Speaking with Videogaming247, the US branch of Namco Bandai said that the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata will most likely not be released outside Japan. "I can't speak for any other territories, but I believe Eternal Sonata is only announced for the PS3 in Japan right now," said the Namco rep. "We have no plans to release the game on the PS3 in the US at this moment."

We haven't heard much about the RPG and Xbox 360 timed exclusive since the announcement of a PS3 port last year. We guess this explains why.

Videogaming 247 says it's been told by Namco Bandai US that Eternal Sonata on PS3 won't be leaving Japan. A spokesperson for the publisher tells the site that the game has only been announced for Japan and it has "no plans to release the game on the PS3 in the US at this moment." Of course, in the never-ending battle with PR semantics, "at this moment" could mean the game will eventually be announced for other territories.

Eternal Sonata's official Japan-only PS3 status might explain some of the strange things that happened late last year when the game was announced for the PS3 on the ESRB site (pictured above) and on Namco's own US site, only to be removed sometime later.

There are very few franchises in the role-playing genre that have maintained a top level of quality throughout it's lifespan, the Tales series is one of them. Widely regarded as one of the finest second-tier role-playing games (here in the West), the Tales series dates back to the Super Famicom so a new installment was to be expected. Namco Bandi recently revealed Tales of Vesperia, the latest in the franchise, is exclusive to the Xbox 360 - for now.

The tenth in the series hitting the X360 echoes a strong backing for the western-made console by Namco Bandai, who have previously released Beautiful Katamari, Ace Combat 6 and Eternal Sonata on the Microsoft platform. While the title is currently an Xbox 360 exclusive everyone, including the game's director Yoshito Higuchi, expects the title to find it's way onto the PlayStation 3 eventually. During an interview with Play Magazine Higuchi was very direct when asked if the title would ever breathe life on Sony's platform. "Yes, I won't deny the possibility," Higuchi told Play. "But we're not thinking about it yet-there are so many other things to concentrate on first."

[Thanks, Steve. Via Deeko]

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (PC)

Please, make the addiction stop! Civilization IV: Warlords, the first expansion for Civ IV, made my "Best of the Rest" last year and Beyond the Sword tops this year's list. The funny thing is I'm not a Civ fanboy, nor am I even that great of a player (Full Disclosure: I still play on Noble level), but Civ IV is a game I can come back to over and over again. Beyond the Sword added much-needed mechanics for culture-prone and passive-aggressive players, with enhancements in espionage and other concepts "beyond the sword." Oh, and just to keep last year's tradition going: Firaxis (2K, Take-Two), please get the rights to Alpha Centauri back from EA and give us a sequel!

If you haven't slugged through the emo-heavy Eternal Sonata on Xbox 360 (and don't care about achievements) it might be best to wait for the expanded PS3 version. Siliconera reports that the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata features new playable characters Prince Crescendo and Serenade; developer Tri-Crecendo will also be adding extra story sequences.

We hope that these extra pieces are available as downloads to the Xbox 360 version as well, if only to help out those playing the game in the future. Anyone who has finished Eternal Sonata can probably tell you that although the gameplay is fun, the second half of the game's story falls apart, making little sense and feeling completely tossed together. It's probably best not to think of this new version of Eternal Sonata as an expansion so much as a giant patch.

Namco Bandai's Eternal Sonata waltzed its way into retailers this week around North America to generally positive reviews. If you still haven't tried out the demo, there's something about it that seems to speak to those who don't typically enjoy the RPG genre. The battle system definitely is refreshing for those who like a little bit more action and button mashing in their gameplay. Oh, and the game sure is purrdy.

• GameSpot (85/100): "Once you get beyond the glittering production, how does it actually play? Thankfully, the gameplay is satisfying and moves at a slick tempo. There are no random encounters, so you can see every monster. Oftentimes, you can simply go around them, though you will be forced into some battles (and some terrific, challenging boss fights too). Combat isn't a typical series of turns with infinite time in between, though: Eternal Sonata's system is an inventive mix of turn-based and real-time warfare that gets trickier as the game progresses."
• IGN (83/100): "Eternal Sonata is a great RPG to give to your kid, but it's also put together well enough for older gamers to enjoy. If you haven't had much experience with RPGs, Eternal Sonata would be a great way to get your feet wet. Hardcore RPG fans might find the game a bit lacking, but we found enough to enjoy in the game to keep the limited role-playing elements far enough out of mind from start to finish for the game to keep from growing stale."
• 1UP (60/100): "Sounds like the latest trendy European art-house flick, but this is the typically clichéd domain of Japanese role-playing games. Frédéric Chopin is no plucky teen, and he's certainly no bald space marine, so all the elements are in place to tell a different kind of videogame story -- which is why it's all the more frustrating that Eternal Sonata squanders its imaginative setting."

We're not sure, but we bet Shari Lewis, were she still with us, would get a real kick out of the name of this week's game of the week. ... OK, we know, that wasn't much, as far as jokes go. But honestly, the well has run dry on "will it be on PS3" stuff to write about Eternal Sonata and "Song That Doesn't End" gags are about as much as we were able to muster. It also serves as a nice intro to this week's releases, which we're calling "Mediocrity Unbound!" Please, enjoy.

Go make yourself some popcorn and watch the madness as Namco Bandai just can't put the information regarding the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata back in the bottle. We've found it strange that Eternal Sonata was completely missing from the ESRB site for a while now, despite the Xbox 360 version being rated T back in April and scheduled to release next week, but the listing magically reappeared today with the PS3 still listed as a platform. Just to be clear, the ESRB lists their information directly from the publisher.

