Here’s something we didn’t know: over the past week, Microsoft has been promising people hyped for Final Fantasy XIII a secret item in exchange for participating in their “Register, Tweet, and Win” competition thing for the game. Turns out, as revealed earlier this morning, that secret item is a Chocobo item for your Avatar.

Don’t think that the opportunity to grab one of these lovely yellow beauties is over just yet. If you find yourself yearning for some bird companionship just head over to the official Web site for the game and then enter in your LIVE account details. Keep in mind, though, that the item doesn’t ship until sometime in December. The game, on the other hand, won’t arrive until March, so, uh, there's plenty of time enjoy that Chocobo.

The Japanese release of Final Fantasy XIII is imminent, and so Square Enix has wrapped up its promotion for the game in the Eastern part of the world. It's gone out with a bang, however, as Square Enix has revealed its "final" trailer, giving us a whopping five minutes of footage.

Of course, as Square Enix finishes prepping the game for Japan, it must turn its gaze toward we lowly round eyes, so don't expect the coverage to end any time soon. In the mean time, watch this trailer and flick your frenulum over some ludicrously beautiful visuals.

God damn, this game looks good.

Shonen Jump has another Final Fantasy XIII treat for us, and this time it involves everybody's favorite perennial mascot, the Cactuar. Final Fantasy XIII's take on the noble Cactuar is far less radical than its redesigned Chocobos, given that it looks totally unchanged. Still, great to see with such lovely graphics.

The rest of the magazine scan shows off huge landscapes and monsters, boasting of XIII's sense of scale. If there was any doubt that this was a Final Fantasy title, the monster designs seen here put paid to such thoughts. I simply cannot wait to see this on my TV. If it looks this good in trailers and scans, the full thing will likely blow my bollocks off.

And my bollocks are in need of a good blowing off.

Many would think that having ten thousand Final Fantasy games in development at any given time might be spreading the property a little thin. Not Square Enix. Company head Yoichi Wada has assured fans that the series will never wear out its welcome, and that those behind the franchise are extremely mindful of ensuring this.

"Too much IP use is not good," says Wada. "Having memorable characters and back story is crucial to having a powerful IP. As long as there is a world with enough content and story, players will feel comfortable being in the same world for extended periods of time."

Wada adds that the Fabula Nova Crystallis saga, which will encompass Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Versus, and Final Fantasy XIII Agito, has a very well crafted backstory. He also notes that the worlds created in the Final Fantasy series are what keeps the franchise going strong and staying fresh.

That's as well as maybe, but when you announce Final Fantasy XIV before XIII's even released, not to mention the two other games shipping with the XIII name, and that's in between Crystal Chronicles, various DS remakes, and a host of spin-offs, one could be forgiven for becoming just a little bit tired of the Final Fantasy name. The IP may not be exhausted, but it's wearing me out to keep track of it all.

Here are some brand new Final Fantasy XIII screens to shove down your gullet, courtesy of Japanese magazine/advertiser Famitsu. Check them out, because they look absolutely stunning, as Final Fantasy XIII screens often tend to do.

The new screens show off a lot more of Alexander, the latest summon to be revealed by Square Enix. His Gestalt mode sees him switching between his traditional castle to a massive, ball-shattering robot. It's like Trypticon, but crazier looking. We also get our first glimpse of the character progression system, some clearer shots of the new Chocobos, and a few gorgeous looking environments.

As we now know, Final Fantasy XIII is coming in March 2010. Who's excited?

Alright. Now we know Final Fantasy XIII's coming out March 9th, 2010. Square Enix promised to blow a load of details onto gamer's faces on the 13th of every month, but that video with the smarmy dude in too-tight pants wasn't quite enough to constitute a properly informational spoodging. Thankfully, the game is coming out next month in Japan, and its premier gaming rags are keeping the details coming. Andriasang surfaced with some choice bits about FFXIII's character and battle systems.

As you know, character progression happens via the "Crystarium System," which superficially seems similar to Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid. But instead of a single chain of stat and ability upgrades, characters in FFXIII upgrade according to their role in combat. Selecting (and switching) roles during a battle can change a character's style and available skills, allowing for some degree of specialization as characters move around their "Power Line" upgrades. All of this is done by spending Crystal Points acquired in battle. In a good move designed to minimize grinding and manage difficulty, the characters all have "Crystarium Levels" that act as level caps, only raised once past certain points in the story.

And then there's weapon evolution. Not unlike Final Fantasy VIII's ingredient-based weapon upgrades, character weapons can be evolved by combining items found around the world and off of enemies. Once evolved, weapon characteristics and appearances change. For example, Lightning's "Blaze Edge" can turn into a "Slash Carbine," which looks completely different. Even better, the beanie-wearing, Shiva-riding hero Snow's weapon is apparently his coat, which becomes more fabulous with every upgrade. This is the first second time fashion has been acknowledged as a gameplay element in Final Fantasy.

If this all sounds too complicated, that's OK. JRPGs rarely explain themselves very well outside of play. Just know that the game has two styles of Chocobo. One is the tubby spaniel-bird of Pulse, and the other an apparently sleeker, more traditional Chocobo of Cocoon. There. Complicated stuff, and two kinds of Chocobos. That's Final Fantasy XIII. Sold

Here it is, folks. Ready? Final Fantasy XIII will be released in North America AND Europe on March 9th, 2010.

This comes a short three months after the Japanese release date, which is somewhat surprising. Additionally, Square Enix has announced its new "Lucky Number 13" campaign, in which new info on the game will be trickled out on the 13th of every month until the game's launch, starting today.

So there you have it, March 9th. Has everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief? Is that soon enough for you? Let us know what you think.

