Final Fantasy XIII English Theme Song

English version of the latest Final Fantasy XIII has been announced last Friday. The game will come out on 9th March 2010. Excited, definitely, but at the same time, a bit sad.

You see, the English Theme Song, titled 'My Hand', is sung by one Leona Lewis. I have nothing against the song or Leona herself, but what's unfortunate is that the western theme song is not Final Fantasy XIII exclusive. It is not written specific for the game. Instead, SquareEnix opted for something that is commercially available. Kind of like 'off the shelf' song. It will mark the first time that us western audience will not be hearing the work of FF's music father, the legendary Nobuo Uematsu.

Check out the English theme song at YouTube, then check out the Japanese theme song. Which one do you like better?

Final Fantasy XIII theme song

Final Fantasy XIII Theme Song is out! on radio at least. Titled Kimi Ga Iru Kara, it is composed by the famous Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and sung by Sugawara Sayuri.

You can find the mp3 at Final Fantasy XIII.net, and the lyrics is here.

I like FFXIII already ^_^

Final Fantasy XIII is finally coming

I was just browsing Play-Asia, and found the Final Fantasy XIII English version is slated for June 2010 release! Yipee!, after such a long wait, it is finally making an appearance.

For those who can't wait for the English version, there Japanese version is coming on 17 December 2009. Why does it take so long in between the Japanese and the English?

Anyway, I watched a 7 minutes trailer of FFXIII, and I must say, it has damn good graphics, probably one of the better graphics on the PS3. The game play looks a little like FFXII. I just hope it will be as good as FFXII.

Finally, a PS3 game worth getting.

Finally, I have a PSP, albeit phat

I was went window shopping yesterday when I spotted a PSP with Media Manager Pack selling for less than half price. Curiosity got the better of me because a) this particular department store that I went to is not known for cheap stuff, b) I don't really know what the Media Manager was, and c) the other PSPs were selling at retail price.

So I had a closer look at the box and discovered that the package contain the actual PSP + the value pack + media manager. The model number PSP-1000 printed on the box basically gave it away. This is the PSP phat. But I don't really care whether I have a phat PSP or the new slim PSP.

Excited, I went home and made sure that it is what I saw. With the good news confirmed, I happily went back today and bought the last one they had (there were two yesterday).

So now I am an excited owner of a PSP. I still love my DS. But now that love will have to be shared. Can anyone suggest any good 'must have' games on the PSP?

PlayAsia 15% off till Friday

PlayAsia is having another one of their irregular sales. This time it is their 15% off sales. Looks like with the economic crisis everywhere in the world, everyone is in a bit of a pinch here. PlayAsia seems to be feeling the crunch too, I'd say.

But someone's loss is another one's gain. Maybe I can finally get Metal Solid Gear 4 Special Edition.

2 days to go in the Play Asia sales

With only 2 days left in the Play-Asia 25% sales, what did you get? I've scored myself a Wii Remote, a Nunchuck. Both the Ghost Squad Zapper pack and House of the Dead Zapper pack unforunately sold out. The price is back to the normal price.

But I did manage to get Mario Strikers Charged, a DS Pouch and a DS screen protector before they went back to normal price. Now my DS (or what's left of it) is finally protected.

Hurry, only 2 days left in the sale. Grab whatever is left to get.

Sony replacing 40GB with 80GB, nothing else change

At the E3 event, Sony announced that the 40GB PS3 is going to be phased out with the 80GB SKU. What's interesting is that the price pointer will stay at the 40GB. So basically, you will get an PS3 for the same price with double the storage. Hardly anything exciting, if you ask me.

What I'd like to know is if it includes the Dual Shock 3 controller.

In other news, Sony is going to sell a "Family Value Pack" PS2. Yes, PS2. For a cent shy of $150, you get a PS2, Lego Batman and Justice League: New Frontier on DVD. It seems like Sony is the only company still selling an old Gen console. Good thing? Bad thing? Hard to tell. But with the price of PS3 still somewhere north of $1,000. $150 is a very attractive price pointer indeed.

Who would like to play Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox360? Now you can.

Sony's exclusivity reign on argubaly the most famous JRPG that came out of Japan is seemingly over. Final Fantasy XIII is coming to Xbox 360, or so says Yoshinori Kitase, producer of FFXIII.

