Reports (mainly leaked scans from Jump Magazine) are showing that a Final Fantasy XIV “Campaign Code” (which really means “Beta Code”) will be included in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII, which will be released December 17th of this year!
Japanese Game Source should have access to FFXIII by the end of the year, and we will continue to bring you updates on the both FFXIII and the FFXIV Beta. You can expect a full review by the end of January, so be sure to check back regularly.
If you’re interested in getting Final Fantasy XIII, and getting into the Final Fantasy XIV Beta, then you can buy Final Fantasy XIII now to enjoy the next upcoming Final Fantasy titles.
Update: The "campaign code" is a code that allows you to sign up for the beta, but it doesn't guarantee you'll get in. It's a pass that allows you to apply. Better than nothing, I suppose, but not all that great. It does still come with the free item when the full game comes out, though!
Kuro Matsuri Games has moved to Japanese Game Source. All of the content worth keeping from this site will be moved over, but all of the content here will still stay here. But, any new updates will be done there.
The Wonderswan Color was released by Bandai in Japan only at the end of December 2000. Bandai made several consoles that never made it out of Japan, including the predecessor to the Wonderswan Color, simply called the Wonderswan.
The Wonderswan Color was better than the Gameboy Color in many ways, but it was not quite as good as the Gameboy Advance. It did have one edge over the original GBA, though, and that's battery life. The Wonderswan Color could last up to 20 hours on a single AA battery, which is pretty impressive. It also debuted at a particularly low price, around $60 new. Thanks to the low price and it's one year lead on the GBA, it was ALMOST a threat to Nintendo!
But, the Wonderswan Color was somewhat lacking in games when compared to the Nintendo handhelds. It had a few excellent games, especially since Square Enix agreed to remake Final Fantasy I, II, III, and IV for the system. It did manage to exceed a total of 100 games, including, but not limited to, RockMan (MegaMan here in the states), Guilty Gear, Super Robot Wars, and Gundam games. So, in short, it's not the best library, but it certainly isn't bad. And that's before factoring in the backwards compatibility with the original Wonderswan!
Of course, since the console was only released in one region, region protection isn't an issue. Then again, you still have to import everything you play on it since none of it was released here.
Now, the console is more of a collector's item since most of the games were later ported to the GBA or other systems, but just to further entice the collector in you, there were a few limited release Wonderswan Color packages. There was the Final Fantasy I Limited Edition Box Set and the Final Fantasy II Limited Edition Box Set, compliments of Square Enix, provided that you are willing to pay the premium for it. Still, the console by itself is an interesting collector's item that can still be enjoyed for a pretty low price. It may even turn some heads if you play it out in public!
Pretty much the best place to get import games at this point. The second best option is National Console Support, but they honestly tend to be a little more expensive and they very rarely have sales like Play Asia does. So, this particular post is just to highlight a few sales going on at Play Asia right now.
Play Asia has the Soldner X Collector's Edition Box Set for PC for an excellent price. $9.90 plus shipping and handling. That makes it about the same price as downloading the game on your home console, but you get a nice limited edition physical copy instead. Not to mention that the game is honestly a lot of fun, so go buy Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer [Limited Edition] (PC CD-ROM) at Play-Asia.com =P
You'll have to import Final Fantasy XIII if you don't like the English voice acting or if you want Final Fantasy XIII before it comes out Spring of next year, assuming it's on time since GameStop seems to think that it won't be released until late June... not that GameStop is always accurate either... and here's your chance to get it for slightly cheaper than you would have otherwise. The game's price in Japan is over $90, but Play Asia is willing to sell it to those who preorder for $90, which will bump up to $95 right before the game gets released. So, if you were going to get it anyway, go ahead and preorder Final Fantasy XIII so you can save yourself $5.
If you would like to search for a few deals on your own, feel free to head over to Play-Asia.com and see what they have! ^_^
The PSP got more love than anybody else this year, and it shows!
While I saw no more than 5 noteworthy new games on other platforms, I counted a total of 12 for the PSP! So, let's get down to it:
Valkyria Chronicles 2
The sequel to the PS3 title, Sega thought it would be better to put it on the PSP. Perhaps the third will be on the PS3 again? I'm not sure. Still, despite being on a significantly weaker platform, the graphics still look pretty nice.
Yet another new RPG, The Last Ranker finds itself on the PSP. It has the graphics to be great, but does it have the story? I suppose we'll have to find out and see.
Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Accel 3
Naruto comes back to the PSP, and everybody loves Naruto! Well, you would think so based on the number of games he has, at least. Still, this impressive-looking-at-least-on-the-surface title might be something worth playing.
Minna No Tennis
Japanese for Everyone's Tennis, will this game live up to it's name? Not everybody likes tennis, especially in video game form, so it's hard to say.
.hack//Link
A new entry in the LOOOOONG .hack series. If you've been keeping up with it, you'll probably want this one, too, as the story does seem fairly epic. However, if you haven't been keeping up with them, this one might be too little too late.
Echochrono (or Echoshift)
It seems as though this game can't decide what it wants to be called. At it's announcement, it was called Echochrono, but a couple days later it was changed to Echoshift. Well, either way, it's the successor to Echochrome, a unique puzzle game that challenged your perception of space. This puzzle title chooses to challenge your perception of time instead with intriguing results.
Dynasty Warriors 6
There's not really much to say about Dynasty Warriors... more of the same, but it's on the PSP this time. Good for some, boring for others. Which category do you fall into?
Disgaea Infinite
Another humorous entry in the Disgaea series appears on the PSP, and flan seems to be a central theme for some reason... Well, it seems to me that this is one of those games that you'll either love or hate.
Darius Burst
A futuristic space shooter for the PSP... because you can never have too many futuristic space shooters. Classic gaming demands this to be true!
Danball Senki
Is it an anime? Is it a video game? I can't tell anymore, but it appears that every little kid now has miniature robots they can fight with. Challenge the other kids to a mini remote controlled fight so that you may have all of the glory!
Crystal Defenders
Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders has been available on the PS3 for some time, but now you'll be able to play it on your PSP as well! Hey, it's a fun tower defense game, so why not?
Angel Senki
An MMO on a PSP? Really? Well, that's what it claims... though it seems that it's also available on the PS3 via PSN. So, a PS3 title? A PSP title? Or both? I'll have to keep an eye on this one and let you know later.
Well, that sums up the new stuff from TGS this year.
