Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The many jobs available in Final Fantasy games rivals those that exist out in the real world, however we're sure being able to use Cure on your hurt friends and casting Thundaga on your enemies is pretty much better than any kind of job we've ever had. And we used to work as a late-night security guard. We didn't have to do anything but sit!

But, we digress. The upcoming Wii Ware title Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land will feature many of the job classes you Square Enix fans know and love. So, feast your peepers on the above trailer.

After checking out Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land, we can only guess one thing: a hard drive or some other storage solution for the Wii is coming, and it's coming soon. With 512mb, we can barely handle the title of this Wii Ware game, and that's not even counting the game itself.

The latest Crystal Chronicles looks like the result of a romantic evening between King Story and Chocobo's Dungeon, and we're behind that 100% ... especially when we see dancing moogles.

After weeks of teasing us with screen captures from its Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers trailer, Square Enix made the 55-second video public early this morning. Though a third of it is taken up by an animated, spinning crystal, the movie still manages to pack in plenty of airship shots, city scenes, and even a tender, tearful moment with the RPG's blonde-haired protagonist. Jump past the post break for the clip and some skydiving action.

[Update 1: We mixed up our Ring of Fates with our Crystal Bearers, citing this trailer as belonging to The Ring Bearers. How embarassing.]

Square Enix have been tantalising us with a slow drip of info regarding Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers for a little while now. We've managed to decipher some of the recent interview with Akitoshi Kawazu, the game's executive producer and Toshiyuki Itahana, the director.

The game starts with the hero arriving to sort out an aircraft accident. But was it an accident? That's where you come in. You'll need to find out what happened, and who was responsible. Rather than featuring a character who progresses and develops through the course of the game, Crystal Bearers' protagonist will start the game as a powerful hero. Instead of focussing on developing your powers, the focus will be on how you solve individual problems. The idea is to enjoy the hero's triumphs through the story, rather than building up to one climatic victory.

You'll have a range of abilities and weapons from the very start. Few specific details on abilities are given, but they do mention that the glow emanating from the hero's hand, whatever it is, will be available to players from the word go. There is also speculation on the internet that summoning will play a role, as a Bahamut-like dragon is visible in the teaser video.

The emphasis seems very much on accessibility and fun. The controls will be simple, possibly adapting from scene to scene. You'll be able to move fluidly, and naturally, both the nunchuck and Wiimote will be involved in proceedings. There might be less of an emphasis on cut scenes, apparently it's no fun watching the plot unfold when you aren't taking part. They want you to play by controlling things.

We're also promised big enemies as well as big bosses, who will be able to match the fluidity of your own movements. They hoped Square Enix party attendees would be able to play the game, but couldn't get this sorted out. Apparently the footage shown at the party was in-game. Hopefully that means the release date isn't that far away.

That's all we've got to go on for now, but watch this space; there'll surely be more from Square Enix over the coming weeks.

Well, 66% new, at least -- but that's more than we had a mere week ago. The good folks at Square Enix seem to make us want to suffer. They're teasing us with glimpses of this strange new Final Fantasy, the game that's not quite in keeping with the franchise's glorious RPG tradition. But exactly what do they have in store for us? At this rate, we'll find out sometime in late 2010.

Just let go, guys. Give us the Crystal Bearers trailer and let us see it in action. That one teaser just wasn't enough!

It's been a while since we've seen anything from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers, but this single image popped up this week in the Japanese media in the aftermath of the Square Enix Party, and it's got us dying for more. Alas, even in recent interviews, they're not saying much about this action-oriented RPG .... Thank goodness we have all kinds of Final Fantasy fun to look forward to on the DS as well, or we'd be burning with anticipation.

[Thanks for all the e-mails on this one!]

