Tam-Tara Deepcroft video from FFXIV: A Realm Reborn alpha

Final video from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn alpha. To watch all the alpha videos released, along with ARR main trailers and more, check this YouTube playlist.

• The instanced dungeon in this video is designed for low level players.
• Targeting and actions are demonstrated with the mouse instead of keyboard for greater clarity.
• The battle system is currently undergoing significant revision, including changes to all damage algorithms and the claim system.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn live streaming on Niconico, (re-)watch it!

UPDATE: check this official post about the event from FFXIV Developers' blog.

Did you miss FFXIV: A Realm Reborn live streaming on Niconico or simply want to watch it again? Here we go!

Video from Rablazone Live.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn beta test roadmap is here!

Official roadmap for FFXIV: A Realm Reborn beta test has been released! Download it here: click!

Some highlights:

• Beta test will begin mid February-2013 and will be divided into four phases
• Beta Tester Application Site will go live early January 2013; everyone will be able to apply, even who doesn't have a FFXIV 1.0 or Square Enix account yet
• Phases #3 and #4 will be available to PlayStation 3 users as well
• Players in possession of a Square Enix Members code that came bundled with Final Fantasy XIII will be given priority for the PlayStation 3 Beta Test
• FFXIV 1.0 Legacy account holders will qualify as testers from phase #1
• All FFXIV 1.0 account holders will qualify as testers from phase #3, and own 1.0 characters may be used
• Phase #4 is scheduled to be an open beta; characters created during this phase will be carried over to the official release

Also, don't forget that: "Version 1.0 service account holders will be able to download the commercial ARR client free of charge" but "Those wishing to play on PlayStation 3 are required to purchase a copy of the game for that system".

"Song of the week" #6

I'm sharing with you one of the finest songs from Dido -it hasn't been choosed as a single, tho, so those who know it are not many. Listen to it at night, with no noises around you and the lights off... I hope you like it!

"Take my hand" by Dido
From the album "Odds & Ends", 1995 (re-released on "No angel", 1999)

On a side note, I love the whole "No angel" album. In addition to "Take my hand", the songs I like the most off of it are "Slide", "Don't think of me", "Hunter", "My life", "All you want".

Merry Christmas to all of you!

(Especially to Eorzeans! :P)

This is the first Christmas for Sama's Potion, and I wanted to celebrate it with the beautiful Starlight Celebration theme from Final Fantasy XIV! The nice video is from Mithra Tales. Merry Christmas! :)

Meet the sloths

Cuteness overload! Thanks to Italian website GreenMe, I just saw a video featuring sloths from "the world's only sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica": so cute I couldn't help sharing it with you; enjoy! :D

Video from Lucy Cooke: "This was the video that started it all off. Filmed at the world's only sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica it has now become a cult hit, tweeted by Ricky Gervaise, Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Fry and obsessed over by Kristen Bell. You can now catch the 45 minute 'Meet the Sloths' documentary on Animal Planet.
If you like sloths why not join the Sloth Appreciation Society and follow my Slothville blog slothville.com, Slothville on Facebook or twitter @slothville
Music: "Scrapping and Yelling" by Mark Mothersbaugh from "The Royal Tenenbaum's" movie soundtrack."

Android / iOS: Square Enix games on sale and new arrivals

Great news! Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Dimensions (aka FF Legends) and Demons' Score are now available on Android devices as well.

There's more: many iOS and Android games from Square Enix are on sale. I'm getting Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings Omega and maybe Final Fantasy on my Asus tablet :D What are you going to buy?

Android sale (until January 3, 2013)

• Final Fantasy $ 4.99 / € 4.49
• Crystal Defenders $ 3.99 / € 3.59
• Chrono Trigger $ 6.99 / € 5.99
• Chaos Rings $ 3.99 / € 3.59
• Chaos Rings Omega $ 3.99 / € 3.59

iOS sale: MANY games and some wallpapers; check them here and here.

Final Fantasy XIV cosplay contest: win a trip to Japan, A Realm Reborn and more

Are you a cosplayer or would you like to try for the first time? Did you enjoy Final Fantasy XIV and/or are interested in FFXIV: A Realm Reborn? If you are at least 18 and live in France, Germany, Spain or the United Kingdom, then you should enter Square Enix FFXIV Cosplay Competition; you could win a trip to Japan, with a guided tour of the Square Enix head office in Tokyo! 5 copies of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and merchandise goody bag are up for grabs as well for runner up.

