RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

FFXIV producer/director Naoki Yoshida announced that the game’s next major status update will occur sometime in mid-August, with weekly updates to follow shortly afterward. An alpha and subsequent beta test will follow the start of these updates, with Yoshida planning to release a benchmark program around the time of the alpha.

Source: Andriasang

Title says it all: by way of Weekly Jump, Namco Bandai has revealed a One Piece RPG for the PSP. Subtitled Romance Dawn, the game is set for a Japanese release this Winter.

Source: Andriasang

Yaaay, we’re back!  And hopefully we’ll stay on time going forward, or at least we won’t lose power right when I’m about to start writing.  Anyway, news time!

• Sony acquires streaming game service Gaikai for a cool $380 million.  Speculation abounds as to how doomed modern consoles are (not very, for the moment).
• Vivendi plans to sell off its stake in Activision-Blizzard.  Possibly a restructuring effort, or maybe they just see Call of Duty being the next Guitar Hero, with all that would imply.
• Zynga reveals “Zynga With Friends,” and exciting new games ending with -Ville that are totally not the same idea over and over.  One’s even an “epic slot machine adventure” for extra irony.
• Yoichi Wada asserts Final Fantasy VII isn’t getting remade until they make a game that surpasses it.  My take: better get a DeLorean, ’cause we’ll need the nineties again.
• Atlus announces and defends its decision to region-lock Persona 4 Arena.  So that’s why the official forums melted down the other day.
• The EU rules that resale of digital games is legal, Pokemon Black and White 2 makes all of the money, Facebook suffers a sizable email fiasco, and more!

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Ngaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Well, I guess I’ll have to apologize after all. Sorry folks, it’s been unusually busy this weekend; had company over, cracked windshield, all sorts of fun, thankfully I found a windshield replacement service to help me with this. On top of that the heat wave finally broke today, so what little free time I had was gobbled up pretty quick. And maybe, possibly, Spec Ops: The Line turned out to be far more engrossing (if disturbing) than I anticipated. There was a Steam deal! I was weak willed! There was a warm sunbeam to nap in! I’m the victim, here!

New episode tomorrow Tuesday. I totally meant Tuesday the whole time, and definitely did not change that just now because of an inopportune computer crash that ate half the script.  Stay tuned!

Among the stranger things I’ve learned today is that Persona 4 Arena will be region locked: Japanese copies won’t work on North American PS3s, and vice versa. An Atlus employee confirmed the news on the official forums, though there was no explanation available at this time. This is somewhat a moot point as Arena is being released internationally anyway, though it will be the first PS3 game ever to be region-locked. Puzzling, to say the least.

Source: Joystiq

Namco Bandai has just issued a press release announcing that Tales of Xillia will indeed be localized for a North American release. No specific date was given beyond 2013.

Gung-Ho has confirmed that Ragnarok Odyssey, the PSVita action-RPG, has sold and shipped over 100,000 copies between both retail and download versions. The company is commemorating the milestone with a Twitter campaign about how one would use ¥100,000, with a ¥100,000 prize for whoever has the best idea.

Source: Andriasang

Over on Twitter, Bravely Default producer Tomoya Asano answered a few back-of-the-box questions. In particular, he stated that the game will allow only one save slot, apparently due to unspecified wireless features.

Source: Andriasang

Square Enix has announced a digital download release of the PC version of Final Fantasy VII. Apart from (hopefully) being more stable this time, FFVII PC will feature achievements, character boosters, and cloud saves. There’s a joke about putting Cloud in your cloud somewhere in that.

Anyhow, the official site is available here. No release date has been given beyond “soon.”

In preparation for the 2.0 release of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix has updated the official site to reflect the coming changes. Check it out here if you’re so inclined. Additionally, Famitsu revealed this week that the PS3 version, which releases on or after 2.0’s launch, will feature a customized user interface specifically for console controls.

Source: Andriasang

With the official site up and running, Pokemon Black and White 2 has been confirmed for an October 7 release in North America.

Level-5 has announced a special “Wizard’s Edition” of the upcoming Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Contrary to the usual artbook+soundtrack combo, this package throws in a copy of the Wizard’s Companion (your spell book in the game), a plush doll of lamp-nosed sidekick Drippy, and DLC familiars for the game itself. The WE is available solely through Namco’s online shop for the price of $99.99.

Source: Joystiq

Since its release, Diablo III has been keeping Blizzard busy. The latest round of hotfixes addresses two particular issues: the first, an exploit to boost attack speed or double-cast a spell by hitting the Town Portal button on the hot bar; the second, rare item drop rates, which have been increased for various difficulties and campaign acts.

Source: Joystiq

Famitsu has revealed that UnchainBlades EXXIV, the sequel to UnchainBlades Rexx, will feature acclaimed Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano for one of its characters; the hook being that each character is the work of a separate designer.

EXXIV is set for a November 15 release.

Source: Andriasang

Square Enix has set the release date for Bravely Default: Flying Fairy as October 11, priced at ¥6,090. Those so inclined can pick up the Collector’s Edition for about ¥12,000, which includes the soundtrack, an art album, a poster, and a custom 3DS case.

Source: Andriasang

Speaking at the Game Developer’s Conference in Taipei (not to be confused with a certain other GDC a few months back), Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama dropped a few interesting comments. Regarding DLC, XIII-2 was intended to feature such content from the onset, and the staff began DLC development in parallel as the base game neared completion. Toriyama stated that he believes DLC will be a required feature for future games.

Regarding a VII remake, Toriyama referenced CEO Yoichi Wada’s comments about how such an effort would wait until the company had made a game that surpasses the original. Toriyama then jokingly replied that “As a creator, there’s a bit in there that I can’t agree with.”

Source: Andriasang

Care of the game’s official blog: Project X Zone will get its first official trailer on July 2 – that’s tomorrow – at 11:00pm (Japan Time, of course). During this time, the game’s website will also be updated with character content and commentary from the voice staff.

Source: Andriasang

In the latest batch of Tales news, Namco Bandai has unveiled the bonus goodies for Tales of Xillia 2 preorders: a “Tales of Xillia 2 Before Episode” novel and art book (depicting events in the year between the first and second game), DLC costumes, and a custom Dual Shock 3 controller. All told, the bundle will run about ¥12,980.

Meanwhile, Tales of Cards was also showcased; a social game that, predictably, uses cards featuring characters from the series. Curiously, the game’s story mode involves playing through the series’ various plots, with Phantasia and Graces available at launch.

Source: Andriasang

Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Kazuo Hirai, who recently took over as President and CEO of Sony, will be stepping down from his SCE post as Representative Director and Chairman. He will continue to sit on the board part-time.

Source: Andriasang

The Playstation version of Final Fantasy IV has just been added to Sony’s Game Archive service, available on PS3 and PSP for the price of ¥1,200.

Source: Andriasang