This is very similar to the 'UK gets Final Fantasy XIII last' article done a few hours ago. But if Final Fantasy XIII gets released at Christmas or around then I will be a very happy girl.

I hope they take the time to lip sync the voices, that would be awesome. The non syncing in FFX really bugged the pants off of me.

You know, Colette, someone already uploaded all the FFXIII music from both the website and the demo in MP3 format.

I know this because I've also been listening to it like a total dweeb.

Here's hoping the English voices are as fantastic as they were in FFXII!

the wait has been so long that I've kinda stopped caring about Final Fantasy XIII to be honest, but when it does eventually come I'll defiantly check it out

I still want japanese dub with english sub for my games..

the english voices sounds weird and doesn't match with the mouth movements

I was excited...2 years ago...sadly...because FF used to be my favorite series. I would tremble with excitement as the date neared. But now...meh. I still will play it tho

@Brian Keljore: it wasn't her "affection" that he wants haw haw haw.

This is childish. Let's get into the 21st century, shall we? Release the game with subtitles when the Japanese launch occurs, then release a downloadable patch for English (or French, or Spanish, etc) VO and lipsync. Those who can wait can get the English version on disc (since not everyone has broadband or the HD space on their PS3s) when it comes out in six months, and assail their ears with dialogue approved by the world-renowned Deaf Approval Union. The DAU doesn't work cheap, or get results quickly, but if you want really bad English VO, there's no one else you can trust.

Seriously though, this is more than likely costing Square-Enix more money than the other traditional route, since rewrites, re-lipsyncs, re-recordings, and other such costly measures are taken to ensure a simultaneous release in multiple regions. Let's not even discuss the increased possibilities for lower quality control.

As an example of where this suggestion works is in Europe; many PC game makers (Blizzard and Bioware among them) release "Version Originale" (VO) in France with English text and VO (as released in the US and UK) for fans who want to play the game but don't want to wait for the translation. At later times, the translation has become available to those who want to enjoy it that way.

There are two things this suggestion breaks: a) the release/hit practice that has taken over the video game industry (i.e. - a game must sell the majority of units in the first two months, otherwise it's considered a failure) and b) the opportunity for bugs to be fixed in the intervening six months and an "International" version release later in Japan incorporating all those fixes. Boo-hoo on making more money by double-dipping in the Japanese market.

@Jedcred
PAL is 50Hz instead of 60Hz. Leads me to believe there's more than just voiceovers and text, but I could be wrong.

Yawn, this is taking way too long, even for Final Fantasy standards. Squeenix usually releases Final Fantasy games every 1-2 years, but now it's almost 6 years?! What the hell? What were they doing for all this time? Partying?

I don't see any way of them porting the game over to the 360 in half a year.

To be fair, Squeenix didn't have a problem with horrible dev times between games until after FFX.

Final Fantasy 8 - Sept. 1999
Final Fantasy 9 - Nov. 2000
Final Fantasy 10 - Dec. 2001
Final Fantasy X-2 - Nov. 2003
Final Fantasy 11 - March 2004
Final Fantasy 12 - Oct. 2006

I know not many count X-2 and XI, so it felt like a 5 year stint between games then. But right now this is the longest dev time between FF games in recent history.

...And the trend of wanting japanese voices continues, and it makes no sense. They usually lip sync it for the english version(like MGS games) and usually the english voices are on par with the japanese ones. It's not the 80s (or even partly the 90s) anymore. FFX had questionable acting, but if FFXII did anything right it was the voice work.

Persona 4, a very japanese game had a great localization and great voice cast too(english and japanese).

Good for them. I hope they start releasing names of the english cast. I hope to god my man Johnny Yong Bosch is playing Snow. Snow was MADE for JYB.