Localization News Ahoy!

So, there have been various tongues a-waggin' about Xenoblade Chronicles ever since it saw a PAL-only launch (aside the Japanese launch) a few months back and they were all saying roughly the same thing:  "This is a great damn game."  And for those of us who are usually the bearers of such news to the PAL-Land folks, this was a really, really terrible feeling, since Nintendo of America refused to acknowledge that the game was going to come out here.  Now, we all sort of figured it would, especially after the whole Operation:  Rainfall scenario (which has two games yet to have localized before they're 'done') played out, but it was always one of those things that could have just not happened, especially with the surprising amount of silence surrounding the whole thing.

Now, I only have a tenuous (at best) connection to the game in that the 'Xeno-' prefix brings up good (and less good) memories of Xenogears and Xenosaga (respectively) which only the latter were made by the same team (Monolith Soft) which gives me even more pause.  Xenosaga Episode 1 was fine enough, and I've heard several good things about 3 (and would be willing to put in a few of those good things, though I haven't played all of it), but Episode 2 was just.....just awful.  Really, really bad.  And it's such a shame, too, because that series could've been amazing, especially if they went with the original plan and had it spaced out over the original amount of games they wanted (I believe it was six with rumblings of a possible 're-telling' of Xenogears for one of the episodes), but they caved to entirely too much pressure by the 'fans' and ended up with a terrible product as a result.  While there's something to be said for a team that will do what they can to please their fans, there's also something to be said about keeping true to your original vision, which I highly doubt they did.

As I've said time and time again, I'm really not a Wii person.  If anything, I'll pick up a few titles (to complement the two games I own for the system:  Madworld and Animal Crossing:  City Folk) when and if I grab a Wii-U, so long as backwards compatibility keeps and play them then, so this news doesn't bring a whole lot of excitement to me.  I'm glad that the game didn't get stuck in Europe and Japan to never see the shores of people who spell 'armor' without a u, but I can't be super hyped about it because I can't really play it and even if I could....I probably wouldn't.  I have far too many games as it is, as we all know, and working through them will be what I'm most concerned with.  But I can be happy for something that doesn't directly impact me and I am, quite so.

However, speaking on something that does directly impact me, and very much so, there's a bit of a clarification that I think I need to make about the whole "International Version" of Final Fantasy Type-0 I brought up the other day.  While at the Penny Arcade forums, I lamented the fact that it was labeled as an International Version and grumbled about what that meant, where I was then told that it was called an "overseas version" in the interview that Andriasang reported on and it is, in fact, typed as such.  I'm guessing this means that the possibility of the game coming to America shot from "Good" to "Gonna happen" just like that, but I'm personally not going to let my hype meter go up until I get something more official.  Still, it is probably happening, but as to the way, the when and the how, that's all up in the air for now.

And that's really the hardest thing to figure on, so far as Type-0 goes because it's pretty much a given that it won't set the sales charts on fire; at least, not initially.  People don't -buy- PSP games enough, apparently, (outside of Japan, at least) so it'll come over to tepid sales at best, which means they have to be thinking about the best level of 'control' over the sales and profits.  That would, logically enough, make me think that they would do a PSN-only release of the game, so that, yes, people will still pirate the hell out of it, but at the same time, they're not paying to manufacture the UMDs (two per game, remember), the manuals (though they'll still have to be translated for the digital version), cases and sleeves for every copy of the game, yet still selling it for $40.  (You know they will).  But this is Squeenix we're talking about, and to say their support of PSN has been consistently good is....well, just a flat-out lie.  They're getting better about it, but there are still glaring examples of their games just not on the PS Store.

I guess we'll just have to see how it works out.  Either way, UMD version or PSN only (or both, but if there's a UMD version, it will be mine) I'm going to grab it and hopefully be able to passport it onto my Vita (since it'll likely be out by then) and have some fun with it.  Because after all the things I've seen and specifically pointed out here about the game, I can't see how you could not have fun, which is something I find strange to be able to say about a Squeenix game again.  It's been a while, honestly, but I'm glad that there's still genuine good talent in Squeenix, even if I'd be more willing to bet a Perfect Storm situation happened than good planning.  Still, the results are what counts here and the result is that Type-0 looks fantastic.

Bonus Post - Random News Dump

This has just been one of those days where a lot of actual news and information comes out, but nothing about it is really substantial enough to go on and on about in the way that I do.  So it's one of those days where I contemplate just grabbing said news pieces and popping them together in one big news dump.  And this is also, obviously, one of those days when I actually just go through with it instead of finding something else to write about or taking one of the topics and really elaborating on it which generally leads to me saying things I've said before.  Regardless, there is a bounty of knowledge to share here.

