According to MCV The £84 million bid offers Eidos shareholders a premium of 129% on their current market value which in this climate would be hard to reject. In fact according to MCV sources Eidos has further agreed to buyout terms from Square Enix which could see the british publisher transfer full ownership rights as early as May 2009.

Although the deal still needs official approval at the Eidos EGM, Square Enix holds strong backing from over 45% of the major shareholders which means it’s highly unlikely that the plans would be rejected.

We’ll keep you updated on any further updates, but this is one aquisition that will truely help Square Enix gain a strong foothold in the highly lucrative western gaming market.

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3 and Xbox 360)

First on our list has to be Final Fantasy XIII, a game belonging to one of the most popular RPG game franchises on the planet. Our personal opinion of the last FF offering (Final Fantasy XII) was not only a little dissapointing but the combat system was what can we say, “A Complete Mess”.

Despite Final Fantasy XII performing so averagely, it seems Final Fantasy XIII is going to be a big step forward both in terms of graphics and gameplay dynamics. It’s certainly the game to look out for in 2009 and with the creators of Kingdom Hearts also involved in the development process we’re hoping it’s going to offer something special for all of us fans. Remember if you haven’t already done so, check out the Final Fantasy XIII trailer.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Nintendo DS)

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise to be developed purely for the DS (i.e. it isn’t just a port of an older game). The story is quite straight forward and involves you playing as Roxas, who plays as a member of organization 13 battling to defeat the heartless in various areas such as Agrabah, Wonderland and the Beast’s Castle.

With a nifty battle system that allows you to team up with other members of organization 13 it also happens to be one of the first truly multiplayer Kingdom Hearts games to be produced. With the ability to play as any of the organization 13 members as well as the mysterious new 14th member called Xionas this really seems like a game that will add a whole new dimension to enjoying Kingdom Hearts with your friends.

Impressively for the DS, the game boasts Kingdom Hearts 2 quality cutscenes which are rumored to cover over 40% of the game. The graphics from what we’ve seen are definitely a step up for the DS allowing it to play as well as the ever popular Kingdom Hearts 2 for the PS2. This in our opinion has to be one of the most anticipated Kingdom Hearts games of 2009 so check out the trailer below.

Dragon Quest 9 (DS)

The Dragon Quest series which is quite remarkable in terms of gameplay and graphics continues to be one of the most popular Square Enix franchies in Japan. With that in mind Dragon Quest 8 for the PS2 was actually the first of the series to be shipped to North America and Europe and it didn’t dissapoint. The game was critically acclaimed by the media for it’s fantastic battle system, graphics and lifespan, IGN rated the game 9/10 (Outstanding), Xplay highly recommended the game and gave it 5/5 and Famitsu gave the game 39/40 which is almost perfect!

Akira Toriyama, the lead manga artist of the Dragonball series influenced the graphics on Dragon Quest 8 and Koichi Sugiyama created the wonderful music for the game. If you haven’t already heard the music check out the main theme called “Strange World Marching Through the Fields” via the clip below. So if you haven’t played Dragon Quest 8 and you’re a fan of the RPG Genre the this is one game you can’t afford to miss.

Getting back to Dragon Quest 9 there isn’t much to comment on right now so enjoy the trailers below.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep is the fourth Kingdom Hearts game to appear on a Playstation console and the titles exclusive nature should help bolster the currently suffering sales of the PSP console. The holiday season hasn’t been great for Sony so this title should offer a breath of fresh air.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep focuses on three knights (chasers as they’ve been called in an interview), who seem to be protecting the seven princesses of heart. The three knights are called, Ven, Aqua and Terra.

The main enemy is called Master Xehenort and the game takes place about 10 years before the events of Kingdom Hearts 1 when Sora and Riku were just young children. Check out the subtitled trailer below.

Final Words

Well that’s it for now, we’ve got more information coming up on Final Fantasy Dissidia for the PSP so keep your eyes peeled for that but other than that if you want to hear about any other upcoming games or simply want to share your views feel free to drop us a message or a comment below.

So what’s in it for Square Enix ? Well the Tokyo power house has already expressed an interest in the growing western gaming market, and brands like Tomb Raider and Hitman may well be their ticket into this ever expanding market. Sure it sounds like an odd combination but global president Yoichi Wada has already visited Denmarks IO Studios (developers of Hitman) for discussions and is set to return for further discussions later this month.

At this point Warner Bros already owns a 20% stake in Eidos and are being backed as the eventual winners of this little power struggle. Despite the above it will be interesting to see how far Square Enix will push discussions as strong brands like Tomb Raider and Hitman are sure to assist them in acquiring a greater piece of the western gaming markets.

Game Informer

In 2004, Square Enix released Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the GBA. The title capitalized on the frenzy surrounding the original Kingdom Hearts title, and was heralded for its innovative battle system and impressive handheld graphics. Now, four years later, Chain of Memories will hit retail shelves once again, this time for the PlayStation 2.

So how does the port stack up? Does it offer anything other than cosmetic advancements? Read on to find out Full Article

IGN

Although the game isn’t hitting retail until next month, I spent some time with a preview build in order to see what sort of experiences gamers can expect when it finally makes it stateside. Re: Chain of Memories is a fascinating blend of the traditional Kingdom Hearts formula with surprisingly complex card battle mechanics, which I’ll explain shortly. But for those of you who’ve never played the original Chain of Memories (maybe even some of you who have), this remake is definitely not to be missed … Full Article

So it’s getting closer, many stores are already doing preorders. So stay tune as we will be bringing much more info to you guys the minute we get it.

