08.27.06
FF III… and the never-ending problems of Japanese sites
First off, while we were away, looks like that new WoW patch (Drums of War) came out, so click link above for the full notes. Looking forward next week to some serious AV-ing with not-so-familiar faces :)
Tales of the Tempest is set for release on 26th October, approx. cost £25.20 on DS. Like all the other ”Tales of” series, but well, if you’re a collector of such RPGs, you may be interested – much has been said of this game at least. Those pre-ordering will get an Official Fan Book (full of in-game trivia) and an original pouch with logo.
Valkyrie Profile 2 – Silmeria – Voice Mix Album is out now for £14.70. Incidentally, there’re a load of other VP and FF CDs out at the moment from just about any music shop you amble into in Tokyo… although if you’re out looking for Mario/Zelda related music, you might be better off ordering online.
Although the price or release date is currently unannounced, there seems to be much hype surrounding the new Genji game for the PS3. If anything, it does look good. Genji, for those of you interested in a bit of old Japanese history, was one of two families (the other being Heishi) embroiled in a bitter feud – think War of the Roses, but slightly earlier. So it’s basically a ‘historical’ action/RPG… kind of, not unlike the Onimusha series.
Oh, and if you’re interested in a pink PSP, look no further (scroll down for pic). Personally, I think the new pink DSLite looks better though. Both, pink versions are of course, for us females, supposedly. Specifically (as regards the PSP), us female gamers in Europe, as no plans are in place to release them outside of our region. And no mention of when it’ll be out (article mentions that the pink PSP was shown on the business day of the conference, not the public day).
Just a random Mario sweet we picked up in Family Mart (a convenience store chain). Where else, but in Japan? (Apologies to people who get rss feeds – my last attempt at inserting this pic failed because apparently Word Press just fucked things up again.)
Finally we get to FF III. The game itself is out now on DS (in Japan… cross your fingers it’ll make it overseas soon), but the original soundtrack should be out too by 20th September for approx. £12.50. It’ll be a 2CD set plus a special DVD (opening movie, promotional vid, special interview). The above link will take you to their official page for the CD, where a few tracks are showcased in the Sound Preview section (left: Prelude, Opening Theme, Endless Wind; right: Curse of Jinn, Hometown, Chocobo’s Theme).
The game itself costs approx. £29.90 and it’s official site is found here. It’s all fairly explanatory though, so excuse me if I don’t go translating bits of it. Plus, it’s pissed me off a bit with the ever-scrolling ‘Prologue’ section… just like the Kingdom Hearts II site did for the Story bit. You can’t even cut and paste, so no chance of an accurate translation opportunity without my having to memorise whole chunks of the blurb. Despicable! Oh, and you can attempt to find out what’s in the Download section. I’ve been trying for the last five mins, without any sign of anything happening. The site’s a mess, like all Japanese sites seem to be, but the game’s touted as being one of the best to come out this quarter anyhoo.
Right, now I’m off back to Titan Quest – this game is surprisingly good, not least because I like the Age of Empires series. It’s a good mix of good graphics, and good old fashioned hack/slash action adventure. Think I’ll vent my ill will towards Square Enix’s official site developers on some nice undeads willing to get the sharp end of my epic spear.