Japanese Final Fantasy XIII release date, bundle confirmed

by JC Fletcher { Sep 8th 2009 at 12:00PM }

It's official! Square Enix will release Final Fantasy XIII on December 17, 2009 in Japan, unless it decides not to between now and then. Square Enix president Yoichi Wada announced the release date and the price (8,800 yen, or $95!) today at its Final Fantasy XIII Party in the Miraikan museum (via 1UP).

Kaz Hirai then took the stage to announce that of course there will be a PS3 hardware bundle containing the game. He didn't mention any details -- no price nor release date, though it's sure to be day-and-date with the standalone software. When Square Enix does show it off, it'll be hard not to hear about it.

Gallery: Final Fantasy XIII (GamesCom 2009)

Tags: bundle, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-xiii, rpg, square-enix, yoichi-wada

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Solace @ Sep 8th 2009 12:03PM

CONFIRMED: Over a a TRILLION PS3's will be sold

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 8th 2009 12:14PM

Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

The Pie Pieper @ Sep 8th 2009 12:19PM

Really? When did they announce Halo for the PS3?

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 8th 2009 12:20PM

They still make Halo games?
Suddenly I feel very old.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 8th 2009 12:34PM

The estimated population of Japan, according to Wikipedia, is 127,590,000. A trillion in the English language typically signifies one million million - 1,000,000,000,000. For sales to hit one trillion in Japan, each person in Japan would have to buy over 7,837 PS3s.

Now, before I cast complete doubt over your prediction, what's the average space of a Japanese closet?

Ashitaka @ Sep 8th 2009 1:07PM

Point is, you didn't have to go through all that trouble, it's obvious that Solace's prediction won't come true even though the actual number of PS3s sold in Japan will be huge when FFXIII is released.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 8th 2009 1:09PM

Do I have to beam smileys and LOLs from the skies to show that I was being facetious? Was it not at least revealed in part by the end of that post? Whoosh, bro. Whoosh.

PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Sep 8th 2009 2:27PM

if you could somehow beam a LOL from the sky you would be able to rule the interwebz

Neo Asuma @ Sep 8th 2009 3:50PM

Not a trillion, but a massive amount will be sold.

Massive Christmas rush for FFXIII PS3 Bundles...confirmed. (I guess, if they celebrate Christmas at all.)

All bundles and game copies must go before Christmas Eve!

wormania @ Sep 8th 2009 12:04PM

As a point of reference, how much does the average new PS3 game sell for in Japan? I want to know if this 8800yen/$95 is really high.

Arghon @ Sep 8th 2009 12:17PM

I'm in Japan right now and I just bought KoFXII last week. It was only 3,680 Yen, so 8,800 Yen seems pretty high to me. Though, I can understand the price difference there.

acefondu @ Sep 8th 2009 1:11PM

I smell Square-tax personally, but I also don't know what they normally charge for games over there.

The Baron @ Sep 8th 2009 1:14PM

I'm sure the budget on this game must have been pretty immense, but are markups like this common on games they know are going to be huge?

I mean the closest we have to that here is the games that come bundled with a hunk of plastic, and that's kind of understandable.

Ballistic H @ Sep 8th 2009 1:33PM

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/26/square-president-doesnt-expect-big-impact-from-ps3-price-cut/

I think Yoichi Wada needs to get fired.

Massmass @ Sep 8th 2009 2:33PM

Well, last I checked the japanese yen is still going quite strong which causes a problem for Japanese companies who make a good part of their profits overseas. So, they need to pad the bill somewhere.

Are the euros getting jealous that some other country is being fisted with gaming prices?

HardBoiled2009 @ Sep 8th 2009 3:01PM

@Ballistic H

I agree... also IMO they haven't really done much over the past while the PSP FF game is nice but .. that's it ? too much Online time for them. i call them Square suck for a reason .. not only cause they took my hope for them doing things for FF13 on the PS3 that's incapable on the 360 ( which means it would still stay exclusive ) their games for the past while have been not good at all .. Sub-Par at best. till FF Dissidia ( hope that was spelled right ) came out but if they re-make classics like what they are doing with GOW 1 and 2 ..i wanna see a Vagrant Story ( which i played some of but loved ) and Chrono Cross ( which i seen played and got my interest ) remade in HD with trophies.

Cheezeman3000 @ Sep 8th 2009 12:04PM

As expected. But no word on the American release yet?

John @ Sep 8th 2009 12:14PM

The English voice work is done, so probably around this time next year.

Hyams @ Sep 8th 2009 12:16PM

April-June 2010, most likely.

Austin (PSN: lparAgonl) MIA @ Sep 8th 2009 12:27PM

The official word is "Spring" for the "International" release.
It's on Kotaku.com.

Mr Khan @ Sep 8th 2009 12:05PM

I knew Japanese paid more for games on the conversion scale (especially since yen is stronger now), but damn.

Of course, it is their Modern Warfare 2, so Square Enix knows they can get away with it, and still make bank.

jynxycat @ Sep 8th 2009 12:54PM

Square is ALSO doing MW2 for overseas.

So technically, THAT would be their MW2 :P

http://www.modernwarfare2.jp/

makimak22 @ Sep 8th 2009 2:20PM

Square is only doing MW2 for Japan.... They have to convert the menu and subtitles into Japanese.

But I don't think there is a plan for C.O.D. World At War release in Japan, point being the Japanese were featured as the enemy in that one. Much like Japan's version of Fallout 3 has the Nuclear Detonation option cut out in one of its missions....

Markez @ Sep 8th 2009 12:07PM

I happen to read Japanese, and should point out that it looks like they've also just announced FFV MMMDCCC and FF MXCCXL. COUNT ME PUMPED!!!

Wiizer ($299) Having BC On Your Launch Console? (Priceless) @ Sep 8th 2009 12:44PM

Wait, which part was I supposed to take as the joke?

The part where you thought we'd believe that you'd know a second language, or the stupid roman numeral joke...

[ArchiGamer] @ Sep 8th 2009 12:52PM

In my expert opinion, the joke lies in the irony of life.

I think....

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Sep 8th 2009 12:11PM

So Ummmmmmmmm Yea...My Guess is PS3 Sales in Japan for the Month of December will EASILY Break 1 million...

Hyams @ Sep 8th 2009 12:15PM

In almost 3 years, it's sold just over 3 million. It's not gonna sell another million in a mere month.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Sep 8th 2009 12:25PM

It Sold damn near half a million the month the damn Demo was released......or was it a quarter of a million?? Hell I dont remember....point is it sold a SHITLOAD off the strength of the demo alone....

Nobledevil @ Sep 8th 2009 3:58PM

I don't know about a million when the game hits, but because the date is official now, it'll almost surely sell a million within the next 4-6 weeks.

MRLN the Amazing @ Sep 8th 2009 8:27PM

There's some massive hyperbole hate occurring today.

Daniel @ Sep 8th 2009 12:17PM

As a casual fan of the series, if the game is more than $60 here in the states, I'm not buying it.

doc j @ Sep 8th 2009 12:29PM

I am a very big fan of the series (played and beaten all of the main "numbered" ones), and if it is over 60 dollars I'm definitely not buying it. However, the price-point of video games in Japan is not as standardized as it is here in the US, so I do not think this is cause for alarm that the game will cost more than $60. I am not familiar enough with the pricing in other regions to guess what it means for them.