Square Enix has some big plans for Final Fantasy XIII
What are you expecting from Final Fantasy Friday the 13th? North American release date info? Exclusive NA features revealed? An amazing act of kindness in which the company sends me one of those awesome white and pink limited edition FFXIII PS3s?!? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!
Gathering information from Microsoft’s visits with European publishers and developers, MCV has discovered possible pricing and release date info on Project Natal. The site reported:
Our sources say the innovative controller-free 360 camera will be released worldwide in November 2010.
The device should cost under £50 when sold solo. One publishing source says Microsoft is “trying to get as close as possible to ‘impulse buy’”. Another even says the camera could even retail for just £30.
For those of you that aren’t up on current currency conversions, that’s around $75 and $45, respectively.
Any thoughts on the rumored pricing for Project Natal?
BioWare lead designer Mike Laidlaw discusses combat design in Dragon Age: Origins
While I’m absolutely loving the game, I don’t really get the BG2 feel — more of a progression of Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect really — but perhaps you disagree. Maybe it’ll be more like BG2 when I play it on PC. Anyway, check out this cool video that talks about the combat in this outstanding game.
On a side note, let me know if you find it funny every time Laidlaw says about in his Canadian accent. “A-boot” always cracks me up.
Microsoft’s Major Nelson confirmed that the Xbox 360 now has an 802.11n wireless adapter, which is available for$99.99. Although he said that the item will be available “this holiday season”, several online retailers are listing it as in stock.
While it’s nice that 360 users will be able to take advantage of the superior range and throughput of 802.11n, the $100 price tag is ridiculous. There’s no way a wireless adapter should cost this much. Similar to how people buy Microsoft’s overpriced hard drives for Xbox 360, people will buy this overpriced product too. Oy.
THQ has announced a promotion that brings together its videogame Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
THQ Inc. today announced it will partner with EMI / Capitol Music Group recording artist Adelitas Way to offer consumers a unique opportunity to connect with the band using WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, the latest addition to the popular fighting videogame franchise. On Tuesday, November 10 at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT, Adelitas Way band members will log in to the Xbox Live online entertainment network for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft to compete against fans using the Gamertag “ADELITAS WAY.” The consumer gameplay session is expected to last for approximately two hours.
To be completely honest, I’ve never heard of the band, but maybe some of you are fans. If you’re not, I encourage you to get online, play them, beat them, and tell them to stick to music. You should get all Chris Jericho when you win and proclaim that you’re the best in the world at what you do.
Confession: I was totally consumed with Dragon Age: Origins
“A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto”
The answer will be revealed later today. Until then, any guesses as to what it might be? I suck at these word puzzles so I’m counting on you to solve it!
If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, chances are that you love chocobos. These incredibly large avian creatures (that are undoubtedly Big Bird’s ancestors) are an important part of the FF universe. They’ve been used differently in the various FF titles and Shonen Jump has revealed how they’ll be used in Final Fantasy XIII
The FFXIII Chocobos have some helpful abilities. In addition to providing high speed movement through the fields of Pulse, they can jump high, taking you to places you might otherwise be unable to reach. They also have the ability to seek out treasure. When they sense the presence of treasure, you’ll see an exclamation point above their head. The magazine says that this means “it’s your chance” — presumably to dig for treasure, although I don’t think Square Enix has shared details on any sort of treasure digging system.
Your Chocobo has a life gauge, indicated by what looks like a set of feathers on the lower left of the screen. Strike an enemy, and you lose a bit of this life. When the life gauge reaches zero, the Chocobo flees.
The treasure hunting could be a fun little side game. In Dragon Age: Origins
The sheer number of game releases is dying down, but there are a couple of major titles left before the end of the year. This week’s biggie is Activision’s Modern Warfare 2. Some are predicting that this will be the year’s biggest game. I’m curious to see how “big” it will be, but I’m content to wait until it’s marked down before picking it up. Here are this week’s PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS releases…along with some brief commentary. I’ve taken out most of the garbage and kids games (unless I found them funny). As always, let me know if you’re planning to buy any of this week’s new releases.
Xbox 360
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Chaotic: Shadow Warriros
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection
Hasbro Family Game Night
Okay, I’m sold. And you?
Capcom community ace and fighting game guru Seth Killian has revealed that bonus rounds will return in the upcoming Super Street Fighter. The man known at S-kill said:
Yep, bonus stage action is back in Super Street Fighter IV. Innocently parked cars, we’re officially putting you on notice to watch your backs.
This is awesome. I’m totally down with dragon punching cars again. Hopefully there are some new stages to spruce things up too. Hmmm, maybe Capcom can do some crossover and have the world warriors beat up some Monster Hunter critters in a speed challenge….