Maybe it's because of the lack of install base for the PS3 or to make recoup as much money as possible, Sqaure Enix has decided to release FFXIII on the Xbox 360, alongside with the PS3 version. It is still going to be a PS3 game, with the XB360 version being a port of the PS3 version.

But still, I don't know if I should laugh at Sony for losing the exclusivity, or cry over Microsoft's gain.

Either way, no doubt PS3 fanboys are going to cry foul upon hearing the news (much like they did when Capcom annouced DMC4 is coming to XB360).

That said, FFXIII will still be a PS3 exclusive in Japan, seeing that the Xbox 360 install base is anything but big. Each and every Xbox 360 owner might have buy the game twice to justify the cost to port the game over (Shenmue on the Dreamcast, anyone?).

So the timetable is Japan get it first on PS3. US is going to get it on PS3 and XB360 in near simultaneously, and Europe (and whoever else in the PAL region) is going to get it last.

It's still unclear if it will affect the other FFXIII games.

PlayAsia 25% off all stock

PlayAsia is have 25% off sales from now till Sunday 20 July.

Better get in quick in you want some cheap stuff.

I just bought a Wiimote ($33.67US) and Nunchuck ($14.93US). That's much cheaper than if I buy them locally. Even without discount, it's still cheaper.

Next purchase, a Wii Zapper. Can't decide which one to get yet, the Link's Crossbow Training, House of the Dead 2 & 3, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicle, or Ghost Squad. Maybe RE:UC. Killing zombies is fun.

Finally a game worth getting a PS3 for

Finally, the three words that will make a lot of people buy a PlayStation 3. Metal Gear Solid. Actually, to be more precise, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game is to be the final chapter of the Solid Snake arc of the Metal Gear series.

Having played the first three MGS games, it is something that I would like to finish. There are just too many questions left unanswered in the first three. But it still hasn't quite convince me to get a PS3 yet. MGS4 is one of my '3 must have games on the PS3', the others being GT5 and Final Fantasy XIII. So until at least one of the other one comes out (most likely to be GT5), I'll still hold on to my money.

Meanwhile, I am still looking for a Wii.

Sales Chart JPN: Everyone is getting in a brawl.

Week 28 January - 03 February 2008

Everyone is getting a brawl this week, as Super Smash Bros Brawl takes over the lead with 819,647. Wii Fit has been demoted down to 5th. In fact, the first 4 are all new games, with PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4 a very far behind 2nd (205,390). The Xbox 360 version taking 7th place (40,023), some 5 times less.

Only World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 on the PSP and Mario and Sonic Olympics on the DS survived this week's new game onslaught, both 10th and 8th this week respectively.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

Wii - Super Smash Bros Brawl
PS3 - Devil May Cry 4
PS2 - Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut
PS2 - Haruhi Suzumiya's Wonderment
Wii - Wii Fit

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 24
Wii - 9
PS2 - 7
PS3 - 5
PSP - 4
360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Has PSP taken over the DS? This week saw the PSP overtaken DS by about 5K. Quite a feat. Super Smash Bros Brawl taking the Wii to new heights, more than twice of the PS3. Not a bad week for PS3, either, selling over 40K. PS2 is still selling in the 10 thousands.

Wii - 94,473
PSP - 72,528
DS Lite - 67,472
PS3 - 41,796
PS2 - 12,115
Xbox 360 - 6,060

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
48.19% vs 51.81%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
66.38% vs 29.37% vs 4.26%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Fit to go... still.

Week 21 January - 27 January 2008

Looks like the Wii is getting back into the grove, with Wii Fit still ruling the Earth, well, at least in Japan. It sold yet another 89,248 this week. World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 on the PSP came second kicking the goal... post with 76,669, more than 10,000 behind. A PS2 game still dominates. Lucky Star is getting lucky with 71,512. PSP has another game, Yggdra Union, in the top 10, albeit only selling 17,304 copies.

