First, let me apologize up front if I’m crossing any boundaries set by this site’s owners and moderators. Writing for GHR is a privilege that I take seriously–especially with regard to content allowed on this community blog. This blog post is religious in nature, with regard to me and a game I had been playing. My intent is to simply share an experience that occurred to me tonight–nothing more. With this in mind, I invite you to click the jump.

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A lot of game release announcements were made at Microsoft’s X10 event yesterday, (1Up has all the info lined up on their face page) but the “shocker” of sorts was the announcement of the Final Fantasy XIII 360 bundle for North America.

In 1Up’s update write-up of the announcement, here’s what you’re going to get for your $400 bucks (okay, $399.99):

2 wireless controllers
250 gig HD with the Final Fantasy logo etched in
Standard edition of the game
“Exclusive” avatar items

Now, I’m no RPG fan, but I do understand 2 things about this franchise: 1) What a heavy hitter this game is worldwide, and 2) For many years, Final Fantasy titles have been synonomous with Playstation hardware. Much like GTA 3 was an influencing factor for me to get a PS2, those that remember Square’s Final Fantasy games on Nintendo made the jump to the Playstation brand to continue to enjoy a series of games that have gone on to become legendary as industry standard setters in the RPG genre.

I’m no industry insider, but this Microsoft “coup-de-bundle” is the JRPG equivalent of hearing that there will be a Gears of War 3 bundle for Playstation. Not every gamer has jumped onboard for this gen, and I would guess that more than just a few are waiting for Final Fantasy XIII before jumping in. I have no idea what back room deals went down between Square/Enix and Microsoft to get this done, but Microsoft may have stolen Sony’s lunch money when it comes to the future of this franchise. I think it is a mistake for Sony not to bring out a bundle to the US–particularly the Lightning Edition. I would be absolutely shocked if the NPDs following FFXIII’s release reveal that more copies were sold on Xbox than Playstation. Again, time will tell.

In an article posted by ShackNews, unnamed wives are claiming that hostile work environments exist in the Rockstar San Diego development studio, akin to the work environment claimed by the EA Wives blog. “Rockstar Wives” are claiming 12-hour / 6 day work weeks, not allowing time off for doctor appointments, and that corporate intimidation tactics were levied against those requesting time off. There are also claims of annual salary pay increases being under the inflation rate. According to the ShackNews article Rockstar San Diego code staff is split between two projects. One group is working on an an unannounced game, and another group is hard at work trying to get Read Dead Revolver out by the April 27th street date.

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Hokuto no ken was my gateway drug into anime. In the US it was called Fist of the North Star, and to me, its a classic. In short, nuclear war has devestated the earth, and the survivors are just trying to get by. Main hero and all around bad-ass Kenshiro has sworn to protect the weak. He’s a master of a fighting style called Hokuto Shinken (Divine Fist of North Star). In short, if he hits you in combat, you explode.

Now, Koei–the company that has given us an almost infinite number of Dynasty Warriors / Gundam / and Devil Kings action games has secured the license to bring Fist to a PS3 and 360 near you. The project is Hokotu Musou and gameplay of early code looks promising. NeoGAF has images posted in a thread on the game.

I couldn’t find any info on a release date, but I’m excited for this one. If Koei can do the license justice, this could be the game this Manga / Anime series has long deserved, but never got. Here’s the YouTube link for trailer and gameplay:

Trailer:
Trailer for Fist of the North Star

Gameplay:
Gameplay