Hey everyone,

This weeks edition of the Japanese gaming magazine, Jump Weekly featured a page spread on three of the upcoming games in the Kingdom Hearts compilation. The main focus of the article was on Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, though there was a little on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Coded.

The Jump Weekly scan further confirms a vague release date of 2008 for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. The screenshots featured in the scan reveal a little new information, we know know that at one point or another you’ll get to visit Beast’s Castle; a world featured in Kingdom Hearts II. The new screenshots also reveal a couple of changes to the games original interface, a new special points system now appears in the left hand corner of the screen; and Roxas’ character icon has changed since the last batch of screenshots.

Interestingly, it seems that there is a map on the bottom screen. This suggests that Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days probably won’t intergrate the Nintendo DS’s touch screen in the way that fans had originally hoped. It’s not the end of the world, but it is a shame.

In regard to Birth By Sleep, the release date is still unknown. The same goes for Kingdom Hearts: Coded, the scan also suggests that Kingdom Hearts: Coded will feature a different combo system that will make Sora far more powerful than in previous titles. Though this isn’t confirmed.

Hey everyone,

Square Enix recently launched the official website for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, an upcoming installment in the Kingdom Hearts series that’s set for release on the Nintendo DS. The website’s worth checking out, as it does have a wallpaper on it that some of you may like (featuring Roxas and the Nobody symbol on a red background), as well as some information on the story, Roxas and Axel.

Unfortunately I can’t tell you what the website says, as I don’t speak Japanese. I’m sure it’ll be translated soon though, so watch this space.

Hey everyone,

In a recent interview with the Japanese gaming magazine, Dengeki Tetsuya Nomura admitted that Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s development is at an all time low with the majority of the team working on completing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete and Final Fantasy XIII; leaving only a few members of Square Enix’s staff working on the game. Tetsuya Nomura also confirmed that there will be playable demos of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Sigma Harmonics at the upcoming DKΣ3713 Party that’s set to take place after E3.

This is good news because it actually proves that Square Enix are working on a series that people actually care about, rather than titles such as The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery. For those interested in reading the interview, you can find it below.

Dengeki: What are the main highlights of the DKΣ3713 event?

NOMURA: We will have playable copies of Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. KHBBS is pretty amazing!

Dengeki: Amazing in what way?

NOMURA: Obviously it’s a part of the Kingdom Hearts series, but it has a fresh, new feel to it. We want gamers to try out the new elements with the playable kiosks we’re preparing.

Dengeki: Will any other playable titles be available?

NOMURA: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will of course be playable, as well as Sigma Harmonics.

Dengeki: What can we expect to see on Final Fantasy Versus XIII?

NOMURA: The graphics and visual team is currently spending absolutely all their time on Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete. The hardware/programming team is helping out with FFXIII, leaving only a small crew actively working on FF Versus XIII. So, it’s not clear what we could show in its current state.

Dengeki: How is the progress on Advent Children Complete coming along?

NOMURA: The changes originally planned for Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete have pretty much been completed, but additional updates and scenario changes are in the works, so…

Dengeki: So there’s a nice amount of material [being added]?

NOMURA: Some parts need to be redone, and I think there will end up being a good amount of [new] material. We’re locking down a release date now. Also, we really want those who’ve seen [Advent Children] once before to be left with new impressions.

Dengeki: Then we can expect announcements regarding Advent Children Complete as well?

NOMURA: : We’ll be announcing the release date along with some other big news, please look forward to it.

Dengeki: On a related note, what might you have in store for Tokyo Game Show in October?

NOMURA: For those who didn’t get tickets in for this event, we’ll be following up on everything at Tokyo Game Show. Please think of this as a ‘Tokyo Game Show Prelude’ event.

Credit goes to Forever Fantasy for translating the Dengeki article which can also be found below.

Hey everyone,

Famitsu recently interviewed Tetsuya Nomura, the director of the Kingdom Hearts series and character designer for many Final Fantasy titles ranging from Final Fantasy VII to XIII. The interview mainly focused on the DKΣ3713 Party 2008 that was announced earlier this week.

Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Sigma Harmonics will all have playable demos at the event, whilst the rest of games featured will be shown in a projection room, presumabley similar to the closed mega theatres at E3 and the Tokyo Game Show.

Nomura went on to say that several of the team working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII have moved over to help work on Final Fantasy XIII, probably due to Square Enix’s known difficulties with the PLAYSTATION 3 hardware, and to speed up the production of the game. So it looks as if we won’t be seeing Final Fantasy Versus XIII until well after the released of Final Fantasy XIII. Nomura made a brief comment on Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Kingdom Hearts: Coded saying that they were still in production.

Finally, Tetsuya Nomura told Famitsu that the long delayed Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete’s release date will be confirmed at DKΣ3713 Party 2008. Considering how long it’s been delayed for, it’s safe to say that the release date will be some time in the near future.

Update: A scan of the interview, taken from Famitsu magazine has surfaced on the internet. The scan can be found below.

Hey everyone,

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is the new Kingdom Hearts title coming out for Nintendo DS, the games based around Roxas’ story. In the short video below we see Roxas fighting some Heartless, using what looked to be the classic Kingdom Hearts combat system. Though I’m pretty sure they’ll use the stylus to add a unique twist to the gameplay of 358/2 days.