MicroTechXP

Square Enix has gone PC. On the first day of the show, the Japanese game publisher announced that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (in Europe and North America only) and PC. During a press conference following the Microsoft event, Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase discussed the new development strategy that Square Enix has taken with its upcoming games.
Aside from the new The Last Remnant game, which is being created for Xbox 360 and PS3 using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 externally, all new internally-developed games from Square Enix, including Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Versus, and an untitled new massively multiplayer online game, utilize the new PC-based Crystal Tools development environment. These tools allow development teams to create cross-platform games.
“The content will be the same on all platforms,” said Kitase. “However, we have yet to determine how many discs will be required for the 360 version. We’ll have to consider the differences between formats. Currently the game is being built on PC, where it’s actually functional. We’re still focusing on making it work on PS3, so it’s difficult to know how long the process of taking it to 360 will take.”
Thanks to the new PC development platform, Kitase added, “Now that we’re developing on a PC base, the pace is going a bit faster,” Kitase said. “We haven’t introduced new footage of the game, but we should be able to show something new in the near future.”
Square Enix showed the beautiful pre-rendered trailer for Final Fantasy XIII at the end of the Microsoft press conference. The publisher has a big event scheduled for Tokyo next month where the first new information will be revealed on all Final Fantasy titles. Previously, the publisher released its online game, Final Fantasy XII, on Xbox 360 and PC. [Nzone]

Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Peter Dille has played down the significance of losing PlayStation 3 exclusivity of Final Fantasy XIII, suggesting that long time fans will still be drawn to the Sony platform release.
“What you have with Final Fantasy XIII is a lot like what they’ve paid for with GTA. It’s not an exclusive on their platform. It’s now a cross-platform game,” said Dille, during an interview with MTV’s Multiplayer Blog. [PSU]

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If you don’t like the look of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard unveiled at E3 last week, then “you don’t actually have to use it,” says Microsoft’s Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb.
According to The Major, every single function available in current 360 backend will be included in the new, clean-looking Dash’, which you can bypass completely if you choose.
“I know that there are some people that aren’t going to like the happy, happy, shiny New Xbox Experience. For whatever reason it’s not flipping their bit,” Hryb said in his latest podcast.
“Here’s my message to you: you don’t actually have to use it. You can never go there, just leave your game disc in and pretty much do everything that you could before but on the Guide level - one button press away in every single game. [ComputerandVideogames]

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If you’re looking to step up to a 60GB Xbox 360 but have an irrational fear of Amazon, Circuit City just put it up for pre-order. The price is still $349.99 but ship date is August 6, two inexplicable days later than Amazon. The site lists an HDMI output with upscaling DVD player, which is nice to see. Other than that, all else looks to be the same — no Circuit City bonuses like cables, games, or other schwag. [Engadget]

An inside tip that we have received from an anonymous user has told us that Microsoft will be showing their Wii-mote killer at E3 this year. The idea of the product is to match and better the capabilities of the Wii-mote. The controller reportedly features four face buttons, an analog stick, a microphone, and possibly integration with the Xbox Live Vision Camera.

It has been reported that Microsoft wants to release this by year end, so there is a possibility of this being shown at E3 or even the Tokyo game show.

Now we are not saying to take this for the truth because the person is anonymous, but if it comes true then however he/she (or alien) got the information thank you. I am looking forward personally to see what Microsoft has to offer at E3 other than games and there are reports of Sony doing their own Wii-mote killer, so we might even see that at E3 this year also.

E3 is going to be so much better than last years, I can tell you that.

Keep it on MicroTechXP and we will keep you updated at E3 and as soon as more information pops up about this.

Image is just a sketch that MTVNews has.

Now our source is really sticking her/his/its neck out.
As we told you earlier, our inside woman/man/thing got hold of some pretty exciting news.
News that Bungie was already hard at work developing what will be Halo 4.
Now we’re told that this will be announced officially at E3.
The prior news was probably like a weatherman predicting a hurricane “sometime somewhere.” This starts the ticking clock for what would end up being a pretty big deal. Halo 4. E3.[Sarcasticgamer]

An interview over at Gamespot with FIFA Soccer 09 producer David Rutter has revealed new information about the upcoming sports game. 30 leagues and 40 national teams are at your disposal this year, while the magic number of 250 key changes as reported before remain true. Highlights of upgrades from the previous year include improvements in “responsiveness, physical play and their affect through attributes, plus the AI.” Different types of players are less homogeneous and you will have to utilize different types of players to achieve victory.
A Custom Team Tactics mode will be introduced where 11 sliders or criteria will allow you to determine how your team will play. There is also a promise of 140 attacking and 40 defensive options. The ever-popular Be A Pro career mode will allow you to play unlocked, meaning one has the option of a change of position and still gain experience. Friends can likewise choose to act as a teammate or opponent to the player in this mode. Lastly, Rutter promises a to talk about “a game mode exclusive to that system,” referring to the PS3, later in the year. We’ll keep you updated as details of the mode becomes available. [PS3Fanboy]

GS AU: Will there be any differences between the PS3 and 360 versions of the game? Which one was easier to work on?
DR: There will not be any differences in the way the game plays on PS3 and Xbox 360. They will be identical playing games. However, PS3 will have a game mode exclusive to that system which we’ll talk about later in the year.
We have an extremely talented group of individuals who work on each platform and there are challenges to overcome on any platform to make sure the people who purchase the game have the best experience possible. So I wouldn’t say that one console is easier to work on I would just say they are different.

K-Mart stores have discounted Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 HD DVD Player to $5.00 as the retailer moves remaining units of the defunct high-definition peripheral.
A buyer on the discount website Slickdeals.net purchased an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player for $5.00 in Greensboro, NC.
The device, which allows Xbox 360 owners to play Toshiba Corp.’s HD DVD format titles, launched in Nov. 2006 for $199.99.
It was later discounted to $179.99 in a price war against Sony Corp.’s Blu-ray disc format.
Toshiba in Feb. exited the HD DVD format business after companies including Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Best Buy Co. Inc., and Netflix Inc. defected to Blu-ray.
Retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City Co. Inc. have cleared all in-store HD DVD inventory.
Amazon.com has discounted a wave of HD DVD titles by up to 60 percent to clear inventory. [PunchJump]

Over at the Official Xbox 360 listing for Soul Calibur IV at Xbox.com, there is a box which clearly states that a hard drive is REQUIRED for the game. This will surely annoy core owners and even those with a 20GB hard drive who are frequent content downloaders. [Maxconsole]

Sure, you’ll be able to pay out the nose for a Vista machine with a XP Professional “downgrade” soon enough, but Dell just pushed back its cutoff for straight-up XP machines. They’ll be selling select Inspiron and XPS desktop with whatever flavor of XP you choose up until June 26th, at precisely 6:59AM EST. Naturally after June 26 you’ll be able to buy a Vista Biz or Ultimate machine and downgrade to XP Pro, but we’ll hope it doesn’t have to come to that. We heard that one guy even got a printer to work with Vista. Things are looking up, folks! [Engadget]