Sony has announced that it will be selling all of its shares in the video game developer,Square Enix, who are best known for creating some of the classic RPG adventure series' such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Age.
The shares will reportedly net Sony an approximate £891,525 million by the end of the fiscal year. This is the latest move by Sony to 'slim down' some of its financial burdens, which has resulted in the company reducing operating costs by closing a number of its retail stores, selling off buildings, cutting ties with some of its less profitable game studios, and reducing its workforce.The company is also reported to be selling its PC business and spinning off its struggling TV division.
These recent changes may seem a little troubling, especially as Sony has not given any particular reason as to why it has suddenly decided to sell its Square Enix shares. Nevertheless, video games is a rapidly changing and fast-paced industry and perhaps Sony is merely trying to claw back some profit from its less successful business assets. No one really knows for sure.
Nevertheless, Sony's latest home console, the PS4 has soared to the top of the home console charts, outselling Xbox One by 7 million units to 5 million units worldwide, which suggests that Sony's popularity is far from dwindling.
Japanese video game publishers face a big economic slump in the wake of the recent devastation caused by the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Crisis, which has affected the north-eastern (Tohoku) region of Japan.
Sega was by far the worst affected by the crisis so far. According to information from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, on Monday the 14th of March, Sega's stock had dropped by a massive 13.5 percent by the end of the day.
Sony and Nintendo also saw big stock losses too. Sony had a loss of 9.1 percent, whilst Nintendo suffered losses of 7.6 percent. Square Enix and Namco Bandai were amongst the least affected video games publishers with losses between 6.4 and 6.2 percent respectively.
Several video game Japanese release dates have had to be rescheduled due to the economic downturn, including Sony's Motorstorm Apocalypse and Sega's Disaster Report 4, which has now reportedly been cancelled altogether. Meanwhile, the upcoming European 3DS release has not been affected by the crisis and will go ahead next Friday as planned.
Dispite the economic slump, many video games companies have reportedly chosen to donate money to the victims of the Tsunami Crisis, including Sony, Namco Bandai andCapcom, who each donated between 100 million and 300 million yen to relief efforts. Sony also donated over 3000 radios.
Meanwhile, The Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami crisis continues to deepen. Many people have been left homeless since the disaster, and although exact figures are unknown at present, casualties are expected to run into tens of thousands over the next few weeks.
Mini Gamers extends its sincere condolences to the victims of this terrible tragedy. For more information on how to give donations, please visit the official Red Cross Japanese Tsunami Appeal website by clicking HERE now.
Disney meets Final Fantasy once again in Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this video game franchise, Kingdom Heartsis a collaboration between video games developers' Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, and the game features a mix of Final Fantasy and Disney characters over a series of storylines.
The main character is a young teenager called Sora who becomes separated from his friends when their world is invaded by evil creatures known as The Heartless in the first game. Sora obtains a powerful weapon known as The Keyblade, which is the only thing that can destroy The Heartless.
With the help of a whole host of Disney characters including King Mickey (Mouse) and Donald Duck, Sora explores many classical Disney locations and some brand new environments, tracking down enemies and helping to free his people.
Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded takes place after the events in Kingdom Hearts II. Jiminy Cricket has just finished writing up his journal of Sora's latest adventures, but just as he gets to the end, his words disappear and are replaced by a single message: "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it..."
The digital journal has become corrupted by The Heartless. Sora must step inside the computer and correct glitches and find missing data chips in order to repair the journal, as well as fighting The Heartless and Nobodies.
As anyone who has already experienced a Kingdom Hearts game will know, the graphics are truly cinematic, which is something of a rarity for DS games.
The game controls are very simple. Most of the actions are controlled by the D-pad. Use A to attack with the Keyblade or to chat with the in-game characters, B to jump, and the directional buttons to move.
Battles are very varied and include everything from shooting fireballs at enemies to real-time battles to turn-based battles with various big boss creatures at the end of each level. This leads to varied gameplay and makes this title a worthwhile purchase for new fans to the series.
During the game, Sora will encounter several 'Data Blocks'. The Silver Star blocks contain special computer chips, which can be placed in the computer matrix (in the Main Menu) and these will increase Sora's abilities and help repair the digital journal.
The pink/yellow blocks contain health points to refill Sora's health meter and can sometimes include potions to restore health.
Red blocks are an indicator of corrupted data and must be destroyed with the Keyblade.
Glitches may occur in any location at anytime. Glitches are identified by a blue data stream appearing on both sides of the screen. Sora can find 'back door' compartments during these times. Here, he must face off against various evil data chip creations including a data block snake!
The plot is fairly simple, which makes it perfect for newcomers to the series. A helpful tutorial keeps you up to date with new elements during the game.
Nevertheless, Kingdom Hearts Re:coded is the DS version of the existing videogame, Kingdom Hearts Coded. However, unlike the original (Japanese-only) release, this version will combine elements from all the previous Kingdom Hearts titles into a single game. Therefore, it does go over a lot of old ground from the previous games, which could be slightly off-putting to hardcore fans of the series so far.
Overall, this is a brilliant game. It has an easy-to follow storyline, great graphics and interesting gameplay. If you enjoy RPG games but have not yet experienced the Kingdom Hearts series for yourself, then this is the perfect game for you.
If you have already played the past titles in this series, you will still find some refreshing new content to interest you, but you will also experience some inevitable deja vu, which could spoil your enjoyment a little. Overall rating: 9/10.
Yes, Dragon Quest IX finally reached UK shores today! Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, which was released in Japan in July last year, marks the ninth game in the long-running and extremely popular Dragon Quest series, which was created by Yūji Horii and published by Square Enix, who are best-known for games series such as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts.
For those of you who are not familiar with any of the previous games in the Dragon Quest series, the plot is fairly simple and involves a Celestrian (or Guardian Angel) who ends up on an observatory above the Earth, which overlooks a village called 'Angel Falls'.
The Celestrian is meant to observe the humans in the village and protect them from harm, but one day there is a accident during a ceremony with the Yggdrasil (or 'Tree of Life'), and the Celestrian falls to Earth. When he regains consciousness, he realizes that he has become human.
This game follows the same basic format as the other games in the series - you can build up your characters skills and abilities (including magic spells and alchemy) by solving various quests and puzzles around 'Angel Falls', and you can also battle monsters and foes with your new skills.
However, Dragon Quest IX is the first game of the series to be developed exclusively for a handheld console, and as such, the new game features some exciting modifications to the overall gameplay.
For example, in all the previous games of the series, battles have been fought using a Random Encounter system, which is standard for many RPGs today, and means that enemies and battles occur at unexpected and random points during the game.
Nevertheless, in a bold move away from its traditional style, Dragon Quest IX makes every enemy location visible on the game map, except when the characters are sailing.
This title is also the first game in the series to feature a co-op multiplayer mode for up to four players, and was specifically designed around the concept of a multiplayer game.
Originally the game was going to feature a real-time battle system, but this was rejected in favour of a more traditional turn-based system instead.
This game is also loaded with customisation options, which includes changing the outfits of all playable characters within the game. This makes it very interactive and increases the game's replay value immensely.
Dragon Quest IX: UK Trailer
Dragon Quest IX has already proven itself to be a bestseller in the Japanese market - having over two million pre-order sales prior to its actual release date, and judging by what the game has to offer its fans, Mini Gamers predicts that it will be just as sucessful in the UK. Definitely a game for RPG fans to add to their collection. Overall rating 9/10.
