Gamertell

Nearly a year after its Japanese launch in December 2007, and half a year after its North American launch in July 2008, Square Enix’s Chocobo-centric rogue-like role-playing game for the Wii, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon, will finally be made available across Europe and other PAL territories on November 7, 2008.

Featuring character designs by Toshiyuki Itahana (Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles), Chocobo’s Dungeon follows Final Fantasy staple character Cid and his trusty Chocobo companion as they find themselves in a mysterious village full of amnesiacs.

Players are tasked with guiding the Chocobo through a series of randomly generated dungeons in order to track down the villager’s lost memories…

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It was an ordinary day. I was checking a site to add as a link to another story on Gamertell, when an unusual icon at the Square Enix Members site caught my eye. “Game Zone is now open?“ I wondered, though not aloud as I was still at work and didn’t want to attract interest. I clicked through to find four mini-games, all promoting Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon.

There are four flash games available, and all are pretty similar to the mini-games found in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, which was released on the DS a while back. There’s Chocobo’s Snowboard Glide,  Chocobo Flight, Chocobo’s Balancing Act and Chocobo’s Classmate. All games use the mouse, and have happy perky Chocobo themes playing in the background.

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This has to be one of the cutest, Square Enix-related items I’ve seen. In honor the of the recent Chocobo’s Dungeon Wii release, the Uki Uki Chocobo was created. Yup, he’s a little rubber duck Chocobo, which NCSX is affectionately referring to as a “rubber chocky.“ NCSX is also taking preorders for the $13.50 item, which is expected to ship before the end of June, 2008.

This adorable little chocobo can either be used like a rubber duck, helping defend you against bathtub kraken (like Ultros) or act as a decorative accent on a shelf. Either way works, and either way is incredibly cute. It is also appropriate for all ages, since its a solid chunk of plastic.

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The fine feathered creatures known as chocobos will soon be infesting the Wii. Square Enix has announced that on July 8, 2008, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon will be released on the Wii. Chocobo’s Dungeon is an established rogue-like rpg series in Japan, with two previous titles appearing on the PS1. For its release outside of Japan, however, it is being grouped into the same catagory as the previous DS release Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. A rating hasn’t been assigned to the game yet, but Square Enix has confirmed that it will retail for $39.99.

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Strapya has recently stocked new Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales keychain accessories. Both items are randomly packed in boxes and are being sold for $4.89. The keychain accessories are the perfect size to either guard your keys or to act as a charm on your cell phone or portable console.

The Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales assortment features 13 different figures from the DS release. Technically there are only eight different figures, as there are special ‘crystal’ versions of the chocobo, moogle, black mage Croma, Jail Bird chocobos and Volg. To be honest, the solid characters look better than the crystallized ones, so hope that’s what would be waiting in your box if you buy one.

The Dragon Quest slime mascots are the typical slime characters from the various games in the series. There are six different, squishy slimes which might reside in the box delivered to your door. They’re handly little portable stress balls which just happen to also be pretty darn cute.

Read [Aeropause] Site [Strapya]

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Our favorite Japanese import site, J-List (J-Box), is offering another silly stuffed creation to adorn your bed: The Chocobo plush.

This little yellow guy - or gal? - is approximately 7x7 in. and is being offered as a preorder for $20 on the site. In its hands is a book, as if it can read, that has a nonsensical title and appears to have an icon of infamous and hard to find Final Fantasy cactus creature. This is an official, Square Enix licensed product created after the November 2006 release of Chocobo’s Magic Book for the Nintendo DS in Japan.

Product Page [Chocobo Plush] Read [Destructoid] Site [Chocobo’s Magic Book (Japanese)]

EDITOR’S NOTE: J-List feature items not suitable for gamers under the age of 18. As such, we provide links to J-Box, which is suitable for gamers of all ages.

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Peter Payne’s site specializing in all thing Japanese, J-List (and J-Box for the under-18 crowd), has posted a few new videogame related items.

For today’s installment, one of the silliest licensed products I’ve seen - the Chocobo Seat Cushion.

I’d get this just to psych out opponents at game tourneys. Sit there, looking all tough and bad ass. Then, when that crucial moment in the game arrives when you need to score the winning move/kill/slash…

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