The first and likely biggest news I have is that an International Version of Final Fantasy Type-0 is being made.  Not that I said 'biggest', not 'most positive' or 'most negative' or anything of that sort since, to me from what I've seen, there's nothing really to push it either way.  With any other company, you see International Version or Edition and think "Yessss, here it comes to North America" but, as is the case with Squeenix, there are several well-known examples of this thought being false.  These International versions are almost always stuck in Europe if they manage to get out of Japan at all, so hearing one is being made for Type-0 doesn't instill me with any confidence as, to my knowledge, there's no mention of an overseas release and obviously "International Edition" isn't enough on its own to carry that weight.

I would so very much love to have Final Fantasy Type-0 in my hands in the best way possible; freshly bought from a local retailer without any of the hassle.  While the fact that the PSP is region-free is a relief if this version of Type-0 stays exclusive to Europe (if it makes it there at all), it doesn't help put me at ease completely as I honestly hate the hassle involved with importing something (even if you can argue that there is little to no issue with it) and would rather not do it if I have any choice in the matter.  I'm just going to wait for something more of an official announcement that the game will hit US shores before I really start celebrating, because if it's announced, that is exactly what I'll do.

In other Japan/Europe-centric news, it was announced earlier today that the circle pad add-on for the 3DS is heading to Europe in a bundle with Resident Evil:  Revelations.  Being that the circle pad (Apparently called Circle Pad Pro) was born directly of Capcom's money, I would suggest this is an appropriate delivery and tells of a truth that people likely aren't willing to embrace just yet; the 3DS is going to need a second stick for a good few games and will likely be trapped in the nebulous pattern that was created with the Wii and Motion Plus of "is it or isn't it required" until a Nintendo property finally uses it and firmly instills it, where practice and execution will have taken quite a period of time that leaves you with games you can't play or a second stick you can't use. (or have little use for.)  Either that or you're going to have to look into a bulky add-on being required for your enjoyment lest you just buy a whole new handheld when it comes out with one built-in.

Of course, this bundle (and likely individual sale) is only announced for Europe for now and Capcom USA has said there's no plans for a release of it in America.  Which is either a lie, or the truth and you'll just have to buy both separately here, because an outside of Japan foray for the Circle Pad Pro accessory likely means it'll be all around the world before you know it or want it.  Still, the discomfort of the larger device (or at least the bulkiness of it, it might actually improve control by being larger) is a small price to pay for the precision that two sticks provide and the familiar feeling we've grown attached to, and it's just such a shame that nobody else had the foresight to put two sticks on their device from the sta-hahahahahaha.

The last bit of information I want to put out there is by no means one of the generally 'important' pieces of news and info out there, but it's something I'm personally excited for, so it's going up.  Yakuza:  Dead Souls, which as we know is a thing that is happening got a new trailer put out and while it's not the same as the -awesome- character trailers for Yakuza 4, it is very stylish all the same and likely the first of many as Sega has no problem making advertisements on the internet where you likely aren't going to find them unless you look for them, meaning you are not the target demographic.

Much of Yakuza:  Dead Souls is still a mystery to me and that's just the way I like it, though I will likely crumble and take a look at whatever other trailers come out for the game between now and March.  Let's just hope they're as great as I know they can be.  And that they don't spoil any major parts which I highly doubt they would but it's Sega and fucked if we know what's going through Sega's collective hivemind at any given point.  Speaking of which, I'm going to throw out one last bit of information that came from the Playstation Blog post showing off the trailer to begin with.

This is a classic "Goddamnit, Sega" moment right here because they just won't commit to anything.  One of the comments from "UltimaDestroyer" says "im so excited for this game! cant wait to fight zombies in kamurocho!! how soon will the cut content list be revealed?  ps – pass along word that we want valkyria chronicles 3 dammit!!" which is replied to by Kellie Parker who is apparently the Community Manager for Sega of America.  The reply?

"We’re excited that you’re excited! Also, Valkyria 3 request noted. Stay tuned for more info!"

I am scorn-facing so hard, Sega.  So very hard because I got tired of this song and dance with Yakuza 3 and I really don't want to go through it -again- with Valkyria Chronicles 3.  Hopefully they will be a little more forthcoming with information about it sooner rather than later, because I think a lot of us have tossed away our torch for now, meaning any news could potentially fall on deaf ears besides the ones of those most dedicated who aren't enough, sales-wise.

