It seems that finally a Final Fantasy XIII collectors edition is revealed. The first rumours appeared on the web after a Italian game store placed the Collects edition on there website. Now 1 day later screen shots of Square-Enix newsletter with the FFXIII Collectors editions have been appearing.

While Square still remains vague in there newsletter the additional extra's are rumoured to be:
- A Soundtrack (probably only a few selected tracks like Dissidia had)
- An Art Book
- A Comic Book (rumoured to be a translation of the additional drama CD that comes with the limited editions of the OST)
- Artistic Trading Cards

This all will be available for €80,- in Europe, whether the USA will receive the same collectors edition, if they get one at all, is still unknown.

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At the same time Square Enix Music Online has stated that composer Masashi Hamauzu has left Square-Enix. Apparently he's not the first to leave as fellow composers Kenichiro and Junya Nakano also both left Square-Enix. Masashi Hamauzu is mainly known for its work on SaGa Frontier II, Final Fantasy X, Dirge of Cerberus and his recent Final Fantasy XIII. Why the composers left Square-Enix or where they have gone to is still unknown, though the same article also stated that further departures from the four remaining composers (Takeharu Ishimoto, Naoshi Mizuta, Kumi Tanioka and Tsuyoshi Sekito) will occur in the coming months.

However note that this does not mean these composers can't be working on Square's future projects. Right now Nobuo Uematsu, who left Square and started as freelances, is working on Final Fantasy XIV and composer Yoko Shimomura, who like Nobuo became a freelancer, is working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

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Game watchers have discovered that Amazon.com Japan has recently added a listing for Last Remnant PS 3.

I can mention that the North American Amazon.com has had a listing for The Last Remnant on PS 3 since early 2008 and it's still there, not having been removed after the almost definitive late November rumors of a kill. Then I read in December that The Last Remnant for Xbox and PC became discounted heavily in price, very suddenly, in Japan, something that rarely happens for a Square Enix game EXCEPT before an announcement which game watchers rumored could possibly mean a sequel. Instead, the new listing on Amazon Japan is giving hope to the idea that the PS 3 version isn't dead after all.

Yours truly pp here on FFT has speculated that the upcoming FFXIII, having sold bucketloads, will increase sales for The Last Remnant. FFXIII, while fun and pretty, is a linear, single-playthrough game with no real incentive for replay. The Last Remnant has dozen of characters allowing for so many different configurations, along with fully explorable areas in the game. I think that FFXIII is going to leave folks hungry for something else to play, and The Last Remnant would fit the bill as a longer lasting experience. Anybody here who has played it will tell you the first game takes at least a month to complete with dozens of hunts, more than 180 guild tasks and well over 300 rare monsters.

The speculation is that Last Remnant could be similar to Star Ocean: The Last Hope, getting a bit of tweaking for the PS 3 and released as an International Version. If so, I couldn't be happier!

Here are some articles to read about the new rumors:
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/01/17/the-last-remnant-getting-the-star-ocean-treatment-on-ps3/

Oh, and check out the interesting photo on this one:
http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/01/18/the-last-remnant-may-breathe-life-on-ps3/

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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1U_0EoWkIE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1U_0EoWkIE</a>

Fortress is the code name for a new game that has yet to be officially unannounced by Square-Enix. The game was originally being developed by GRIN, but because of issues Square-Enix  placed the project in the hands of a new developer. Not much later GRIN officially closed down because of bankruptcy

This project has yet to be officially announced, but its existence was leaked out by GRIN's Development team during the takeover. It was first believed that the game was completely cancelled, but right now the game is still in development by an currently unknown studio, under the suppervision of Square-Enix.

The game will become an action game which takes place in Ivalice right after the events of FFXII: Revenant Wings, and it intended to become a multi platform game for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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As of yesterday the PSN re-release of Vagrant Story is available on the European PSN at a price of €5,99. The PSOne classic can be played on both PS3 and PSP.

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Square has given free the link to sign yourself up as possible candidate for the PC version of Final Fantasy XIV Beta test. And the best news off all is that you don't need experiences with MMO's or Beta tests to do so.

Though of course there are a few other simple conditions you must follow.
- You must be at least 18 years of age
- You must have a Square Enix ID account (You can create one during the sign up)
- You must posses an internet connection that is capable of downloading large amounts of data.
- You must be able to read and write either Japanese, English, French, or German

After the registration period is over the lucky candidates will receive a mail with further information. Though don't worry if your not directly one of the lucky guys, Square will hold multiple testing rounds with other candidates and there will also be an separate beta test for the PS3 version that has yet to come.

If your interested in becoming an Final Fantasy XIV beta tester, you can sign up here: http://entry.ffxiv.com/eu/index.html



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