It's been awhile since we've heard a peep on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Wii, but with a recent Square Enix event in Japan coming to an end, IGN has a few details regarding the game. They were privy to a video showing off some gameplay, but Square Enix has requested they not present any screens or footage of the video. We can confirm though that the game stars a blond-haired fellow with goggles and the video presented "was real-time, and it looked sharp and smooth, and it looked like the game's going to be in widescreen." 16:9? Rock!

Why don't scientists show a little more imagination? Genetically engineered Chocobos would solve most of the world's problems in a stroke. Traffic jams would be a thing of the past and all those cute yellow beasties running around would keep everyone way too happy for war or, y'know, other bad stuff.

It may be some time before this vision becomes a reality, leaving us with Chocobo's Dungeon: Labyrinth of Forgetting, which is heading to Wii in the not-too-distant future. The Chocobo's Dungeon games feature randomly generated levels, making them a little different every time you play. Details on the new title are pretty thin on the ground at the moment; expect more news at the end of the month.

For those who thought that Hironobu Sakaguchi might come back to the loving bosom of Nintendo after his upcoming project with Microsoft might need to take a seat, as the man who was made famous after creating the Final Fantasy franchise has commented that he isn't all that interested in the Wii. Why isn't he interested in the system with the groundbreaking controls and mainstream accessibility? Turns out, he thinks the Xbox 360 has far better games than the competition.

Sakaguchi claimed "The system is intriguing, but right now, I have no plans on making a game for the Wii." He also commented on the Japanese market's complete apathy towards Microsoft's console. stating that there "are a lot of excellent games on the 360, far better games than what's on the Wii or PS3. But not a lot of people in Japan have a clear idea what games like Gears of War are all about." Maybe they don't get it because buckets of blood and the violence of extracting them from your virtual enemies isn't all that important to them? Maybe, just maybe, the Japanese enjoy, dare we say, fun games?

[Via Codename Revolution]

It seems that Square Enix isn't quite convinced about the whole Virtual Console thing. In an interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, Square's Shinji Hashimoto was dubious about the prospects for Final Fantasy games on the Virtual Console, stating that the Japanese audience (which is, of course, the audience that matters) needs physical media for their games. And like the responsible, friendly, consumer-oriented company that Square Enix is, they are happy to provide physical copies of Final Fantasy games. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Of course they don't want to sell a $5 copy of NES FF1 when they've got the PSP remake coming out.

We aren't that upset, since they've already released the best game in their library (in Japan and Europe, at least). Go ahead and argue with us. You know Actraiser is way better than Final Fantasy.

[Via Game|Life]

According to German gaming site GameFront, Square-Enix will have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on-hand at Jump Festa, a gaming/anime/manga event held in Japan, taking place on the 16th and 17th of this month. The only information missing is just what version, or versions, of the game will be at the show. Will we see the new DS game or that installment that is Wii-bound? We'll update you as soon as we receive confirmation.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Ambiguous promises? Check. Non-committal concepts? Check. No discernibly valuable information? Check. Why, that must mean we're once again dealing with a developer's comments on their upcoming Revolution games! Holy yes, what wealth of information awaits us today?

The news comes from Square Enix president, Youichi Wada, and is directly concerned with the upcoming Revolution version of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. You may remember the Gamecube version for its intricate bucket-carrying gameplay and its colossal, quadruple GBA requirement for maximum multiplayer enjoyment. Regarding the sequel, Mr. Wada revealed that the game would feature "online capabilities, magnificent graphics, and an intense use of the revolutionary control of the platform."

Mr.  Wada then shocked all by stating that the game would involve a whiny, spiky-haired teenager saving the world from an ancient evil. Ah, we jest. Online, cooperative multiplayer sounds like an excellent progression for the series, if indeed we can read that far into the mentioning of "online capabilities." As for affirming the presence of pretty graphics and use of the controller, well, that's hardly unexpected. If only these developers would cease taunting us with their dangling, dripping pieces of steak. We just want some information we can sink our teeth into. Perhaps we can expect the DS to interact with the game in the same way the GBA did with the Gamecube version?

[Via Revolution Advanced]