Probably the biggest news I’ve heard all year (or at least that I’m most excited about) is that there are three new Kingdom Hearts games coming out for PSP, DS, and cell phones. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for PSP will be a prequel which focuses on the story of the three characters shown in the secret trailer in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. The three protagonists dressed in knight’s armor seem to have a feud with an old man wearing Ansem’s clothing who calls himself Xehanort. The screenshots show that the battle system is very similar to the one in Kingdom Hearts I and II, and Tetsuya Nomura announced at the Tokyo Game Show that the game would be split into three chapters, each one through the perspective of each of the three main characters.
In other news, a new 40GB model of PS3 will be available for ¥39,980 (approx. $340) on November 11th in Japan and will come in two colors, either black or white. The 60GB version will be discontinued, leaving only the 40 and 80GB models left. The new 40GB model has no backwards compatability, no memory card reader, and only two instead of four USB slots. It has still not been announced for release in the US. Hopefully it will be bundled with the new DualShock 3 controller, which has rumble in addition to motion sensor capabilities.
I just finished playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, and it is definitely worthy of the FF7 name. Interestingly enough, it seems that there will be a new Final Fantasy 7 game announced soon. Kaz Hirai commented at the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Gallery in Tokyo: “Congratulations on 10 fantastic years! The best is yet to come”. Square Enix has already announced that the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII would be continuing until the original game’s 20th anniversary since its release in 1997, so there are bound to be more spinoff titles. But, Kaz may have been hinting at the long rumored PS3 remake of FF7 that everybody is dying for. Tetsuya Nomura has said in an interview that the decision to make Crisis Core only took two days, so even if no plans exist to remake FF7 yet, that could change easily. My guess is that Square Enix will eventually remake FF7 for PS3, but only after FFXIII and FFXIII Versus come out and the PS3 is in a better position. After all, a remake would definitely sell millions and even drive sales of the PS3.
Even though I’m still obsessed with all games Final Fantasy, these coming will definitely hold witness to other heavy hitting titles. Halo 3 and the special edition Xbox 360 have already been released. Ratchet and Clank for PS3 will be released in October, and Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be out for Wii in November and December, and finally Metal Gear Solid 4 should be coming in Q1 of 2008. Once I’m done with college applications, I’ll be off to video game land for good (or at least until college starts).
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