Square Enix

You already might know this probably: Yesterday Sony announced the PlayStation 4 on their press conference in New York that was available for live streaming. The console itself was not shown, but they did show the DualShock 4 controller which will feature a touchpad and a bunch of new games that are currently in development.

Square Enix also made its appearance at the press conference. Yoshihisa Hashimoto, chief technology officer at Square Enix Japan, showed the Luminous Studio engine running on the PlayStation 4. It was the same tech demo as shown on the E3 previous year. After that Shinji Hashimoto took the floor and told that a new Final Fantasy game is in development for the PlayStation 4 and details will be announced at the E3.

If you want to watch the press conference, you can do so here. The PlayStation 4 is set for release this holiday.

Update: Don't buy this crap. It has nothing to do with Final Fantasy. Maybe one of the worst spinoffs ever. 25/100 on Metacritic.

Today Square Enix has announced (another) new Final Fantasy spinoff for iOS: Final Fantasy All The Bravest. This game makes use of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system that is used in Final Fantasy IV till IX.

Every character possesses an ATB gauge that displays the time remaining until that character can execute an action. When the gauge is full, simply tap or drag your finger over the character to attack. Touch multiple characters in quick succession to experience exhilarating and fast-paced battle unlike anything you’ve ever played before!
Once every three hours, the Fever option will appear. Once activated, you will be able to attack without waiting for ATB gauges to refill as long as the chocobo-themed music is playing. Deal as much damage as you can before the battle fever ends!

You can unlock up to 20 classic jobs like warrior and black mage, encounter classic enemies like Behemoth and Garland and listen to 30 songs from previous Final Fantasy games.

The game is now available on Apple iTunes for $3,99 USD. The in-game shop let you purchase 35 additional characters for $0.99 USD each (at random) and new worlds are $3,99 USD each. Total cost is a full retail game!

More information about the game on the official website.

Remember the (beautiful) tech demo Agni’s Philosophy that was shown during E3? Well, Square Enix released two new teasers with footage of the Luminous Studio engine when real-time editing a character. It seems Square Enix is aiming for photo realistic character creation.

Square Enix has launched a new countdown page for a new title that will be revealed on 12-12-2012. On the page you see an image of space with two planets and the words "star", "border", "war", "galaxy", "divide" and "ambition" (every day one word is being revealed). Under the countdown there's a Twitter feed which shows the tweets with #sqex121212.

Many fans on Twitter say this is a new game in the Star Ocean series. Let's hope they're right.