In their latest issue dated December 08, Fatimsu have reviewed the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII. Contrary to what many were expecting, FF XIII did not get a perfect score from Famitsu reviewers. However it did not miss by much, getting an aggregate score of 39 out of 40. The black sheep of the lot, the reviewer who gave the game a 9/10, cited his dismay with the game as clutter on the screen during battles that obscure damage indicators. According to translation of the review posted online, he further added that FF XIII is ‘RPG- like RPG’ —we are guessing what he is trying to say is that the game plays like a typical JRPG. All things considered, 39/40 is not a bad score by a long shot and we have some more good news for FF fans in India. Indian game distributors E- Xpress recently announced that they have added Square Enix to their already impressive repertoire of distribution deals. Along with availability of Square’s back catalog of games, they also confirmed that FF XIII will be available in India— coinciding with the game’s European release— in March next year.
In other news from our Japanese brethren, Atlus opened its doors to select few and let them have a go at Team Trauma. According to reports coming out of that session, we can expect quite a few changes coming to the series. Overall, the game’s difficulty has been toned down by implementing helpers like game tips and more prominent visual cues. Additionally, some missions will not have a time limit and certain procedures will allow the player to commit a limited number of mistakes. Mission types in the game include investigative forensics, orthopedic medicine, endoscopy, first-response aid, and general diagnostics. As it is indicated by the game’s name, co-operative game play has been retained in the series and the storyline will feature six doctors, each with their own medical specializations. As of now, Team Trauma has 40 operations in the game and is interspersed with fact- finding adventure missions when you take control of Naomi, the forensic scientist.
Finally, to round things off, we thought we would bring to your notice that Sony will release a new firmware update (v3.15) for PS3. Since this is an optional update, there is a chance that some of you may miss it. According to an official blog post , the firmware will not address any issue with the console; however it does add a couple of new features that some may see as God-sent. Firstly, this firmware adds emulation capabilities to the PS3 that will enable it to run PSP ‘minis’ games like Blast Off and Echoes . Additionally, this update will allow users to transfer data between two PS3 consoles using a P2P LAN connection. This is restricted to user created content, downloaded media and downloadable games. It will not change anything with certain game’s saved files that are copy-protected by publishers, as they will remain non-transferable.