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Updated impressions of the next big Square Enix blockbuster - and it's only on PSP.

Square Enix has already proven itself entirely capable of creating compelling collectible card games within the virtual worlds of its Final Fantasy franchise -- in fact, occasionally, those mini-games became more engrossing than the adventures which surrounded them. That's why we can't wait to see what Square and CCG manufacturer Hobby Japan can do with the recently announced Final Fantasy Trading Card Game when it launches February 25, 2011.

Potential players can start bolstering their collections by picking up the Japanese version of The 3rd Birthday, which will include a promotional card. Though a handful of samples have been revealed (pictured above), the actual rules of the game haven't been detailed. We're going to assume that you have to play it over and over and over again until you're strong enough to win. Also, playing summon cards will take three to six minutes, depending on the strength of said summon. Also, Chocobos have gots to be up in the mix.

#the3rdbirthday The 3rd Birthday's protagonist Aya Brea is getting a whole host of embarrassing costumes: torn jeans, ripped stockings and a maid outfit. Her latest costume isn't anything to be ashamed of though. It's far too badass for that. More »

#the3rdbirthday Aya Brea, protagonist of the forthcoming 3rd Birthday, is 39 years old. And she gets her jeans blown off, her stockings ripped up and even squeezed by a tentacle. Her latest fan service humiliation? A maid costume. More »

Square Enix readying its big December release, complete with retail promotions.

#psn Costume battle damage is not new. In 1985's Ghost 'n Goblins, Sir Arthur was running around in his skivvies. But in the last few years, it's become far more prevalent — especially in Japan — and far more feminine. More »

Square Enix planning to remind everyone about 32-bit Aya Brea before she hits PSP.

#psp Aya Brea, the heroine of PSP title The 3rd Birthday, doesn't have much of a wardrobe. Those ratty jeans? She can do better. More »

#preview Forgive me for having played Battlefied 2: Modern Combat and not Parasite Eve. I cannot detail to you how the upcoming PSP game The 3rd Birthday builds upon the latter. But I can say how wonderfully it echoes the former. More »

#the3rdbirthday The latest trailer for Japanese survival horror game The 3rd Birthday features phallic looking tentacles. Tentacles, again with the tentacles. What gives, Japan? More »

Tear it up to see the l'Cie mark.

You may have a bit of trouble picking up on the particulars of this finally released TGS trailer for The 3rd Birthday, thanks to its Japanese voice dub. However, an equal portion of the video is also created using the universal language: Violence, inflicted onto and by gigantic, horrifying monsters.

The mobile game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII was the first part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII to be released in Japan, but never made it to North America. That would almost certainly change if the game were ported to the Nintendo 3DS, something which Square Enix's Hajime Tabata mused about on Twitter.

"If I were to make something for 3DS, I suppose it would be a remake of Before Crisis Final Fantasy VII," he said (translated by Andriasang. "I'd redo the scenario structure and game design for the 3DS. I think I'd like to make an action RPG BCFF7 where a large number of Turks players play simultaneously."

Sounds awesome, right? Well, it's not happening, at least not right now. Tabata lamented that he was already far too busy on The 3rd Birthday, and plans to move to an HD project afterward as a change of pace from all the portable games.

A good third-person shooter isn't easy pull off on the PSP. The limited number of buttons and lack of a second analog stick mean that only a few games represent the genre well on Sony's handheld -- Syphon Filter and Resistance Retribution both come to mind. Given the limitations of the platform and Square Enix's storied failures with the genre, you'd be right at approaching The 3rd Birthday with some skepticism. Based on what we've played so far, it doesn't seem like developer Hexa Drive is capable of assuaging our concerns.

Parasite Eve fans have waited for a new game in the franchise for over a decade, and The 3rd Birthday has many of the qualities that made the original games so intriguing. Once again, New York is under supernatural attack, and Aya and a squad of soldiers must stop the infestation. Like its predecessors, The 3rd Birthday is all about mood and macabre, grotesque enemies. The presentation is absolutely spot-on, boasting some of the studio's best CG work and impressive real-time graphics. Whilst watching a lengthy cutscene, I couldn't help but think how much it looked and sounded like a true Parasite Eve sequel.

Last month, the Parasite Eve series' lead character designer Tetsuya Nomura stated that Square Enix would like to get the first two installments of the franchise on the PSOne Classics storefront before the arrival of The 3rd Birthday. Yesterday, director Hajime Tabata confirmed that Square was actively working to get the games on PSN, explaining that the publisher is "making adjustments" to bring Parasite Eve and Parasite Eve 2 to the PlayStation Store.

Tabata also added, "please wait until it has been finalized and formally announced." Please wait to do what, exactly? Get excited about playing Parasite Eve again? There's nothing you can do about that. You're not the boss of us!

Monsters are no match for a strong will and tons of bullets.

A new entry in the Parasite Eve franchise has been long coming. The 3rd Birthday -- the first official sequel in the franchise since 1999 -- will be available in Japan at the very end of this year, on December 22nd. A US release is likely to follow some time in 2011. The third-person shooter arrives exclusively for PSP, joining the now-officially-announced Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Dissidia: Duodecim.

With so many high-profile Square Enix releases coming to PSP so close to each other, the company announced that there will be some kind of cross-promotional DLC across all three games. Specifics weren't mentioned, but you'll be able to unlock special costumes by owning multiple games.

