196w ago - Just one day after Famitsu scans revealed a PS3 release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope for Japan, Square Enix announced a North American release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope International.

Since the Japanese game will include the English voice acting from the American release of the Xbox 360 version, localization time for this title is nil, there will be only five days between the Feburary 4 release in Japan and the February 9 North American release date!

It's an achievement made possible by... the game having already been released a year ago.

In addition to English and Japanese voices, this version includes French, Italian, German, and Spanish language options. And, perhaps most importantly for new players, the "running on a PS3" option.

To quote: "The fans begged for dual audio, and Square Enix deliver three times that - packing a whopping six languages into the Star Ocean: The Last Hope for PS3.

When the game is released simultaneously in the West and Japan on February 9th 2009 they'll be able to select from English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or even the game's mother tongue of Japanese for gameplay."

196w ago - Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope is officially heading to the PlayStation 3 as rumored, despite Square Enix denying it initially.

The latest Famitsu issue (pictured below) reveals that the previously Xbox 360 exclusive game will be ported to the PS3 as Star Ocean: The Last Hope International. It will be released in Japan on February 4, 2010 and ship simultaneously worldwide

To quote: "The tri-Ace developed, Square Enix published Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released on the Xbox 360 earlier this year. The title is not an Xbox 360 exclusive, it's coming to the PlayStation 3.

Dubbed Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, the game will be hitting the PS3 February 4, 2010 and priced at ¥8,190 (US$90).

The game features reworked menu screens and a tweaked battle system with auto-targeting. SO4: International also features English and Japanese voice acting options. It really is international!"

203w ago - Two days ago a GameFly listing gave hope to PlayStation 3 console owners that Star Ocean: The Last Hope may be coming to PS3.

Since then, Square Enix reps have now confirmed that the retailer listing was made in error.

To quote: Sqaure Enix reps told Kotaku "We cannot comment on a PS3 release at this time." However, they went on to say that the listing on Gamefly.com was "an error and had been taken down from their site."

Well, not completely taken down. While searching for the PlayStation 3 release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope doesn't return anything but the Xbox 360 version, Gamefly still has the title in its data base.

We'll chalk that up to either a technical limitation or a preference to not have to upload the listing again should an announcement of a PS3 port be coming soon.

203w ago - Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released earlier this year exclusively on the XBox 360 console.

However, it may just be a timed exclusive with Square Enix's first retail PlayStation 3 game being Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

GameFly is currently listing Star Ocean: The Last Hope for the PlayStation 3.

On a related note, the XBox 360 box art (pictured below) of Star Ocean: The Last Hope doesn't contain the "Only on XBox 360" label.

To quote: GameFly has a good, no superb, track record for leaking games. However, this situation is unusual since Star Ocean: The Last Hope would be announced in Japan first and then leaked by GameFly.

A PlayStation 3 port seems inevitable, but GameFly is the only retailer with a listing for the game so don't get your hopes up too much.

225w ago - While Halo Wars clearly wasn't up to the task of battling Killzone 2 for exclusive superiority in the first part of 2009, there's another Xbox 360 exclusive that PlayStation 3 owners should want: Square-Enix's Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

Now, I'm well aware many really have it in for the veteran RPG publisher right about now, and that's perfectly understandable. We may get Final Fantasy Versus XIII as a PS3 exclusive some time in 2047 but until then, the days of Square games only on PlayStation consoles are over.

Personally, I don't have even the slightest issue with that; I remain mostly convinced the multi-DVD production of Final Fantasy XIII won't be as good as the Blu-Ray production of the game on the PS3, especially considering the White Engine was specifically designed for Sony's machine.

At the same time, I think it's great that Square-Enix has expanded their anticipatory fanbase by finally making a major FF release available to more gamers around the world. The more people that get to play great games, the better it is for our industry; plain and simple.

Therefore, I don't really have any personal vendetta against Square-Enix. I believe they haven't been able to live up to the Squaresoft glory days (and I doubt I'm the only one), but I can accept that...what irks me no...