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Final Fantasy XIII Demo Reveals Japanese Release Date

We figured this might happen. At the end of most demos you play, it gives you either an exact launch date for the final product or, at the very least, a release window. Japanese gamers got the latter after finishing the hour-long Final Fantasy XIII demo that came with the recent Blu-Ray edition of "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children."

You can view the visual evidence at GameZine; it's clear that Square-Enix plans to release FFXIII in Japan some time this winter. Now, this probably won't come as a huge shock to anyone, especially those who have been following the saga of the mystery date for this game, but it's still good to know. Technically, it's the first official announcement concerning a launch estimate for the hotly anticipated RPG. Granted, the fact that this demo is built using an old engine for the game's mechanics is irritating, but it's still a FFXIII demo. And when it's complete, everyone would want to know when they can get their hands on the full and complete game. Of course, "winter" could mean the title won't be ready until early 2010, which is bad news for North American and European gamers, who were hoping to see it arrive around summertime. Perhaps if winter turns into "late winter" for Japan, we can only hope for a "winter 2010" release here...? Let's just hope Square-Enix does manage to make the game available in Japan before 2009 is out; it would ease our minds a bit.  Don't make us wait until 2011, damnit...

We'll keep you updated on the progress of FFXIII. Despite any misgivings people may have concerning that demo, we remain firm in our belief that the full game will be an absolute treat for any fan of the genre.

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII

4/14/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (41 posts)

Highlander
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:14:00 AM
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Doesn't matter when they launch in Japan, so little work has been done on the fps360 port of it (if the reports are correct) it could be 2012 before we see the game in the rest of the world.

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Deleted User
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:33:41 AM
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Good thing I don't care much about Final Fantasy anymore, or else that wait would be horrible.

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BlinkBoy
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:41:14 AM
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I wonder how far away versus XIII is then, even though it is seperate teams on it. They don't want either game to steals each others thunder.

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Orvisman
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 12:04:16 PM

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off!

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Tim Speed24
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:47:22 AM
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This winter Huh?

Well maybe they can push it back. Let's wait and see.

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Ultimadream
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:55:33 AM
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Thats either very good or very bad, i thought FFXIII was ment to have the same release world wide...... if not that means we wont get it untill the end of 2010!

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LegendaryWolfeh
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 12:09:57 PM

Nope, Square-enix decided they wanted to wait and delay the US and European releases so they can release it along side the 360 version :) Of course "the 360 version will cause no delay in the ps3 version" makes so much sense at this point.

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Zemus101
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 12:00:03 PM
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That's ...insane, how does it take 5 years+ for a game to get made o.O specially with a big company like Sqare-Enix hmmm ...maybe i'm just bitter.

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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 12:43:47 PM

Blame technology, do you realize how much goes into a game? It was a 5 year gap between FF10 and FF12 (FF11 doesn't count in regards to this conversation). No one complained then. You people are way too impatient.

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Highlander
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 2:31:33 PM

Limited vertigo. No, I think you're wrong, i9t has nothing to do with technology. Role playing games live and die by their story and characters. If the story and characters are ready, then implementing the game is a matter of finishing the game engine (does *not* take 5 years) and building the game on it. Since the engine is being worked on in parallel with the rest, it really should NOT take 5 years for a game like this to come.

What would worry me at this point is whether the story and characters have been in the oven too long (as it were) and overcooked.

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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 4:10:24 PM

Actually you're the one wrong. As technology has become more advanced the amount of time and money as well as how many staff used in creating a game has expanded. As I mentioned before the gap between FF10 and FF12 was 5 years. Seeing as that was on the same platform I think there should be more people up in arms over that 5 year gap then what is going on now with FF13.

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Highlander
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 5:11:02 PM

@Vertigo

Advancing technology does not lengthen the development cycle of software by an order of magnitude. It does not take 5 years to write a game engine. It may take 5 years for a company to decide to release a new game, but that is not five years of development. The delay you are talking about is not related to the technology, it's related to production decisions and business decisions.

The 5 year gap between FFX and FFXII that you mention was not a technical delay it was a business one. As with everything else that SquEnix has done in the last three or four years, the delivery of FFXIII has been affected more by business decisions than anything else.

Good grief, Windows takes less time to write than that.

