This past Sunday, the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert series presented back-to-back concerts at the world-renowned Symphony Center, home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I was able to sit down with conductor Arnie Roth two days prior to talk about a number topics related to the production.

Head past the break to read about how Distant Worlds got started, a couple of a the soloists from this weekend’s double concert, the future of the tour (specifically a Mexico stop), and more!

Christian Ponte: We’ll get started. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us. You’ve got a very special concert coming up, and for many it’s their first Distant Worlds concert, maybe even their first AND second. For those people, could you briefly just talk about how you got involved with this concert series?

Arnie Roth: Yeah, probably the very first time was in 2005. It’s also when I met Nobuo Uematsu. Prior to 2004, there hadn’t been any video game music concerts in the United States. My colleague in Germany, Thomas Böcker, had started doing some concerts: the Leipzig Games [Convention], things like that. Thomas and I have continued working together for many years now, but [back then] he was the only one outside of Japan that had done some video game music concerts. Of course, you’re aware that Dear Friends performed in L.A. in 2004, but it was during E3 and was kind of a trade situation in terms of attendance. At that time, I was researching video game music concerts. I’m the music director and conductor of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra here, and I tour around the country and the world conducting various orchestras, so I’m always looking at different possibilities for concerts, both multimedia and traditional concerts. In researching this, it was very interesting that no symphony orchestras or presenters in North America believed that you could do a concert of video game music as a separate, public-sold ticket; in other words, as an individually-sold ticket not connected with a convention or a trade thing of some sort, because they looked at that E3 concert and said, “Well, E3 was going on, it doesn’t really count.”

We were the first commercial presenter to take a chance on doing any concert, and it happened to be Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy, and that was in February of 2005. That was the first commercially presented concert, and it sold out completely. It was here at the Rosemont Theater in the Chicago area, and after that — and that’s when I first met Nobuo Uematsu at the same time — then I was asked to continue Dear Friends, and finish the Dear Friends tour. It was very short, maybe five concerts or something like that. I conducted the rest of those with the Atlanta Symphony, the Detroit Symphony… I’m trying to remember the others, there [were] maybe three or four others. It was a lot of fun, it was terrific, but that was my first exposure to video game music concerts, per se.

Out of that grew a very wonderful relationship with not only Nobuo Uematsu, but also Square Enix as a parent company. They asked me to do More Friends in L.A. — that was another concert — and I actually was asked by Square Enix to (besides conduct the concert) produce the live record for the CD, a Japan-only release of More Friends. Then the year after that, they asked me to fly to Japan and do the Voices concert. I was the only non-Japanese performer there; it was all the various solo singers from the games that had sung, plus choir and orchestra. I was honored to be asked on that.

Following that, it kind of evolved to where they came to us and said, “We really want to do a proper, global tour.” The difference there with Distant Worlds was that they wanted it to really have more of a global reach — not just North America, not just Asia, but Europe, Central and South America, other markets in Asia, Australia… That’s been the goal for Distant Worlds. My company has the exclusive license with Square Enix to present Distant Worlds. We’re now in our fourth year, and we have renewed the license with Square Enix. They’re thrilled and so are we, and we’re going to keep going and expanding Distant Worlds, and with the goal, again, being new markets — places we haven’t been to before — and adding more and more repertoire, which we do on almost every concert. [Adding repertoire] is a lot of fun, except the problem is that I run out of time. The concert has to be a finite number of minutes, and if I’m only doing one [concert], I can’t do everything. (laughs) I try.

Here in Chicago this weekend, we have this unusual marathon where I’m doing two almost completely different concerts between the afternoon and the evening, and so you’ll hear everything from Distant Worlds I & II, and you’ll hear a lot of things from our DVD from Japan (from the concerts we just did in November). We have Benyamin Nuss from Germany, a wonderful — I think he’s 22 — wonderful pianist who’s done several concerts with me. I just did the music of Nintendo with the Royal Stockholm [Philharmonic Orchestra] a couple weeks ago — June 1st — and that was with Thomas Böcker, and Benyamin played on that as well.

So yes, that’s my whole involvement with video games. Obviously I was involved with Play! as well for the first few years of getting Play! going, writing a lot of the arrangements for Play! and working with an awful lot of composers, different composers around the world with that, and that was a lot of fun as well. So I guess, yeah, I’ve done a lot of video game music. I guess I have.

