Final Fantasy 13 is coming out this year in Japan for the PS3 on December 17.

The game is a PS3 exclusive in Japan, but the same isn’t true for the international release. I’m curious as to how or why Sony lost the FF13 exclusive for international release. If it were exclusive, this game alone would considerably drive PS3 console sales up.

As further stated in the Sankaku Complex post, it has been suggested that the delayed 2010 international release could be in part due to the Xbox 360 port. It is fairly obvious that porting a game to another console takes time, but I thought the PS3 version was going to be released first anyways?

I’m definitely looking forward to this game and will get it on release day. Another related game that I’m even more anticipating is FF13 Versus; the dark setting seems more appealing to me. Too bad my Japanese skills are at newbie level or else I would be getting this game on December 17.

News Source: Sankaku Complex

Image Source: Safebooru

A PS3 firmware update to version 3.00 was recently released by our friends at Sony.

Right away I noticed that the short tune it plays upon boot up was slightly changed. The other most obvious improvements are in the graphics department. If you’re using the original PS3 theme like me, then you can recall that the background originally had slowly moving waves. Well, now it has particles/sparkles added on that orbit those waves. Bravo Sony, bravo!

Another noticeable difference is found in the top right corner where there is now a status indicator that displays all sorts of information.

But the main thing that prompted me to post about this update is related to backwards compatibility. I own the 80GB PS3 that uses software emulation. When Ar Tonelico 2 first came out, it failed to run on the PS3. I tried to run it each time after Sony released new firmware updates but to no avail. Eventually I gave up trying and played it for a bit on my PS2. Then I randomly thought that I would try it again when v3.00 was released…and it amazingly worked!

Someone at Sony must have been unhappy at the failed emulation of Ar Tonelico 2 on the PS3. ^^;

The issues that I’ve encountered so far are that your character appears to fall through the ground when walking adjacent to treasure chests, and the boundaries of the walls seem to go farther out than the graphics depict. Despite these problems, the game is definitely still playable with those issues being mostly minor annoyances.

Now I need to get around to beating it, but I must admit that I liked the original Ar Tonelico more. However, this sequel is still a solid jRPG for the PS2 with amazing music, an original story, and some innovative gameplay elements. I’ll probably write a review or something on it later.

Image Source: Safebooru