209w ago - Advent Children Complete, the original film, clocked in around an hour and a half... and now Square Enix crammed in nearly another half hour worth of fights, beckstory, and explanations.

To quote: The film had a message for its fans, one that makes the film worth watching.

Final Fantasy VII has been with us for 13 years, four games, several soundtracks, and thousands upon thousands of cosplayers. Innumerable pages of fanfiction and doujinshi have been written, ranging from jaw-dropping art to plots that induce self-mutilation. And it still continues. Just like the people of Midgar.

Even after the near-cataclysmic events of the game, two years later the people of Midgar are back to their daily lives, falling into the same old cycles, and perpetuating life as it used to be.

But their past actions have paralyzed them, focusing their energy towards curing Geostigma, a mysterious affliction that is spreading like leprosy amongst the people, and as a result, the rest of the city remains largely ignored. Construction is at a crawl as Shinra tries to cure the plague - something that they are at fault for, and ultimately to save their own butt, as the president is infected.

Cloud, too, is paralyzed by the past. Not only is he infected with the Geostigma, which gives him flashbacks...

215w ago - Cloud and Sephiroth are ready to duke it out again, this time in a Blu-ray exclusive extended version of Advent Children.

To quote: The US release will be ready on June 2nd, and will feature full 1080p video and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio in English, Japanese and French.

Unlike the Japanese release, the US release will include a plethora of subtitle options: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Arabic and Dutch.

In addition, the previously rumored extra features turned out to be real:

• "Legacy of Final Fantasy VII" Featurette
• "Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII" Original Story Digest
• "Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation" Story Digest
• On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel Animated Film
• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Trailers
• Exclusive Sneak Peek at Final Fantasy XIII

We're hoping the "exclusive sneak peek" will be playable, as it is in Japan, but we're not holding our breath.

251w ago - More news is slowly coming out from Square Enix's private DKΣ3713 fan event.

According to a Famitsu report, the Blu-ray release of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete will feature a fully playable Final Fantasy XIII demo for the PlayStation 3 on a separate disc, along with exclusive trailers for both Versus XIII and Agito XIII.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete is scheduled for a March 2009 release in Japan. Taking this into consideration, it's safe to say that the full version of XIII won't be hitting Japan until after March of next year.

Unless Square Enix has a worldwide launch announcement up its sleeve, you know what that means for those of us living in North America and Europe.

267w ago - On Tuesday the Advertising Standards Agency banned adverts for a new computer game, Kane & Lynch, because it deemed them too violent. It is interesting that adverts for last year's "torture porn" film Captivity were not banned, even though they were heavily criticised in the US. And no one even raises the possibility of banning such films outright. But then, computer games are our society's straw man for panic about moral decay, thought to have some special power to harm and corrupt.

Dr Tanya Byron's eminently sensible report last month on children and new technology emphasised the many opportunities for fun and learning that games provide. But the media coverage focused on the usual fears and worries. Byron said that we need to move away from talking about computer games "causing harm"; in response, TV and newspapers showed stills from games with titles like Manhunt and God of War. Byron said children need to be "empowered to keep themselves safe"; newspapers said computers and televisions should be kept in communal spaces in the home.

As a gamer, I can't think of anything more annoying for everyone concerned than playing games in a shared living room. Games make noise: they're surely going to irritate other family members who aren't playing or watching. Not to mention the supreme aggravation, as the...

285w ago - More than 75% of parents are concerned about the content of video games played by their children, a survey suggests.

Almost half of the 4,000 parents surveyed in the UK, France, Italy and Germany said that one hour of gaming each day should be the limit.

Some 43% of the surveyed parents said they were not aware of ratings systems for games to determine suitability.

The survey comes as Dr Tanya Byron conducts a separate review of games and their impact on UK children.

Dr Byron, who is conducting the review on behalf of the UK government, will publish her findings in March 2008 and recently closed her submissions for evidence. One of her areas of focus will be the ratings systems in the UK - which currently involves a pan-European system and a UK-only rating from the British Board of Film Classification.

The games industry has gone to great lengths to stress the educational and social aspects of gaming, while emphasising that games are regulated and appeal to all ages, with mature titles for mature gamers.

A spokesperson for Elspa, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association, said videogame playing was "part of a balanced mix of leisure activities for all ages".

Elspa added: "We welcome the opportunity to highlight the...