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Square Enix has announced that Europe will get a collector’s edition for Final Fantasy XIII when it’s released in March. It will feature a hardback art book, exclusive art prints, a collectible decal, and of course, the reason we’re telling you about this, a soundtrack disc.
While we already know that the game’s official soundtrack [2] is will be released on 4 discs, this “Original Sound Selection” disc, as they’re calling it, will only come as a single disc with tracks hand-picked by composer Masashi Hamauzu [3]. It will also contain liner notes from Hamauzu on the selected tracks. Still a pretty cool bonus if you ask me, and I hope the US gets a similar package. I’m kind of surprised they’re including this given that there’s a full soundtrack release due out this month. Perhaps the Original Sound Selection disc will encourage people to seek out the complete soundtrack?
Are you looking forward to the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack release his week? If it comes to the US, will you be picking up the FFXIII Limited Collector’s Edition in March?
Hit the jump for the official press release.
Friday 22nd January/ …Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, today announces a LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION of FINAL FANTASY®XIII will be available at launch.
FINAL FANTASY XIII, the latest project in the multi-platinum FINAL FANTASY series will be available for both the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft on 9th March 2010.
The LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION, which will be available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, will comprise the FINAL FANTASY XIII game; FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Sound Selection – an exclusive soundtrack CD featuring in-game music tracks especially chosen for the Limited Collector’s Edition by composer Masashi Hamauzu; The World of FINAL FANTASY XIII – a hardback book featuring character artwork, CG rendered artwork and environments from across the game’s production; Exclusive Art Prints – three highly collectable prints showing artwork of the Eidolons, the powerful summoned allies of the lead playable characters; and a Unique ‘Brand of the l’Cie’ decal – a collectible decal featuring the most iconic symbol from the game’s storyline. The LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION will be available in a branded presentation box.
Larry Sparks, Vice President Brands PAL Region of Square Enix Ltd. comments, “FINAL FANTASY XIII is one of the most anticipated entertainment releases of all time and we’re pleased to announce this LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION for fans across PAL territories, the contents of which have been individually selected by the FINAL FANTASY XIII development team.”
About FINAL FANTASY XIII
FINAL FANTASY XIII marks the dawning of a new era for the celebrated series, bringing the game to multiple hi-definition consoles simultaneously for the first time in its history.
Expanding upon the rich tradition of the series, producer Yoshinori Kitase (FINAL FANTASY VII, X, X-2), director Motomu Toriyama (FINAL FANTASY VII, X, X-2), character designer Tetsuya Nomura (FINAL FANTASY V, VI, VII, VIII, X) and art director Isamu Kamikokuryo (FINAL FANASY X, XII) combine their creative vision to deliver the latest masterpiece in the FINAL FANTASY universe. Additionally, Masashi Hamauzu (FINAL FANTASY X, DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII-) presents a sweeping soundtrack while movie director Takeshi Nozue (FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN) and his team of artists adorn the game with seamless cinematic sequences of unparalleled calibre.
For more information about FINAL FANTASY XIII, please visit the Official Website at www.finalfantasy13game.com [4]
Limited Collector’s Edition features
Branded presentation box containing the FINAL FANTASY XIII game, plus:
* FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Sound Selection: Soundtrack CD including a selection of music tracks from the game that are especially chosen for this Limited Collector’s Edition by composer Masashi Hamauzu. The CD is presented inside a slipcase featuring artwork from FINAL FANTASY XIII, and also liner notes that are written by the composer.
* The World of FINAL FANTASY XIII: Hardback book featuring character artwork, CG rendered artwork and environments from across the game production.
* Unique ‘Brand of the l’Cie’ decal: Collectible decal featuring this most iconic symbol from the game storyline
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd., a part of Square Enix Europe business unit, is a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world. Square Enix Ltd. publishes and distributes entertainment content from the Square Enix Group including Square Enix, Eidos and Taito in Europe and other PAL territories. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 92 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 53 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 35 million units worldwide, together with other well established products.
More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com [5]
Comments Disabled To "Final Fantasy XIII Limited Collector’s Edition: Music Included… in Europe"
#1 Comment By Juha On January 26, 2010 @ 5:08 am
This is rather peculiar. Usually it’s yurop which misses all great JRPG stuff, or gets some botched version of it, like FFX PAL version, which is pure crap in its video game container.
#2 Comment By Wes Chung On January 26, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
It’s possible that the recent surge in video game orchestral performances in Europe increased S-E’s awareness of its popularity there. Aside from that, I get the feeling XIII is aiming to reclaim the glory days of VII, and from what I’ve heard from Japanese players, it’s not entirely unsuccessful there.
Despite this Collector’s Edition, we (PAL and NTSC) are still getting a relatively ‘botched’ version: dub only, different (non-original, copy/pasted) theme song. I understood the choice between languages back when we were using DVDs for games, especially since the PAL release often had to cater to more than just English speaking countries. I remember importing a few games on ps2 from the US just to access dual-language.
But to make FFXIII a single language…on a blu-ray? I suppose the fact that it’s also coming out on the 360 affects that. Imagine the uproar if Pal ps3 owners got dual language and 360 owners didn’t.
But to counter that, I’m not unhappy with the English dubbing I’ve seen so far, even Lightning. Which is a big call from me, being a relatively devout Sakamoto Maaya fan. Doubt I’ll bother getting a collector’s edition like this, but only because I’ll grab the full OST instead…and don’t really need artbooks. Got enough from VII and onwards collecting dust on the shelves.