CP: And we appreciate it!

AR: And I like it! I not just like it, I mean… the passion that the Final Fantasy fans have for the music of Final Fantasy is what is most exciting to me. They are different, I think in my humble opinion, from other audiences I conduct. I don’t mean traditional orchestra concerts necessarily, but comparing it more to even other video game music concerts. Great enthusiasm in all them, but it’s the question with how strongly they want to hear the music performed live or whether they’re simply into the action of the game. They’re coming because they like the game, but are they really into the music?

That is truly the case with Final Fantasy fans. They know these scores really well! (laughs) I’m constantly kind of getting little comments about, “Oh wow, you took that really fast,” or “You really took a big pause here between these movements,” and “What were you thinking there?” and this kind of thing. They question, they listen very intensely, and so it’s a very educated, intense, listening audience. I appreciate that. I think all the musicians appreciate that.

CP: …you actually covered about four of my questions already.

AR: I covered all I can!

CP: We’ll jump ahead! You’ve got a fabulous soloist in Susan Calloway. The fans love her, and it’s not just the fact that she’s singing Final Fantasy songs. What do you think it is about her talent that sets her apart, and makes her and integral part of this program?

AR: One of the concepts that I operate on is you must get the correct or the absolute best musician for the particular piece or performance that you’re trying to do. The very best musician for a Beethoven symphony is not necessarily the very best musician for an opera performance, a ballet performance, an orchestrated rock concert, or a video game music concert. Some of them are very flexible and can do all these different genres, but more often than not, you want a particular kind of vocalist. They’re quite individual. [Sometimes] you want maybe a very ethereal, esoteric kind of voice, and then other times you want a full-blooded, operatic soloist. We find that it’s important to kind of differentiate these.

Susan Calloway does something very interesting. She comes at this from studio background. She’s one of the most well-known voiceover talents for TV and radio commercials in North America. She’s constantly flying to New York, Chicago, L.A. from, she lives in the Detroit area, specifically to sing on national recordings — mostly jingles, mostly television and radio jingles. She’s very, very flexible — style-wise — for that reason. You’re constantly doing different kinds of styles of these things, and she has not only a wonderful pop voice, but she is very savvy in terms of when I ask her to change some phrasing or when I ask her to try a different style. She doesn’t naturally know all the music of Final Fantasy, so it was kind of a joint venture of teaching her the style that we wanted to go on on a particular piece. She has such good ear and vocal ability — it’s at a such a high range that she’s able to adapt to these styles very quickly.

I think she’s one of these artists that when you talk about a “Kiss Me Good-Bye,” for instance, [it's] a perfect fit for her voice. “Suteki da ne” may be a little bit more of a stretch for her to get to that very etherial kind of place, to tell the story as this kind of extended poem, and to ease back the intensity of her voice (which is a quite focused, intense, pop voice). She’s grown into that as we’ve done that more often. “Melodies of Life” is an easier thing for her, I think.

Now, the best one (and we’re doing that this Sunday) is “Answers,” which is an unbelievable piece of music — and you can tell Nobuo I said so. He knows it. Out of all the things in [Final Fantasy] XIV, I enjoy that one so much, and it’s a wonderful pairing between the chorus, the soloist, and the orchestra. So we get to do that here in Chicago, which is great, and I know [Nobuo Uematsu is] excited about that too. He feels that some of the Final Fantasy XIV pieces –most of which I really like a lot — we should probably not play so much of them, because so many of the fans haven’t had the opportunity to really get to know the music yet. But whenever we have Susan, a chorus, and orchestra, we must do “Answers.” That’s one of my favorites.

CP: You’re a Chicagoan, so you know as well as I do that we’re actually a bit spoiled having one of the world’s best in our own backyard: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

AR: Of course, yeah. And we’re playing in their home!

CP: Your concert with the CSO at last year’s Ravinia Festival fell through, but — like you said — you are performing at their home venue this weekend. I don’t know that you’re in a position to actually announce anything, but do you still see a performance with the CSO in Distant Worlds‘ future?

