It isn’t long until Square-Enix open it’s three new official Final Fantasy XIII sites. 14 hours 57 minutes in fact from the time of writing this. However it looks like either Square-Enix America are thinking of opening their site early or they can’t keep time. The European and Japanese sites are set to open at 16:00 GMT but the North American site is opening in 6 hours at 03:00 EST.

That obviously doesn’t seem like a logical time for them to launch their site, so either they’ve made a mistake with their countdown, or they’ve made an even bigger mistake choosing to launch their site when most people are asleep.

Update: It turns out everyone is getting different times remaining in the countdown, all counting down to 8:00am. If you change your system clock to 8:00am all that happens is the trailer window pops up but the file hasn’t been uploaded yet. You can do the same by right clicking the flash and clicking play. Square-Enix have just coded their US site poorly. It seems we’re still going to be waiting until 16:00 GMT to get anything. We think.

Official US Final Fantasy XIII Site

Square-Enix have produced a press release today which announces the official release date of Advent Children Complete in Japan. With the Blu-ray comes the Final Fantasy XIII demo and new Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Agito trailers. It seems Square-Enix couldn’t meet the March release window they announced back in August and have instead decided on April 16th. The Advent Children Complete Limited Edition Blu-ray will cost 5,900 yen which is about

It seems that Square Enix have been doing a little updating upon the official website for Final Fantasy XIII.>
It is now a complete flash site integrated with scrolling images, which come in high quality upon the main page, a separate character page which unfortunately only lists Lightning, Snow and Vanille, but contains HQ CG Character models along with HQ screenshots, some old and some new.

And to top it all of, its all accompanied by some beautiful background music which has not yet to have been heard until now.

You can visit the site here: Square Enix: Final Fantasy XIII Official Page

On a side note, Square Enix have also launched Final Fantasy Versus & Agito sites, which can be viewed below.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII Official Page
Final Fantasy XIII Agito Official Page

Many thanks to Shuyu for informing us on the update.

Square-Enix have officially launched their new Jump Festa website which details all their games and demos which will be appearing at the event.

Unsurprisingly Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII will all be in video form only, which means no gameplay demo as a few were hoping for. So much for gameplay by the end of the year, but there’s always Re: Final Fantasy XIII to look forward to.

Source: Square-Enix Jump Festa site (Thanks, lightning.versus.xiii!)

Like every year Square-Enix will be attending Jump Festa, an annual anime and manga convention which is always named after the following year it takes part in for some reason. Jump Festa 2009 will have Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII most likely appearing in trailer form as the two years before it.>
There’s no mention of Square-Enix’s Closed Mega Theater so far but they’ve taken it every year the Fabula Nova Crystallis games have attended. In any case, we should receive some new info, possibly screenshots and definitely scans from and after the event. Jump Festa will be taking place in Japan on December 20th and 21st.

Thanks to our forum member Dream Machine for pointing this out.

Source: JumpFesta.com via SquareEnixForums.net

IGN has posted a video of Square-Enix’s DKΣ3713 event which took place 4 days ago. Although they weren’t able to show any Final Fantasy XIII, Versus or Agito trailers thanks to the closed theatre, Jeff Haynes does show what the event was like and gives basic descriptions of the trailers that were shown.

Tomorrow (or today in Japan) is a rare opportunity for Japanese fans and bloggers who will be flooding towards Tokyo. Finally, Square-Enix has decided to show them something new. Of course by fans, we mean you have to be a Japanese citizen as well as a Square-Enix Member lucky enough to win a lottery to get a ticket. Luckily for us, our Japanese friend over at >FF&KH Onlinfo, Kanae, has contacted us to say she’s got her ticket and is set to arrive at the event in time for it’s 10am opening.

Square-Enix will be showing previews of upcoming titles, including Final Fantasy XIII, 400 people at a time. The appearance of the aforementioned Final Fantasy XIII, as well as Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII has already been confirmed. However, no photography is allowed at the event so we’re going to have to rely on the usual trailer descriptions. Kanae will be updating her blog to keep us constantly informed of what’s going on at the event.

Who knows, Square might grace the public with some new screenshots at least. We’ll be here all night keeping you up to date on everything Fabula Nova Crystallis that comes out of DKΣ3713.

In the 1UP Yours podcast released recently on 1up.com, Shane Bettenhausen talks about the possibility of another Square-Enix title, coming exclusively to the Playstation 3. He says after talking to Square-Enix representatives that:>

“The Final Fantasy XIII on 360 announcement swung the ball towards Microsoft. At Square Enix’s Japan event in 2 weeks, they will swing the ball back towards Sony”.lockquote>
It sounds like Square-Enix’s DKΣ1373 Private Party in Japan might actually reveal something new to us not attending. Of course we can only speculate whether or not it’s a Final Fantasy title but we can always hope.

Source: 1up.com

According to Wonderallweb.com, Square Enix have announced their E3 lineup this year which, of course, does not include Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII or Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Disappointing to say the least as this will be the 2nd year since it’s announcement that Square have chosen not to show anything at E3 to the public.

Their lineup is as follows:

Playstation 3 / Xbox 360:

The Last Remnant

Xbox 360:

INFINITE UNDISCOVERY
STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE

Nintendo DS:

CHRONO TRIGGER
DRAGON QUEST: Chapters of the Chosen
FINAL FANTASY IV

Playstation Portable (PSP):

STAR OCEAN: FIRST DEPARTURE
STAR OCEAN: SECOND EVOLUTION

Source: Wonderallweb.com

Although it was almost certain, Famitsu has now confirmed on their site that trailers for all of the Fabula Nova Crystallis titles will be screened at Square-Enix’s private DK