For a lot of gamers, buying a PS3 is like stocking a hope chest. Not only are you plunking down your half-grand for the raw processing power needed to watch Talladega Nights in high-def, you're investing in the future of gaming -- namely some forthcoming PS3 exclusives like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. Having already dashed your hopes for the former, it pains me to inform you of the latest word on the latter: it might be much later than we thought.

The news comes from Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada at today's financial briefing in Tokyo. When asked for an update on the anticipated flagship sequel's status, Wada replied:

"It will still take a bit more time. At the very least, [a release] this fiscal year is definitely out of the question."

That puts the expected timeframe of Final Fantasy XIII's release beyond March of 2008 in Japan. Unless Square-Enix runs a translation parallel to the game's development, this could mean a significant delay for releases in the US and Europe. Should localization time match what we've come to expect from past Final Fantasy releases -- typically five to seven months -- we might not see a US release of FFXIII until Christmas.

Sucks, huh? At least we'll be seeing solid PS2 releases until the end of time -- that ought to tide us over until then. 

[Via IGN]