AR: I would like to think there is one. I want to emphasize, as I did when the whole situation with Ravinia happened, that that was literally a contractual issue between the Chicago Symphony and Ravinia Festival. [It] had nothing to do with Distant Worlds; we happened to get caught in the middle of it. While that is the only date that was canceled/postponed/whatever, we used this one as the postponement date because we quickly tried to arrange this date and in the Chicago Symphony home. The orchestra, as it turns out, wasn’t available, but we still were performing in the Symphony Center, so we felt that was important, and frankly it’s a beautiful venue for us for this kind of a concert.

I just want to stress the fact that I could see us going back to Ravinia when they’ve resolved their contract issues, which had nothing to do with Distant Worlds — it really was something having to do with the number of classical versus non-classical services that the Chicago Symphony does at Ravinia, and an error was made by someone in the process after we had already been contracted and released we were doing the concert, and so we had to postpone it for that reason. It really was one of those situations that I hated, but I tried to rectify it as quickly as we could find a date in Chicago where it was related in some way.

At least at Symphony Center, we would be able to do something better than what we could have done at Ravinia. At Ravinia it would have been one concert with very little rehearsal time with the Chicago Symphony. Yes, Chicago Symphony would be fantastic, but one long rehearsal with them — that’s it. Now, I’m doing two full programs and giving so much more repertoire in these two programs than I could have done [with the CSO]. Their performance length is shorter at Ravinia, so there’s a lot of other things that would have been impacted to doing that one concert. So I’m very happy that we did this.

I also take note that Symphony Center is delighted at the two sold out shows, and they are taking note of that. It would be a surprise, frankly, if they didn’t come back to us and say, “Okay,” a year, two years from now, because frankly what I’m searching for — and you can ask all of your readers or listeners — I’m researching what to do about the 25th Anniversary of Final Fantasy, which is coming up in December of next year. We’re already playing Royal Albert Hall in London this year. What do we do? (laughs) We’re adding more and more pieces, and of course we know how to do that. So we’re thinking. Everyone’s thinking, and so if anyone has any suggestions, I look at all of them. I can’t respond to them all the time, but we read everything that goes into our Facebook site –you know we have something like 33,000 or 34,000 registered — and I read everything. So, if anyone has any ideas, I’m listening.

CP: You’ve got the Returning Home DVD of the recent Tokyo concert. Do you see other DVDs or Blu-rays in Distant Worlds’ future, or do you think one is enough for this particular concert series?

AR: Well, I was kind of thrilled that we had the opportunity to get that one out. People had been asking us for the whole first three years. I was delighted that we had done two records with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and I consider those really wonderful recordings. I mean, these are ones that were recorded at a much higher bit rate/sample rate than conventional. 48-bit versus 24-bit. The resolution on those is astounding, and the orchestra’s playing, I think, is just absolutely without peer.

I think with those two records and the DVD of Returning Home – which showcased a lot of repertoire from [Final Fantasy] XIII and XIV, as well as all the hits, as well as new arrangements of “Clash on the Big Bridge” and actually other new solo piano things. We did “Those Who Fight,” which Benyamin Nuss is going to play this weekend. We’re kind of recapping what he did in Japan with us, so he’ll be the piano soloist on “Love Grows,” on “Saber’s Edge” from Final Fantasy XIII which has a solo piano part, he’ll also play the a cappella Final Fantasy XIII piece by [Masashi] Hamauzu, “March of the Dreadnoughts,” and he will play solo piano from the Piano Collections of “Those Who Fight.” So yeah, I’m thrilled he’s here, and so we’re recapping those four on the Chicago concerts, split between the two of them.

So, should we have more? I don’t know, you tell me! Do you think we should? I think we’re okay for right now. I think we’ll give it a little time.

I’m looking at Distant Worlds III though, in terms of the next record, because we now have assembled so much new repertoire that we literally have enough for a whole ‘nother record — easily — and there are some big, important pieces that we’re adding in Chicago for the first time that could get onto that; things like “You’re Not Alone” — we’re now performing that again this weekend — and we’re doing a new piece that I just finished the arrangement of that we’re premiering during Chicago which is from Final Fantasy VI, “Dark World,” and not because we had to do “Dark World,” but because I’d been searching for a piece to get Nobuo Uematsu to play live as a soloist on stage with us, and he kept resisting. He says, “No, I’m too nervous!” that he didn’t want to do it. I finally found the right piece for him to do, and I went to him, I said, “This is the piece we’re going to do, and I’ll do it with you!” So I’m going to play solo violin, he’s going to play solo keyboards, [we'll have] full orchestration, and we’re going to play that live. I’m very excited about it. We haven’t rehearsed or anything yet, but we’d been going back and forth on the Internet about, “I’m going to do this,” and showing him what the demos sound like, that kind of thing, so… we’re ready! (laughs)

CP: Looking forward to it!