A Doublecast of Final Fantasy News

So, as is the usual with me, when I see some piece of news the interests me, I gauge whether or not I can wring out about four or five paragraphs of talking on it before I decide whether or not to write about it or keep it in mind if I'm going to do a news dump post, or a post with just a couple pieces of news.  The latter case happens usually when my initial reaction is 'no, I can't write about this alone', which is exactly what happened today.  So, of course that piece will be the -second- thing I write about here, as I went on a search for other Final Fantasy Related news and found something I can also talk about.

It was just said yesterday that there are even -more- plans for Final Fantasy XIV, including cellphone, Vita support and a possible 360 version which line up perfectly with the plan I would've done to make Final Fantasy XIV successful.  Okay, I lied.   I lied a lot, just there, since my plans have, well, nothing to do with mimicking WoW even further than it's suggested they might.  Specifically, the Cellphone/Vita support would come in the form of being able to access your inventory, arrange purchases and manage auction house sales while not sitting in front of your PC or playing FFXIV on your PS3, which, as you might have guessed from how I prefaced it is something WoW has near-verbatim.  (At least if a friend of mine who just got out of WoW is to be believed since he had said app)  Not, you know, actually playing the game on your Vita, as it's been suggested might happen with FFXI, but being able to micro-manage equipment.  That's....that's great.

The article also outlines, as I said, the possibility of a 360 version, insomuch as it seems like Squeenix really really wants to make a 360 version -now-, but they want to 'focus' on the PS3 version first.  Now, I'm not the expert here, but I can't see this ending with a PS3-exclusive launch (for consoles) any more unless Microsoft flat-out refuses to let them make the game for the 360.  Which, I don't see them doing unless Squeenix's 'promise' to focus on PS3 first means that the 360 version would come out later, in which case, well...there's something of a history there, unless the mentioned Policy only relates to Live Arcade stuff and not on-disk releases.  However, I cannot think of one game that's launched first on the PS3, only to later show up on the 360, so it very well might be that much of a blanket.

I'm...not exactly sure which way this one's going to turn out, in all honesty.  As Squeenix, you want FFXIV on as many things possible to cast the widest money net as you can make, and after FFXIII's strong sales on both the PS3 and the 360, it's reasonable to think that the game will be bought on both.  However, I'm sure we all remember the 'outcry' and the 'betrayal' of everyone after FFXIII was announced as being Multi-platform for launch and doing the same thing again with FFXIV (as I suspect they might 'have' to do) this far after all these 'promises' and the like...it just sounds like a recipe for further disaster which is the exact thing the game does not need at this point.  Then again, this is Squeenix, and a possibility to do something incredibly dumb and damaging, so I think the writing's on the wall already.

But onto the good news and the important news, which is the Final Fantasy Type-0 news.  A few new details were just announced today, and include Chocobo breeding, Split-Party dungeons and Multiplayer, which, well as the comments to the article say, just make a great game sound greater already.  I'm sure we all have -some- fond memories of Breeding Chocobos in Final Fantasy VII before it inevitably became a chore, so to be able to relive that, hopefully in a better, more refined way likely breeds (heh) more excitement.  It does in me, at least, as there will be, apparently, several different breeds of Chocobos you can get, so it kind of sounds like the old experience on the surface at least.

Also mentioned in the part about the Chocobo system is a reminder that, hey, the game has a World Map or an Overworld, depending on what you used to call them in the days of yore.  As if there weren't enough reasons to mark out for the game, yeah?  I would imagine the different breeds would, like Final Fantasy VII's chocobos, be able to navigate different terrains differently, though I hope it wouldn't be as black and white as it was then; where Yellow Chocobos could hardly go anywhere, black ones could traverse more, etc. etc.  Maybe even if it were as simple as altering the speed at which you could travel on certain breeds through certain terrain, rather than just outright going invisible wall on you.  Still, I'm sure I won't mind when I'm running about on the World Map because I'll simply be enjoying the fact that there is a World Map too much to care.

The Dungeons mentioned seem like a neat addition as well; if just for the gimmick that goes along with them.  You may or may not know that Final Fantasy Type-0 has the whole Three-Character Party system going on, which allows you to quickly switch off to a teammate if you should feel the need to.  Well, the dungeons take advantage of that mechanic by, well, invalidating it for the entirety of them, meaning that you'll have to split up your party to explore it.  I don't know if this means you'll go through it all one at a time, so you sort of go through it three times, or if it'll be more like you pick which character you want to control and you can support your two teammates somewhat, depending on how the dungeon is set up, until you all three reach the end.  Or maybe you just pick one person to run through it and the other two sort of magically appear at the end.  I don't know, but still, it sounds cool.

