After hearing of a lot of people bowing out of the lastest edition of E for All (looks at Sony and MS), it looks like Nintendo is looking to capitalize their monopoly at the E for All Expo now. If you happen to be in the in the Los Angeles area from October 18 to the 20th, you might want to stop by the Convention Center to check out the newest installment of Nintendo games, especially Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy.

In addition, Nintendo will host a daily Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament. Competitors get a free Wii-themed T-shirt, and a different T-shirt will be available each day of the show.

Although the lineup is subject to change, the complete list of games for Nintendo systems scheduled to appear at E for All include:

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Hit the jump for more…

So if you are a sucker for figurines and Final Fantasy here is your chance to own some cute lil guys for your desk. My favorite is the red mage and his pimp hat. Here is the official info:

FINAL FANTASY III TRADING ARTS MINI Set
A set of five adorable miniature figurines based on the characters from FINAL FANTASY III, released on the Nintendo DS.

SQUARE ENIX Official Online Store Exclusive!!

Material : PVC
Size : Approx. 2.5 inches
Specification : Blister boxed

Remarks : For ages over 13 (Children under 13 may become traumatized, hehe)

Price : $17.99 (this is about $4 a character)

Just click here if you want to check out some more Square gear.

Every Monday Nintendo has released new content for the Wii and the virtual console, today is no different. Nintendo is bringing out Kirby’s Dream Course, Shining Force and Devil’s Crush. Kirby’s Dream course is a bit of an obscure golf game from the SNES era, Devil’s Crush is a TurboGrafx pinball title but the real gem here is Shining Force. Shining Force is a classic RPG title from the Sega Genesis days and is worth the 800 points to grab up, think Final Fantasy on the Genesis, deep game, which should port great over to the Wii.

For all details from the press release hit the jump:
Hit the jump for more…

This is another much anticipated RPG coming to the Xbox 360, August 28. Looks like the 360 is getting some RPG love in the next months between this and Eternal Sonata. Blue Dragon looks good, very anime in style and looks to capture the traditional fight sequences from the Final Fantasy games (turn based). Also look to have some interesting powers that will allow your characters to channel different dragons to help in your battles. The enemies are visible on screen as in Eternal Sonata and both games look very visually impresive, but I give the edge to Eternal Sonata in the fight sequences, either way be prepared to sink some hours of RPG playing in September.

Hit the jump for a better look at Blue Dragon and it’s “Poo snake” monsters..
Hit the jump for more…

I recently read an article by Julian Dibbell entitled “The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer” and I was thoroughly intrigued. It brought perspectives to light I hadn’t thought about, Many gamers out there are quite familiar with MMO games such as World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star Online, Ultima, Guild Wars, Second Life, Final Fantasy, the list goes on, but some may not be aware of the subculture that exists as a result of these games.

There are many players who play the game straight up and are content with leveling and questing, perhaps joining some buddies every once in a while and making a new one at other times. Then there are the hardcore gamers that play with no other purpose than being the best and having the most elite gear or the largest bankroll. Then there are the players that want to be “elite”, but want it the easy way and purchase their items from farmers or online services.

The latter classes of players are the ones that intrigue me and made me think about what is right and wrong with MMO games. In all MMO games there is a sub culture of gamers for the most part of Asian decent that play, no better stated “work”, in these games to gather gold or currency in order to sell it back to real life players typically in Europe and America. If you have played an MMO like WoW they are typically known as “Chinese Gold Farmers” and typically are frowned upon by other players and in extreme cases hated and even hunted.

Hit the jump for more…

This is kind of cool, you answer some questions and find out what character you are from the Final Fantasy world. Unfortunately I was Yuffie!! Who are you?

Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?

Final Fantasy VII

Take the quiz here.

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: The War of the Lions has been announced for the PSP for October 2007. The original Tactics which I rave about came out in 1997 on the PS1 and gave everyone a reason to talk about Ivalice and the FF franchise. Now with The War of the Lions we have reason to rejoice while playing with our PSP’s. This game boasts exclusive content not found on the original classic including all-new CG sequences, all-new jobs, new 16:9 widescreen presentation, new head-to-head multiplayer and new storyline elements. Also unique to this launch is that it will be released simultaneously in North American and Europe, this almost never happens.

