Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Ships on DS (DS)

Square Enix announced today that its DS-based RTS Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is currently shipping out to North American retailers. Continuing the adventures of Vaan and Penelo (protagonists from Final Fantasy XII on PS2), Revenant Wings takes the pair in a drastically different direction gameplay-wise and focuses on the use of the DS' stylus to manipulate combat units in real time.Aware of the Western gamers' familiarity with the real-time strategy genre, Revenant Wings's director Motomu Toriyama commented, "We adjusted the overall difficulty level of the game for the North American market and introduced a new dungeon and a new boss from Final Fantasy XII. We believe that the US consumers will find the changes very challenging and entertaining."

Record Sales for Nintendo

Nintendo of America sends word that in the first week of the 2007 hiloday shopping season, more Nintendo products have been sold than at any other time in history. Included in this factoid were 650,000 Nintendo DS units and 350,000 Nintendo Wii systems.
Nintendo DS set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005. Nintendo DS remains on track to be the top-selling video game system of 2007.Nintendo's 350,000 Wii systems represent the highest one-week U.S. sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. Wii has been dubbed the must-have gift of the 2007 holiday season and has been placed at the top of numerous gift lists. Nintendo has repeatedly increased its shipments and its fiscal-year sales forecast for Wii in an attempt to meet soaring demand. Wii reached 5 million sold in the United States faster than any video game system in history, after only 12 months of availability there.Both Wii and Nintendo DS have continued their yearlong momentum into the holidays without altering their prices. And both remain attractive values for shoppers: Wii has an MSRP of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99."As shoppers look for ways to maximize their limited holiday spending money, they turn to gifts that can be used by the entire family," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Wii and Nintendo DS offer something for every member of the family. They're the most fun video game experiences at the most affordable price."

Square Enix PAL Release Date Announcements

A number of announcements crossed the wire today from publisher Square Enix in regards to upcoming console PAL release dates. First up was the news that Final Fantasy: Revenant Wings on the DS will hit the UK and Europe on February 15th of next year. FINAL FANTASY XII: REVENANT WINGS sees the evolution of the innovative Gambit system that allows automated commands to be issued during real-time combat. Smart Touch Screen controls provide complete power over your actions and allow you to play solely using the Nintendo DS stylus.Next, the company made note that Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors will be arriving on the Nintendo Wii later in the spring of 2008. DRAGON QUEST SWORDS: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, available exclusively on Wii, is an action-packed Virtual Experience where the player becomes the hero of the story. As the hero, the player must use the Wii controller to control their legendary sword, and fight off horde after horde of monsters. Slice at enemies, parry with your shield and block attacks to launch powerful counter-combos.

Official PlayStation Magazine is No More

The January 2007 issue of Official PlayStation Magazine will be the publication's final issue. Today, Ziff Davis Game Group announced that OPM is being discontinued, saying that "the Game Group has determined that Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, a property licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment America and limited to print, no longer fits its strategic vision." OPM was launched nine years ago by Ziff Davis, the same company that publishes Electronic Gaming Monthly and runs both 1up.com and GameVideos.com. The game-enthusiast print industry has been in a decline recently and many publications are looking for ways to expand their offerings as well as their audiences. The Game Group at Ziff Davis is integrating much of its online media with its traditional print media. Many print publishers are making similar moves as the market for gaming magazines continues to dwindle.

A New Tomb Raider is Due Next Year (PSP)

Try your best not to be confused. While Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is inspired by the original Tomb Radier released in 1996, it's still a brand new game. At least, that's what Eidos is saying in a press release that was sent out this morning. This new offering will use the same tech that powered Tomb Raider: Legend and once again tells the story of Lara Croft's pursuit of the Scion (the mystical artifact, not the car). In today's announcement, Kathryn Clements, Senior Brand Manager at Eidos, says, "Over the years we have had literally thousands of requests to re-make the original Tomb Raider for today's gamer, we have gone a step further, we have taken the original story and made a completely new version for Tomb Raider: Anniversary. We are re-telling an incredible story using today's technology, we've taken all of the key moments from the original game and put them into the context of a brand new Tomb Raider adventure which will make fans of the franchise extremely happy but also attract a completely new audience." Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is being developed by Crystal Dynamics, the same group behind Tomb Raider: Legend. It's scheduled to be released in 2007 for the PlayStation 2, PSP and PC. Surprisingly, there is no word of an Xbox 360 version.