Kingdom Hearts III & More?!

[MagitekElite]

DISNEY BUYS MARVEL?!

Gamers looking for a partial taste of the next Kingdom Hearts game will have to play through Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which should be hitting Japan sometime this winter. In an interview with Famitsu, Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura stated that Birth by Sleep possesses a secret video that will provide some insight for the next game. This may remind players of Kingdom Hearts I and II, as they both had their own mystery endings. Unfortunately, Nomura wouldn’t budge when asked if he was referring to Kingdom Hearts III.

Famitsu: Do you think people will want to replay the first title after clearing this one?

Nomura: Hmmm, I think there are a lot of puzzling elements, so maybe they’ll want to play the next game…And there’ll be a secret movie too.

Famitsu: The next game!? Do you mean “III”!?

Nomura: The next game will be the next game (laughs)

Source: Nintendo

Other news:

Final Fantasy XIV world Eorzea will have it’s own religion, producer Hiromichi Tanaka told VG247 at GamesCom earlier this month.

“It will have its own religion. It’ll be a really unique type of world,” said Tanaka of the MMO.
He added: “This time with the world of Eorzea, what we’re trying to achieve is a very unique world. It’s going to be difficult to say whether it’s in the future or in the past. It’ll have some type of sci-fi element to it, and at the same time having medieval elements, so it’s really going to be difficult to say what type of world it’s going to be.

FFXIV is heading towards the PS3 and PC next year with an Xbox 360 release planned afterwards.

Source: VG247

Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase told Kotaku at Gamescom this week that development time on Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be "comparatively faster" than that of the core entry, Final Fantasy XIII. That reassuring update to the more action-oriented entry in the Fabula Nova Crystallis project came after Kitase said that the time to model characters and enemies in FFXIII was taking about one-third the time it did at the beginning of the project.

We knew that some Versus team members had been pulled off that project to work on XIII, and Kitase said that the team's "knowledge and experience" gained from their work will help ensure Versus is out faster.

If Kitase's "comparatively faster" estimate is accurate, we'll hopefully see Versus XIII by 2011, give or take, since the game and Final Fantasy XIII have been in development for at least five years, maybe more. Still a long way out, but at least Final Fantasy XIV should be out by then, giving fans something to do in the in-between.

Source: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Dev Time "Comparatively Faster" Than FFXIII

DISNEY BUYS MARVEL?!

Disney’s announced it’s acquiring Marvel for around $4 billion. That’s roughly $50 per Marvel share, a 30 percent premium to Marvel’s current share price.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Disney head Robert A Iger.

“Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

Disney now owns over 5,000 Marvel characters. There may be some videogames involved.

Worldwide leader in family entertainment agrees to acquire Marvel and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters
BURBANK, Calif. & NEW YORK, Aug 31, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — –Acquisition highlights Disney’s strategic focus on quality branded content, technological innovation and international expansion to build long-term shareholder value

Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.
“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.

Source: What?!
This is my first news post, hope you liked it! :P

[DuMbAsS]

Hey Marvel got bought out? By a children's (well not as much anymore but!) movie group?

[MagitekElite]

I think its cool! CNN just now got it lol
We could see Spider-man or Wolverine

Having Marvel characters in KHIII could be a great thing. It could open a wider area for other new fans and old fans.

[DuMbAsS]

Hum... Make a great game. Just hope they don't ruin the characters. I'm a really big marvel and dc comics fan. I mean big. I spent a whole week wiki -ing all I could about them.

[MagitekElite]

I grew up in a Marvel/DC house; Comics, shows, movies, toys and figures. Everything! Not only were my parents big fans, but my older siblings are too and now me and the other siblings love em as well.

[DuMbAsS]

Serious superhero love here.

[MagitekElite]

Yeah, I hope in KHIII we get some heros or something ^^
I just hope its not Super man.
*shivers in fear*

[DuMbAsS]

Super man would be like hercules though technically. Cause Herc is a god compared to everyone. Oh yeah, so is hades.

Lets get Spiderman in there or hulk. Hulk could be the secret boss cause he's like near invincible but not impossible to kill unlike superman. Woo that would be fun!

[MagitekElite]

Wow, I never thought of Hulk! Or maybe Batman?! That would be rad!

[DuMbAsS]

Yeah utility belt. And batman was like a superhuman. Without superhuman powers. Wow this might actually work yet.

[MagitekElite]

Plus, he constantly struggles between the light and darkness :P He'd make a great candidate for KHIII.

[DuMbAsS]

Oh yeah. That's perfect. He'd take our beloved Kain or Cecil's place. Now that doesn't sound as appealling but hey awesomeness.

[MagitekElite]

Kain can't be in KH games, because of a lot of reasons.

EDIT:
Sorry...I have to head to bed! 12:38 am here and I have school tomorrow. I'll be on later!

Later, cheers and goodbye for now!
:P

[Garland]

Wow! Great post Magitek, and a great comeback at that! Though... I can't get over Disney taking over yet another industry. I fear it may aquire all North American media companies, and then use it's authority to dumb down each of them.
I mean, have you seen the trailer to the new disney cartoon? A black Princess, in the south? WTF!?

[tug31]

If by some miracle it WOULD come to pass, I want Joker and Harley in the game (w/bats of course). Plus, I would love J.J. just for, "Honey, be a dear and get mommy's bazooka."

[MagitekElite]

Thanks, Garland!

I mean, have you seen the trailer to the new disney cartoon? A black Princess, in the south? WTF!?

I'm not racist...but that movie looks incredibly dumb.

[Bub]

It would be cool to have Marvel characters in KHIII and maybe Chaos and Cosmos. But that won't happen.

[DuMbAsS]

Chaos and Cosmos are god like beings aren't they? They could have the two try to persuade the player character to doing dark or light things.

[Bub]

Good idea. Sorta off topic, but if they made a Dissisia II they should have Sora and Ansem from KH and Roxas and Axel from KHII. Also maybe additional side characters from all of the FF games. (Ex. Zack and Genisis.) Just my opinion.

[MagitekElite]

Originally Posted by DuMbAsS

Chaos and Cosmos are god like beings aren't they? They could have the two try to persuade the player character to doing dark or light things.

That would be great; new hero or villain. You pick a side to fight for...no wait, than its Star Wars games lol

It still be would be cool if we had a new hero instead of Sora or Roxas/Ven/Ventus.