http://ps3.ign.com/articles/896/896076p1.html

August 3, 2008 - Square Enix fans were thrilled to enter the DKΣ3713 Private Party and check out ten of the company's most anticipated titles. However, Tetsuya Nomura had an extra surprise for attendees at the event – a behind the scenes documentary filmed at the Square Enix internal studio that was only completed yesterday by Nomura himself at 8:40 in the morning. What seemed rather apparent from the start of the documentary was that Nomura's filming was a surprise to everyone – many of the designers and character artists seemed shocked that he was taping at all, and were nervous about some of the elements being shown, including some character designs and concept art of Final Fantasy XIII versus the game translation. There was even some gameplay shown of Final Fantasy 13 which highlighted the size and scale of the world.

While this went on for a minute or two, the documentary soon shifted over to early development footage of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which showed the main character running around through different environments. It also showed off a sequence that was included within the trailer montage of the young king climbing a staircase, although the trailer paused and the camera was manipulated in real time with a mouse. The developers zoomed out and spun around the character, focusing on the lighting on his face and the detail within the environment. This, and a few other sections within the trailer montage was shown in-engine in real time, and was emphasized by the development team that it wasn't CG at all.

In fact, the next sequence was a round table style discussion with Motomu Toriyama, Hajime Tabata and others, where they discussed elements of Final Fantasy XIII. The inclusion of Versus XIII was specifically done to highlight that the development on the game was real, as the team had read numerous rumors online that stated that the game didn't exist. The developers also wanted to make a specific point about how Final Fantasy XIII is still being developed on the PS3 first, even with the recent announcement of the game crossing over to the Xbox 360. Apparently, the team is focusing on the PS3 as the main development platform, and will release the game in Japan first. The North American and European versions of Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 will be held back until the 360 version is done so a simultaneous release can be made.

The designers also made a point to debunk the Internet rumor of Final Fantasy XIII coming to the PC, a rumor they claimed was made from a misunderstood comment from E3 this year. Nomura mentioned that he was trying to explain that he develops his games on a PC instead of indicating that Final Fantasy would be coming to a PC.

From there, the room of designers talked about the upcoming demo of Final Fantasy XIII, which will be included on the Blu-Ray disc of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete. They aren't sure exactly which section of the game will be included on the disc, and they're still deciding what areas will be included for the demo itself, but it should be a large bonus for the disc. Nomura and his team also pointed out that while development on Final Fantasy XIII is fully underway, there are still a number of elements that need to be worked on, such as some characters that haven't been approved of yet, and other gameplay features. They also mentioned that while they're casting voice actors for the game's roles, they haven't made a decision yet, although they think that TGS might be the first time that such an announcement would be made.

Here is some Versus trailer impressions.

August 2, 2008 - While most of the attention regarding upcoming Final Fantasy titles have been heaped upon Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII is still being diligently worked on by Square Enix. At the DKΣ3713 Private party event in Harajuku today, Square showed off a brand new trailer that highlighted a large number of new characters, settings and even battles that look phenomenal.

The trailer started out with a quote stating that this game is "a fantasy based on reality." While we don't know what exactly the reality of the setting happens to be, the camera focused on a car that was speeding through a tunnel, and eventually showed the main character reclining in the back seat looking extremely bored as he was driven through the passageway. The next shot was a phrase that popped up, stating that "the real figure is still hidden in the sleep." Again, we weren't entirely sure who this real figure is, if it's the main character, who's the young king that's trying to defend his kingdom, or how they relate to the reality or fantasy of the game, but we were shown a sequence of the main character walking down stairs as a large group of armed soldiers opened fire upon him. This, and the deflection of the bullets with a crystalline shield, wasn't new, as we saw this at E3 two years ago. However, what was somewhat new was the addition of a mysterious woman that the main character appeared to come upon suddenly.

The amount of time that was provided to this sequence was quickly cut short, as the trailer went through a fast montage of various scenes, including the battle between the main character and how he destroyed the troops that fired on him, appearing to dislocate one soldier's arms with a sword and impaling others with another weapon. It also focused in on a group of men sitting in an elaborately decorated great hall, many of whom wore suits (akin to those of the Turks from Final Fantasy VII) and deferred their attention to one man that sat at the head of the table. With the scene taking the appearance of a boardroom meeting, it was quite apparent that the "chairman of the board" was rather displeased at events and it seemed like heads would roll.

One facet of the trailer that we weren't expecting was introduction of three new characters, who all interact with the young king much like a group of close friends or brothers would. We watched as the young king gets put in a headlock by a young blond man with a gun that looks like a cross between a sawed off shotgun and a grenade launcher. In turn, this guy is put into a headlock by a man with a scar across his left eye. The fourth man, who wears glasses, simply looked on and shook his head in disapproval. It's apparent that these men have some connection, and the trailer highlighted a few scenes that showed the four of them travelling in the king's car as well as walking away from an outcropping after noticing that a highway was washed out and they couldn't proceed along the road anymore.

Similarly, we weren't expecting that we would be shown someone that would stand up to the king, but we were shown two figures like that. The first was a hooded man who projected a large ring of swords around him as soon as the main character approached. The other was the mysterious woman mentioned previously, who fired up her magical abilities that flashed red as the young king's flashed blue. Both projected swords and appeared to clash with each other.

The trailer closed with a Shakespearean quote: "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." While no date was given, the trailer did emphatically state that it was only for the PS3. So don't worry Final Fantasy fans, there's still one FF title that isn't going Microsoft's way.

thats souds great

Both FFXIII and FFvXIII are sounding great

Absolutely no fair...

Last Remnant PS3 is having some kinks with the Unreal Engine so decide to release it as a 360 timed-exclusive.

PS3 version will be finished, but will be released WAAAAY later due to the non-existence of the 360 version.

ps3 english delayed, i am taking japanese this semester *cries* whyy xbox360 whyyy

Thanks for posting sc94597, you are king :D

... I hate XBoX so much.... b4 I just hated it... now it's causing a delay of the ps3 release to NA/EU.....

What I feared just happened.
So they will delay the western release because of the XB360 version.
We won't see this game until long into this gen, that will be a first for a main series FF.
To me this is a stupid move, but yet again prove that Japan is the main market for JRPG.
Now there's a high chance I will be bored to death with this game before it even comes out in Europe.
I'll have to get the japanese version, if I'm motivated enough. I'm twice as slow when playing the games in japanese, so I need time and motivation to play a JRPG in this language.
I may pass entirely on Final Fantasy this gen... Well, that won't be a first.

That seems the trailer that was leaked already.