Square Enix Message Board older than one year ago

Agent 47 is aided by several systems in Hitman: Absolution, including a handy radar, health meters, and a limited "Instinct" feature that highlights crucial information in the environment. But in the game's most difficult setting, dubbed "Purist," these elements have been turned off.

Want to see what Purists will have to contend with when Hitman: Absolution launches on November 20? Watch Joystiq infiltrate the first level (mind the spoiler-filled cutscenes!) and see how we do without the game's help.

We got it wrong last week when we guessed the next drop in the bucket full of trailers for Hitman: Absolution would be the game's launch trailer for November 20. Square Enix couldn't hold that long; here's Agent 47's ICA file.

Hitman: Absolution from developer IO Interactive brings "The Original Assassin" out from the cold and back to The Agency. Today, Joystiq will explore the PC version of Hitman: Absolution with IO Interactive's Tore Blystad and Sven Liebold and see if Agent 47's time away from gamers have left his tradecraft sharp or in need of a tune up.

Right now, from 2pm through 3pm Eastern (11-12pm PT), we'll be streaming Hitman: Absolution single-player along with multiple challenges in the game's new "Contracts" mode. Feel free to lob some questions at us and IO Interactive by following Joystiq on Twitch, or you can drop your questions right into the comments section of this very post.

You can watch the stream on the Joystiq Twitch page, or in an embed after the break. Follow our Twitch page for future streams and giveaways.

Note that the first level of the game, featured during this stream, includes spoilers to Hitman: Absolution.

Hitman: Absolution from developer IO Interactive brings "The Original Assassin" out from the cold and back to The Agency. Today, Joystiq will explore the PC version of Hitman: Absolution with IO Interactive's Tore Blystad and Sven Liebold and see if Agent 47's time away from gamers have left his tradecraft sharp or in need of a tune up.

Right now, from 2pm through 3pm Eastern (11-12pm PT), we'll be streaming Hitman: Absolution single-player along with multiple challenges in the game's new "Contracts" mode. Feel free to lob some questions at us and IO Interactive by following Joystiq on Twitch, or you can drop your questions right into the comments section of this very post.

You can watch the stream on the Joystiq Twitch page, or in an embed after the break. Follow our Twitch page for future streams and giveaways.

Note that the first level of the game, featured during this stream, includes spoilers to Hitman: Absolution.

I must confess I know essentially nothing about Final Fantasy XIV, as FF has become one of those game series I’ll cross the street to avoid. I do, though, admire both the relative honesty and the steely-eyed resolve in Square admitting that MMO spin-off FF XIV was such a screw-up that they’ve just killed it off – with plans to relaunch it as ‘A Realm Reborn’ and what they claim is tantamount to a brand new game. As is Square tradition, there’s an overwraught, highly technically accomplished cinematic to commemorate the end of FF XIV’s existing world. It’s a certainly a dramatic way to announce that all your characters are getting wiped.

So what happens after the apocalypse?(more…)

The era ending in this lengthy cinematic trailer is that of Final Fantasy XIV, as Square Enix pulled the plug today on the game's servers in preparation for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The MMO relaunch was said to be "rebuilt from the ground-up" when the not-exactly-new game was announced in July.

The Eorzean Alliance battled the Garlean Empire before further chaos engulfed the "end of an era" trailer, seen above. Like it or not, Final Fantasy XIV certainly went out in style. Both the PS3 and PC versions of A Realm Reborn are expected to launch in 2013.

#finalfantasy Here's the end of Final Fantasy XIV, Square-Enix's MMO getting a reboot in the form of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Fittingly for a flawed endeavor—one Square-Enix officially apologized for—the last day didn't go so well for some users. More »

There have been a lot of trailers for Hitman: Absolution. From the sound of this latest one, this is the end of those... well, you know, until the launch trailer for November 20. And then the inevitable post-launch DLC trailer. Then the game of the year trailer sometime next year...

Publishing games is weird right now. Heroes & Generals – the very impressive-looking multi-layered soldier multiplayer from reto-moto – was recently snapped up by Square Enix as something for them to publish. Two months after it successfully made its way through Steam Greenlight. Which is just plain odd. It’s like finding out Proctor & Gamble raised some money through a cake sale. Although, in fairness, the chronology was reversed. Either way, it’s hopefully good news for developers Reto-Moto, who have just released a new trailer.

(more…)

#japan With Square Enix posting losses in its latest earnings, former Square Co. boss Hisashi Suzuki thought this would be good a time as any to kick the company while it is down. More »

It’s pretty weird to hear the news that Square Enix made a loss in the last half year. £42m in fact. You don’t have to have consulted for them to recognise they’ve got a bunch of strong titles on their lists. But then when you think about 2012, it’s a year when not too many of them appeared. Human Revolution was last year, Hitman’s still to come, and Tomb Raider disappears ever further into the future. Sleeping Dogs put in a good showing, but wasn’t a massive blockbuster, and a bunch of Final Fantasy re-releases presumably drew in crowds, but seemingly not ones big enough. Although quite how Mensa Academy (Square keep promising me our review copy is on its way, but it never seems to show up!) didn’t keep them afloat I have no idea.

(more…)

#masseffect Aaarrgghhhh my eyes. More »

This video for Hitman: Absolution describes the game's universe and the stories contained within as a "living, breathing world." The IO Interactive game is set to launch November 20 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

This short but rather nifty Hitman: Absolution fan film, by David Wayman, explores some odd parallels between an assassin's job and his family life. But things are not quite as they seem ...

