Relax, Square Enix Is Doing Just Fine [Final Fantasy XIII]

The past nine months have been rough for many Japanese game companies. But those companies didn’t release Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII . Oh, and Square Enix arm Eidos released Batman: Arkham Asylum. Net sales for Square Enix are up 31 percent and net income is up 48 percent when compared to the same time last year. “Aimed at mid-and long-term growth for the Square Enix Group, we have made solid progress in our business plan set out at the beginning of the fiscal year,” said Square Enix president Yoichi Wada in a prepared statement. “We are pleased with the success of our Final Fantasy XIII launch in Japan on December 17, where we successfully shipped 1.8 million units in this market with a PlayStation 3 installed base of 4 million. And, through our improved localization systems, we were able to set a March launch date in North America and Europe.” Traditionally, Square Enix has survived largely off of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. Years in which new titles in these series have been brutal in the past, which meant that Square Enix would have to stuff its face with acorns to survive. But with the addition of Eidos and attempts at diversify, the years without FF or DQ just might be okay. Final Fantasy XIII will be released this March, at the end of the company’s financial year. [ Pic ]

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Relax, Square Enix Is Doing Just Fine [Final Fantasy XIII]

Prince Of Persia’s Super Bowl Trailer Is Big On Action, Short On Shirtless Jake [Clips]

If there’s one thing this trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia movie shows, it’s that maybe video game adaptations haven’t sucked because they had the wrong people. Maybe they sucked because they never had this kind of money .

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Prince Of Persia’s Super Bowl Trailer Is Big On Action, Short On Shirtless Jake [Clips]

Final Fantasy XIII Case Hints at "Game-Content Download" [Rumor]

GameStop posted an image of the rear cover for the Final Fantasy XIII case for Xbox 360 , and “game content download” is one of the highlighted features. Is this a confirmation of DLC? Honestly, I’m not sure. ( Get a closer, if pixelated, look here ) I’ve emailed a Square Enix rep but it’s the weekend. I went back to a few of my most recent cases from 2009 for games that featured DLC. Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin’s Creed II, Brütal Legend and Madden NFL 10 all carry the “game content download” designation. (Curiously, Borderlands does not.) That all speaks to a wide range of content. The last we heard of this, Square Enix was considering DLC but its plans were “unclear.” That was as of August. Sounds like things may have cleared up? Gamestop Unveils Back Of Final Fantasy XIII Case (Xbox 360 Version) [GayGamer.net]

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Final Fantasy XIII Case Hints at "Game-Content Download" [Rumor]

Fair or Foul, MLB 10 The Show Still Looks Great [Clips]

Gametrailers put up a few exclusive videos of MLB 10 The Show , one of which is 90 seconds of gameplay featuring cover man Joe Mauer. This game looks very good. It’s a CPU-vs.-CPU sim so we don’t see pitching meters or batting controls and can’t tell if they’ve been modified for this year. But to say it’s visually impressive is an understatement. Next up, here’s another two minutes of gameplay showing something new this year – video review of a fair/foul home run call. Very strong umpire conference animation there (I never thought I’d ever find myself typing something like that) with the accurate arm signals indicating the call’s reversal. In all, great clip. Finally, here’s a two-minute interview trailer with commentary from Mauer and the devs, giving a look at how this year’s game was built.

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Fair or Foul, MLB 10 The Show Still Looks Great [Clips]

Just Don’t Call This "Bling" [Screengrab]

Though Super Mario coin boxes do make that sound, A.B. Frazier at The Koalition reminds us that hip-hop retired that term. But hip-hop producer Pharrell is very much active with this Super Mario jewelry. A.B. also boasts of a owning an “oversized diamond studded Metal Gear Solid exclamation mark,” whose existence may be theoretical but whose description is hilarious. Me, I’d get of those Microsoft Point dealies. You know the ones that look kind of like a top-down view of a dralthi from Wing Commander. What about you? Pharrell Shows His Love For Super Mario In New Jewelry [The Koalition]