#the3rdbirthday Battle damage in PSP game The 3rd Birthday is fan service jeans damage. But the game doesn't just turn the denim threads of protagonist Aya ragged. It obliterates them. More »

Square Enix already has a worthy playable lineup for next month's big gaming event.

If Square Enix is going to get Parasite Eve and its sequel onto PSN as PSOne Classics before the third game in the series ships, in only has a few months left to do so. The 3rd Birthday producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed that his game will release on PSP in Japan "winter this year."

Speaking to VG247, Kitase remarked that "The Japanese version's going to come out in winter this year," adding, "And we've already started localising the game for overseas versions. So we're hoping to release it sometime rather soon after the Japanese release, but we can't specify an exact time." He did, however, confirm that an international release will happen within 2011. Also, Kitase's comment regarding localization having already begun is pretty much in line with the faster turn-around Square-Enix has been targeting for global availability of its games in recent years.

We'll have a more specific -- hopefully international -- release date when it's announced, after which we fully expect GameStop to begin offering party hats and noisemakers as pre-order incentives.

Were you thinking that right about now would be a good time to make Parasite Eve and Parasite Eve 2 available via PSN, given the upcoming release of the third game in the series on PSP? Then, dear Reader, you have something in common with series character designer Tetsuya Nomura. He recently tweeted that he wants just that: a digital re-release of the PSOne titles, before The 3rd Birthday -- the game whose success could lead to a PS3 title in the series -- hits Japan.

"Archives versions of the 1st and 2nd [Parasite Eve] are in demand, so I'd like to do something about them before the 3rd is released," reads Nomura's tweet. He's referring to the Japanese PSN equivalent of PSOne Classics, the Game Archives, and we agree: we'd like Nomura to do something about them, too -- only globally, kudasai?

#psp We haven't seen much lately of The 3rd Birthday, the next game in the Parasite Eve series. Released on phones in Japan in 2007, it's coming to PSPs. As Ashcraft wrote, this game's all about Aya Brea and her guns. More »

"The team had a lot of experience and knew a lot about making a game for PSP which is why we chose PSP as the platform for this game," said Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase during a presentation at Gamescom in regards to The 3rd Birthday. "But if this game turns out to be a success then we'd be looking at extending the franchise into PS3."

Now, Kitase could mean one of two things by that statement: Square Enix could develop an entirely new Parasite Eve game for the PS3; or he could be talking about re-releasing the first two Parasite Eve games as PSOne Classics. Neither are currently available on PSN, so we're inclined to think that's what he's talking about -- especially considering Square Enix has already expressed interest in going down that road.

And you thought nobody was paying attention when you blew out the candles on your birthday cake earlier today. We were watching, little Timmy!

... Okay, so we can't take all of the credit for the new screens and trailer from Square Enix's upcoming spin-off in the Parasite Eve universe, The 3rd Birthday. The new media comes direct from Gamescom 2010 in Germany, but, like, if you want to credit us with making your dreams come true, we're cool with that. In the end, isn't having your wishes fulfilled all that matters?

Much better than an HP meter, we think you'll agree.

We're pretty sure you'd need one of those bulletin boards from TV crime dramas -- you know, the ones with pictures of mafioso higher-ups with multicolored strings and push pins connecting them -- in order to keep track of all of Square Enix's upcoming games. The studio's resident star designer, Tetsuya Nomura, recently gave an update on these projects -- a laundry list which includes Final Fantasy Versus and Agito XIII, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Re:Coded, The 3rd Birthday, and "a number of unannounced titles."

According to Andriasang's translation, Nomura explained the dearth of news on Versus XIII was due to a number of hardships which have rendered the company's old developmental tricks "completely inapplicable," but that progress is being made. He couldn't be any more specific than that, due to Square Enix's policy of promoting games in the order they'll be released. In that case, we may not hear more on Versus or Agito for some time -- Nomura explained that some of the company's unannounced games would arrive before the next installment in the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise.

For more info on the fate of Square Enix's future projects, check out Andriasang's translation of the 3rd Birthday Twitter feed.

Square Enix's net sales were up 11% year-over-year in its fiscal Q1 (which ended June 10), from ¥29.4 billion ($341.5 million) to ¥32.5 billion ($378.2 million). It's a phenomenon that president Yoichi Wada attributes to the million-plus copies sold of Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 in Japan, and continued sales of Final Fantasy XIII and Just Cause 2 in the west.

Operating income jumped 814% in the same period, from ¥594 million ($6.9 million) in Q1 2009 to ¥5.43 billion ($63.14 million). That can be attributed to the fact that Square Enix didn't buy any major publishing companies this year.

The earnings presentation for the quarter (PDF) lists the company's current publishing plans for the near future, including the surefire Wii hit Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road Victory for Japan only, as well as the Parasite Eve sequel The 3rd Birthday with a "This Winter" date in Japan and a "TBD" date in North America and Europe. The slides also reveal that Square Enix will handle Japanese publishing duties for Call of Duty: Black Ops, like it did for Modern Warfare 2.

Could a console version be on the way? The development staff gives some big hints.

We know our dream of playing a video game adaptation of the greatest television show ever will probably never be realized. Still, judging by this trailer for the spiritual successor to the Parasite Eve series, The 3rd Birthday might just be the closest we'll ever get to Quantum Leap: The Game.

The beautiful Aya Brea is back on duty.