AR: Oh, it’ll be fun! Yeah!

CP: “Melodies of Life” is a personal favorite of mine, and I absolutely loved hearing the English premiere of “Suteki da ne” the last time you were here. What pieces from the program do you in particular enjoy the most?

AR: I would say out of all the songs, if we’re talking about [those]… I mean, you’re probably looking at everything, but out of all the songs, I like “Suteki da ne.” I find it a little more unique. I find as far the more typical pop style that Uematsu has adopted occasionally, I find “Kiss Me Good-Bye” is a really good example of that. Also, Susan does a really good job on that one, and it lays well for her in terms of her own voice. So, I like that. “Memoro de la Stono” — beautiful, both that combination of the opening and the actual song itself, “Distant Worlds.”

You know, the business of trying to decide what’s my favorite, Uematsu and I always kind of laugh about this. We come off the stage, the last thing that we play is, let’s say, “One-Winged Angel,” and we’re all like, “We can’t get it out of our heads!” the next two hours while we’re having an after-dinner or after-show bite to eat or something like that. It will not get out of our head!

“Liberi Fatali” is one of those that a is very compelling piece. Just as importantly, pieces like “Aerith’s Theme” — a very intimate, personal kind of statement and beautifully crafted — I find just as powerful as those. I enjoy doing “Dancing Mad” as well! It’s much more sectionalized in different sections, and so the flow of the piece is a little different than some of the other ones, but there’s so much wonderful power and epic qualities to it that it’s a fun compelling piece for us to do, which we’re doing in this weekend as well.

CP: Well, that almost wraps it up for me. Are there any closing comments from you specifically for our Final Fantasy fans and music fans?

AR: Really the reason we’re here is because of the fans, for no other reason the fact that they have supported this tour. The biggest thing I can do is thank all the fans, and it’s literally when I say that it’s the reason that we’re able to continue — not just one year’s worth of concerts or a couple of years, but four years, five years, six years — we can continue because… what, are we playing Chicago for the fifth time, maybe? Fourth time? Fifth time? Of just Final Fantasy concerts? It’s amazing, frankly, and we’re sold out for both of these performances. It’s that kind of support that allows us to keep going.

If there was an obvious erosion of fan interest, then it would be a very simple matter for Square Enix to say, “You know, that was wonderful, I think we’ll take a break.” But right now, both Square Enix and my own company, AWR Music, and Nobuo Uematsu, we all feel there’s so much more to give, and there are so many places we haven’t played. We just played Australia for the first time — sold out there. Royal Albert Hall sold out in two weeks, and that’s not happening until November. There are a lot of other markets in Europe and Asia and elsewhere; we want to get to Mexico City, and they should stay tuned because that’s very close to being announced now. There are some dates in South America also that we’re working on.

I think the idea of getting out into some of the other areas and trying to spread it that way, and then how do we evolve the tour, long term? Besides adding more and more repertoire, do we branch off and have a second tour that maybe features perhaps not just Final Fantasy, but other games as well on that? Not so much a Play! or something like that because we’re not attempting to be that. We really are aligned right now with Square Enix, but possibly there are a lot of other games that Square Enix has: Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Mana, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger… I heard that Dragon Quest is opening in the United States sometime soon, and it’s tremendously popular in Japan, so that could also be something interesting. I think there’s many possibilities to move forward, and we’re looking at that all the time, so thank you to the fans for allowing us to move forward.

CP: Arnie Roth, thank you very much for your time. It’s been a pleasure!

A big thanks to Chris Szuberla for arranging the interview. You can check out the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy official website and Facebook Page for tour dates and information. You can also purchase their albums digitally from their online store in qualities as high as 24/88.2 FLAC!

Be sure to check back soon for more from this past weekend!

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I probably spent more time hovering around the Square Enix booth than I needed to, but hey… I do that every year. Part of their lineup that was keeping me around was the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot. You can view the E3 trailer above, before heading out to your local mall to pre-order the title. You know you’ll want to.

