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Japanese games market shrank in 2009

by JC Fletcher { Jan 5th 2010 at 8:00PM }

2009 looked fairly dire for the Japanese games industry. Now that we're on the other side of the year, we can assess the damage. Andriasang reports Enterbrain numbers claiming that, overall, the market shrank ¥543 billion, a reduction of 6.9% from 2008. Since we're in a Seinfeld-quoting mood today, we might posit that the Japanese game industry had been in the pool.

Hardware sales dropped 13.9%, with the DS unsurprisingly leading among consoles with 4,025,313 million units and the Xbox 360 even less surprisingly at the bottom, with 331,706 consoles sold. In software, the big winner (or smallest loser, we suppose, given the overall tone of the news) was Dragon Quest IX, which sold a whopping 4,100,968 copies -- slightly more than the total number of DS consoles sold in 2009! Final Fantasy XIII managed to make it onto the tail end of the top five with 1,698,256 copies. But if you weren't Square Enix or Nintendo (who had the other three spots on the top five software charts), 2009 was one to forget.

Final Fantasy XIII sales plunge in Japan

by Mike Schramm { Jan 2nd 2010 at 7:00PM }

According to unofficial sales numbers from Japan, Final Fantasy XIII has fallen down to number four on the sales list over there, after a very big million-plus release day and a record-breaking first week. But otaku take heart: even though sales of the game dropped over a million units in the second week, this wasn't unexpected.

Final Fantasy games always tend to take a dip after the "day one purchase" audience gets their copies. The last iteration of the series took a 1.5 million unit hit in week two. But even with the lower sales, about 200,000 copies were traded for the appropriate cost in yen, which indicates Square Enix is likely still on track to meet or exceed its six million target worldwide. That's a lot of chocobos.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII

[Via Kotaku]

Your chocobo Avatar pet is in the mail

by Xav de Matos { Dec 31st 2009 at 9:30AM }

Last month -- utilizing the spamming power of Twitter -- Microsoft and Square Enix partnered to offer Xbox Live users a free baby chocobo pet for their Avatars if they registered their Gamertags during the social media promotion. After weeks of waiting for the marketing plan to run its course, codes for the tiny companion have been sent to participating users via email. Sadly -- as Major Nelson points out -- those who did not participate in the promotion cannot get the pet, but we anticipate the baby chocobo will find its way onto the Avatar Marketplace at some point.

Reminiscent of the baby chocobo that nests within Final Fantasy XIII hero Sazh Katzroy's gorgeous afro, our baby chocobo only seems to flutter around, refusing to nest within our own Avatar hairdos. We presume that feature will be some kind of pre-order bonus for Final Fantasy XIII when it launches on March 9, 2010.

ASCII Media Works tracks Japan's top selling games of 2009 (so far)

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 28th 2009 at 4:00PM }

[GAME Watch]

Yes, the year technically isn't over yet -- but let's be honest: Nobody's going to be buying any new games over the next four days. As such, Dengeki publisher ASCII Media Works thought it appropriate to track the 30 best-selling games in Japan for 2009. Or, rather, 99 percent of 2009.

There aren't too many big surprises; Dragon Quest IX took top honors with 4,089,136 units sold, and Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver came in second with 3,301,873 in sales. Despite having only been out for a little over a week, Final Fantasy XIII actually managed a sixth place finish with 1,455,505 units sold. Check out the full list of top-selling games after the jump.

[Via Kotaku]

Continued →

Final Fantasy XIII limit breaks Japanese PS3 software sales record

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 24th 2009 at 10:45AM }

Are you shocked? Probably not, considering we all knew Final Fantasy XIII would make a killing during the initial week of its release. However, the magnitude of the game's success was still a little alarming. Within its first day on the market, it broke one million units, becoming the best-selling PS3 game in Japan. According to Media Create, the game had reached 1,501,964 units by the end of the week, which more than doubled the life-to-date totals of the platform's previous bestseller, Metal Gear Solid 4. It did so in just four days. Great googly moogly!

As you also might have expected, these unprecedented sales also boosted PS3 sales in the region for the week. The platform's sales leaped, much like a gazelle would leap, from 75,086 units sold to 237,086 units (an increase of 215.75 percent). That's an impressive upshot -- but we're not sure it deserves any gibberish exclamations.

Final Fantasy XIII and Bravia -- feel the synergy!

by Justin McElroy { Dec 21st 2009 at 4:15PM }

Here's an example of the sway RPG characters hold in Japan: A writer for AndriaSang spotted Final Fantasy XIII's Lightning hocking TVs in a Japanese electronics store. Her favorite model? Why, the Sony Bravia, of course.

Do what you will, but, speaking from experience, if you start making your purchasing decisions based on the whims of computer-generated characters you end up buying a crate of New Coke solely on the recommendation of Max Headroom. Trust us on this one.

Final Fantasy XIII launch day sales exceed 1 million in Japan

by Ben Gilbert { Dec 18th 2009 at 4:40PM }

In the roughly 24 hours since Square Enix dropped Final Fantasy XIII into retailers across Japan, over 1 million consumers have snagged the game for their PlayStation 3s. The Japanese publisher says that the number doesn't include the Lightning Edition PS3 hardware bundles, which would presumably add another handful of copies to the grand total. With another few months to go until North American gamers can hungrily grab up the sequel, we'll have to focus our time on jewelry contests instead.

