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For those of you who play old school RPGs or are fans of the Final Fantasy franchise, yesterday was a great day. We saw the release of Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS. If you don’t know what this is all about, let me give you a little history lesson. Final Fantasy IV was originally Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo. The series was published in Japan but seemed to stop here in the US. In 2002, Final Fantasy Anthology was released on the Playstation and included FFIV. This was just a port of the original Japanese with a new CG intro. The game was more difficult and many players didn’t like the lack of an update to the graphics. Square Enix, following the success of FFIII on the DS decided a 3D remake of FFIV would be a good idea. Thank you to Square Enix!

I’m playing right now and believe that this has to be one of the prettiest games on the Nintendo DS. I have played almost all the way through the original on the SNES and plan on finishing the story on the DS instead. So far the game is a little harder than I remember, but the extra features and the 3D facelift make this a winner. I’ll have an update once I complete the game to let everyone know what I thought about it overall.

VAMPIRES BEWARE: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER HIGH-KICKING HER WAY ONTO DS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Milton Keynes, July 11th – 505 Games today announced a deal with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising to unleash an official new game based on the world-famous Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise, exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

Currently under development by Romanian studio Beast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice combines third-person and first-person gameplay to create an experience like nothing else on Nintendo DS. The stakes are high for players as they take on the role of Buffy to seal the re-opened Hellmouth in an original story penned by Rob Deshotel, a writer from the TV series.

This action-packed 3D survival horror game sees Buffy using a range of special weapons, powerful spells and martial arts to take out vicious vampires and demons. In addition to these enemies, players also come across recognisable characters from the show, including Spike, Angel, the Master, the First Evil, Caleb and, of course, the Scooby Gang.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for 505 Games and we’re working extremely closely with Fox to ensure this is the definitive Buffy the Vampire Slayer experience,” said Rowan Tafler, Global Brand Manager, 505 Games. “Buffy’s return to videogames is great for long-time fans of the franchise and we hope the huge market reach of the Nintendo DS will help to create new fans too.”

Elie Dekel, Executive Vice President Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising added, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a franchise that continues to excite people around the world. Although there are no new productions of the series there is an enduring legacy that lives on through syndication, comic books and video games like these. We’re sure DS players are going to love this version.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice will be available exclusively throughout Europe on Nintendo DS November 2008.

Key features:

• Play as Buffy the Vampire Slayer through 24 levels using a third person camera.
• Unlock and use more than 20 types of unique Slayer weapons.
• Fight more than 12 different level bosses and sub-bosses, including First Evil, the boss of all bosses.
• Play “Challenge Mode” in first-person for fast-paced action and an increased difficulty level.
• Solve puzzle missions to unlock new areas.
• Collect spells to increase Buffy’s supernatural and physical abilities.
• Explore 12 dynamic environments and search for up to four hidden ones.
• Use breakable objects located within in all environments to battle demons and vampires.
• Unique story set after the climactic seventh season of the TV series, written by Rob Deshotel, one of the original writers of the TV series.
• Explore locations from the TV show, including Sunnydale High, the Bronze and the Hellmouth.