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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 8:20:31 PM

The FACT is there was a 5 year gap between FF10 and FF12. Throw whatever excuses you want, that is a fact and now that there is going to be less than a 5 year gap for FF13 I'm confused why people are complaining. It's not like there isn't anything else to tide you over before yet another amazing FF comes out.

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Geobaldi
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 @ 2:39:12 AM

"The FACT is there was a 5 year gap between FF10 and FF12."

I said the same thing about a month or two ago. It's been almost 5 years between the Gran Turismo 4 & 5 games but people don't seem to complain as much about that.

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LegendaryWolfeh
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 12:11:37 PM
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Oh? So I guess Japan broke the release date or something right? Since the movie's date was April, 16th. But then again I don't know the timezone there, maybe they're a day or two ahead, haha.

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Kevadu
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:28:03 PM
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"Of course, 'winter' could mean the title won't be ready until early 2010"

Sure, only it specifically says winter 2009. But hey, never let facts get in the way of a good S-E bashing.

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Mystearica
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:32:16 PM
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LOL I'm confused.....

I mean first they wanted a world wide release (won't happen)... then they kept insisting 2009 for Japan... yeah right

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HeXeN
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:34:59 PM
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So this will mean That versus will come out by the time my grand children go to college that's pretty fantastic.

(SE360)

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:36:26 PM
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Torture. The number XIII is cursed for real.

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shadowpal2
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:50:23 PM
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I was estimating that Final Fantasy Versus XIII would come out by mid 2011 if lucky early 2011 and people called me insane. They said that it's complete bogus to see it come at that time.

I guess they were completely insane to think of it coming any earlier.

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OverlordZero
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 1:52:10 PM
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for curiosity why release a demo to a game more than 6 months off in japan shouldnt they release it closer to the release of the actual game (in 2067)

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Tim Speed24
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 2:24:37 PM

HaHaHaHaHaHa......good one.

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Scarecrow
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:18:19 PM
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Learn some Japanese dudes!

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shadowpal2
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:30:24 PM

I frankly would love to lol.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:58:23 PM

I'd rather learn some Japanese girls.

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Scarecrow
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 4:07:45 PM

@WorldEndsWithMe,

Haha same same

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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 4:11:07 PM

They squeal too much.

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Scarecrow
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 5:49:29 PM

Haha that ain't a bad thing

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 6:11:00 PM

squeal=good

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shadowpal2
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 7:45:53 PM

...gosh are they "kawaii"

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LegendaryWolfeh
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:30:45 PM

They do indeed squeal strangely, it's hard to tell if it's in pain or pleasure.

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shadowpal2
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:32:36 PM
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You know what now that I think about it, this could be actually just a huge business strategy for Square Enix. Because by the time they'll be releasing there will be a price cut from Sony causing many more to buy the PS3 and most definitely another price cut from Microsoft making more people to buy the Xbox 360. When the owners of next-gen consoles basically go up...they will in a sense get more revenue...that is if these new owners are interested in the game.

And well I don't have a PS3 or an Xbox 360 yet. So once I do get one...I will be planning to get FFXIII...if it is good...which I think it will be.

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Sir Shak
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:33:58 PM
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Yay ?

By the way , I saw some off-screen shots on gt forums . Graphics and anti-aliasing look pretty good for a "50%" demo .

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 3:59:25 PM
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But what good will the 360 port be since MS will have ditched that console by the time FFXIII is out.

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LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 4:11:34 PM

U R WRNG

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Oyashiro
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 5:31:22 PM

Lol, that's actually a good point with Microsoft already talking about there next console coming out around 2012/2013.

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LegendaryWolfeh
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 11:32:25 PM

Which proves how much of a fail SE is..

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smileys_007
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 5:05:41 PM
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japanese girls are hot!! hehe!

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kokoro
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 @ 8:29:45 PM
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yes they are

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Orvisman
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 @ 10:34:02 AM
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Well, "Winter 2009" can only mean it is coming out in 2009 because once the calendar flips to Jan. 1, 2010, Winter 2009 becomes Winter 2010.

Winter 2009-2010 starts on Dec. 21, so Winter 2009 only has 11 days remaining.

This begs the question, is FFXIII releasing in late December (I think it is!) or does ScrEwnix have a broader definition of Winter 2009 (Maybe November through December 2009)?

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shadowpal2
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 @ 10:54:12 AM

It could be late December...like December 24th lol.

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