UPDATE: Entry period has been changed and is now from 31 January 2013, 10:00am (GMT) to 31 March 30 June 2013, 00:00am (GMT).

Peruse all the details here; you can submit your entry from 24 January 2013, 10:00am (GMT) to 28 February 2013, 00:00am (GMT). Good luck and have fun!

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn alpha, live streaming on Niconico

Quick news! Live gameplay from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (alpha) will be streamed by Square Enix on the Japanese website Niconico. When? December 26, 12:00 GMT, one day before the end of FFXIV: ARR alpha test.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, first trailer

UPDATE: click here to visit official website.

I liked the first Final Fantasy XIII, including its linearity and battle system; I wished there were more kinds of "extra" things to do at the end of the game, tho, instead of everything being "speak with Cie'th Stone, then kill that mob" or a boring, everlasting grinding for the ultimate weapons. I still have to play FFXIII-2 and, yesterday (sorry, I'm a bit late! I'm at my parents' house for Christmas and here I don't have a 24h/24 internet connection), the first trailer of the sequel Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII has been leaked! Watch it here (link updated with official extended trailer):

Did you like it? I'm very curious, it looks interesting. Let's see how this shapes!

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn alpha version, video #7

Levequests and party combat in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn alpha version: check this new video from Square Enix!

• The battles in this video involve low level enemies. Targeting and actions are demonstrated with the mouse instead of keyboard for greater clarity.
• The battle system is currently undergoing significant revision, including changes to all damage algorithms and the claim system.
• The music played during combat is different than the music currently implemented in the alpha.

You can watch all the alpha videos released so far, along with A Realm Reborn main trailers and more, on this YouTube playlist.

Sony & Nokia contests: Xperia S, Smart Wireless Headset pro and Lumia 820 up for grabs

Two giveaways! First one is from Sony, on Facebook: click here and choose "MP3"; you could win an Xperia S Android smartphone and a Smart Wireless Headset pro. You have until December 24.

Nokia: this requires some time and creativity! Try to win one of the three Lumia 820 Windows Phone 8 smartphones up for grabs by submitting a photo of a Nokia product made by you "from discarded gift wrapping [...], newspaper, magazine, flyer, pamphlet, or whatever you can lay your hands on in your recycling box. As long as this is the second use of the paper, it’s allowed (no craft paper, plain white paper or the likes)." Click here  to peruse all the details, enter by January 7. Good luck!

"Song of the week" #5

Christmas is getting closer but, no, Jingle Bells is not "Song of the week" #5... instead, I want to share with you another kind of bells! Enjoy one of my favourite songs from a wonderful album...

"Mongrel heart" by Broken Bells
From the album "Broken Bells", 2010

Listen to the whole album, it's amazing! I don't like much only one song, "Your head is on fire", while "Citizen", "Vaporize", "The high road", "The ghost inside" and "Sailing to nowhere" are the best for me, together with "Mongrel heart".

FFXIV developers' blog post shows Behemoth chocobo armor

It still lacks textures, but you can take a sneak peek at chocobo's Behemoth barding 3D model, along with already known artwork, in a new post in the official Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn developers' blog:

Resident Evil 6 gets updated; PC version from March 22

I tried Resident Evil 6 PS3 demo a while ago. Although I still prefer old-style chapters (4 was cool, tho), I must say I actually liked it -can't say the same for RE5. However, I decided not play it because I really couldn't stand the very close camera with ridiculous field of view. Finally, starting from today, a free update brought an adjustable camera system (look at the screenshots below) and more:

• Ada's campaign is now available from the start (don't have to finish the others for access);
• Optional co-op partner for Ada's campaign (human controlled);
• More camera functionality -zoom in and out to your liking;
• "No Hope" difficulty mode;
• Option to combine English language audio with subtitles in other languages.

But that's not all! After DmC Devil May Cry, Capcom announced that Resident Evil 6 will be available on PC too from March 22. North America players will only get it digitally via Steam, while Europe ones will be able to buy a physical copy as well. RE6 Steam version will come with cloud saving, achievements, friends support, game overlay, leaderboards. Check the system requirements:

Minimum
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Intel® CoreTM2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or better, AMD AthlonTM X2 2.8 Ghz or better
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

Recommended
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Intel® CoreTM 2 Quad 2.7 Ghz or better, AMD PhenomTM II X4 3 Ghz or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

Silent Hill main theme... Christmas edition!