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Another week, another weekly installation of downloadable Nintendo games! Today brings back SNES’ Chrono Trigger, now on Virtual Console for 800 Wii Points. For the fishing fans on DSi, Big John Games’ Big Bass Arcade delivers seven different lakes, nine lures, three multiple-lake tournaments, 42 events, event high scores and “the elusive world-record bass”. This DSiWare title is yours for 500 DSi Points. Also on DSiWare are Word Searcher 3, a word search puzzle compilation for 500 DSi Points, and Hellokids – Vol. 1: Coloring and Painting, a 200 DSi Point title that allows you to create and color your own drawings. Rounding out this download dish are monster themed dance title Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove: Monster Mix on WiiWare for 500 Wii Points, and a free demo version of Lead The Meerkats, also on WiiWare. All titles available now on your Nintendo console.

May 16, 2011

Nintendo Download

Get Tangled in Time or Angle for a Big Catch with the Latest Game Downloads

Ready to switch up your routine – or even your century? With the arrival of the Super NES^™ favorite CHRONO TRIGGER^® on the Virtual Console^™ service, Wii^™ owners can liven up their living rooms with a classic time-twisting adventure. For the Nintendo DSiWare^™ service, Big Bass Arcade invites players to cast away boredom by casting a line in search of mighty fish, while Word Searcher 3 offers fresh puzzle-solving challenges that can be enjoyed anywhere. Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove: Monster Mix for the WiiWare^™ service sets monster-themed fun to an irresistible beat. Delightful deviation from the norm is just a download away.

Virtual Console

CHRONO TRIGGER
Original platform: Super NES
Publisher: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points^™
Description: A young man is transported into the past, altering the course of history and the outcome of the future. He has to find his way home, but first he must travel to the outer edges of time to repair the world’s chronology. On the way, he encounters strange friends and foes, uses incredible devices and vehicles, and penetrates and neutralizes the fortresses of the past, present and future. A paradox has been created. If he does not restore the order of time, nothing will ever be the same. He is the one who will become a hero. He is Crono.

Nintendo DSiWare

Big Bass Arcade
Publisher: Big John Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points^™
Description: Big Bass Arcade is all about the action where the bass are biting and fighting. Catch a boatload of fish and take a shot at the world-record bass. The game is packed with features: seven different lakes, nine lures, three multiple-lake tournaments, 42 events, high scores for each event and the elusive world-record bass. Big John Games brings 17 years of fishing game experience to Big Bass Arcade to create incredible fish behaviors, spectacular animations and second-to-none fish AI. Putting the fun back into hand-held fishing is the name of the game. Players choose from two control options – stylus or +Control Pad – for casting, reeling and controlling the fish-fighting action. Big Bass Arcade appeals to fishing enthusiasts and gamers alike by capturing the adrenaline rush of fish-fighting in an arcade-style game.

Word Searcher 3
Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: You’ll need a keen eye and a quick mind to complete 100 themed word-search puzzles. Word Searcher 3 contains fun words from multiple categories including astronomy, currency and rivers. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone can enjoy. Keep your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills sharp with these challenging puzzles. Keep track of – and try to beat – your own play-through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play.

Hellokids – Vol. 1: Coloring and Painting
Publisher: BiP Media
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Imagine a coloring book on your Nintendo DSi^™ system, add the ability to create your own drawings and to draw over photos, and you’ve got Hellokids. Color and draw using the Nintendo DSi stylus. Enjoy more than 150 drawings you can color with three difficulty levels, including a “color containment” assistant. A Freehand Drawing mode includes simple, practical tools, such as an automatic fill function, a color palette and decorations. You can also draw on a photo you’ve taken or uploaded from your Nintendo DSi album. Hellokids is a great pocket companion for all budding artists.

WiiWare

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove: Monster Mix
Publisher: Natsume Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Join Gabrielle and her monster friends as they dance along to a spooktacular selection of songs. Grab your Wii Remote^™ controller and dance along as you shimmy, shake and spin in time to the music. There’s trouble in Monster Town: Vlad the Vampire’s loyal zombies have disappeared. Gabrielle and her monster friends will have to bust some serious moves on the dance floor in order to lure them back. Along the way, maybe they can uncover the identity of the mysterious creature that’s terrorizing Monster Town’s zombies. Up to four players can show off their best moves in the game’s multiplayer mode. (Additional accessories are required for multiplayer mode and are sold separately.) Short and full versions of songs let you dance as much as you want. Unlock tons of outrageous outfits and items.

