Russ tells of console sales and other RPG deals as he begins, "September may have a lot of games coming out for it, so it is a good thing the prices of the 360 and PS3 dropped. Plus you still might be able to grab a decent computer during the back to school sales. Gaming triple play ahoy!"
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411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Cursed Mountain, and Harvest Moon: Magical Melody.
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A group of teenagers from Texas called "The Speed Gamers" are attempting to complete the entire Final Fantasy series in only a week, while taking donations for ACT Today, an organization to help support families affected by Autism.

(From their front page)

TheSpeedGamers have been streaming video game marathons for over a year to raise money for various charities. In total they have raised over $32,000 dollars and played 11 marathons.

TheSpeedGamers are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, but have members from around the world.
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Square Enix have announced that they will be added six new titles to their 'Ultimate Hits' collection, which will now have 51 different titles featured.

They have been releasing their Ultimate Hits collection for a couple of years now, and this year they've decided to add six new titles to the range, most of which are from the PSP.
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Destructoid: "Final Fantasy XII is a splendid role-playing game. In fact, I've recently started replaying it. I forgot how great the story was. I like it, but I don't like it enough to buy this piece of memorabilia.

Importer Play-Asia has a 1:1 scale Judge Magister Gabranth helmet on sale for the low and completely reasonable price of $1099. This helmet is life-sized. By putting it over your head, you could be come almost as imposing and powerful-looking as Gabranth himself. And it will protect your head from all the bullies making fun of you for wearing it and spending that much."
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Every Final Fantasy story is set in a different world. This of course means, every compilation features different locations and environments. The environments in every Final Fantasy are thus different from each other, as they reflect the themes and ideas of the story, as well as the emotions involved in the story at the time you encounter them in a game for the first time. Of course this is helped with the oh-so-magic use of music...

Continuing with our Top 5 Season We've compiled our top 5 iconic Final Fantasy locations which can be found following. Do you agree with our choices? If not what would you change in the list? (Please note this article contains Spoilers)
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Dissidia Final Fantasy details have once again been spotted and this time, they're coming from Japanese game magazine Famitsu. the game's producer Tetsuya Nomura, director Takeshi Arakawa, and planning director Mitsunori Takahashi all sat down with the publication and answered a few questions.

First on the agenda was the question of why the game is taking so long to finish. The devs answered that the team doing it is pretty young and adjusting was one of the most time-consuming parts of development. As for how far along into completion the team has gone, they said they're at about 50 percent and that character models are almost completely sealed.

Plenty more at the source!
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Kotaku writes:

Square Enix honcho Yoichi Wada (above, left) is worried. Western game companies are doing really well! Meaning that competition is getting harder. Yet, Wada hopes to capitalise on the Western market, aiming to increase the ratio of overseas sales from its current 50 percent to 80 percent in the next three years. According to the exec:

"We face competition not only from Japanese videogame companies but from game companies worldwide. We also see some new players from outside the videogame industry coming in... Economies of scale and breadth of scope is getting important. It may be a business alliance or it may be us taking a stake in others, but we need to go beyond traditional Square Enix."

That business alliance sounds nice and all. But, how about stop calling everything Final Fantasy? Or make things other than RPGs? Or if you are going to make RPGs, why not make the games people have been asking for for the past decade?
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Dec 11, 2007 Fantom Entertainment, a Korean music video company has been forced to pay up a total of $23,900 (approx. £11,700) for making a music video that looked too much like Final Fantasy VII. The video, starring Korean singer Ivy (who's almost as hot as Tifa Lockhart), parodies Final Fantasy VII with a fight in a church scene fans of the series will recognize… Below: Ivys Temptation of Sonata Below: Advent Children, Tifa vs. ... » Read More

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System will be playable during Square Enix Party 2007 tonight. In addition, they released new artwork that features the judges.

Square Enix has confirmed yesterday that the international version is scheduled for release in Japan on August 9.
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Rumor has it that Final Fantasy XII's international version, which is called Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System, will be released in Japan on August 9. The big change of the international version is that each character has it's own License Board, unlike the regular installment where the License Board is same for everyone.
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After leaving the company to bring his RPG duo Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey to Xbox 360, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi says that Square Enix should bring Final Fantasy to Microsoft's console. The Mistwalker boss told GameSpot: "I feel that the Final Fantasy series should come to Xbox 360 as well. This is wise. It makes so much sense to me... it has so much potential in North America and in Europe. So there's a great chance for the series to succeed on 360 as well." Continuing the ... » Read More

Final Fantasy XII tops the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 for the second week.

After beating Microsoft's Crackdown to the top spot upon its debut last week, Square Enix's latest Final Fantasy title remains at number one for the second successive week.
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Square Enix today announces that legendary actor Patrick Stewart will provide the voiceover for the UK and Australian TV commercials for the forthcoming epic Final Fantasy
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Square Enix announced today a UK launch event for Final Fantasy XII, the next instalment in the award-winning franchise that has sold more than 70 million units worldwide. The event is to be held at HMV in Oxford Street, London.
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Final Fantasy XII is due out in Europe on 23rd February, Square Enix has announced.

The hugely anticipated PlayStation 2 title will be the last core title in the famed RPG series to appear on the Sony console, with number 13 already queued up for PlayStation 3.
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Edge magazine has given Final Fantasy XII its best game of the year award for 2006
They went on to say "Beautiful, engrossing and impeccably polished. A work of progressive genius"

John Yamamoto, President and CEO of Square Enix Ltd is clearly delighted with the award "We are delighted FINAL FANTASY XII has received the Best Game award from Edge magazine. The game will be released across Europe in early 2007, and to receive such a coveted award so early on in the campaign is a fantastic endorsement for us, and a great tribute to the development team behind the multi-million-selling game"
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Circuit City is selling Final Fantasy XII for $37.99 USD starting this Tuesday, a full $12 less than any of the major U.S. electronic retail stores. Yeah, we're surprised by it as well. Not only does today's Circuit City flyer in your local newspaper have the price listed at $37.99, but the online price is listed as $37.99. It's as real as it gets. Of course, this means nothing to those lucky people that caught CompUSA breaking street date.

We've even contacted a few Circuit City stores and, just like other retailers, they say their copies are currently sitting in the warehouse ready for distribution -- but they aren't breaking street date. So, Circuit City has the copies, they are $12 less than anybody else and are ready to pick up first thing when the store opens on Tuesday. Come on, not to be completely jaded, but what's the catch?

A call has been placed to Circuit City PR to find out if there is something we are missing and why they are selling the game for such an amazing price. The only thing that doesn't jive is that the flyer says Tuesday, but online says Thursday as release.
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As Final Fantasy XII on PS2, V & VI Advance for GBA, III for DS and a re-release of XI rapidly approach Western shores, this takes a look back at the history of the series, what each title has changed and added, and how the series has endured over its 19 year history.
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Yesterday, the rumor mill suggested an early copy of the US version of Final Fantasy XII, not scheduled for a release until the end of the month, leaked onto the pirating scene. Given the especially large download size and the need for torrents to grow a decent number of seeds (hosts who provide the files for "leechers" on torrents), however, there was little to no confirmation on whether the files were legit.

Considering only a few days ago there were false scares that Gears of War had similarly leaked (though how anyone would play a possibly leaked Xbox 360 game is another matter entirely), more details were needed. Since then, several sites have sprouted torrents for the game, with a growing number of users announcing it's completely in English and playable..
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