When you realize that Blue Dragon was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama, Nobuo Uematsu, you know you've got a winner. Apparently, Japan thinks so too, based on Enterbain's recently published lifetime software sales for the Microsoft Xbox 360 for the period starting on 2005 ending this December 9, 2007. More details are available in the full article.

Year 2007 is almost done, and Microsoft has expressed its brimming pride with how things went in the past 11 months. Powerhouse shooters like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, BioShock and The Orange Box have flexed the genre's muscles wider than ever, while Madden NFL 08,Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, Mass Effect and more have provided additional firepower. If you own an Xbox 360 and missed out on some of these, the holidays could be a nice time to get them.

If you're looking for downloadable content to prolong Mistwalker's Blue Dragon for the Microsoft Xbox 360, there's something for you from Xbox Live Marketplace. The Shuffle Dungeon is now available for 400 MS Points, and getting a hold of it will bag you a place to put your high level characters to the test. With different patterns every time a player enters the dungeon, this DLC should provide a few hours of fun.

More details at the full article!

Xbox Japan has just announced plans to offer the first and second Blue Dragon anime episodes (Shadow, Initiate and Blue Power) for free from November 15 to January 1 next year.

This move was done to promote the newly released Blue Dragon budget priced edition in Japan for ¥ 2,940 (US$ 26). When the game was first introduced in Japan, it was well received by the gaming community selling over 80,348 copies within four days.

While the game failed to reach the expected sales figure of 200,000 units, this new budget edition might change that and push the number of sales into that bracket. The premise of Blue Dragon is simple - this RPG has players running around multiple locations and dungeons in their quest to defeat an evil tyrant called Nene and his minions.

Gamers interested in getting a copy of this game won't have to import it since an English version has already been released in Europe, North America, and Australia.

Microsoft Xbox 360 RPG fans who've been busy with Mistwalker's latest offering Blue Dragon will have plenty more on their hands as a new downloadable content package becomes available via the Xbox Live MarketPlace today. This DLC will feature a lot of new nuances to the already immersive gameplay.

Some of the most exciting additions come in the form of items which give Shu and the rest of the posse interesting new abilities which can be used against enemies. Stealing, stat enhancements and parameter buffers are just some of the goodies that you'll be getting with Blue Dragon's new package.

Here's a list of just some of the new stuff to be found in Hironobu Sakaguchi's latest masterwork:

• Whimsical Mind – growth item that enhances a few randomly-picked categories by 0-4 levels
• Way of Thieves – in-battle item that can steal rare items possessed by enemy creatures
• Devee Phonograph– allows you to listen to the Devee-tribe dance
• Nothing Glasses – visualizes all "nothing" points by means of a star-looking symbol (oftentimes you’ll find a lot of items that contain "nothing", followed by an English-speaking narrator saying "nothing").
• Shuffled Helmet” – item that adjusts magical and speed parameters (Magic +40 / Speed -40).  Detrimental when used by itself because the speed parameter goes down by 50 points, but when equipped along with "Shuffled Breastplate" and Shuffled Splint, this item can quadruplicate the Magic parameters and reverse the Speed parameters.  So it becomes the strongest equipment in the game. (Magic +160 / Speed +40)
• Spring-wind Scarf – adjusts characters’ HP and Speed parameters by 20%

Japanese gamers continue to receive much love as Microsoft presents Mistwalker's music at Shibuya Bunkamura Orchard Hall this November 19. The Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing in Microsoft's Orchestral Pieces from Lost Odyssey & Blue Dragon. Music from these giant role-playing games which hope to put the Xbox 360 in a good light in Japan will be featured in this concert.

Renowned composer Nobue Uematsu of the Final Fantasy fame who's also responsible for these games' tracks will appear as a special guest. Both gamers and music enthusiasts will most likely flock to Shibuya to experience the grand orchestra that will be graced by Uematsu, who many fans hail as a legendary musician.

For those interested in the concert, you can find the details by following the Read link below.

 

If you found Mistwalker's Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360 a bit too easy, then you might want to pop on over to Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft has recently released a free downloadable update that not only gives you the option to start over in the game with an existing save game, but also two increased difficulty modes to sink your teeth into. Cool freaking beans.

So what are the two higher difficulty modes? The first one, Hard Game, lets you go into the world of Blue Dragon with twice the difficulty level of the normal game. The second mode, Impossible Game, is evidently harder than Hard Game and the normal game combined - it's even described to be the game mode that requires you to be at least at level 50 if you're to stand a chance. Talk about a stacked deck!

The third game mode, Game Plus while not offering anything in difficulty, lets you start the game over with an existing save file that should be close to the end of the game. Sounds like those New Game+ modes we see in recent RPGs, that lets you start a new adventure with your levels and equipment from your last game intact.

All core hardness aside, this is a very good update for Mistwalker's RPG - additional replay value, after all, is definitely a treat. Thanks, Microsoft! Now, how about the Strong Game, 6 Treasures and Shuffled Dungeon modes, eh?

Though the release of Blue Dragon in North America was only last week, over at Japan, Mistwalker's title finally hit Platinum. This success has pushed the RPG title up among the ranks of other 360 big guns and into budget lineup territory. That means Blue Dragon will be brushing shoulders with the likes of Lost Planet, Gears of War, and Project Sylpheed - all of which will be re-released on shelves but at a cheaper price (Blue Dragon will retail for JP¥ 2,800, which is around US$ 25).

The updated list of budget titles to be released on November 1 in Japan include the following:

• Lost Planet: Capcom, JP¥ 3,800
• Project Sylpheed: Square Enix, JP¥ 2,800
• Chikyuu Boueigun 3: D3 Publisher, JP¥ 2,800
• Oneechanbara Vortex: D3 Publisher, JP¥ 2,800
• Dead or Alive 4: Tecmo, JP¥ 2,800
• Dead or Alive Xtreme 2: Tecmo, JP¥ 2,800
• Blue Dragon: Microsoft, JP¥ 2,800
• Gears of War: Microsoft, JP¥ 2,800
  

As a bonus, Microsoft will be releasing a special Dead Rising - Gears of War Platinum Double Pack bundle that will sell for JP¥ 5,240.

With Blue Dragon already dated for the territories of North America and Europe, we'll be extending some good news to the Aussie folks. Microsoft Australia has announced that their region will be receiving their copy of Mistwalker's much-awaited JRPG come August 30, at an expected retail price of AU$ 99.95 (US$ 87.57).

Also to look out for later on in the year are other big titles, such as Halo 3 for September 25, and Grand Theft Auto IV for October 19. Of course, if you're a little too anxious to wait out a little more than a month, there's also the previously released Blue Dragon demo on Xbox Live...if it does materialize again.

We have a good news and a potentially upsetting news for fans of Mistwalker's Blue Dragon. Good news first, the demo which was originally scheduled to appear on July 20 has already been released over at Xbox Live Marketplace.

Aside from that, downloading the demo will not cost you anything and it is available for all Xbox Live regions. The bad news is that the demo, it seems, was taken down by Microsoft. Before Blue Dragon's demo "mysteriously" disappeared, Xbox 360 owners were already complaining about a slow connection.

This can possibly be attributed to the sheer number of people downloading the demo at once. If you're not one of the lucky few who got Blue Dragon's demo, take note that it features more than two hours of gameplay as well as English-language voice overs. There is still no word when it will go live once more.

But the title itself will be released in North America on August 28.