Lead the Meerkats^™ (demo version)
Publisher: Lapland Studio
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Animated Blood, Mild Violence
Price: 0 Wii Points; full version available for 1,000 Wii Points
Description: In Lead the Meerkats, you are a young meerkat who has a lot to accomplish. You’ve been separated from your pack, and the time has come for you to form your own meerkat pack. Are you ready for the challenge? Name your pack and its meerkats. Dig burrow networks and enlarge your territory. Forage for food and grow your pack size. Stay on guard and be ready to make quick decisions. Run to the safety of the burrows or fight your enemies. Go head-to-head with a rival meerkat pack. Lead your pack to victory and rule the savanna. Lead the Meerkats is the first game to simulate the exciting life of meerkats. Lead your pack and enjoy the company of these lively and endearing animals. Lead the Meerkats offers fun game play for animal lovers of all ages.

Note: Some demo versions do not support all game features, and players cannot save their in-game progress in demo versions.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card^™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

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It’s about time! Vagrant Story is available as a PSOne Classic here in North America, one week after Xenogears joined the collection. As expected, the game is available for a steal at $5.99.

Other PSN releases this week include PixelJunk Shooter 2, Modnation Racers, and demos for MLB 2K11, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Top Spin 4, Alien Breed 3: Descent, and Marvel Pinball.

PlayStation Blog

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Nintendo is finally bringing over to the United States Square Enix’s Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation in the form of the game’s Nintendo DS re-release. DQVI, which enjoyed a fun launch party in Palo Alto this past Saturday, is available nationwide today, on what Nintendo has dubbed “Valenslime Day.”

Anyone get one of those shirts? I totally wish I had some of those to give away as gifts right about now.

Nintendo Celebrates “Valenslime Day” with Launch of DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation

Enhanced Version of Classic RPG Makes Debut in North America with New Options and Unlockable Surprises

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Starting today, video game fans in North America can embark on a classic hand-held adventure that has been unavailable outside of Japan for more than 15 years. The DRAGON QUEST^® VI: Realms of Revelation^™ game makes its U.S. debut for the Nintendo DS^™ family of systems, combining classic role-playing thrills with fresh character options, unique challenges and play-it-anywhere convenience. With a robust class system and the ability to enlist monsters to help players on their quests, this memorable entry in the popular DRAGON QUEST series will enthrall experienced players and newcomers alike.

DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation invites players to explore multiple worlds and take a stand against the villainous Murdaw, who spreads terror and unrest throughout a strange alternate universe. Joined by a traveling martial artist and a mysterious girl, the game’s hero must face down an imaginative cast of enemy monsters – including the iconic Slime. In this new edition of the game for Nintendo DS systems, players can even have monsters join their traveling party to lend a hand in battles. Other special features include enhanced graphics and new touch-screen mini-games.

“With DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation, players not only get to discover a classic game that’s been unavailable outside Japan since 1995, but they’re also getting some fresh twists and surprises,” said Marc Franklin, Nintendo of America’s director of Public Relations. “The ability to switch between character classes and recruit enemies into the player’s party adds a new level of fun to the classic DRAGON QUEST game play.”

DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation offers players more than 15 character classes, such as Priest, Warrior, Merchant and Thief. Throughout the adventure, these classes will become more powerful and grant the player new abilities that can be deployed as the game progresses.

For more information about DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation, visit http://dragonquest6.nintendo.com.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 is on the way, but since we’ve got to wait about a year to get out mitts onto the game, we’ll just have to treat our eyes in the meantime. You can view the new trailer for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game above — be sure to view it with full-screen HD settings if you can!

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Kingdom Hearts 3DS is no more! Square Enix has revealed the official name of the 3DS title, which serves as a link between Kingdom Hearts 2 and the eventual third title, as Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. The announcement came at the Square Enix press conference earlier today, where they revealed the above trailer. Side note: Mickey Mouse speaking Japanese, weird right? But surprisingly accurate. Eeeeery.

