Welcome to our E3 2011 coverage! Unfortunately, Kingdom Hearts did not make an appearance at the event. However, sqexgal is attending the event and thankfully has been able to cover it for us! You can read about all of the exciting announcements at E3 below, thanks to her, or follow her Twitter for live updates and exclusive photos. We'll keep you posted!
Kingdom Hearts news
When the PlayStation Vita was announced (more below), Sony provided a list of developers that will be developing for this platform, and Square Enix appears on the list. Kingdom Hearts maybe? Always the possibility.
Other news
Information
The PlayStation Vita, the successor to the PlayStation portable, was officially announced with more details surrounding it. It was revealed that they are aiming for a release "this holiday season", at a price of US$250 for the WiFi only version, and $300 for the WiFi+3G version.
The successor to the Wii, previously known as "Project Café", is now official known as Wii U which stands for "Wii Universal". It features controllers with screens on it that allow the console to be played without the television. The new device is meant to be a component to the Wii rather than an all new device.
Various games including Final Fantasy XIII-2 were shown, with new trailers for many. These can all be seen below under "videos".
Impressions
Prepping for E3 2011
FFXIII-2 Trailers Short & Extended
E3 2011 FFXIII-2 Demo Report
E3 2011 Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
E3 2011 Other 3DS Demos
E3 2011 Zelda HD
E3 2011 Disney Universe
E3 2011 Disneyland Interactive
Images
You can see photos of the event at sqexgal's yfrog account.
Videos
Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailer
Mass Effect 3 trailer
Star Wars: Old Republic trailer
Halo trailer
Assassin's Creed Revelations trailer
Mario Kart 3D trailer
Final Fantasy XIII-2 gameplay
Super Mario Bros 3DS trailer
Kid Icarus 2011 trailer
Paper Mario 3DS trailer
New Sonic Generations trailer
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time trailer
Luigi's Mansion 2 trailer
Tomb Raider trailer
Wii U demo gameplay
Square Enix have released Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as an Ultimate Hits title. Ultimate Hits represent the best titles as recognized by Square Enix. This version of 358/2 Days is exactly the same game, however comes with a new cover and is now available from Square Enix's online store at a price of ¥2,940 (approximately US$36.66).
There has been a lot of discussion about the possibility that Kingdom Hearts will not appear at E3 2011. Well, we're happy to inform you that this is probably not true! These particular rumors come from the fact that Square Enix have announced a lineup of games that they will feature at E3 2011, and no Kingdom Hearts games appear on the list.
However, not to worry! There are many possible explanations why this could be so-- firstly, if a new Kingdom Hearts game is to be announced at the event (as is likely, see here), then such a game would be kept secret until the actual event. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was not announced until the actual event, so it makes sense that the same would occur. Secondly, people are missing that Dream Drop Distance was featured at Nintendo's show, rather than Square Enix's. This explains why Dream Drop Distance does not appear on the list, and means we can probably look forward to the same thing this year. So, don't worry, we will still have a lot of exciting stuff happening at E3 2011!
Now, we want to discuss our coverage of the event, so you're properly prepared to experience it on the day. E3 2011 begins on June 7, and runs until June 9. The main event starts at 10AM PDT on the first day, and we can expect to get much of the content on this day! As for our coverage...
KH13.com is determined to bring you the best coverage for E3 2011! As soon as any information appears, it will be added to both our news stream on the homepage, as well as our dedicated page for E3 2011. sqexgal is personally attending the event as a media representative, and thus will be able to provide exclusive information. Secondly, we also have a news team ready to collate everything that appears and relay it back to you, from sources everywhere. Please look forward to this!
We'd like to announce the joining of two new staff members to KH13! sqexgal and goldpanner will be joining us from HEARTSTATION.ORG. They will act as our official translators, have the ability to edit pages on the site, and may occasionally submit news. We're really privileged to have them here, and we hope you make them both feel welcome!
On a related note, we're happy to announce who we will be sending to E3 2011. sqexgal, mentioned before, will be attending on behalf of KH13. This means we should be able to get exclusive coverage, including photos and videos of the event! We hope you're looking forward to this. E3 2011 will start on 7 June, in only 5 days.
Square Enix have opened their official website for E3 2011. The website, which is linked to in the previous sentence, currently does not display any information, yet will most likely update in the coming days until E3 2011. We'll be sure to keep you updated with anything that appears! E3 2011 starts on June 7, in only 6 days. Remember, KH13.com is sending someone to E3, and we'll announce who this is in a couple of days time. Stay tuned!
