|
Square Enix Party 2005
At long last! Release dates for both Kingdom Hearts II and FFXII have been set!
At this year's Square-Enix Party 2005, the company's annual fiesta of RPGs held in Japan, role-playing fanatics got a bevy of good news from the kings of the RPG realm. After months of vague, broken release announcements for a new edition of its major series, Kingdom Hearts director Testsuya Nomura announced that Kingdom Hearts II will be released in Japan in December. Nomura stated that production is nearly complete on the title and he is aiming for a near-simultaneous worldwide release of the title. While this may be a bit optimistic of him, Square Enix's American branch is likely well on its' way in translating the game for English audiences. If the last Hearts game is any indication, look for KHII to hit the US by Spring 2006.
The other major event at Square-Enix Party 2005 was a well-deserved progress report on Final Fantasy XII. Officials announced that the long-delayed and greatly clamored-for game will be released in March of next year, on the 16th, to be precise. Some have said that this is to prevent the game from siphoning away sales of Kingdom Hearts II's Christmastime release. Also mentioned was the fact that localization has been just about completed on the storyline.
As much as fans were elated to find out that FFXII has a release pinned down at last, many were shocked to hear that the game's producer, Yasumi Matsuno, has left the project. The reason behind his departure is not known, but many say he was disgruntled over some team members leaving for FF-creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's independant studio, and skipped work for weeks. Square-Enix has said that a replacement has been put in charge of the project, but would not say whom the new director is.
So there you have it, RPG fanatics. Release dates for two of the biggest RPGs of the coming year. Now if only there was official information on a US release date, and you (as well as us) would be able to sleep soundly at night...
| 