Christmas + Silent Hill? No, I'm not going to tell you a Santa Claus horror story; instead, I want to share with you this fantastic work from The Synthetic Orchestra by Blake Robinson: a Christmas rendition of the first Silent Hill main theme! Enjoy!

This is part of the "Christmas Calendar" project by The Synthetic Orchestra: 24 videogames orchestrations for the 24 days before Christmas, including Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, Max Payne and more. Check it here.

MMORPG.com Players' Choice Awards: vote for Final Fantasy XIV!

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has been nominated in "Most anticipated" and "Rising star" categories at MMORPG.com 2012 Players' Choice Awards. Show A Realm Reborn some love: click here to vote!

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade for Android and iOS now available in NA

2 weeks ago, Square Enix and Mobage announced that mobile game Final Fantasy Brigade, so far only available in Japan and Korea, would have made its appearance in North America too. Here we go: you can now get Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade on your Android or iOS device; click! Now all we need is it gets released in Europe too! :/

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn, new post in developers' blog hints at "ruins" dungeon

A new post has been published in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn official developers' blog, with some words about a new "ruins" dungeon and its puzzles, which players will love!

Is the dungeon in question the same depicted in this artwork from 2~ months ago, tentatively called "Wanderer's Palace"?

Stay tuned!

DmC Devil May Cry heading to PC January 25

Capcom has confirmed that DmC Devil May Cry, which will be out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 January 15, is coming to PC too, only 10 days after the console versions. It will also be available digitally on Origin and Steam, with the latter offering achievements, cloud saving, friends support and leaderboards.

If your PC is powerful enough, you'll be able to run DmC at 60 FPS or even more. Here are the system requirements:

Minimum
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: AMD Athlon™ X2 2.8 GHz or better, Intel® Core™2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or better
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 or better, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

Recommended
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: AMD Phenom™ II X4 3 GHz or better, Intel® Core™2 Quad 2.7 Ghz or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 9 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn, sixth alpha video

Another video from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn alpha is up, this time focusing on crafting and gathering. Enjoy!

Did you miss the previous ones? Check this YouTube playlist I made.

"Song of the week" #4

Last time I've shared with you "Until we bleed" from Kleerup and Lykke Li. Today, it's the turn of one of my favourite songs ever! Enjoy...

"Mad about you" by Hooverphonic
From the album: "The magnificent tree", 2000

Bonus: there's another versions of the video, which has been released in USA. I still prefer the first one, tho.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy lands on iOS devices

2 days ago Square Enix opened a new teaser site for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: its source code made many believe that a mobile version of the Nintendo 3DS game was coming soon for Android, Windows Phone and iOS. While the website hasn't been updated yet, Examiner.com found out that Theatrhythm Final Fantasy made its appearance today on New Zealand iTunes for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and will most likely be available in other countries as well in next hours or days.

UPDATE: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is now available everywhere on the App Store and its website has been updated.

"THEATRHYTHM FINAL FANTASY, the first music game in the FINAL FANTASY series, has been augmented with more songs and new playable characters to make it easier to dive into and play than ever before! Now it makes its debut as an iOS app that allows for communication with users from around the world in an unlimited adventure!": TFF for iOS comes with "Quest Medleys", "Composer Scores" mode, Twitter shares and more; details here.

I'm wondering if previous assumptions were true and we'll actually get Theatrhythm on Android and Windows Phone too. Fingers crossed!

Tonbierries in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn!

A new post in the official developers' blog shows us where the Final Fantasy XIV "magick" happens: we can see the approximate location of Naoki Yoshida's office and the FFXIV development area. But there's more: looks like Tonberries will be in A Realm Reborn too! Post quote: "Is it nothing more than a skill crane plushie snatched from the plexiglass oubliette of a local arcade...or is it definitive proof that tonberries will be making their FFXIV debut in A Realm Reborn!!!1!11!"

In the unlikely case you don't know what I'm talking about (!), a Tonberry is a recurring Final Fantasy enemy, which appeared for the first time in Final Fantasy V. Learn more about Everyone's Grudge creatures on Final Fantasy Wiki. Here's a very nice artwork from Randis Albion, Final Fantasy super fan:

Sony FB contest: win Xperia U and Swarovski crystal SmartWatch

Sparkling new giveaway from Sony on Facebook: this time you can win a Sony Xperia U Android smartphone and a limited edition Swarovski crystal SmartWatch. Enter here by December 17; correct answer is "via Bluetooth". Good luck!

