orchestra: Castlevania at the symphony

While most classical concert halls deliver the best of Mozart, Beethoven, or Bach, the Boston-based Video Game Orchestra plays tunes from the annals of beloved franchises such as Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and others.

The eclectic musical group -- which weaves a Mannheim Steamroller-esque synthesis of classical music and a rock -- played to a packed house yesterday at the Boston Symphony Hall and completed a major milestone on Kickstarter by generating $40,000 in donations to launch an album recorded from the performance. … Read more

Final Fantasy hits 25 this year, mega box set planned

Developer Square Enix announced today a mega box set celebrating the 25th anniversary of the legendary role-playing video game Final Fantasy. The 35,000 yen ($446) compilation, due December 18, costs a pretty penny, but it offers hundreds of hours of classic gameplay plus a few extra bonuses. … Read more

The 404 952: Where time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana (podcast)

Leaked from today's episode of The 404 Podcast:

HTC and Facebook pair up for the HTC Buffy phone, a Facebook-powered smartphone modified to use HTML5 as an app platform. The ESRB and CTIA will soon unwrap a cross-platform rating system for mobile applications. Science has spoken: sarcasm is for smarties, according to the neuropsychologists at USF. With Final Fantasy XIII-2 only a few months away, Square Enix proposes to release a new Final Fantasy game every year.… Read more

Final Fantasy-themed PS3 reloaded

Remember the PS3 Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Edition launched in late 2009? Well, Sony and Square Enix are releasing yet another version of the console centered on the popular role-playing game. But instead of the ceramic-white shade of its predecessor, the new Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Edition will come in black. This revised styling should appeal more to guys, while the pink wording still give this console a feminine touch.

Price-wise, expect to shell out around $500 for the 320GB kit bundled with a copy of the game. The set will be available in Japan on December 15, followed by the U.S. and Europe in early 2012.

(Source: Crave Asia via Kotaku)… Read more

Talk about pressure

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Google compiles pre- and post-earthquake images of Japan

AT&T allows U.S. customers to call and text to Japan for free through the end of March

Rumors circulated over the weekend of a new Google social network called Circles

Sony temporarily shuts down Final Fantasy MMO games to help Japanese utility companies save power

Netflix is not interested in selling movies

GPS manufacturers protest the LightSquared broadband spectrum

The iPad 2 sold like gangbusters this weekend

A new iPhone app mocks your performance in the bedroom

preGame 27: God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Today on preGame, we'll take an early look at God of War: Ghost of Sparta on the PSP and sample the many faces of Spider-Man in the web slinger's latest adventure, Shattered Dimensions.

But before we get to the demos, we must take time to talk about one of the biggest game releases of the year, Halo: Reach. We were fortunate enough to get an exclusive advance look at the game back in June, so be sure to check out preGame episode 19 when we had Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard live in the studio!

Believe it or … Read more

Final Fantasy XIV for Xbox 360 'paused'

Recent rumors have suggested that the Xbox 360 version of Square Enix's wildly anticipated Final Fantasy XIV has been canceled.

It hasn't, according to the game's producer.

In an interview with video game publication VG247, Square Enix's Hiromichi Tanaka said that though the Xbox 360 version of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game hasn't been nixed, the company has decided to "pause" its development until some issues with Xbox Live are sorted out.

"We're still talking with Microsoft at the moment, so there is no update as to when we'll … Read more

Is Final Fantasy XIII one too many?

If March wasn't already a month of gaming note thanks to the upcoming God of War III, Square Enix's North American release of the latest sequel to its primary uber-franchise Final Fantasy makes it doubly so. It's hard to believe that a whopping 13 games in the series even exist--more if you count the myriad spin-offs--but XIII is notable among other reasons for being the first in the series released for this generation of consoles. The last, Final Fantasy XII, came out back in 2006.

The Final Fantasy series has always been known for its graphical and musical superiority, and it's great to see chapter XIII on a PS3 just for its next-level visuals alone. But as we played the latest edition, we wondered if Final Fantasy is a franchise due for a serious makeover. … Read more