All the Mario franchise is still doing well. Mario and Sonic Olympics on the DS is at 4th (50,169) and Mario Party DS is at 6th (21,840). Xbox 360's Call of Duty 4 survived two weeks and has now dropped out of the chart.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

Wii - Wii Fit
PSP - World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008
PS2 - Lucky Star: Misasagi Sakura Gakuen Sakura Fuji Festival
DS - Mario and Sonic Olympics
Wii - Wii Sport

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 27
Wii - 8
PSP - 6
PS3 - 5
PS2 - 4

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

The PSP is much closer to the DS now, less than 2,000 between them. The DS, PSP and the Wii are doing in the range of 70,000's while the rest is, well, lacking way behind, but at least the PS3 is continuing to outrun the PS2 as it should be.

DS - 79,370
PSP - 77,933
Wii - 74,544
PS3 - 34,363
PS2 - 11,364
Xbox 360 - 4,296

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
50.46% vs 49.54%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
65.85% vs 30.36% vs 3.80%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Nintendo still Fit to rule

Week 14 January - 20 January 2008

The Wii is still fit to rule as Wii Fit continued to take control (92,471). Behind it is the DS version of Mario and Sonic Olympics (89,909). Third place belongs to Mario Party DS (33,003), while Wii Sport is at number four (30,458). PSP's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd remain fifth (23,614). Xbox 360's Call of Duty 4 dropped to 29th this week.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

Wii - Wii Fit
DS - Mario and Sonic Olympics
DS - Mario Party DS
Wii - Wii Sport
PSP - Monster Hunter Portable 2nd

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 26
Wii - 9
PS2 - 5
PSP - 5
PS3 - 4
360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

DS continues to lead ahead of Wii and PSP. As usual, PS3 and Xbox bring up the rear. PS3 has selling a lot more than PS2 lately, so maybe it is finally time for the PS3 to shine. Who knows? Maybe GT5, MGS4, etc will make the PS3 a dominant force once again.

DS - 88,575
Wii - 81,638
PSP - 79,923
PS3 - 38,117
PS2 - 13,539
Xbox 360 - 4,552

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
52.57% vs 47.43%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
65.67% vs 30.66% vs 3.66%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Mario takes a back seat as everyone do their exercise

Week 07 January - 13 January 2008

Mario Party DS took a back seat this week to second places (43,082) as Wii Fit took control (89,584). Wii Sport still at number three (33,267). A surprise mover this week is PSP's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd, which has constantly be PSP's entry in the top 50 since its debut. It went up to 5th this week (25,927), just behind Final Fantasy IV (32,427). Professor Layton is still doing very well indeed, with Curious Village (the first game) at 17th and Pandora's Box (the second game) at 6th (25,303). Xbox 360 also scored an entry with Call of Duty 4 at 22nd, which should see them drop next week.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

Wii - Wii Fit
DS - Mario Party DS
Wii - Wii Sport
DS - Final Fantasy IV
PSP - Monster Hunter Portable 2nd

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 24
Wii - 11
PS2 - 5
PSP - 5
PS3 - 4
360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Another pretty even week, DS are only slightly ahead of the PSP in terms of sales, only just over a thousand separating them. Wii, on the other hand, is till miles ahead of the PS3. Quite a different in console numbers.

DSL - 97,369
PSP - 96,159
Wii - 84,530
PS3 - 38,907
PS2 - 14,499
Xbox 360 - 4,690

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
50.31% vs 49.69%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
65.97% vs 30.37% vs 3.66%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Mario, Mario, Mario and Mario in the Top 10.

Week 01 January - 06 January 2008

It's still the world of Mario over in Japan at the moment. After the Christmas break, the ichiban spot is still Mario Party DS (195,781), Wii Fit at niban (127,142) and Wii Sport at sanban (118,286). Is it because of Christmas break, or if the Japanese has rediscovered Nintendo's dominance? The top 13 games are all Nintendo's, with quite a many making a come back.

But looking at the top 10, four of them are Mario themed, such is the power of the plumber during holiday seasons. It happens every year, and it will continue to happen for many years to come.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Mario Party DS
Wii - Wii Fit
Wii - Wii Sport
DS - Final Fantasy IV
Wii - Super Mario Galaxy

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 32
Wii - 9
PS2 - 3
PSP - 3
PS3 - 3

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

DS continues to dominate, but PSP is showing signs of resistance. Less than 50K separate them this week. The same can't be said of the Wii and PS3, though. It's more than 3 to 1 in favor of the Wii. PS3 is struggling, but is doing a lot better than PS2, which continues to sell in the ten thousands. Maybe it does have another year to go before PS3 finally takes off (maybe with GT5 or MGS4). Even Xbox 360 sold almost 10K this week.

