Watching this trailer may embed some niggling questions in your mind -- questions like: Is it safe to run on top of trains? Why does Cloud have black hair? Who at Square Enix decided that story-rich fantasy and gut-crunching metal were a good mix? However, this video should eliminate any question in your mind that a spiritual sequel to a 3-disc RPG masterpiece could fit on a UMD. Focusing mostly on summons, a Final Fantasy staple, this trailer has pushed our excitement for Crisis Core far beyond our apprehension towards the game. We just hope the final product has music of a more ... listenable variety.

This week marks the release of the Final Fantasy remake on Sony PSP, the first Square Enix title to make it to the US. The RPG powerhouse showed a multitude of appetizing titles coming to the portable earlier this summer at their massive party at Tokyo's Makuhari Messe.

Long-time Square Enix fans will find yourselves either dismayed or curiously nostalgic (probably a bit of both) by the sheer number of enhanced remakes -- five of the seven PSP titles are ghosts from the company's past with upgraded visuals and new content. What's left is a brawler with an assortment of fighters from the Final Fantasy universe and a long-in-development (though visually impressive) extension of the Final Fantasy VII lore.

Take a gander at the upcoming games after the break.

A NeoGAF forum member has put together a collection of quotes from interviews with Square-Enix developers culled from the latest issue of LEVEL magazine. Motomu Toriyama, Tetsuya Nomura and Hajime Tabata, of Crisis Core, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII all have something to say about the three-game Fabula Nova Crystallis set.

The biggest nugget of info comes from Toriyama who says the games in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series will be kept separate. The teams are working independently of each other and don't share so much as a water cooler, meaning no cameos, cross-overs, or other links between the titles. Bummer. The only thing binding them is a "vague crystal theme", which also connects them to every role playing game created since the beginning of time.

Also touched on: next-gen Final Fantasy games on consoles other than the PS3. The developers seem smitten with the horsepower under the PlayStation's hood and insist they couldn't re-create the experience on other systems. Guess that rules out an EVO: Phase One port.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

It's official: the Final Fantasy VII PSP spinoff Crisis Core will be released before the three year anniversary of its initial unveiling in late October 2004. At the Square Enix Party, the publisher announced the game has a street date of September 13 in Japan.

No release date has been given for other regions, but we'd suspect seeing the game hit North America within eight months.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Err, guys? Not to alarm you, but a new scan from Japan's Shonen Jump magazine seems to indicate that Square Enix is looking to revisit the fighting genre. Recently revealed as a Sony PSP title, Final Fantasy Dissidia appears to do away with traditional RPG fare, distilling epic conflict into one-on-one battles between series protagonists, antagonists and, in most cases, exhibitionists.

If you examine the page, you're sure to spy the presence of Final Fantasy IX's rat-tailed thief, Zidane, duking it out with his crystal-hating nemesis, Kuja. It remains to be seen whether Square Enix will include characters from across the series in a Power Stone-esque battle royale, but the possibility is sure to be an exciting one for intense Final Fans. Can Squall mope the floor with Cloud? Will Quina Quen clobber Kefka? Could Tidus and Vaan even manage to injure each other? Final Fantasy Dissidia may just hold the answers. For now, we'd best wait until Square Enix provides some of their own.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Eternally the Japanese RPG's signifier and the cosplayer's bane, the hair in Final Fantasy games is often as entertaining as it is improbable. Though it might be a deeply rooted jealousy that causes us to question just how Cloud's finely kept anti-quiff defies all known laws of the universe, it nevertheless remains a matter of observation and pertinence. Indeed, if we follow the Grand List of Console Role-Playing Game Cliches' Cloud Rule -- the higher the hair, the closer to God -- it would seem that just about every character in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP) has a vital part to play in the story. Surely we can find some significance and excitement in that?

Also, the graphics look pretty cool.

[via PSP Fanboy]

IGN has some of the details for the upcoming Square Enix party in Japan, which could result in overload for Final Fantasy fanboys and fangirls in attendance. The tip of the iceberg includes:

• Dragon Quest Monster Joker (DS, playable)
• Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wing (DS, playable)
• Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP, playable)
• Itadaki Street DS (DS, playable)
• Dragon Quest Swords (Wii, playable)
• It's a Wonderful World (DS, playable)
• Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (PSP, playable)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (DS, playable)
• Final Fantasy XI (PS2, X360, Windows, playable)
• Final Fantasy (PSP, video)
• Final Fantasy II (PSP, video)
• Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road (Arcade, video)
• Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete (Blu-Ray, video)
• Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Mobile, video)

Partygoers will also be able to play a slew of mobile game demos, and will be going home with exclusive Square Enix goodies, some of which can be seen here. Give us the slime from Dragon Quest, and we might be able to pretend like we experienced all this first-hand.

1UP has again braved the bands of manga-fiending young'ns to investigate the happenings at this year's Jump Festa jumpoff. While all major Japanese publishers (and Microsoft) were present, Square Enix was reppin' in full force, offering playable versions of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP), and Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (both for DS). Trailers for additional titles were also on display (see embedded videos below).

In a private theater, Square Enix previewed more new footage from its upcoming 2007 lineup, including a glimpse at Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3). The montage concluded with a brief flash of an armored man, grimacing as he stood on what appeared to be a battlefield. The teaser shot was followed by the words: "And something new coming in 2007."

Jump Festa attendees will score hands-on time with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on Saturday. This year the annual anime and manga party, sponsored by Shueisha (publisher of Jump Comics), will feature the first playable public demo of Crisis Core. Jump Festa has traditionally served as a platform for premiering new media, including video games.

Sony and Sqaure Enix have yet to reveal plans to offer a downloadable version of the demo on the official PlayStation website or elsewhere. Update: A Crisis Core producer has revealed Square Enix's intention to offer a downloadable version of the demo by years' end.

See also:
Crisis Core trailer emphasizes PSP shortcomings, offers hope

Today's most-watched YouTube game video is a fairly good-quality bootleg of the Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core trailer from this year's Tokyo Game Show. This Japanese-language video of the upcoming PSP game starts slowly, with a lot of exposition. But the last third of the five-minute sequence includes enough action and in-game footage to move the most reserved Final Fantasy fanboy into a foaming, rabid, lurching frenzy. Even regular gamers may like it.

See the whole video after the break.

[Update 1: Thanks, commenters, for pointing out that this clip was already featured in a non-hottest video post. So, we're bringing you an extra hottest video -- the hottestest video -- the SSX Blur trailer. Thrill as snowboarders glide down the mountain, doing tricks on the Wii, presumably with motion controls. See the extra video after the break.]

Square Enix's closed-door TGS trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core has finally surfaced. For the bulk of this five-minute demonstration, a handful of manicured men (and one woman) ham it up in a whirlwind of staged emotional drama. Are we supposed to want to play a soap opera? (Don't answer that.)

There are some brief moments of relief, glimpses into the game's active battle system, which suggest commonalities with Final Fantasy XII. There's no denying that Crisis Core appears extraordinarily capable; a bittersweet detail. That is, efforts like Crisis Core really highlight the lack of solid support for PSP. Alas, Square Enix's prequel has been a long time coming -- and, for those of us outside of Japan, the wait isn't getting any shorter.