Retro Gaming Australia

Square Enix has kicked off celebrations with the opening of a Japanese Final Fantasy 25th anniversary site.

Final Fantasy first released in December 1987 in Japan on the Famicom, and has gone on to become one of the bestselling video game franchises and has generated many sequels and spin-offs covering many genres and appearing on numerous platforms.

The Final Fantasy 25th anniversary site features a discography of all 14 of the main games, a listing of all the Final Fantasy game releases and ports including spin-offs, and a section dedicated to related merchandise.

The site also contains a Creator’s Voice section, which will be regularly updated with comments, remembrances and other tidbits from those involved in creating the Final Fantasy series. First up was Yoichi Wada, Square Enix CEO, who joined Square prior to Final Fantasy IX’s release in 2000.

“We’ll take the 25th anniversary as an opportunity to begin our walk towards the next 25 years,” Wada wrote. “In order to make the fans happy, we the developer have just one promise we can make. Outside of talent and ability, we will also make sure development is handled exclusively by creators who feel love of the FF series stronger than anyone else.”

Lovely.

Source: Andriasang

In celebration of Harvest Moon’s 15 years in North America, Natsume is releasing Harvest Moon: A New Beginning for Nintendo 3DS.

North America first saw the farm simulation RPG series in June 1997 with the release of Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo. Since then, Harvest Moon has appeared on numerous consoles and handhelds and spurred various spin-off titles such as Puzzle de Harvest Moon and the Rune Factory series.

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, titled Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin in Japan, sees players rebuild an abandoned rural town in an effort to win back its inhabitants and return the town to its former glory. This instalment in the series features more customisation than previous Harvest Moon games, with players able to determine their character’s appearance and make changes to both their farm and town at large. There are also some new farm animals and crops to tend to, and the farmer can now go on family vacation – cute!

Expect to see Harvest Moon: A New Beginning released later this year.

Japanese trailer:

A fan translation of Ash Guine Story II: Citadel in the Void for the MSX2 has been released.

Ash Guine Story II is an action RPG released by in T&E Soft in 1987, for Japan only. However Ash Guine Story II, the second instalment in the Ash Guine trilogy, can now be enjoyed in English thanks to MSX Translations.

You can download the translation patch here, and preview it here.

Sega has announced that the hotly anticipated HD remaster of Jet Set Radio will be coming to the PlayStation Vita.

The Vita version will apparently had feature parity with the home console version, as well touch functionality for the graffiti component of the game.

“The fan reaction to our recent reveal of Jet Set Radio has been incredible!” said Haruki Satomi, Senior Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA. “As Jet Set Radio is focused on creativity, the touch capabilities of the PlayStation VITA are proving to be a perfect fit.”

Kojima Productions is hard at work on Zone of the Enders HD Edition, which will be released on October 25 in Japan – and like every other KojiPro release, it’ll be getting the premium package treatment.

The package is quite similar to the Metal Gear Solid HD Edition package from last year, with the game, a sturdy outer box, a CD soundtrack featuring remixed tracks from the games, the Chronicle Artbook (containing the art from the 2001 and 2003 premium packages) and the reBOOT Artbook (which looks at the HD edition’s development). It’ll cost you Â¥8,980 for this package on either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

Of course, those with a bit more scratch could opt for the Konamistyle edition, which takes the above and throws in a Blu Ray featuring the Zone of the Enders Idolo original video animation and an Idolo illustrations book featuring more Yoji Shinkawa art. The Konamistyle Edition will cost ¥9,980.