Here are some recent titles that Square has churned out:

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII Versus
Final Fantasy Crisis Core
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Rings of Fate
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Crystal Bearers
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Final Fantasy IV DS
Final Fantasy XII International
Final Fantasy XI: Athena’s Holy Soldiers
Final Fantasy Dissidia

A fairly decent lineup for the team over at Square. Keep em coming and we will keep buying.

Rumors have been flying out exclusive titles since the next-gen started. Most have proven to be true.

Today’s big beef is that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to multiple consoles. PS3 Center reports that Motomu Toriyama of Square Enix has confirmed that, along with the PS3, other consoles will see FFXIII. There’s no sources sited in the article, so I’m skeptical of the statement.

We all know there will be multiple games in the FFXIII series, with multiple storylines announced. Does this mean we’ll see the main FFXIII game on the Xbox 360 of Wii? I personally doubt it. Square Enix has been so loyal to the PlayStation for years. I can see a few of the side games coming to other consoles, but not the main FFXIII game.

What does everyone think? Let us know in the comments.

Here is a shot of some scenes from the much anticipated FFXIII, which now consequently is rumored to not be platform specific, a.k.a. look out Xbox 360 here comes some FF action, but only time will tell. Enjoy.

Drunk Pandas

So now that 2006 has come to an end, I figure it’s time to pick my game of the year. This year was a tough pick. There’s 4 games all close to that number 1 spot. You’ve got Zelda for Wii, Guitar Hero 2 for PS2, and Final Fantasy XII for PS2 that all came close, but just didn’t cut it. So my winner for the 2006 Game of the Year is Gears of War for the Xbox 360. This game lived up to the hype machine that was created around it. The graphics, gameplay, and story are all amazing. Kudos to Cliffy B and the team at Epic for creating such a great game! Hopefully the trilogy rumors prove to be true.

Hopefully next year PS3 will have some better showings and even come close to the top of the list, as well as PSP and DS (which both had some damn good titles this year).

Jmel

I would have to say that my most enjoyable gaming this year has come with Gears of War. The commercial that came out built up the hype, then I got to go to the event in Chapel Hill, and play the game. I knew at that moment, it was going to be a hot seller. It’s the only game I’ve ever gone back to play a 2nd time or more (I’m on my 3rd time now). The game is not without its flaws, (still voice problems when joining an in session game online) but for the most part it is everything that a next gen game for the 360 should be. The cooperative play, the basic yet fun tactics. It’s just a fun game all around. My runner-ups would be Oblivion which easily defined the bar for the first half of the year, and also oddly, Test Drive Unlimited, which really gives people a peek at what racing games can evolve to in the coming years.

StevenSteel

Although I am limited in the amount of systems I have played, I think Oblivion is by far the game of the year. Even after beating the game and finishing all the achievements, I continue to play the game, download content and extra missions, and hack away at the numerous skill parts for each character. For me in 2006, Oblivion occupied most of my time and kept me glued to the graphics and game play features. Not to take anything away from GOW, because it does have amazing graphics and online features, I just don’t think it has the depth and overall features of Oblivion. I can only hope Elder Scrolls V will be even more in depth and make each time playing the game with a different character just as exciting as the first. I would say my view is skewed though, since I am not a huge fan of online play, I prefer to just sit down and play a game at my own leisure. Purchasing a PS3 is in my near future and hopefully will be able to add more titles to my arsenal.

Taz8080

This year had quite a full lineup for almost every system, the top 4 that stick out in my head overall are Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas and Dead Rising. I played these all on e the 360 and saw the difference and elevation of game play to the next generation console. I have logged quite a few hours in each and enjoyed them all but I will break down my choice as follow: Rainbow Six Vegas and Marvel ultimate Alliance are great titles that provide good old fashioned online gaming and coop with your buddies. Both titles build off of their predecessors extremely well but in essence are rehashes of older iterations, to me the GOTY has to be original. That leaves Dead Rising and Gears of War, both awesome games that were innovative and tough, while providing a fresh new gaming experience and really puling you into their story. For me this is a tough choice and I would love to go against Gears to be different, but it just provided the full package, I think if Dead Rising would have given me online options I would pick it hands down. My GOTY pick would have to be Gears it lived up to it’s hyped up billing, sorry Dead Rising, but if ripping a man in half with a chainsaw is wrong… I just don’t want to be right.