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According to unofficial sales numbers from Japan, Final Fantasy XIII has fallen down to number four on the sales list over there, after a very big million-plus release day and a record-breaking first week. But otaku take heart: even though sales of the game dropped over a million units in the second week, this wasn't unexpected.

Final Fantasy games always tend to take a dip after the "day one purchase" audience gets their copies. The last iteration of the series took a 1.5 million unit hit in week two. But even with the lower sales, about 200,000 copies were traded for the appropriate cost in yen, which indicates Square Enix is likely still on track to meet or exceed its six million target worldwide. That's a lot of chocobos.

[Via Kotaku]

Last month -- utilizing the spamming power of Twitter -- Microsoft and Square Enix partnered to offer Xbox Live users a free baby chocobo pet for their Avatars if they registered their Gamertags during the social media promotion. After weeks of waiting for the marketing plan to run its course, codes for the tiny companion have been sent to participating users via email. Sadly -- as Major Nelson points out -- those who did not participate in the promotion cannot get the pet, but we anticipate the baby chocobo will find its way onto the Avatar Marketplace at some point.

Reminiscent of the baby chocobo that nests within Final Fantasy XIII hero Sazh Katzroy's gorgeous afro, our baby chocobo only seems to flutter around, refusing to nest within our own Avatar hairdos. We presume that feature will be some kind of pre-order bonus for Final Fantasy XIII when it launches on March 9, 2010.

In a feat considerably easier than breeding a golden chocobo in Final Fantasy VII, fans of Square Enix's thirteenth Final outing have unlocked a special Xbox Live Avatar item through the power of word of mouth (via keyboard). After garnering enough specially tagged messages on Twitter (some speculate that this may have represent some sort of "marketing tactic"), the folks at Microsoft have seen fit to entrust an adorable virtual chocobo to your Avatar.

If you're in North America, UK, France or Germany and registered on the site, you can expect a download code via email by mid-December. If not, we've placed something after the break to cheer you up.

[Via @AceyBongos]

We've spent a little time admiring amazing lunches before, but we haven't yet donated our weekly time in the community spotlight to the fine art of bento-making ... until today. Yes, friends, today we're going to make you hungry with these fantastic Nintendo-themed boxed lunches. Slice up some carrot and mold your rice into a ball, then head into our gallery and check out some amazing gamer bento.

Looks like everywhere is skinny on games this week. On the one hand, that's probably good; these release-heavy weeks can be hard on the ol' pocketbook, and this is supposed to be a season of giving, not a season of going out and buying all the games you want. On the other hand, if you're in Europe, you're looking at just one game this week. At least it's Harvest Moon and not Teddy Bears Go Shopping or something.

So who's up for C.O.R.E.?

• Build-a-lot
• Cate West The Vanishing Files
• C.O.R.E.
• Driver's Ed Portable
• Left Brain Right Brain 2
• Slingo Quest

With two chocobo-centric games heading to the DS, cash-poor gamers may have to make a terrible decision: chocobo, or chocobo? Oh, the horror! They're both adorable, but one is packed with mini-games based on familiar stories, and the other is based on familiar (as in, old school) gameplay packed with aspects that will kick your ass. Similar in some ways, they are, but in the end? Very different.

If forced to choose, which would be your one chocobo game to rule them all: Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+ or Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes.

How do you like your Chocobo: hanging with Cid, or, uh, hanging with Cid? While we're clearly gonna need to choose hanging with Cid, we'll offer a caveat -- everything Chocobo has to be super cute. With that in mind, while we know you're probably more interested in Chocobo's Dungeon DS+, that trailer is tucked away behind the break, because the above video, for the Chocobo Tales sequel, is just adorable.

The cute little Chocobo has really warked his way into the spotlight: after Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales on the DS, Square Enix was inspired to revive the Chocobo's Dungeon series on Wii ... and then, this summer, Square Enix announced one of each for the DS, as a follow-up to the success of Chocobo Tales. That's one busy little bird.

New details and screenshots are available at last on Chocobo's foray into the land of Final Fantasy Fables. Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon: Majiyo to Otome to Gojin no Yuusha (Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch, The Maiden, and the Five Heroes) follows the fat chocobo as he ventures, this time, into a story book drawn by Cid. Both of Square Enix's new Chocobo games focus heavily on Cid, so we're not surprised to see the franchise staple putting pen to page in this game. Players will tackle more than 40 mini-games when the title is released in Japan this December.


[Via Siliconera]

Square Enix has just announced that their adorable rogue-lite, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, will launch in PAL territories on October 31. Quite an appropriate release date for a game about dressing up in various Final Fantasy job-related outfits! We also see the appropriateness in a Halloween release in a genre that you should be quite afraid of. It's kind of unfortunate that almost four months will have elapsed between the North American and PAL releases, but at least the release date is cool, right?