Xbox Live Arcade

Monster World Collection (includes Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade), Wonder Boy in Monster World (Mega Drive) and Monster World IV (Mega Drive)) – 800 MSP ($AU13.20)

Alex Kidd & Co. (Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System), Super Hang-On (Arcade) and The Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive)) – 800 MSP ($AU13.20)

Nintendo eShop (Australia, Europe)

Wii Virtual Console
Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo) – 900 points)

Nintendo eShop (North America)

3DS Virtual Console
Game & Watch Gallery 2 – $US3.99

PlayStation Store (Australia, Europe)

New Releases

Sega Vintage Collection:
Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System) – $AU6.25
Monster World IV (Mega Drive) – $AU6.25
Super Hang-On (Arcade) – $AU6.25
The Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive – $AU6.25
Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade) – $AU6.25
Wonder Boy in Monster World (Mega Drive) – $AU6.25

Conflict: Desert Storm II (PS2 Classics) – $AU11.45

PlayStation Store (North America)

New Releases

Sega Vintage Collection:
Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System) – $US4.99
Monster World IV (Mega Drive) – $US4.99
Super Hang-On (Arcade) – $US4.99
The Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive – $US4.99
Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade) – $US4.99
Wonder Boy in Monster World (Mega Drive) – $US4.99

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (PSOne Classics) – $US5.99
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS2 Classics) – $US9.99
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (PS2 Classics) – $US9.99

Good Old Games

New Releases
Pharaoh + Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile bundle – $US9.99

Discounts
Digital Box of Fun promotion – 50% off the following
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines + Beyond the Call of Duty Expansion – $US2.99
Commandos 2 & 3 – $US4.99
Soulbringer – $US2.99
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload – $US2.99
Constructor – $US2.99
Mob Rule – $US2.99
Slipstream 5000 – $US2.99
Realms of the Haunting – $US2.99
Normality – $US2.99
Litil Divil – $US2.99

Ys Origin, the seventh game in the Ys series, is set for a May 31 release on Steam.

Ys Origin is a prequel, and is thus the first Ys game in chronological terms. Set 700 years before Ys I & II, Ys Origin explores the back story of Ys through three playable characters (each with their own story) who might sound a tad familiar to fans with a good memory of the original titles.

Originally released in 2006 for Windows, Ys Origin will finally be released outside of Japan thanks to publisher XSEED Games and their localization efforts. The Steam version boasts widescreen and enhanced game pad support, online leaderboards, and additional game modes (available upon completion).

Ys Origin will set you (and me!) back $US19.99/€15.99/£12.99.

Source: Siliconera

August marks 25 years since the debut of Street Fighter, and to celebrate Capcom will be selling a special 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set.

Priced at $US150, the set contains Street Fighter X Tekken (with all character and swap costume DLC), Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (with all costume DLC), Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online, a documentary on the history of the series and its fans, both Street Fighter IV anime movies, the US Street Fighter animated series, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, a light up Ryu statue, an 11 CD soundtrack featuring official and fan made music from the series’ history, a replica of Ryu’s martial arts belt and a certificate of authenticity.

It’s one hell of an impressive set, but it is only for sale through the Capcom Store at this stage, and I believe they don’t ship software outside the US, so you might need a friend or a forwarding service to help out.

Localisation specialist MonkeyPaw Games will be bringing the cult-classic PSOne game, Tombi! (or Tomba!) to PlayStation Network later this year.

According to MonkeyPaw CEO John Greiner, it took more than a year for the rights to the game to be negotiated, in spite of the fact that it was one of the most highly requested games for the PSOne Classics line. The deal does not include the rights for Tombi 2, however.

Tombi! was the brainchild of Ghosts n Goblins creator Tokuro Fujiwara, and developed at his studio Whoopee Camp. Despite both Tombi! games being published by Sony outside of Japan, they didn’t sell in the numbers expected, and Whoopee Camp closed up shop afterwards.

In spite of its lack of retail success, Tombi! developed a reputation for being one of the best platformers on the PlayStation, which combined with high demand and a low print run has led to the game’s price reaching ridiculous heights ($AU200+) on eBay.

The long awaited Retro City Rampage is set to support cross platform save compatibility for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, according to designer Brian Provinciano.

The Vita version of the game will also support multiple display modes – the bog standard 16:9, a Vita specific 16:9 mode which scales all visual assets for enhanced visibility, and a 4:3 TV screen or arcade screen view.

Retro City Rampage is due for release later this year.