MyNintendoNews

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Square Enix has officially announced today via the PlayStation Blog that a Final Fantasy XIII-2, sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, is on its way next winter. The (so far) PlayStation 3 exclusive promises to have a story and battle system in continuation from its predecessor, “and more”, but sadly that’s almost all that’s known for now. Until we hear more, enjoy the freshly released logo and screen shot, the latter of which you can get as a high-res wallpaper from the PlayStation Blog’s Flickr (thanks @terricide!).

PlayStation Blog

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A new set of screens from the new Tomb Raider reboot have been released thanks to Game Informer, and you can check them out at the link below. They should give you a better idea of the look and atmosphere of the game, and how it compares to previous entries into the series.

My thoughts? I really like the look of this new game and how it portrays a young and inexperienced Lara. It just makes her character seem more real. More believable. Personally, I’m excited about this title… how about the rest of you?

Game Informer

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What’s this? It seems there’s a new European trademark for “FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0″ from Square Enix, along with a logo. The description doesn’t specifically point to this being a game. However, given that it’s got a unique name AND logo at this point, this is clearly a big deal in the company’s eyes, and a new game would make the most sense.

With the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere coming up on January 18th, that may be the date to circle on your calendars as to when we might learn more about Type-0. Is it a prequel? Is it a spin-off? There’s no way to know for sure, but fans of the series might note that this name does have some interesting ties… to Final Fantasy VII…

TMview

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The ESRB has rated a quartet of games for re-release on the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms. Those classic PlayStation titles — Legend of Mana, Threads of Fate, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears — all have SCEA (Sony) listed as their publisher, which can only mean that the games are headed for the PlayStation Network under the PSOne Classics banner.

Not a bad selection from Square Enix for the coming months. What do you think? Which ones might you buy on PSN?

Siliconera

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Xenogears was released for the PlayStation in 1998. Now, almost 13 years later, Square Enix is pressing a brand new orchestral soundtrack of the game’s music.

After fan voting narrowed down the list of potential songs for the album, Xenogears composer and producer Yasunori Mitsuda made the final selections of 14 tracks to be re-orchestrated and recorded by a live orchestra in Bulgaria. The new album will be available in Japan this February.

Square Enix’s official site for the new soundtrack (linked below) features a bit of a preview for you to listen to, as well as a message from Mitsuda in Japanese.

Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album
via Andriasang

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Originally announced earlier this month as being set for the “spring,” the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection will be launched for PSP in Japan specifically on March 24th. Sporting a grittier, more realistic set of 2D graphics for both Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, the collection will be released as a retail UMD game for ¥5,980 ($73), while the PSN download will only cost you ¥4,980 ($61).

In addition, Square Enix is releasing an “Ultimate Monopoly Pack” on their e-Store, shown to the right above, which includes the game, Official Complete Guide, The After Years Original soundtrack, and Original Art Collection. The ultimate set will cost ¥9,445 ($115).

Square Enix

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Square Enix has detailed their upcoming Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, a one-on-one game featuring characters, summons, and more from the entire span of the Final Fantasy series. Three card types create the backbone for the card game: Forward cards are you basic attack/block cards, Backup cards provide Crystal Points to play and abilities to support your Forwards, and Summons are powerful, single-use cards. Six elemental groups (fire, ice, wind, earth, snow, water) and two special elements (light, darkness) provide for card typing.

The card game goes on sale in Japan on February 25th. The two Entry Sets — Black Deck and White Deck — will come with 50 cards (including one card exclusive to each set) and cost ¥1,500 each, while Booster Packs of eight random cards will be available for ¥330. In all, there are 160 standard and 162 premium cards, each being assigned to one of five levels of rarity.

Finally, each copy of The 3rd Birthday was bundled with a promo card when it launched last week. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy will follow suit in January and March, respectively. You can view those promo cards below.

Final Fantasy TCG Site
via Andriasang

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At some point in January, Japanese Wii owners will be able to buy Final Fantasy V all over again when the Super Famicom classic arrives on the Virtual Console over there. The Virtual Console release will cost Wii owners 800 points when it eventually arrives.

There’s no word on the game’s international re-release, but given FFV‘s popularity, it would make sense if North American and European releases weren’t too far behind. It’s unknown which version of the game would be used if and when the title becomes available for international markets, given that official translations of the game weren’t available until the game’s debut on the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance.

Either way, any release should tide fans over until we get further word on that possible 3DS remake of the game…

QJ.net

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