Square Enix has revised its financial forecast (PDF) for both the six month period ending September 30 and its fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. Expected sales for the six month period have been reduced from ¥76 billion ($952 million) to ¥61 billion ($763 million). Projected net income for the period has been reduced from breaking even to a ¥5.2 billion loss ($65 million).

The fiscal year forecast, meanwhile, has dropped from ¥165 billion ($2 billion) to ¥150 billion ($1.8 billion), with expected net income dropping from ¥9 billion ($112 million) to ¥3.5 billion ($43 million).

The reasons behind the revision in the six month period, according to Square Enix, were "sluggish sales" of new arcade machines and that "sales of a major HD game title have been growing at a slower pace than expected." Presumably, the game in question is Sleeping Dogs, which was released this past August to generally favorable reviews. The notice also cites the "delays of a social game service launch." Fiscal year revisions were made in light of the aforementioned issues and "uncertainties of the business environment."

Square Enix's next major release is Hitman: Absolution. Agent 47 returns on November 20.

Ask any professional assassin and they'll tell you, the most important thing besides not getting caught when killing someone is the sound. Can anyone hear me? Does this ambient music set the right mood? Is the treble turned up too high?

Chrono Trigger is now available on Android, making it officially available on everything ever made ever. Okay, that's not true, but Square Enix's classic has already released for DS, Virtual Console, PSN, iOS, and mobile phones. Which means the only current gaming device not to have it yet is Xbox 360 - the key word being yet. Yup, it's just a matter of time...

It'll cost you $9.99 to experience the SNES RPG on Android, the same price as on iOS. The port includes the Dimension Vortex and Lost Sanctum bonus areas from the DS re-release.

Square Enix registered a number of trademarks back in September, including one for "Wizardlings." While it didn't garner as much discussion as the "Circle of Mana" trademark the company filed, it did turn out to be a free-to-play mobile RPG that released this week on iOS.

Described as a "casual tap adventure," Wizardlings has players fighting enemies to unveil the bright land of Skywind hidden beneath darkness. Check out the game's launch trailer above, or head straight to the App Store to play it. Of course, you can do both. We won't stop you.

This cinematic trailer for Hitman: Absolution teases the game's story while flashing guns around. It makes us wonder: Can't they just talk it out? Talkman Hitman: Absolution is set to launch November 20 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

We don't expect much from publishers' official online stores. Pricing tends to be a little on the high side. That's why it's such a surprise to see what appears to be a legitimately great sale on the Square Enix Online Shop, from today through October 28.

Discounts range from 30 to 50 percent on games - including pre-orders on Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution, which sell for $41.99 each plus shipping. Update: those pre-order items have been changed back to regular price. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is $27.99. Shipping is free if you manage to find $100 worth of stuff to buy.

Separate from this 72-hour sale, the publisher has put the PC version of Final Fantasy VII on sale through November 4. It's discounted $5, to $6.99.

#sales Sleeping Dogs! Kingdom Hearts! Dead Island! More »

We don't expect much from publishers' official online stores. Pricing tends to be a little on the high side. That's why it's such a surprise to see what appears to be a legitimately great sale on the Square Enix Online Shop, from today through October 28.

Discounts range from 30 to 50 percent on games - including pre-orders on Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution, which sell for $41.99 each plus shipping. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is $27.99. Shipping is free if you manage to find $100 worth of stuff to buy.

Separate from this 72-hour sale, the publisher has put the PC version of Final Fantasy VII on sale through November 4. It's discounted $5, to $6.99.

#wizardlings Available today on the iTunes App Store, Square Enix's free-to-play Wizardlings is a casual tap adventure in which a pair of tiny wizards reveal a magical fantasy world, one block at a time. It's cute, colorful and incredibly evil. More »

#finalfantasy As part of Final Fantasy XIV's reboot, the game is getting a reworked character creator. It allows you to customize your character's appearance, such as height, eyebrows, and even jaw and tail length. More »

iPad 4 and iPad Mini revealed; AC3's PS3 exclusives; new Xbox 360 pricing plan; Square Enix gets Unreal; Halo 4 360; Iron Man 3 & Evil Dead trailers.

#theworldendswithyou The World Ends with You is getting a new game for smartphones. It's a social game called The World Ends with You: Live Remix, and it features songs from the previous game. More »

Finally acquiescing to Game Design Statute #71, Square Enix will be adding zombies to Sleeping Dogs in its upcoming Halloween DLC. The publisher promises these are no ordinary undead, however, but are instead inspired by Chinese mythology. Entitled "Nightmare in North Point," the DLC tells the story of gangster Big Scar Wu, who was so unruly that the Grand Dragon "set out to make an example of him and had him stabbed 42 times before feeding his bleeding corpse to the grinder at the Smiley Cat food plant."

Wu hasn't taken the whole affair lying down, apparently, and "has risen from hell as Smiley Cat, bringing with him an army of Jiang Shi." So yeah, not exactly your typical zombie story. Nightmare in Northpoint is slated to arrive on Xbox, PS3 and Steam this Halloween.

#sleepingdogs Just in time for Halloween, Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games will be releasing add-on content for the amazing hands-on, kung fu combat, open world game. And there will be zombies. More »

Good rule for life: If you see a totally bald, 6'3" man with menacing arching eyebrows in your general vicinity, no matter what he's wearing at the time, it's probably a good idea to leave the area if you enjoy the rhythmic sound of a heartbeat in your chest.