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy coming soon to Android, Windows Phone, iOS?

A new teaser site for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is now online, with a "Coming soon" notice and... nothing more. Actually, some "details" are in the source code (see bottom of this post or click the following link): a NeoGAF member's findings suggest us that, maybe, a Theatrhythm mobile version for Android, Windows Phone and iPhone/iPad/iPod is what Square Enix will unveil! Note: in case you missed it, Final Fantasy IV is heading to Android and iOS too.

Final Fantasy Wiki copy&paste: "Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a video game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a "theater rhythm action" game in which players use the stylus to tap and hold notes while fighting enemies. The game features popular Final Fantasy songs and characters." To learn more, you can visit TFF Nintendo 3DS version official website.

Here are the code lines I was talking about:

if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('iPhone') != -1) { location.href="sp/index.html"; }
else if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('iPod')!=-1){ location.href="sp/index.html"; }
else if  (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Android') != -1) { location.href="sp/index.html"; }
else if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Windows CE')!=-1){ location.href="sp/index.html"; }

While that simply orders your browser to redirect you to the mobile version of the site in case you're not using a computer, it may also mean that, when the game will be released, you'll land on a specific home page based on your mobile device's operating system, maybe with a link to your applications store (Play Store, Windows Marketplace or App Store).

Final Fantasy edited ringtones: Mobile Fantasy

Is 2004 back!? Not really, but let me tell you about Mobile Fantasy! It was a WAP site I created almost 10 years ago (I was 15! D:), offering Final Fantasy soundtracks MIDI ringtones, of course for free. While you probably now use MP3 files, there's something good about using Mobile Fantasy MIDIs: every ringtone lasts 1 minute~, usually less, and has been edited to include a selection of the best parts of every FF song, but without weird interruptions or stuff like that; everything flows like it should. For example, here's The Fierce Battle from Final Fantasy VI:



Now listen to the original one, and you'll notice which cuts were made:

Actually, Mobile Fantasy WAP site is still online, but I stopped working on it after less than two years: you'll find only ringtones until Final Fantasy X. If you have a WAP compatible browser, like Symbian one or Firefox on your PC with "wmlbrowser" plugin, you can visit Mobile Fantasy by clicking here. Or, more easily, download this .rar file containing all the edited ringtones found on the site:

Note: I did the editing job, but I got the original MIDI files from various Final Fantasy fansites. Sadly too much time has passed, and I can't remember which ones.

"The Phantom Pain" (MGS5 related?) and "Dark Souls II" shown at the VGAs

If you're watching Video Game Awards, you probably did notice The Phantom Pain trailer. While no details were unveiled about it, not even which platforms it will be released for or when, it looked very interesting. Funny facts: the main character looks like Metal Gear Solid's Snake (or Big Boss), the guy @2:29 is wearing what seems to be Volgin's battle suit from Metal Gear Solid 3 and the game is from new developer Moby Dick Studio, which official website states its CEO is called Joakim: Kojima anagram? Hmmm. From NeoGAF, some Metal Gear Solid 5 speculation:

By the way, we got a man who wakes up from coma and, together with a fellow patient, finds himself in a hospital which is being assaulted by soldiers-like guys who are killing everyone; we also got flaming unicorns and a giant flaming whale. According to wikipedia, "phantom pain involves the sensation of pain in a part of the body that has been removed". The protagonist doesn't have an arm. Well, let's wait for some details: stay tuned!

A Dark Souls II trailer has also been shown. It will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Click here to visit the official website.

Final Fantasy IV heading to iOS and Android

After Final Fantasy III, another Final Fantasy chapter arrives on mobile devices: Final Fantasy IV (3D remake) is coming on iOS; when? Official website says December 20! Also, Final Fantasy I, II, III and Dimensions are now on sale on iTunes, until December 14: "Take advantage of a limited-time sale celebrating the coming release of FINAL FANTASY IV!"

According to www.gamer.ne.jp, an Android version will be released in early 2013. Here are some screenshots:

All the pictures in this post are from www.gamer.ne.jp.

Two LQ pics from FFXIV: A Realm Reborn benchmark

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn official benchmark will be released soon. In the meanwhile, here are two blurry pics from FFXIV Developers' Blog, showing what appears to be Ul'dah and a Black Mage!

