When Square Enix shocked the world at E3 2009 announcing that one of their most anticipated titles of this generation, Final Fantasy XIII, will be made available on the Xbox 360 the world met the announcement with skepticism and a lot of questions. With a title that was supposedly being designed exclusively for the Playstation 3, how could it hold up on what is seen as an “inferior” console with limited storage and processing power. However we have recently learned that the Xbox 360 version was being developed simultaneously with the Playstation 3 version of the game in Japan and as such has not suffered any of those “second-hand port” symptoms that have plagued many games of this generation.

The guys over at 1up, Jeremy Parish in particular, had the opportunity of playing the Xbox 360 demo, and has noted in his blog entry that the Xbox 360 version “runs just as smoothly on 360 as it does on PS3”. This serves as great news to Xbox 360 owners as their version of the game will not suffer performance-wise and the only "downsides" will be compressed audio and disc-swapping (both of which are minor in my opinion).

Source: 1up Blog

Square Enix today finally stamped a date on the North American release of its eagerly-anticipated RPG Final Fantasy XIII. The title, which needs no introduction, is slated to hit Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 9, 2010. Fans can now breathe a sigh of relief.

“We know that our fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installation of the franchise – FINAL FANTASY XIII will exceed all expectations,” said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, Inc. “Coming simultaneously to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the first time, FINAL FANTASY XIII will be available to all players who are looking for the most immersive gaming experience of 2010.”

Final Fantasy XIII Dated for March 9 In North America - [eXophase.com]

Square Enix is setting expectations high for the next installment in its long-running Final Fantasy, with company boss Yoichi Wada projecting an upwards of six million in worldwide unit sales. That figure would put it above DS juggernaut Dragon Quest IX, which has shifted around 3.7 million units to date.

While interesting, it’s not exactly a fair comparison, considering the Final Fantasy series has a substantial following in all regions, while the core of the Dragon Quest fanbase is centered in Japan.

Exclusive to PS3, Final Fantasy XIII hits Japanese store shelves on December 17. A North American and European is scheduled to follow early next year on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Square Enix: Final Fantasy XIII To Topple Dragon Quest IX In Unit Sales - [eXophase.com]

Launches of main Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles always generate a significant amount of buzz over in Japan, and it looks like history is once again poised to repeat itself with FFXIII.

Famitsu parent Entertain is setting its expectations high for this entry in the series, forecasting a major boost in PS3 sales following its December 17 debut, to the tune of over 500,000 units. Of course, the recent price cut will play a deciding role in increasing momentum as well, but Square Enix’s latest RPG opus will be the driving factor during these winter months. The feat would represent an increase of 250 percent in hardware sales over last December. Impressive.

Unlike in North America and Europe, Japanese gamers will have only one platform to get their FFXIII fix, at least for the foreseeable future, considering the title is debuting as a PS3 exclusive. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if these figures are on the modest side.

Famitsu Predicts Final Fantasy XIII Will Move Over 500K PS3 Units In December - [eXophase.com]

Square Enix has finally pegged a firm release date on Final Fantasy XIII, announcing that the long-awaited RPG will hit Japanese store shelves on December 17. The date was actually meant to be formally revealed tomorrow during a premier event, but an online ad campaign that broadcasted early broke word today. Looks official enough to us.

As you may have already guessed, this date is specific to Japan only. While an overseas release date has yet to be announced, we’re told Square Enix is aiming to finish localization in early to mid 2010. So if you’re fluent enough in Japanese, you may want to take your chances at importing.

Final Fantasy XIII Slated for December 17 In Japan - [eXophase.com]

While the stateside debut of Final Fantasy XIII is still far off, in Japan a release is quickly approaching, with Square Enix having pegged the title for winter. In preparation, a demo with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete made its way into the hands of fans earlier this spring in the region. But to this date, the title has yet to make a public showing in non-trailer form at any trade event.

Looks like that’ll be changing soon, however. Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase reveals in a recent interview with Dengeki that playable code may indeed be on the TGS show floor.

Well, because we’re aiming for a winter release date, we’d like to have users play the game before then. Timing-wise, since there’s only TGS, we’d definitely like to shoot for that.

It’s about time.

Will Final Fantasy XIII Be Playable At Tokyo Game Show? [Kotaku]

Final Fantasy XIII May Be Playable At TGS - [eXophase.com]

It’s no secret that Final Fantasy XIII, the thirteen entry in the quintessential RPG series, is a very ambitious project for Square Enix. Especially given the fact that it has been in development for over five years now. Sales will need to be astronomically high to break even. How high? Ten times the amount of smaller titles, says producer Yoshinori Kitase in an interview with EDGE:

You’re right there is an unusual sort of pressure on Final Fantasy XIII. I’d say we need this game to have ten times the success of these smaller titles.

By “smaller titles,” Kitase presumably means the likes of efforts such as The Last Remnant, which sold around half a million copies. Not very far-fetched for XIII to surpass those figures by a multiple of ten, seeing as the series has a huge and very loyal fanbase.

Japan will have its first taste of FFXIII later this month in the form of a playable demo. No solid release date for the final project has been finalized in any region as of yet.

We often read from developers that the full potential of PS3 has not yet been reached, that there still is room for considerable improvement in regards to SPU usage and the like. Not so for Square Enix, they are masters of the trade. Speaking in an recent interview with Japanese mag Dengeki, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase reckons his team is pushing the console to nearly 100 percent. Says Kitase:

The game’s development is currently going well. We are finishing up the tail end of the development. Doesn’t the demo use about 50 percent of its power? Of course, I think the retail version will make use of nearly 100 percent.

Sure it’ll make use of nearly 100 percent - until, you know, Square’s next major title is released. Then that will be said to push the console even further, to vertiginous heights. Always works this way.

Kitase further stated that the PS3 version will be completely void of disc-swapping thanks to the PS3’s Blu-ray drive. Additionally, data will be cached to the internal hard drive to minimize load times, which is a plus.

Obviously, the Xbox 360 version will ship out on multiple DVDs, though it is not yet known in regards to how many.

Square Enix has issued an update to the official Final Fantasy XIII website, revealing cast member Sazh Katzroy and his Chocobo companion. Naturally, the website is written entirely in Japanese and as such it is still unclear as to what role he will play in the story, but it is sure to be a prominent one.

Final Fantasy XIII is slated for a late 2009 debut in Japan, with a localize multi-platform release following in 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots