Tetsuya Nomura Hints at Kingdom Hearts III
Birth By Sleep players could get a first glimpse at the next entry.
August 31, 2009 - Today's revelation of a Marvel buyout by Disney has many wondering if this means Adamantium weapons, or even more elaborate tie-ins, for the next Kingdom Hearts game. Obviously, with the deal having just been announced, no one is talking about video game collaborations just yet. But we do have some possible first details on the game that could be Kingdom Hearts III. The information comes our way via Famitsu, who's issue last week featured an interview with Kingdom Hearts producer Tetsuya Nomura. The interview was mostly about Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, the upcoming PSP entry in the series. The long awaited true sequel in the Kingdom Hearts line is now due for Japanese release this Winter. Closing off the interview, Nomura said of Birth By Sleep, "There are lots of mysteries or areas of interest, so perhaps people will want to play the next title. There is a secret movie after all." For those who are new to the Kingdom Hearts franchise, one tradition for the series has been to offer a special video teaser of the next main entry following the end credits of the current entry. Kingdom Hearts II's "secret movie" offered a first glimpse at what ended up becoming Birth By Sleep. Asked if by "next title" he meant Kingdom Hearts 3, Nomura would only say, "The next title is the next title." This was just one of many revelations shared by Nomura during the interview. Among the other points of note, we were pleased to hear that Birth By Sleep will offer some 50 hours of play time. Nomura expects each playable character, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra, to take about 15 hours. The remaining time is for customization of your decks. Adding up the play times for each character may seem like cheating, but it could be appropriate here. Each character takes a different path through the game, explained Nomura, although there are some areas where two or all three meet up. Outside of the Kingdom Hearts talk, Nomura provided a glimpse at Square Enix's plans for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Sadly, it looks like the company's booth this year will be a small one. The "Closed Megatheater" trailer show, a tradition going back as far as we can remember, will be missing this year. While those who sample Birth By Sleep and Final Fantasy XIII will get a glimpse at trailers of a few games, Nomura said to not expect footage from Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, and The Third Birthday to be among them. We hope the Closed Megatheater returns at next year's show and brings with it footage from Kingdom Hearts III along with some sweet Marvel tie-ups.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/101/1019840p1.html