DSL - 266,568
PSP - 218,234
Wii - 207,797
PS3 - 64,183
PS2 - 32,010
Xbox 360 - 9,763

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
54.98% vs 45.02%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
73.75% vs 22.78% vs 3.47%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: MArio holding on

Week 17 December - 23 December 2007

For the second week, Mario Party DS held on to the top spot leading up to Christmas (not that the majority of anyone care about the religious significant of the event in Japan). Another 329,826 was sold this week.

It's rare to see a Final Fantasy game not getting to number 1 on its first week. And now we have seen it. Only 287,697 FFIV on the DS were sold, coming second this week.

The other new games on the top 10 were Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator 2 (PS2; 108,717) and Doraemon Baseball: Dramatic Stadium (DS; 84,639). Why does Doraemon have a baseball game, I have no idea.

It has been a long time, but the number of games on the top 50 for the DS has risen back to above 30.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Mario Party DS
DS - Final Fantasy IV
Wii - Wii Fit
Wii - Super Mario Galaxy
PS2 - Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator 2

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 32
Wii - 9
PS2 - 4
PS3 - 3
PSP - 2

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Still the holiday season over in Japan. DS sold more, Wii sold more, more PS3, less PSP, less PS2 and less Xbox 360.

DSL - 279,551
Wii - 232,907
PSP - 171,804
PS3 - 58,167
PS2 - 20,391
Xbox360 - 7,908

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
61.94% vs 38.06%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
77.9% vs 19.46% vs 2.65%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Mario fighting back

Week 10 December - 16 December 2007

Same guy, same game. After two weeks absent, you might have forgotten about Mario, but no, he's back. Mario Party DS jumped back to grab the 1st spot this week, selling 180,042. Must be the holiday season. Wii Fit is just behind, on 124,238.

If you were to pay for an uncompleted game, you would probably complain, but not so if that game is Grand Turismo 5 Prologue. Seriously, it's just another way for Sony to make money, right? If you can't wait for the real game, you'll have to settle of this. 115,748 people did. Prof. Layton is still doing well in 5th (74,378).

It must be the holiday season, some of the older games creped back up onto top 10, with only 2 new game (GT5 Prologue and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: the Labyrinth of Forgotten Time (Wii, 40,580). Wii Play and Wii Sport both jumped back up.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

DS - Mario Party DS
Wii - Wii Fit
PS3 - Grand Turismo 5 Prologue
DS - Prof. Layton and the Pandora's Box
Wii - Mario Galaxy

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 28
Wii - 10
PS2 - 4
PSP - 3
PS3 - 3
360 - 2

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Holiday season is certainly coming. DS sold almost a quarter of a million, while the Wii more than doubled that of PS3. One good news is that the PS3 sold a significant amount more than the PS2, while the Xbox 360 still struggles, selling only roughly the same amount as last week.

DSL - 222,132
PSP - 184,610
Wii - 170,558
PS3 - 63,720
PS2 - 18,025
Xbox360 - 8,561

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
54.61% vs 45.39%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
70.24% vs 26.24% vs 3.53%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart US: Modern Warfare kills on the field.

November Sales Figure

Three months on, Master Chief is still in the top 10. But guns still rule the top of the chart. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came in at number 1, killing the rest of the field. Super Mario Galaxy came second, while Assassin's Creed is the highest ranking new IP in 3rd. No chart should be completed without at least one Guitar game.

Overall, US spent $2.63 billion in November and with Christmas shopping as well, that figure is still to soar, now that's a lot of money.

1. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360, Activision) - 1.57 million
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 1.12 million
3. Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, Ubisoft) - 980k
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock w/guitar (PlayStation 2, Neversoft/Budcat/Activision) 967k
5. Wii Play w/remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 564k
6. Mass Effect (Xbox 360, Microsoft) - 473k
7. Call of Duty 4 (PS3, Activision) - 444k
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock w/guitar (Wii, Neversoft/Vicarious Visions/Activision) - 426k
9. Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft) - 387k
10. Assassin's Creed (PS3, Ubisoft) - 377k

Console War VII: Battle for America

Everything is on the ups, with DS taking charge in November, selling over 1.5 million units. Something that still struck me as odd is PS2 still doing better than PS3. Why oh why? Oh wait, I know. That's because PS3 doesn't have any 'must have' exclusive games. Games like COD4, Assassin's Creed are all multiplatform. So why bother getting a PS3 when you can play the same thing on the cheaper Xbox 360?

Nintendo DS - 1.53 million
Wii - 981,000
Xbox 360 - 770,000
PSP - 567,000
PlayStation 2 - 496,000
PlayStation 3 - 466,000

Market share for the month

DS vs PSP
72.96% vs 27.04%

Wii vs XB vs PS3
44.25% vs 34.73% vs 21.02%

Source: Gamasutra

Sales Chart JPN: Wii is still Fit to rule

Week 03 December - 09 December 2007

It comes as no surprise that Wii Fit will continue its strong performance (149,587). It has toppled Prof. Layton and the Pandora's Box to take first place. As a matter of fact, the professor dropped to 5th this week (75,609). Mario Party DS jumped back to second (106,995).

There are four new games on the top ten, with Tales of Innocence leading the way (104,317). Xbox 360 has yet another game on the top ten, courtesy of Lost Odyssey (54,581). Is the Xbox 360 finally making in-roads in Japan? Highly doubt that.

Top 5 games:

Wii - Wii Fit
DS - Mario Party DS
DS - Tales of Innocence
PSP - Hot Shots Golf Portable 2
DS - Prof. Layton and the Pandora's Box

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 26
Wii - 9
PS2 - 5
PSP - 5
PS3 - 3
360 - 2

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Wii Fit still rules, and it looks like that is exactly what the Japanese want. That's exactly what Nintendo needs. In the time when PS3 looks like it's finally taking over the world the lead, Nintendo bounded back with yet another innovative way to 'play'.

Leading up to Christmas time, the Japanese is probably going to spend as much as the rest of the world, even though it doesn't celebrate Christmas the religious way.

DSL - 168,255
Wii - 115,057
PSP - 91,481
PS3 - 38,123
PS2 - 11,987
Xbox360 - 8,876

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
64.78% vs 35.22%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
71.00% vs 23.52% vs 5.48%

Source: Media Create

Sales Chart JPN: Layton claim top spot while Wii is Fit to rule.

Week 26 November - 02 December 2007

As I have expected, Prof. Layton and the Pandora's Box topped the chart this week (293,897), but not by much. Wii Fit found some footing to come second (261,226). As a matter of fact, the top three games (SD Gundam G Generation Spirits on PS2 coming home in 3rd; 252,380) all sold more than 200,000 copies each. The top 5 games made up more than 1 million copies of software sold this week. Dragon Quest IV is still doing quite well in 4th, while Xbox 360 has yet another game in the top 10 with Assassin's Creed killing at 8th place.

PS2 still rules for now, with SD Gundam G Generation Spirits, Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes and World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 scoring in the top 10.

Top 5 games:

DS - Prof. Layton and the Pandora's Box
Wii - Wii Fit
PS2 - SD Gundam G Generation Spirits
DS - Dragon Quest IV
PS2 - Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 29
Wii - 11
PS2 - 5
PSP - 2
PS3 - 2
360 - 1

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

With the help of Wii Fit, the Wii is fit to rule the world once again. This week taking second behind the forever leading DS. Is Wii Fit going to last as much and as long as Wii Sports (which is still in the top 20)? Is the Wii going to take over Japan again?

Despite having 3 games in the top 10, the PS2 is not selling as much nowadays. Is PS3 finally gaining momentum?

Why am I asking so many question?

DSL - 124,591
Wii - 74,764
PSP - 74,626
PS3 - 37,092
PS2 - 13,703
Xbox360 - 6,632

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
62.54% vs 37.46%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
63.10% vs 31.30% vs 5.60%

Source: Media Create