[UPDATE: Check out the (ridiculous) new trailer for the game above, which also confirms the same date for Europe.

There's also apparently a Twitter hashtag dealio happening right here, where you can unlock an exclusive Xbox Live FFXIII item of some sort when enough tweets have been generated.]

Square Enix decided to spooge us a load of high-resolution artwork for Final Fantasy XIV yesterday, but after drying off hard drive, I was disappointed to find that it was mostly shots of the Gladiator and Pugilist classes and their gear. They had forgotten to include art for what is obviously the best class in FFXIV, the Culinarian!

Therefore, as a service to you, dear readers, I used a screenshot of the Culinarian's official site page for this header image. Look at that! The Culinarian's primary weapon is a rune-inscribed frying pan! You do NOT f*ck around with a dude who uses that thing to cook.

There was some more information about FFXIV's gear-based "Armoury." Basically it's all based on player's currently equipped stuff. Wear claws and cesti, be a Pugilist, rock a frying pan, be a Culinarian. Stuff like that.

Oh, and Culinarians are also called "Disciples of Hand." That makes it sound awesome. Culinarians are cooking one moment, then slapping a b*tch the next.

I didn’t see much going on in PlayStation Home when I last visited, but things do happen in Sony’s digital dance party simulator. Case in point: this argument I witnessed last week. Uninteresting at a glance, but when you analyze the material, you see a group of teenagers acting as wise and crafty heroes, rejecting the hubris of another individual.

Just kidding. But things do happen in Home, or at least will in this case. Developer and publisher Square Enix plans to debut a brand new Final Fantasy XIII trailer in the theatre area tomorrow. We haven’t the slightest idea what the video will have in it, but if its debuting in Home, it’s probably going to be awesome.

[via Joystiq]

Just as I thought gamers would be getting a chance to play a "Leeroy of all trades" in some kind of Final Fantasy XIV beta packed in with first-press copies of Final Fantasy XIII, my hopes were dampened by Dtoid community member Kaylyn Dicksion, who noted that the term "campaign code" is officially defined by Square Enix as:

"A service where a selected character can receive a limited in-game item using a code included with other merchandise the player buys."

Gaming rag Famitsu confirmed that sad fact, and the campaign code would indeed be for a secret in-game item. No details on what the item would be exactly, though hopes were further crushed by the campaign being Japan-only. Buyers of the special Final Fantasy XIII-themed PS3 bundle would also be given the code.

Despite the mild disappointment I still ended up rather hyped for the game, since the story confirming the code's status also included details on two new player classes, the Gladiator and the Pugilist (pictures below). Based on the details it seems FFXIV's player classes are determined almost entirely by whatever the character happens to be wearing at the time.

Combined with the spiffy, Final Fantasy XII-esque localization, the game's been giving off a Monster Hunter vibe that I'm finding quite favorable.

[Via Siliconera and andriasang]

Here's something you should get used to if you live in the UK -- Square Enix Europe is the publisher of those Tomb Raider games. I know, weird, right? 

That's how it's gonna' be, as Square Enix and Eidos Interactive have announced that -- following Square's acquisition of Eidos -- that the combined companies will now be called "Square Enix Europe." Has an interesting ring to it, doesn't it? 

"We have a formidable product line-up which truly showcases the diversity of our exceptional gaming brands," said president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Europe, Phil Rogers.

He is, of course, talking about the upcoming Final Fantasy title starring Kane, Lynch, and Lara Croft. I would so buy that game.

It seems that we were too mesmerized by Final Fantasy XIII's extra-chunky Chocobos to notice, but eagle eyes over at Gigazine spotted an interesting announcement lurking at the bottom of the same magazine's preview.

Once deciphered, the moon runes revealed that first-run copies of Final Fantasy XIII would come with a so-called "Campaign Code" for Final Fantasy XIV, which is the next MMORPG installment in the franchise, announced way back at E3 for the PS3 and PC.

I'm definitely hoping that "Campaign Code" is an alternative name for "Beta Key," because in my search for a header image for this post I officially became more excited for Final Fantasy XIV than for XIII. Why? That header image is from the official site, which follows "a day in the life of Leeroy," as a method for explaining the game's gear-based character system, and perhaps to reference a certain internet phenomenon.

Don't you want to become a Leeroy of all trades, too?

The idea of Dissidia: Final Fantasy is probably more entertaining than the game will be (Jim's review was less than exuberant), which is why I've held off on picking up a copy for myself. Today may be the day, as Amazon has the series-spanning button-masher at a 43% discount. That means it's $22.98 if you didn't want to do the math yourself.

Of course, it's their Deal of the Day and will only be available at that price for twenty-four hours or until they run out of stock. While I'm doubtful that the latter will occur, I'm sure there are some people out there who have at least been curious and waiting for a price drop.

Any of you going to pick this up today? Do you guys think this is a bargain or should the price have to dip a little further?

This is what Chocobos look like in Final Fantasy XIII, and as you can see, they're not so cute anymore. In fact, they look somewhat ridiculous, with spiky mohawk crowns on their head and big spaniel ears. Still, they're absolutely huge, as you can see how it dwarfs the rider. Probably the biggest they've ever been, if you're keeping score at home.

In addition to the Chocobos, another summon has been revealed. This one belongs to Hope, and it's the classic Alexander. As always, Alexander takes the form of a massive castle, ensuring that every battle with him will be a well fort one. Haha, that was a funny piece of humor.

Shonen Jump magazine confirmed that a Final Fantasy XIV beta will be included with the Japanese release of XIII. No word on whether we dirty roundeyes will get a similar deal.