[Via Kotaku]

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII sweepstakes offers up merch, still no English demo

by Ben Gilbert { Dec 18th 2009 at 2:00PM }

There's nothing quite like being placated by material things -- it's what gets us by in this cold, Capitalist world. Knowing that us North Americans are heart-hurtin' over the lack of a localized Final Fantasy XIII demo, Square Enix recently announced plans to give us merchandise based on the upcoming game though a sweepstakes, as teased by Square's Sonia Im on her Twitter account recently.

Starting December 23, the contest website will open for entries and 13 "lucky winners" will get their hands on the FFXIII-inspired merchandise seen in the gallery below. More specifically, four people will get their necks adorned with one of the four pendants while nine others will get an "accessory" (keychain or card holder). Sure, you might want to play the game instead, but isn't getting stuff nice?

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII Sweepstakes Prizes

Final Fantasy XIII goes Home in Japan

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 17th 2009 at 12:30PM }

To coincide with the launch of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan, PlayStation Home has been updated with a number of virtual Square Enix goods -- all of them terribly expensive. For 600 yen (about $6.66), Final Fantasy fans will be able to purchase an avatar costume of Snow, Lightning or Sazh. (The Baby Chocobo wig for Sazh will cost an additional 100 yen, though.) While these costumes may be pricey, the alternative (cosplaying in real life) exacts an even greater cost.

FF13-inspired furniture is also available at the Home Marketplace, ranging from 100 to 200 yen each. Perhaps you'll want a Cactaur for your apartment? Or a Final Fantasy XIII sofa? Certainly, there's no better way to relax after a lengthy FF13 grind than to sit down on your virtual couch.

Unboxing the Final Fantasy XIII limited edition PS3

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 16th 2009 at 1:45PM }

Click to start the unboxing.

Japanese gamers are braving the cold right now, waiting on line to pick up Final Fantasy XIII. Square Enix and Sony have partnered up to create a limited edition bundle that includes a copy of the game, a white controller, and a pink Lightning-emblazoned 250GB PS3 Slim system.

It's unlikely this system will ever be officially released outside of Asia. Unless you're looking to do some import shopping, these pics from Joystiq Japan's Ittousai are the closest you'll get to owning the first-ever special edition PS3 Slim.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII Limited Edition PS3

Square Enix teases something 'stylish' for FFXIII

by Justin McElroy { Dec 14th 2009 at 2:31PM }

As if the wait for Final Fantasy XIII wasn't already difficult enough, Square Enix's assistant PR director, Sonia Im, is making it even more torturous. On her Twitter account, Im teased "something cool most of you can participate in a few days from now" within a mysterious Square Enix memo. Im later added that the memo "eluded [sic] to something stylish." If you squint, the date in the memo seems to be December 17, which would coincide with a PSN update.

It's anybody's guess past that, but we're hoping for a totally magical Final Fantasy-themed fancy dress party for us and a few of our closest friends, set inside PlayStation Home. Can you even imagine?

That, or a demo like the one our Japanese friends already have. Either way.

Gallery: FINAL FANTASY XIII (12/14)

Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack site launches with samples from game's four-disc score

by Randy Nelson { Dec 11th 2009 at 3:45PM }

The official Japanese site for Final Fantasy XIII's soundtrack has gone live, offering the ability to listen to the first ten tracks from the four-disc mega-album. Andriasang reports that the site will be updated with all of the discs' contents over time, along with notes on the tracks by composer Masashi Hamauzu, who worked with Nobuo Uematsu on the score for Final Fantasy X.

You can listen to the tracks by heading to the site and clicking on the "track list" tab at the bottom of the page. The album releases in Japan on January 27 in both standard and limited "first cut" editions. If Square announces a domestic release, it'll be music to our ears.

[Via Nobuooo]

Final Fantasy XIII, reimagined by Yoshitaka Amano

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 10th 2009 at 1:45PM }

Long before Tetsuya Nomura drew the spiky haired silhouette of Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, one man defined the artistic style of Square's esteemed RPG franchise: Yoshitaka Amano. While Amano is still actively involved in the franchise (by creating the backdrops for all the Final Fantasy logos, specifically), some hardcore fans miss seeing his unique sensibilities applied towards the series' character designs.

The latest Famitsu (via Siliconera) shows Amano's interpretation of the cast of Final Fantasy XIII. While hardcore fans can argue over which character designer is superior, we wonder: would Amano's art look right when rendered in 3D?

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII

Mega64 makes its own mind-blowing Final Fantasy XIII announcement

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 2nd 2009 at 5:03AM }

When Square Enix unveiled the English-language release date of Final Fantasy XIII, Joystiq commenter Chedder dared to ask the one question on everyone's mind. "Is it me or has the host of this video been drenched by a douche nozzle before they turned the cameras on?" Mega64 has the answer: yes.

Mega64's parody announcement one-ups Square Enix's hyperbolic ~~infomercial~~ trailer with hilarious real-world "interviews." Oh, and if you're like Anemos, you'll probably love the ending. Check it out after the break.

Continued →

Lightning strikes the UK and US cover art of Final Fantasy XIII [Update]

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 1st 2009 at 10:30AM }

The Final Fantasy series has been known to have some truly epic box art in the past, such as the man vs. machinery motif of the Final Fantasy VII cover, or the lovely, all-inclusive tableau featured on the front of the last entry in the core franchise. Imagine our surprise when we received the images above from Games Press -- it seems the cover for the UK version of Final Fantasy XIII will be considerably more simple than the box art of its predecessors. [Update: The US version of the box art will be identical to the UK version.]

We've posted larger versions of the two boxes in the gallery below. Check them out, but don't let those eyes of yours wander. Yes, we know her skirt is hiked to a precarious degree. We also know that the baby Jesus is watching your every action.