It’s D-Day for Square Enix and Sony in Japan as the PS3 exclusive version of Final Fantasy XIII arrives on store shelves in its motherland.

Both Square Enix and Sony have been banking on Final Fantasy XIII to give both their fortunes a boost in Japan. Sony’s PS3 has proved popular there, but overall console gaming in Japan lags behind the handheld behemoth that is the DS and to a lesser extent PSP – and Sony and Square Enix will be hoping today’s launch can prove big-budget console games still have it.

For Sony this is also a landmark day as after seeing RPG franchises such as Star Ocean and Tales as well as new properties including Blue Dragon, The Last Remnant and Lost Odyssey release either exclusively or first on the Xbox 360, they at last have an earth-shatteringly big RPG to call their own – in Japan at least. Read more