As always the anticipated titles revolve around a mixture of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts games but as of writing one of the big let downs has to be the unavailability of playable versions of Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest XI.

For Kingdom Hearts fans last year at TGS 2007 we saw the announcement of three new handheld titles making the year to date an exciting time for the franchise. This year doesn’t look to disappoint either with Square Enix following up with playable demos for both Kingdom Hearts : 358/2 days (Nintendo DS) and Kingdom Hearts : Birth By Sleep (Sony PSP). Unfortunately Kingdom Hearts : Coded (Mobile) will be a video only affair this time round, but two out of three can’t be bad.

With regards to rumours surrounding a PS3 exclusive Kingdom Hearts 3 title (i.e. the real sequel to Kingdom Hearts 2) we can only hope that something official will be announced at the event. With so many titles about to be released for the handheld platforms a full console sequel would certainly be the icing on the cake.

For a full listing of the games at the show see below or if you’re handy with your Japanese check out Square Enix’s official TGS 2008 site which has full details and some cool screenshots of the games being showcased in October.

Playable

- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
- Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road
- Dragon Quest Battle Road
- Final Fantasy IV The After
- Dissidia Final Fantasy
- Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon
- Valkyrie Profile
- Pingu’s WakuWaku Carnival
- Chocobo Tales: The Witch, The Girl, and the 5 Heroes
- Itadaki Street Mobile
- GanGan Mobile
- GanMoba Comics
- Kids Corner
- Snoopy DS

Not Playable (Videos Only)

- Kingdom Hearts Coded
- Final Fantasy XI
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII
- Final Fantasy Agito XIII
- The 3rd Birthday
- The Last Remnant
- Chrono Trigger
- Dragon Quest IX
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope 
- Infinite Undiscovery
- Song Summoner
- Ellark

As expected the event focused heavily on both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts but other titles such as Sigma Harmonics and The 3rd Birthday (Parasite Eve III) were also there.

So lets take a look at the release dates for the Kingdom Hearts games which despite being tentative are still a good indication of when these games might be available for release.

The dates mentioned are of course for Japan only so when and whether these games will be released outside of Japan still remains a mystery. In fact whether Coded will even be released in the West seems quite doubtful as unlike Japan where mobile gaming is quite popular, the west is still very far behind. 

For more information and articles surrounding the event be sure to check out some of the other sites such as IGN, GameSpot and KHInsider which have more details on the actual games, stories and trailers that were presented at the event. We’ll keep you posted on any major updates.

With the success of the Wii companies like Nintendo have already shown the importance of catering for the family casuals and Square Enix seems to be following suit.

Today they announced their new brand known as Pure Dreams which will initially launch two games for the Nintendo DS, Snoopy DS: Lets Go Meet Snoopy & His Friends and Pingus Wonderful Carnival.

Both games are currently set to be released in Japan only, whether the Pure Dreams brand of games will be released outside of Asia remains to be seen, no doubt they would do well in the western markets but as always we’ll have to wait and see.

As expected Square Enix’s top selling game was Dragon Quest IV which sold 1,052,827 copies positioning it as the 9th most sold game of 2007. In 15th place was Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker which sold in excess of 825,065 copies, followed closely by Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII which sold 735,939 copies (18th place) helping Square Enix to three top selling titles in the top 20.

Despite some solid results in the upper quarter of the Japanese charts I have to say not all titles performed as well. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings only sold 524,009 copies which was a lot lower than Square expected. Despite some dismal sales for Revenant Wings the series was not completely let down as Final Fantasy IV which was re-released for the Nintendo DS during 2007 gave the series a well deserved boost landing a little over 447,087 sales in a matter of months. 

Other titles of note include Final Fantasy CC: Ring of Fates with netted 389,845 copies landing yet another game for Square Enix in the Top 100. Overall not a great 2007 run for the Final Fantasy series but not too bad either. 

Moving on we see in 46th place one of the most wanted titles in Europe and North America, Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ selling some 337,091 copies, followed closely by Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for the Sony PSP which sold 301,796 copies. Lastly Square Enix’s worst preforming game in the top 100 was yet another Final Fantasy title namely, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift which sold 287,871 copies putting it in 58th place (not bad I guess).

Overall the Japanese market is always unpredictable but Square Enix would have been quite dissapointed with their sales standings for the Final Fantasy series which usually take the charts by storm. Lets hope 2008 will be a little more uplifting for this extremely popular series. Overall very well done to our favourite company Square Enix and lets hope for more success later this year.

As you can see from the scans, the focus gauge looks a lot like the Kingdom Hearts 2 drive gauge and seems to represent a speciality for each of the main characters Terra, Ven, and Aqua. 

Once filled it allows the launch of massive attacks and finishing moves for the character in question. Now despite the scans carrying Sora, we have to remember that this is a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts. So yes it will probably carry the usual mix of Disney characters but the visibility of Sora is probably for cut scenes only.

At this point there’s not much else we can gather but we’ll keep you posted as new information comes in. On a closing note don’t forget to check out the rest of the scans for the other two Kingdom Hearts games, KH 358/2 days and KH Coded (see below).