Square Enix has revealed the blu-ray edition of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, now titled Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is now apparently set for a release sometime next year.

The PlayStation Portable-based action title Dissidia: Final Fantasy has yet to receive an official release date, but at least we now know that the various characters appearing in the game are apparently guided by two opposing gods representing harmony and chaos.

Instead of traditional random encounters, the Level 5-developed Dragon Quest IX for DS will apparently feature symbol-based encounters. Due to delays, Square Enix’s biggest DS title to date will only hit Japanese retail store shelves next year.

Square Enix have started there own conference and revealing new Kingdom Hearts titles:

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
It’s for the PSP and looks to be a single-player adventure in the vein of the PlayStation 2 iterations, though not “Kingdom Hearts III.” Birth by Sleep’s protagonist was not explicitly named in the presentation, but he looked an awful lot like Zack of Final Fantasy VII/Crisis Core fame.

- Development for this game started a bit early, but it was interrupted by the development for re:COM
- Ven is the male’s alias and his real name is longer.
- There is a mystery of who each character is.
- The Keyblade Master is someone who has not appeared in any of the series yet.
- The story is set to be complex and serious
- The story advances with three people, each with their own different gameplay.
- The battle system is new compared to the ones in previous KH games.
Developed by the KH Re:CoM (PS2) team at the Osaka branch of S-E.
- 3 scenarios, 3 main characters, play in any order
- Battle system is a mix of KH CoM (deck of abilities/skills) and KH’s normal controls
- The random elements and the timing based gameplay is Nomura’s evolution of what he used in CoM and IAWW

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Is for Nintendo DS and appears to star Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II, but its main draw looks to be four-player simultaneous play using members of Organization XIII. It will be in full 3D.

- The full meaning behind the title can only be understood once you complete the game.
- The first idea that came from this game was to show the daily life of the Organization.
- This is based off of after Roxas entered Organization XIII, this game will also revolve around the one year when Sora is asleep.
- Roxas has doubt, and begins to believe if it’s better to leave the Organization or not.
- The scan says that the 14th member is not Namine, however IS a key character to the story.
- You will still be going through Disney Worlds
- Roxas vs Riku will be in the game!
- There is a system that allows you to see the memories of Sora.
- Multiplayer mode is not related at all to the story.
- ALL XIII MEMBERS can be used in Multiplayer mode.
- Every member has a unique style of gameplay, also once you defeat the boss you can replay the mission again as much as you want to. There are different missions for each character.
- You can draw for fun in the second screen.
- Every time you complete a mission, one of the Organization chairs raise a bit higher.
- Developed by h.a.n.d., the guys that made Chocobo DS.
- Multiplayer gameplay is mission based, and your friends can play as any of the XIII Org members.
- Scenario is compared to Crisis Core, in that most people will know how it ends, but not how it will flow.

Kingdom Hearts: Coded
A mobile game, likely for Japanese cell phones. It stars the familiar cast of main characters from the original Kingdom Hearts (Sora & co.) and seems to be set between the first and second PlayStation 2 titles.

- Is considered to be the brother of Agito XIII
- Nomura wanted to make it a playground for the fans.
- This game will clerify where Riku and the King were during KH1
- The Debugging Mode is used to move the data to the real world
- Developed by the Before Crisis FFVII team.
- Disney worlds will be available as individual downloads.
- The setting involves Sora’s memories being accessed, possibly through a computer. It is compared to CoM’s scenario in that sense.
- Graphics are 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds to allow both high spec and low spec phones to be support.
- Planned to be released internationally, hence the focus on compatibility.

Each title is said to have a time-related theme: Birth by Sleep is “the distant past,” KH: 358/2 Days is “time of the other side,” and Code is “time has gone by.”

The latest edition of the Japanese magazine Famitsu featured an article about Star Ocean 4. Yoshinori Yamagishi, Star Oceans’ Producer, and assistant producer Hajime Kojima sat down and talked about the newly announced installment of Tri-Ace’s flagship series. While Star Ocean 4 has been confirmed to be in development for a couple months now, the target platform has been the subject of a lot of speculation. Sadly, Famitsu does not put an end to this speculation, as Tri-Ace has yet to make a decision regarding the target platform. Kojima only said that the game will be released for a platform or platforms capable of displaying beautiful visuals. This most likely means either PlayStation 3, X-BOX 360, or both.

The game’s development has progressed to the point where the basics of the battle system are up and running. Once completed, the battle system will support up to four active party members. The developers describe it as an “orthodox progression” of the prequel’s battle system with new features. However the game’s story is already finished. Yoshinori Yamagishi was not willing to give away any details regarding the era, in which the game takes place. He only said more information would be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show. Hajime Kojima, however, assured fans that characters and races from previous installments would appear in Star Ocean 4 and the world would be the same as well. He went on to explain that previous installments did not really have a “star ocean” feel to them, but in Star Ocean 4 it would be possible to travel through space in one’s own spaceship. There will also be events centering around spaceship battles. Tri-Ace is promising a huge world, as there will be a lot of planets, not just two or three. That being said, the game will not be entirely science fiction-oriented, but also offer a fair share of fantasy elements.

The game’s protagonist is a blonde-haired young male named Edge Maverick, the heroine’s name is Reimi. The two are apparently childhood friends. Private action events will also make their return in Star Ocean 4. At the end of the interview, the Tri-Ace representatives briefly touched on the subject of the Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story remakes for PlayStation Portable. The new Star Ocean will be a complete remake, featuring new scenario and gameplay elements. As for Star Ocean: The Second Story, Tri-Ace was not so forthcoming with information. It was only stated that the game will offer a new experience, even to those fans who have already played the original game on PlayStation. Star Ocean 4 has yet to receive an official release date.