Fifth video from FFXIV: A Realm Reborn alpha

A new video from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn alpha has been released, this time showing two quests and some battles using a Conjurer and a Lancer. Here we go:

You can watch all the alpha videos released so far, along with A Realm Reborn main trailers and more, on this YouTube playlist: click!

"Song of the week" #3

Do you know Lykke Li? While she's not one of my favorite artists, it's more than a pleasure for me to listen to some of her songs, like "I'm good, I'm gone" or "I follow rivers". Today's song of the week is from Kleerup, with Lykke Li as the vocalist. Enjoy!

"Until we bleed" by Kleerup and Lykke Li
From the album: "Kleerup", 2008

Bonus: here's the very good Mikael's cello version, with no dancey beats:

Nokia unveils Lumia 620, the cheapest Windows Phone 8

If you want to get your hands on a Windows Phone 8 smartphone without spending too much, then Nokia Lumia 620 may be your lucky choice: it will only cost little more than 250 $ and will be available from Q1 2013.

What will you get for that price? Some nice stuff, actually:  3.8" ClearBlack TFT display, NFC, microSD support, dual core 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU, 512 MB RAM, 5 Mp camera with LED flash, frontal VGA camera and, since it's a Nokia WP, you'll also have access to exclusive apps like Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia City Lens, Nokia Music and more. Nokia Lumia 620 uses exchangeable shells, which come in 7 different colors: white, black, yellow, cyan, lime green, magenta, orange. They're made with a "dual-shot" technique: two layers of polycarbonate, one of which is transparent or translucent, produce secondary color blends and depth effects. Learn more about Nokia Lumia 620 here. Also, here's a hands-on from SlashGear: click.

Good, creepy stuff: "Sinister"

Horror movies. Do you like them? I do. Sadly, in these last years, it has become almost impossible to find good ones -I still have to watch Paranormal Activity, tho. I totally loved The Orphanage, 2007. And later? I had some hopes (don't know why!) in Drag Me to Hell, 2009, but it almost made me laugh in some parts. The Fourth Kind, 2009, had some scary stuff and, all in all, was ok. Well, maybe Insidious, 2011. I liked it, sometimes it really made me hold my breath; there was a scene in particular which really scared me (if you've watched it too: I'm talking about the creepy figure out of the child's window). But now, let's talk about Sinister, 2012. I saw some commercials during my trip to the Netherlands, advertising it as "the best horror movie of the year" or something like that. Now, I can't recall real "horror" movies in 2012, actually. But still, I was curious about it and yesterday I finally had a chance to watch it.

What can I say? Watch it!
While it may not be the best horror movie of all times, Sinister really proved to be a great one, and surely the best in the latest years (at least for me!). Good story? Check. Immersion? Check. Creepy stuff? Check. "D: WTF" scenes? Check. All in a thrilling, winning blend. Suggestion: here's the official trailer, but don't watch it; I never do, too much spoiler. Just go watch the whole film! Click here to visit Sinister official Facebook page.

Sony FB contest: win an Xperia J

Another quick contest on Facebook from Sony: this time an Xperia J Android smartphone is up for grabs.

Click here and choose "4 inches" to enter. Deadline? December 10. Good luck! Visit this page to check Sony Xperia J.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, here's the developers' blog

"Get an inside look at the making of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn straight from our development team members, who will provide their insights into the creative process behind designing and producing a major MMORPG." and "We plan to keep our blog entries brief and punchy, and let the artwork and screenshots do most of the talking.": Final Fantasy XIV official website now features a developer blog; on the first entry, you can see some nice artworks of a little chocobo (looks like Final Fantasy XI's!) and a bomb. Here we go...

Did you like these artworks? Click here to visit FFXIV: A Realm Reborn developers' blog!

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade for NA soon; Europe to follow?

Final Fantasy Brigade (aka Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade), already available in Japan and Korea, will arrive soon to US and Canada on Android and iOS devices. You can now sign on the official website to receive, when the game is released, a special 3-month Cloud Strife in-game card. Hopefully, an Europe release will follow soon.

Final Fantasy Brigade features cooperative (cross-platform) players riding airships forming parties and battling powerful enemies. In collaboration with DeNA, and featuring character designs from the Monster Octopus concept popularized with the Kingdom Hearts mobile series and Theatrhytm Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade engages players in battle against classic series monsters, allows exploration and utilizes an addictive social concept. Learn more on Final Fantasy Wiki.