Since its inception, the Microsoft Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Odyssey already promised RPG fans a real next-gen experience in the name of Mistwalker head honcho Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Final Fantasy's creator teamed up with a group of seasoned developers from Feelplus, a company joined by the masterminds behind the cult hit Shadow Hearts series, to deliver an emotionally evoking epic adventure. Was it worth the excitement? Check out our review at the full article to find out.

Japanese game developer Mistwalker's RPG Lost Odyssey for Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been confirmed for a February 29 release in Europe. North America will be getting this Hironobu Sakaguchi game on February 12, while Australia will get the role-playing game Lost Odyssey much earlier on February 7. Head on to the full article for more details.

Nobuo Uematsu's record label Dog Ear Records just announced that The Black Mages' third album is finally nearing its release. The Japanese band led by the man behind Final Fantasy melodies we all grew to love is going to unleash The Black Mages 3: Darkness and Starlight, which will contain more than remixes of magical FF music. Learn more by checking out the full article.

It's sad to think Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey is still a couple of months away from its February 2008 release in the west when Japanese gamers are already enjoying the RPG on their Microsoft Xbox 360 video game consoles. Here's a new trailer should help you hang in there. Find it at the full article!

This year's month of December will mark the 20th anniversary of Square Enix's very first Final Fantasy game (also available on the PSP). As a toast to this most special occasion, AWR Music Productions, LLC is announcing the upcoming Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy World Tour which will begin on Tuesday, December 4, at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden.

At the helm of this event will be conductor/executive producer Arnie Roth, who will command the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the choir Allmänna Sången. Here's a brief rundown of the songs to be played at the program, all originally written by Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu:

• Final Fantasy series: Main Theme, Swing de Chocobo
• Final Fantasy I to III: Medley
• Final Fantasy III DS: Opening
• Final Fantasy IV: Theme of Love
• Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends
• Final Fantasy VI: Opera "Maria and Draco"
• Final Fantasy VII: One-Winged Angel, Opening - Bombing Mission, Aerith's Theme
• Final Fantasy VIII: Liberi Fatali, Fisherman's Horizon, Love Grows, Don't be Afraid
• Final Fantasy IX: Vamo' alla Flamenco
• Final Fantasy X: To Zanarkand
• Final Fantasy XI: Memoro de la Stono - Distant Worlds

And if you're asking, yes - Uematsu is indeed going to be at the concert. Tickets for this event will be available since October 17 and can be purchased through the Stockholm Concert Hall box office, or online. For the fans that do manage to make it, you'll also be happy to know that the Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy CD will be available for purchase at the concert grounds.

Now, if you can't make it to the December event, there will be another Distant Worlds concert being scheduled for March 1, in Chicago. Arnie Roth will remain the conductor, with music from the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, and voices from the CPO Festival Choir. Uematsu will be attending the event too.

Further details for the Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy world tour can be found at its official site, via the read link below.

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.

  

Hot off the big BioShock launch last week, more great games are coming to stores this week. Particularly eye-catching is that wham-banger Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. There's also a new Naruto game coming out on the PSP, and Stranglehold will smash in to the PC and Xbox 360 scenes.

Fighting games, racing titles and sports sims, as well as casual puzzle games are also in the mix. There's something for everyone, so dig in:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The latest sequel to one of the most decorated game franchises of all time is due out tomorrow exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Samus is back and this time, the Wii Nunchuk is her toy of choice. Old moves and new weapons converge to create a new mind-blowing experience for the genre.

• Wii- August 27, 2007
• US$ 49.99
• ESRB T (Teen)
• Nintendo

Blue Dragon. The Xbox 360 is getting one of the year's most anticipated RPG offerings. Behind this title are luminaries Hironobu Sakaguchi for the game's design, Akira Toriyama for the character design and Nobuo Uematsu for the musical score. Play as a boy named Shu who sets out on an epic journey with friends that will enchant you for hours on end.

• Xbox 360- August 28
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB T (Teen)
• Microsoft

More hot titles for all the platforms after the jump!

*Originally posted at 7:17AM on August 26, 2007

Microsoft has finally announced a concrete release date for video game Blue Dragon in Europe. If you haven't heard about this one yet, take note that Shu and his friends will be arriving in your retail stores on August 24 with a price tag of 44.99 Euros and that's roughly around US$ 60.

Microsoft is aiming for this RPG title to "change the landscape of Xbox 360 gaming". They may be on the right track with renowned producer Hironobu Sakaguchi and his development studio Mistwalker being on the helm of this project.

As if those names aren't super enough, the character designs for Blue Dragon were done by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball Z) and the music was provided by composer Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy). Given these names, don't get the impression that Blue Dragon is all about sugary coatings as its story is rather deep and engaging as well.

More updates on Blue Dragon as we get them.

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*UPDATE* We promised you a Blue Dragon update and we've got one for the gamers in North America. Europe will get the upcoming Xbox 360 video game a few days before North America, who'll get to see it on the shelves in August 28. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Originally posted on June 28, 2007, 8:45 A.M.

 

Okay, since there's a decent amount of Buzz for this Square Enix game that's set to use the Unreal Engine and grace both Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, here's the latest news that we could find regarding The Last Remnant. The development team assigned to work on it follows below:

• Director: Hiroshi Takai
• Chief Artist: Kimihiko Miyamae
• Events: Kouji Kobayashi
• Composer: Tsuyoshi Sekito
• Producer: Nobuyuki Ueda
• Exec. Producer: Akitoshi Kawazu
• Art Producer: Yusuke Naora

This info was first leaked into the wilds of the intarwebs via Jonnyram of NeoGAF. A quick sift through Wikipedia reveals that composer Tsuyoshi Sekito has games like Brave Fencer Musashi, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Final Fantasy Origins, and Front Mission Online under his belt. He's also worked with Nobuo Uematsu, Kenichiro Fukui, and Keiji Kawamori on the music of "FFVII: Advent Children."

Yusuke Naora on the other hand has served as art director for these Square pieces: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. He's also served as Art Supervisor for Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.

Director Hiroshi Takai has worked on Saga Frontier, and The Bouncer, among others. Kimihiko Miyamae previously worked on Unlimited Saga. Kouji Kobayashi's got FFVIII and Resident Evil: Code: Veronica Complete in his resume. Noboyuki Ueda's most known for FFVIII and Akitoshi Kawazu was involved with FFXII.

See if you can keep up here. IGN reports that Microsoft has handed them a translation of an interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi in a recent interview of Famitsu, as well as confirming that Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey is 70% complete, and that the Mistwalker team's on the "balancing and tuning portion of development."

Well, that wasn't too hard to follow, wasn't it? Way better than a web translation.

In the interview, Sakaguchi talks about the overarching theme of Lost Odyssey, "humanity" and fellow legend Nobuo Uematsu's musical work in line with that theme. He also talks about the "wall system" battle system, where players and enemies arrange themselves in formation with front characters protecting the rear. With magical caters being more powerful than physical attackers in this game, comments Sakaguchi, having the front-line/rear-line formation starts to make absolute sense.