E3 2006 News | Square Enix Shows Heavy Nintendo Support

Below is the Nintendo section of Square Enix's Press Release that was revealed just a short while ago:

Game Boy Advance

FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE & FINAL FANTASY VI ADVANCE

The classic FINAL FANTASY games that premiered on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System are now making their way to the Game Boy Advance! Hot on the heels of FINAL FANTASY IV ADVANCE (now available in stores), FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE and FINAL FANTASY VI ADVANCE will soon be available to handheld gamers. However, these titles are more than simple ports! Every aspect of the games has been reviewed and enhanced. Additionally, a host of brand-new elements have been seamlessly merged with the original games,
providing unexpected surprises for longtime fans. With new dungeons, new job classes, and other exciting features, both old-school players and
newcomers can enjoy these genre-defining FINAL FANTASY titles in a portable format!

The magic of the FINAL FANTASY classics is returning to gamers' hands and soon the wait will be over.

FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE & FINAL FANTASY VI ADVANCE will both be released 2006. These titles have not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Nintendo DS System

Children of Mana

In ages past, an island called Illusia floated at the centre of the world. At the heart of the island towered an ancient, enormous tree that stretched up to the very heavens. For ages past, chaos and sorrow had engulfed the world until at last its salvation appeared in the form of a boy, a girl, and a holy sword. Time flowed on and peace returned. The sword
and the tree remained, and they soon came to be known as the Sword of Mana and the Mana Tree. Followers of the Mana Tree returned to Illusia as the world started slowly but surely down the path to recovery.

More Magic with the Eight Spirits! The eight elemental spirits are a staple of the Mana series. These powerful allies aid you with healing and special status effects. They can also unleash fearsome magic upon your foes.

Co-operative or Competitive Gameplay for Up to Four Players - The greatest innovation of this installment of the Mana series is allowing four players to advance the story and solve quests together while
maintaining the feel of an action RPG. Players' actions affect each other in a gameplay experience completely unlike previous action RPGS!

Children of Mana will be released 2006. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

DRAGON QUEST HEROES: ROCKET SLIME

The latest game from the creative minds behind the 2005 RPG classic, Dragon Quest) VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, has arrived on the Nintendo DS. The hero of this brand-new action-adventure is a slime, one
of the most popular monsters from the Dragon Quest series. The game is set in the kingdom of Slimenia, a peaceful land that is suddenly invaded by a mysterious cartel called "the Plob," who then proceed to kidnap all the slimes in the capital city of Boingburg. Our protagonist, Rocket, is the only slime left behind, and must embark on a journey throughout Slimenia to save his friends and uncover the Plob's nefarious plot!

Bounce, Stretch, and Carry - The adventure stages consist of our hero bouncing and stretching, as
well as carrying various objects on his head, while solving the mysteries behind each area, and rescuing his captured slime friends along the way. Simple, streamlined controls allow players of all ages and skill levels to take part in the action with ease.

Fierce Tank Battles - Each adventure stage culminates in Rocket hopping aboard a colossal slime-shaped war machine called the Schleiman Tank and battling it out with the enemy's Monster Tanks. Customize tanks by collecting a vast array of weapons and items. Call upon allies, each with their own individual personality and abilities, to aid in the heated tank battles. Even shoot your fellow slimes so they can infiltrate and sabotage the enemy's Monster Tank! Pit tanks against a friend's in exciting player-vs.-player action, using the Nintendo DS wireless multiplayer game feature!

DRAGON QUEST HEROES: ROCKET SLIME will be released 2006. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

FINAL FANTASY III

The only FINAL FANTASY that was never localised - the third installment of the original series - will finally reach North American shores! Lauded as "legendary" by the Japanese fan base, FINAL FANTASY III has been reborn, incorporating the latest in portable gaming technology. Using the features of the Nintendo DS to their fullest, FINAL FANTASY III
features graphics that have been reworked and remodeled in 3D, while maintaining the mythical FINAL FANTASY look and feel.

This is the fans' chance to complete the circle. The legend of FINAL FANTASY III is reborn.

FINAL FANTASY III will be released 2006. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

This really is such a huge line-up for Square Enix. The Final Fantasy games that are coming will definitely light up the market, especially the fully reworked Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS. As long as Square Enix keeps focusing on how this has NEVER been released in the West, it will stop people getting confused with Final Fantasy VI, which was released as FFIII on the SNES due to Nintendo's crazy numbering system caused by a lack of faith to release all the FF games in the West.

Children of Mana was a given for a Western release, with many already touting a possible August / September release. But no confirmed date has been given. And it is great news to hear that both Final Fantasy V and VI will make a 2006 release. What will be interesting is just what is added to FFVI, since there is basically no graphical improvement from recent screens. The game looked gorgeous on the SNES and clearly does not require a major upgrade for the GBA release, so that means the focus must be on extra content. Time will tell...

And a great hurrah must go out for the second Slime Mori Mori game coming to US shores after the first GBA version missed out. The game received critical acclaim in Japan and sold something like 250,000-270,000 units on the Nintendo DS over the Christmas period and definitely deserved a Western release. Hopefully this risk means Nintendo will follow suit with its previously Japan-only games, such as Legend of Starfi 4, Mother 3 and Magical Vacation 2.

But it is not just Nintendo fans that will be over-joyed by the Square Enix release as the company has the following games on other platforms to look forward to:

PlayStation 2 - Dawn of Mana, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan and Final Fantasy XII.

PlayStation Portable - Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

E3 just got extremely hot...