Source: Forgotten Memories

With Square Enix holding their Pre-Conference today, quite a bit of info was revealed. The president of Square Enix opened up the conference with, “Thank you very much for participating despite your busy schedule. We’d like to share with you a lot of the initiatives we have embarked on today.” After his speech, they proceeded to show some videos for their upcoming games.

The first video was of Star Ocean, which now has three confirmed titles being released. There is Start Ocean: First Departure, which is nothing but a full remake of the very first Star Ocean game, an will be for the Sony PSP. Star Ocean: Second Evolution, which is a remake of Star Ocean: Second Evolution, and also for the Sony PSP. and last but not least, Star Ocean 4. The producer, Yoshinori Yamagashi, had this to say, “Star Ocean 4 is currently under development to meet the highest specifications, and is being developed by Tri-Ace.” Star Ocean 4 is expected to be available on the Playstation 3.

Chocobo Mystery Dungeon was another video shown at the Pre-Conference. It will allow Chocobo and his friends to explore the dungeon, and it is available for the Nintendo Wii. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates has also been given a date. It will be released in Japan on August 23 for the Nintendo DS. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers was also shown at the Pre-Conference. It features air ships and appears to be a nice adventure game that has many elements similar to Skies of Arcadia. Crystal Bearers will be available for the Nintendo Wii.

New information has arisen for the Square Enix Party 2007 scheduled to take place May 12th to the 13th. At the event fans will be able to download rare monsters and items for the following three games: Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, Chocobo to Fushigi na Ehon for Nintendo DS and the cellphone-based Seiken Densetsu Friends of Mana. The company will also hold online battle events centering around Dragon Quest Monsters Joker and the upcoming Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou for PlayStation Portable. Participants who perform very well in these tournaments will be rewarded with posters and cellphone straps.

Square Enix also had good news for those unwilling or unable to attend the event, as Subarashiki no Sekai and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII ringtones will be offered to all those who access the mobile portal Square Enix News with their cellphones on May 12th and 13th.

The Square Enix Party 2007 will take place in Chiba prefecture’s Makuhari Messe convention center on May 12th and 13th.

Square Enix registered “The Last Remnant” in the United States Patent Office about a week ago. Today English magazine Game Informer gives us the first details and information about the new Square Enix franchise:

“One thousand years ago humanity came into contact with Remnants. These magical fragments of a bygone era were once used to promote peace across the world. Soon, as the rift grew between those who ruled and those who obeyed, the remnants ceased being instruments of balance, and instead became paths to immeasurable power. Where once there had been peace, only bloodshed remained.”

The Last Remnant, directed by Hiroshi Takai, will be the first game to use Square Enix’s recently purchased Unreal Engine 3, which means it might be released for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game will be released simultaneously in Japan and USA.

Daishiro Okado is now the vice chairman of Square Enix in North America, and was previously the president and COO. John Yamamoto will be taking Okado’s place as president and will also serve as the CEO of the North American side of the publisher.

Yamamoto will retain his position as president and CEO of Square Enix Europe and will also keep his position as executive officer worldwide.

“We are excited that John will be joining our senior leadership in North America, and we will benefit immensely from his experience,” said Yoichi Wada, president and representative director of the board of Square Enix. “John’s proven track record as a senior executive and his strong understanding of our industry make him an ideal candidate to help lead our North American initiatives.”

In the latest issue of the Japanese magazine, Famitsu, had some news about a new Star Ocean game! Yes, you heard it right. Square Enix will reveal the new game in the Star Ocean series next month in its Square Enix Party 2007 set on May 12 and May 13.

As far as to which platform the game will be developed for is still unknown. However I’d say it’d most likely see a release on the Playstation 3.

This news is pretty exciting, or at least to me, because I been wanting to see something besides all this talk about Final Fantasy XIII, and it lasting for the next decade. Now if only they’d release some information on a new Grandia series game.

Square-Enix is about to release multiple new soundtrack compilations focusing on battle themes. The Square-Enix Battle Track Vol. 1: Square 1987 - 1996 album will include 25 tracks from Famicom, Super Famicom and GameBoy games composed by Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy I-VI, Hanjuku Hero, Gun Hazard), Kenji Itou (SaGa series, Seiken Densetsu), Ryuuji Sasai (SaGa 3, Final Fantasy USA Mystic Quest, Rudra no Himitsu), Hiroki Kikuta (Seiken Densetsu 2-3), Youko Shimomura (Live-a-live, Front Mission), Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger), Noriko Matsueda (Bahamut Lagoon), and Masaharu Iwata (Treasure Hunter G).The Square Enix Battle Track Vol. 1: Square 1987 - 1996 album will go on sale in Japan on May 9th for 2,000 yen ($16.86 US).

Huge news today in Japan as Square-Enix announced it reformed business model, and a significant rise in the likelihood of a Final Fantasy VII remake.

Late Wednesday night, on their Japanese web site, Square Enix announced that it will be working under a new business model, focused more on re-releasing existing titles and creating sequels to older games.

This change is no doubt due to the overwhelming success of its latest projects, which have all be remakes of Final Fantasy games for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance platforms. These remakes have done surprisingly well and have prompted Square Enix to look into the remade games further and for other systems as well. As a result, the company has decided that remakes and sequels will do well enough to keep the company in the green for quite some time.

This news will no doubt start an uproar in Final Fantasy VII remake rumors that have slowly lost their credibility since E3 of 2005. But even more exciting news to some is the possibility of other Square Enix franchises such as the Chrono series being dug up from the grave and re-released on next gen platforms.