Despite the cutesy exterior, Chocobo's Dungeon is still a for-real RPG, and, according to reviewers, one worth checking out for its soundtrack as well as its challenge!

The Japanese release date for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia might not seem like useful information to you readers out west, but the desperate, Castlevania-starved gamers among you will at least now know the exact day their import copy will begin its trans-Pacific journey towards their hands -- October 23rd, 2008.

Furthermore, considering that the US release for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was only three weeks after Japan's, we also now have a general idea of when Order of Ecclesia will see its stateside release -- mid-November.

Square Enix also has two titles scheduled to hit Japan during the tenth month, Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One (October 2nd) and Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Labyrinth of Time DS+ (October 30th), the latter being a roguelike remake of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Perhaps the publisher will keep the promise it made back in March to aim for simultaneous worldwide releases with its new titles? It's unlikely, but we can dream ...

The Japanese don't want one Chocobo themed game -- they want two. And that's exactly what they're getting this week on their PS Store update. Five new PS1 games are available for 600 yen each, and two of them are about Square Enix's notorious yellow mascots. Here they are:

• Grille Logic
• Dice de Chocobo
• Chocobo Stallion
• Arkanoid Returns
• Yamasa Digi Selection

[Via Siliconera]

This week saw the long wait for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon come to an end. Square Enix fans, Chocobo fans and dungeon crawling fans alike all have something new and fun to play. The critics seemed to like it, is what we're saying. But, what about you all?

Our weekend is pretty much going to be full of Civilization Revolution, until next week arrives and we find ourselves neck-deep in work. Are you going to be playing Chocobo's Dungeon, or is this weekend going to find you playing something else?

Making sure that you get the message -- the message being "Chocobos are really cute; buy our Chocobo games" -- Square Enix has posted trailers for its two recently revealed fall-bound Chocobo titles, Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+ and Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes.

As you might be able to tell in the promotional clip and the game's title, Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon is an enhanced port of Chocobo's Dungeon (released in the U.S. for the Wii this week) with more focus on Final Fantasy regular Cid. Given the nature of roguelikes, this DS release doesn't look like that much of a "downgraded" experience compared to the Wii version!

The Chocobo and the Magic Storybook clip isn't nearly as epic, but if you're enough of a Chocobo fan to have read this far into the post, you'll likely want to watch it anyway. Jump past the break for more of the flightless, chubby bird.

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is warking on over to the Wii today, and this excites us for two reasons. For one, we're entirely ready for the cuteness overload that is sure to engulf us while playing the game. Seriously, dressing up Chocobos in cute little class outfits? We're not even sure we can handle that level of adorability. The second reason is that it's a roguelike RPG, and we can definitely use some more representation for this niche genre on the Wii.

We don't want to play a bad game, though, so we're interested in seeing what the critics have to say before giving Square Enix our hard-earned $40. If you are, too, then look no further:

1up (B+) found many redeeming qualities about the game, as long as you're willing to embrace the roguelike challenges: "It's difficult, and it's often controller-throwingly infuriating, but the challenge is fundamentally fair -- and the game looks and sounds so good that you'll keep playing to see what comes next. The dungeons are surprisingly pretty for randomly generated affairs, boasting colorful corridors and flashy graphical effects. And the soundtrack is nothing short of amazing, a collection of lush rearrangements of Final Fantasy standbys."

IGN (84/100) thought that this title had a lot of polish, and that Squeenix fans should run to pick this one up: "On the surface, Chocobo's Dungeon appears to be another watered-down entry with its kid-friendly presentation and seemingly simplistic gameplay. But spend a little time with it and layers of depth slowly reveal themselves. This is one of the most engaging, challenging experiences on the Wii, proving that a kiddie presentation doesn't have to mean shallow gameplay."

As a promotion for its Virtual World -- yes, it's a virtual world titled Virtual World -- Square Enix held a special event in the beta 3D space unveiling two new Chocobo titles for the Nintendo DS -- Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+ (fall 2008) and Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes (winter 2008).

Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+, as you can guess, will be a roguelike starring Final Fantasy figures Cid and Chocobo. This will actually be Square Enix's fourth Chocobo Mystery Dungeon entry, an enhanced port of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii, now with new jobs and a storyline told from a new perspective (Cid's).

The chances of this one coming to the U.S.? Given the current "surge" of roguelikes hitting the States, it's very likely we'll get this one! You can preview some of Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon's first screenshots in our gallery below.

The second title, Chocobo and the Magic Storybook: The Witch and the Girl and the Five Heroes, follows 2007's Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, a minigame collection with RPG and card-battling elements. If you remember our favorable review for the original game, we called it "just about the cutest thing ever." Screenshots below!



[Via Duckroll]