Namco Bandai continues to list Eternal Sonata as strictly for the Xbox 360, but Famitsu reported otherwise and says the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata will be out in Japan next spring. A few days ago even Namco Bandai's own site listed Eternal Sonata for the PS3 before they decided to pull the information hours later. We really have no idea why Namco Bandai is sitting on this info, but the fact that they won't acknowledge it at this point is laughable. Namco Bandai can't seem to craft a proper message on Beautiful Katamari either.

Remember how yesterday we reported that Eternal Sonata is coming to PS3 because it was listed on the official Namco Bandai site? Well, if you didn't follow the story after that, Namco Bandai pulled the information later. Now, in a classic Willy Wonka "Scratch that, reverse it" moment, Famitsu reports that the Eternal Sonata is coming to PS3 in Japan during the spring of '08.

We're also expecting the PS3 version of Beautiful Katamari -- also part of yesterday's disappearing act -- to show up announced somewhere in the relative future too. What we still find funny is that Eternal Sonata is still not listed on the ESRB website, despite it coming out next week in the States. The ESRB was who originally tipped off everyone that Eternal Sonata would make its way to PS3.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

[Update: The PS3 listings have been removed from both games' official pages.]

Namco Bandai's official US website now shows Eternal Sonata and Beautiful Katamari coming to the PS3. Although Namco Bandai still won't come out in a press release and say it -- something they're accustomed to -- unless some web intern went on a bender, we'll take this as one-eyebrow-lift confirmation of both games for PS3.

For Beautiful Katamari there has been an epic saga of what console it'll end up rolling to. First it was all the systems, then it was for a few. It was even reported that it was going to XBLA for a little bit. Currently the Xbox 360 version has a release date of Oct. 16, with the PS3 and Wii are resting up with a case of the TBD.

As for Eternal Sonata on PS3, this backs up the information from April showing that the ESRB had rated Eternal Sonata for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Oddly enough, now Eternal Sonata isn't listed by the ESRB at all, even though it had Teen rating before. No word on release or official announcement for PS3, but the Xbox 360 version of Eternal Sonata is expected next week.

Read – Eternal Sonata official page
Read – Beautiful Katamari official page

[Via PS3 Fanboy, Thanks Julius]

A new trailer for Eternal Sonata has popped up on Xbox Live Marketplace. The new trailer focuses on the game's unique combat system and also gives us a glimpse of the various playable characters and enemies in the game. One of the more interesting aspects of the combat system is the interaction between light and dark. You can see this in the video when enemies move between light and dark areas of the combat field. Oftentimes this results in otherwise harmless looking enemies transforming into giant monstrosities. Overall, the combat system looks very engaging, and we're eager to take the full game for a spin. Eternal Sonata hits retail shelves on September 17th. Don't forget there is also a demo available on XBLM right now.

During an Eternal Sonata conference call last night, we managed to clarify some details on the game and even uncover some new details. First of all, we learned that the game should take about 30 hours to complete for players that wish to simply charge through. If, however, you wish to complete all the side-quests (and you won't get the full story if you don't), it will take much longer. In fact, some of the side-quests aren't even accessible on the first play-through, so players will have at least some incentive to go through the game more than once. RPG fans hoping for some downloadable goodness on par with Blue Dragon will likely be disappointed to hear that very little is planned at this point. In fact, the only DLC planned right now is actually an unlock key to listen to music from the game. What's more, this content is unlockable in the game itself, so the DLC is basically moot. On a more positive note the game will contain both English and Japanese voice tracks, so purists won't have to cover their ears.

If you couldn't bring yourself to purchase a copy of Official Xbox Magazine (or if you don't have wonderful Japanese friends), you can now finally download the Eternal Sonata demo from Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo gives players a chance to stretch their legs a bit and get used to the game's interesting, pseudo real time combat system. If you've made it this long without trying it out, you should really give it a go. Oh, there is also a Vampire Rain demo that is available everywhere except Germany, Korea, Taiwan, or the United States. We were beginning to get mighty angry about that, but then we remembered it was Vampire Rain.

[Via Joystiq]

If you weren't quite l33t enough to hook it up back in May, the Eternal Sonata demo has burst forth from its shackles in Japan and has made its way to Xbox Live in Canada and the U.S. If you didn't already play through it with the help of a Japanese friend (wink) expect a really gorgeous RPG with a healthy dose of Chopin and choppin'. Strangely, the demo's information is in Japanese in the Marketplace. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that we're still completely puzzled by the demo release schedule on Live. As if to illustrate our point, there's also a new Vampire Rain demo today that's "not available in Germany, Korea, Taiwan or the United States." Either someone is using a giant, whimsically-colored dartboard to make these decisions, or way too many resources are being devoted to this stuff. Since it's not rocket science to create a Live account that's supposedly from another region, the only real choice being made is which country is going to be inconvenienced. Why waste everyone's time?

The Eternal Sonata trailer that was showed you from IGN is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace in HD. It weighs in at 71 MB, and gives you a better scope on the the game's world, art style and gameplay. As we said before, the game follows the final hours of composer Frederic Chopin, while in a feverish dream state. All of that to say that we still can't wait for this to hit come September, though we hope it doesn't get crushed under the weight of Halo 3's release on the 25th. Either way, if you didn't watch the embedded trailer, or thought the quality didn't give you a proper impression, check it out on XBLM.