Multiplayer is worth mentioning, of course, even if my excitement for that kind of waxes and wanes.  Basically, when you beat a mission in the main story, you'll be able to take it into MP and do it again with friends.  (I would imagine this is on top of -other- MP missions, of course)  On the one hand, this game is looking like a game that's set up for some Phantasy Star Portable 2-esque multiplayer which is good, but on the other hand, the single-player draw is so very there and so very gripping, that I'm not sure if I'll -want- to invest in the MP beyond playing with a friend or two every now and again.  I'm sure when it comes out, though, I'll end up splurging and playing MP all the time anyway, since it'll be -fun- and I'll likely be doing it on the Vita (for one reason or another) so I'll be able to take advantage of Party for even more fun.  Now to wait some more for the details about the inevitable Western Release to figure out just what form it'll come over in.

Final Fantasy Type-0 Stuff and Also Goddamnit Sega Pt. 2

So, hot off the last PSP-related story, I figured it would be a good idea to bring up something with a positive look for the system, rather than more of the bad.  Of course, this could be bad and I will explain why later, but I'm just going to go ahead and talk about the facts here first.  And the facts seem to state that Final Fantasy Type-0 (I always wonder if this is supposed to be an O or a Zero, and now I'm pretty positive it's a Zero) will not only have a New Game +, but said new game + will be a different story or at least contain a different story that follows a different class at this war school or whatever it is.  I'm going to be honest here and admit I don't know jack about Type-0 aside from the fact that it's Action-RPG and I want it.

There's apparently a thirteenth character as well, and I'm assuming purely on absolutely nothing here but coincidental relation that said thirteenth character -might- have something to do with "Class 0" which is what the new story bit will follow.  And if the comments are anything to be believed, said character is likely to be the "10" equivalent, since the characters are named based on numbers (cards, specifically, like playing cards) and the known characters go from nine to eleven, skipping ten (Early dibs on "Zehn") entirely.  This....doesn't mean a whole lot, but serves as a vessel for me to bring up Final Fantasy Type-0 again, express my want for it, and talk about the PSP and Vita.  I always look for that type of chance, you know.

Anyways, what I was saying about this possibly being bad news for the PSP earlier is just that, in that Type-0 has an entirely plausible chance of not being released on the PSP in the west.  With it not coming out until next year, after the Vita is launched in Japan at least, possibly the rest of the world as well, the PSP will truly be on its way out, even in regions where it hasn't been 'dead' for years.  Being Squeenix, to suggest that a game with "Final Fantasy" in the title wouldn't come out in the West at all is silly at the very least.  And Squeenix quite enjoys porting things and jumping on the latest thing in some form or other, so the thing I'm getting at here is that we might not see Type-0 in the west on the PSP at all.  On the Vita is a guarantee if it doesn't hit the PSP over here, and possible even if it does.

So, I'm not so much concerned about my ability to play Type-0 (I just noticed that if I were to abbreviate it, it comes up FFT0, which sets a very dangerous precedent to the game, as I love me some FFT and it -better- compare to have the same abbreviation mostly) but rather in what form I'll be able to manage it.  I'd be happy tomorrow if Squeenix just straight-up said "Yeah, Type-0 is Vita only in the west, PSP/Vita in Japan" because at least then I would know.  Still, I guess we'll see.  Having that type of assurance in being able to play a game on the Vita is nice, unlike some other companies Sega.

I already had a bit of a whinge about this (I'm still not British, by the way, but it doesn't matter) last post, but it still gets me really pissed that Sega is, essentially punishing the consumers for their poor business tactics yet again.  While I am eternally grateful that they're actually giving us a game that, by all accounts, they don't have to give us and probably won't profit much off of (Yakuza:  Dead Souls, of course) I still can't help but be annoyed that they took Valkyria Chronicles as a series and did basically everything they could to quash it from the collective fan mindset.  While the move from PS3 to PSP isn't much of a surprise, business-wise (since PSP will get you more money in Japan), their decision to make the story in VC2 absolute anime-bullshit (I admit, I didn't hate it until I started thinking about it in retrospect) was a poor one and basically doomed them from ever reaping the amount of profits they likely wanted.

So to then make VC3 have a story that isn't absolutely terrible and then say "Well, our bad game didn't sell well, so we're keeping the good one" is the basic "GodDAMNIT Sega" move and it's one that they've had in their cards for quite a while.  While I can't say any Yakuza story is bad or anything approaching bad, I am told that the story to Yakuza Kenzan is quite good, but we will never see it, so that kind of ties into this sort of statement here.  (Also, when I say we will never see it, I mean in English because I literally have a copy of the game within 20 feet of me.)  Still, we can always hope for a Vita version or possibly one of these PSP Remasters that contains both 2 and 3 or something, but anything will be far too far away for it to really matter here.