We've been working hard over the last week to develop a new section for you. And now, we are going to reveal that section to you. It is the music archive. This archive, which you can access in the main menu in the header, as well as in the links panel on the left-hand side of most pages, has each and every Kingdom Hearts song available for you to listen to.
One of the major features is the "Shuffle" page, which takes you to a random song and plays it, going to a new song when the first finishes. We would love for you to check this out! In addition to that, we also have individual pages for each soundtrack and each song, in case you had something specific in mind.
We hope you enjoy this new section! It will be updated over the next few days, so you can look forward to even more features, but in the meantime please browse the archive and enjoy music from Kingdom Hearts. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment at our forum.
As we reported last week, the reason for the lack of updates from us recently is that we have been working on a major new section of KH13.com. While we aren't going to tell you what it is yet, we can tell you that we will release it tomorrow, at 11AM EST. The new section will be as important as Videos and the Gallery, and something we think the majority of you will enjoy! Please look forward to it, and feel free to discuss what you think it will be at our forum.
UnBirth Wings have revealed that there are going to be novels for Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. What appears to be an advertisement in Japan has shown that the first of these novels will be releasing during July 2011 at a price of ￥800 (approximately US$9.74). Please stay tuned as we hope to have a novels section on KH13 in the near future.
Concerning E3 2011, we have a tidbit of news for you which leads to some speculation about the event. Sony have announced that they will be releasing past PSP titles as games for the PlayStation 3. Titled "PSP Remaster", these games will be the best-selling titles for PSP and will be remade with HD graphics and PS3-specific features.
So, what do you think; will Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep be remade for the PS3? While nothing is certain yet, it is definitely a possibility. Birth by Sleep is one of the highest selling titles for PSP, so the chances are high. We may find out more at E3 2011, which is in only 16 days! We hope you're looking forward to this event.
While we haven't had many updates to report in the last couple days, not to worry! That's because we've been working behind-the-scenes to bring you a major new section of KH13.com. While we aren't going to tell you what it is yet, we can tell you that this new section is on the scale of our Videos and Gallery sections. So, what do you think it is? Let us know by leaving a comment at our forum.
Secondly, we wanted to discuss E3 2011 with you. E3 2011 has been the subject of much discussion lately. While it is certain that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will appear at the event, it is unknown if any other future Kingdom Hearts titles will appear or not. However, we could like you to check out this reasoning of why other Kingdom Hearts titles WILL appear. It is written by Grass from KHInsider and is very informative and well-reasoned.
Anyway, we hope you look forward to all future updates!
Game Informer have announced a list of games that are confirmed to appear at E3 2011, the upcoming event. Kingdom Hearts 3D appears on this list. Although we previously knew that the game would make an appearance due to an announcement last year by Tetsuya Nomura, this is the first confirmation we have received from a third party. While other Kingdom Hearts titles are not yet confirmed to appear, the possibility exists. Please keep checking back as we announce more news relating to E3 2011, which starts in 19 days.
You can now be notified of any updates to KH13.com by email! At the bottom of the homepage, you'll notice a place to input your email address and subscribe. Here, if you follow the prompts, you will be subscribed to our news feed via email and receive prompt notifications of KH13 updates. We hope you enjoy this new feature.
E3 2011, the gaming event occurring in only 21 days, has had its floor plan revealed. This can be seen below, in our gallery, with the Square Enix exhibit highlighted. Also, in order to provide you with the most up-to-date information concerning E3 2011, we have created a dedicated page for it on our website, which can be accessed from the new Events section. Enjoy.
E3 2011
Square Enix have registered the trademark "SE Masterpieces" in Europe. This trademark, uncovered by NeoGAF, covers video games, as well as printed media and digital distribution. While it is unknown exactly what "SE Masterpieces" refers to, there is a good possibility that it is a re-release of past Kingdom Hearts titles. Square Enix have used "Masterpieces" in the past to refer to a Kingdom Hearts re-release, specifically a packaging of Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II in Japan titled Kingdom Hearts: Trinity Master Pieces. However, it remains to be seen what this new video game from Square Enix is. Hopefully we will find out more as we lead up to E3 2011, which is in only 22 days.
Volume 3 of the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep novel series, titled To the Future, is set to release in Japan on 26 May 2011, available at a price of ¥750 (US$9.29). The cover of this novel has finally been revealed thanks to Square Enix's "GAME BOOKS ONLINE". This cover can now be seen below, in our gallery.
Birth by Sleep > Volume 3