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Just Don’t Call This "Bling" [Screengrab]

Just Don’t Call This "Bling" [Screengrab]

Though Super Mario coin boxes do make that sound, A.B. Frazier at The Koalition reminds us that hip-hop retired that term. But hip-hop producer Pharrell is very much active with this Super Mario jewelry. A.B. also boasts of a owning an “oversized diamond studded Metal Gear Solid exclamation mark,” whose existence may be theoretical but whose description is hilarious. Me, I’d get of those Microsoft Point dealies. You know the ones that look kind of like a top-down view of a dralthi from Wing Commander. What about you? Pharrell Shows His Love For Super Mario In New Jewelry [The Koalition]

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Just Don’t Call This "Bling" [Screengrab]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Will Feature WWII Level [Esrb]

The newly published ESRB ratings certificate for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 mentions that “players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II and then move into the modern day.” Earlier, we mentioned that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 would support weapons from last spring’s Battlefield: 1943 (pictured above). It sounds like this could be a beginning mission establishing the BFBC2 continuity, not a flashback level. But it could be that DICE is testing community reaction to the World War II genre, which of course many have complained is played out within FPSes. That said EA’s ramping up a competitor to Modern Warfare , and this might tip off ideas of going after World at War. No surprises in the rest of the certificate. “Characters use profanity (e.g., “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole”) during cutscenes and in the heat of battle.” As I said, no surprises. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 [ESRB via Connected Consoles ]

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Will Feature WWII Level [Esrb]

Case Closed On Mass Effect 2 And The Curse Of The Tiny Text [Mass Effect]

Like some other 360 titles like Dead Rising, Mass Effect 2 has tiny text , which users on small TVs and with poor eyesight are having trouble reading. Is BioWare going to fix the problem? Nope. Just like Dead Rising, it’s no easy fix, and since BioWare feel it affects only “a small portion of SDTV owners”, they “are unable to resolve it for Mass Effect 2 through a title update”. If it makes those straining at the screen feel any better, the developer promises that the issue will be taken into consideration for future Mass Effect games, where HDTV owners can then complain that their displays are cluttered with giant text. [ BioWare ]

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Case Closed On Mass Effect 2 And The Curse Of The Tiny Text [Mass Effect]

Get Acquainted With Dante’s Sins [Clips]

The latest Dante’s Inferno trailer provides us with a quick recap of the sins of man – lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud, treachery, and using leetspeak. I might have made up one of those. It’s a lovely trailer and all, but I can’t help but wonder what changes Dante Alighieri would have made to his sin lineup had he written The Divine Comedy today. Would there be a circle for people who spoil the endings to movies? People who talk loudly on their cell phones in public? Folks who hold up the line at Starbucks? Perhaps back then it was easy to limit things to nine circles, but like a tree, I suspect hell has developed a few new ones since then. Somebody get that man a Spirograph.

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Get Acquainted With Dante’s Sins [Clips]

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Has A Secret Platform (It’s the iPhone) [Sega]

Sega will be milking the announcement of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for all its worth, doling out additional announcements and countdown clocks to drum up hedgehog hype. Perhaps the most interesting tease is the game’s fourth platform. Sonic 4 (nee ” Project Needlemouse “) has been officially announced as a PlayStation Network, WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade download, but a handful of observant readers have pointed out that an additional platform appears imminent. A hidden logo, one that appeared in the announcement trailer and now on the official Sonic the Hedgehog 4 web site , makes it mysterious. Sega’s not revealing what that platform is for the time being, leading us to conclude only one thing: Dreamcast 2. Most likely releasing on 10/10/10. Update: Yes, it appears to be the iPhone. Smart Kotaku commenters have already figured it out. Looks like the Dreamcast 2 launch will have to wait until 11/11/11.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Has A Secret Platform (It’s the iPhone) [Sega]

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