White Knight Chronicles is targeting a Q1 2010 release date in the US and Europe -- over a year after its Japanese release last Christmas. The reason the game is taking so long to get to the West is because Level-5 is working on extra content, which will be included on the disc. This content will be patched in to the Japanese version for free at around the same time.

Smaller features that are going to be added to the western release of the game include an autorun feature and improvements to the targeting system. The extra online missions that have been released since the Japanese launch -- roughly two a month -- will also be on the disc. Level-5 is also adding a system that was key to their Dark Cloud series, Georama, which will allow you to create your own town during the online portion of the game. Exactly how it'll work or how it will affect gameplay is unclear.

Level-5 is looking in to getting Japanese voices into the western version of the game for Japanophiles, and is still "working on" voice chat, but White Knight chronicles will definitely support cross-region play for the US and Europe when it launches.

Do you like your RPG trailers with an extra helping of drama and guy-trying-to-sound-like-the-movie-announcer-guy? We hope you said "yes," because the latest official video of SCEA's White Knight Chronicles is pretty bombastic. It's also just plain pretty. The footage is pieced together from in-game visuals, as we saw when playing WKC for our recent hands-on. We even battled as the giant mech White Knight itself, which looks like it could have leapt right out of RahXephon. So, after watching the trailer, what do you think -- is Level 5 doing the PS3 justice?

Level-5's J-RPG White Knight Chronicles has been out in Japan for little under a month now. While some have perhaps already finished the main story, it doesn't mean that the adventure is over just yet. DLC for WKC will appear on the Japanese PS Store on January 15 (tomorrow) and will add new costumes and a whole new quest for online multiplayer.

Those who own the game and plan to download the DLC will find that they'll have to meet certain in-game requirements before triggering the new mission. It'll only appear for those who have a guild rank of 7 or above, and it is recommended that players be at least level 36.

We wonder how frequent Level-5 plans to release these packs, as we're certain that there will be more. Also -- since it was not mentioned in the source article -- is Level-5 charging for this content? We'll probably find that out when the update hits the store tomorrow. Anyway, hopefully we'll see this additional content come our way when the game voyages to North America.

The latest Japanese hardware sales figures show White Knight Chronicles' continued impact throughout the region. Numbers rose from 45,989 during WKC's launch week to 60,654 the next. A rare occurrence, as sales have tended to substantially drop the week after a big release in the past. In fact, the increase means that White Knight Chronicles has sold more PS3s during its two-week launch period than Metal Gear Solid 4.

While MGS4 had higher launch week sales (75,311) it dropped considerably to only 20,336 the next week. A total of 95,647. White Knight Chronicles, on the other hand, has sold a total of 106,643 during its two week launch period, almost 11,000 more. We're intrigued to see how sales of both the game and hardware continue. White Knight Chronicles has already proven a greater success than we first suspected.

The official sales figures for White Knight Chronicles' Japanese debut are finally out. Media Create shows that the game sold just under 207,000 units during the week of December 22nd to the 28th. Bearing in mind that White Knight Chronicles is a new IP and that this figure accounts for only three days of sales, we're impressed. To put it into perspective, White Knight Chronicles now has the third best opening week PS3 sales ranking for the region, after MGS4 (476K) and Devil May Cry 4 (212K). Both of which are long-running and very popular franchises.

White Knight Chronicles also had an impact on PS3 hardware sales, keeping the upward momentum going by increasing sales from 39,136 units the previous week to 45,989 units. This is the highest number of units sold in a single week since Metal Gear Solid 4 was released in June (which shifted 75,311 units). We're intrigued to see how both the game and the PS3 itself continue to sell in the following weeks.

Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has confirmed that the PS3's White Knight Chronicles is coming to North America, though no release window has been announced. This should come as good news to JRPG fans, especially those who like having "Chronicles" in their titles.

In an interview with GameTrailers, Hino also dances around the issue of the game's online features and whether cross-region play will be possible. Check out the full interview after the break.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Yes, White Knight Chronicles is coming to North America; Akihiro Hino, the CEO and president of Level-5, says so himself. In an interview with GameTrailers, Hino reaffirmed that Level-5 plans to bring the game over to North America, but he did not disclose when it would be coming.

Furthermore, when pressed for the possibility of North American gamers playing alongside Japanese gamers in WKC's online components, Hino neither denied nor confirmed the cross-region play with a "hasn't been decided yet" response. This sort of wording leads to speculation that such a feature might be in the works and will be implemented if Level-5 works out all the kinks. It would be great if they do. To see the full video interview, just have a look past the break.

Merry Christmas, Japan! While the Western world grows fat on its own laziness (not to mention a massive amount of Christmas food) Japanese game stores remain open to sell five new great PS3 games. What's that strange smell, you ask? That's our pure, unadulterated jealousy. We really want to play White Knight Chronicles. Here's the release list:

US Games
No new releases

EU Games

No new releases

Asian Games

• Alone In The Dark
• Bioshock
• Far Cry 2
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
• White Knight Chronicles

In case you're wondering, your PS3 is region free. So, yes, you can import White Knight Chronicles if you so wish. We're not sure if it's the sort of game that will get downloadable content, but if it does you'll have to get it from the Japanese PSN Store. Tempting though, isn't it?

Level-5's first big PS3 RPG, White Knight Chronicles, is hitting Japan very soon. In order to get the populace ready for this epic adventure, the official Japanese site now features a beautifully illustrated prequel manga. Simply click on "Special" at the top of the site to get a peek at the first issue. Sure, it's in Japanese, but for fans that are eagerly awaiting this game, this is a nice way of seeing the expansive world of WKC.

The last time we did a story on White Knight Chronicles, we were bringing you a 14-minute look at Level-5's studio and the online components of the game. It was an interesting look, having the developers show everyone around, but now it' time for a new trailer (and even more footage of online play).

The trailer posted above is the same one that was played at the Tokyo Game Show last month. A lot of it includes spliced up imagery from the first trailer the year, before but it's got a few new things in there. The vid posted after the break shows us a little bit about how the "live party" online portion of the game works. Get into that if you want to know more.

Way back last month at the Tokyo Game Show, Sony's booth had a small closed theater for White Knight Chronicles. After watching an all-Japanese interview and a brief trailer, closed theater-goers received a little card which gives access to a special video made available starting today. While all of you couldn't grab a card and consequently are not able to see this new video, we've done the work for you and are hosting the special treat for you to watch right here.

White Knight Chronicles fans (especially the ones who can understand Japanese) will surely be interested in seeing this 14-minute long look into the making of the game. The first five minutes takes us on a guided tour through Level-5's posh Fukuoka studio. CEO and president of Level-5, Akihiro Hino, then takes us through eight minutes of the battle system, fending off overgrown monsters and transforming into the White Knight himself. The last minute includes some footage seen from the TGS trailer. So watch it right now! WNC is out in Japan on Christmas Day, December 25.

We're still recovering from our trip to TGS (in fact, we're still here in Tokyo). However, we thought you'd appreciate this list of new games which will definitely be supporting Trophies when they release on the PS3. Big first-party and third-party titles can be found on this list:

• Demon's Soul
• Derby Time Online
• Gomibako
• Quantum Theory
• Resident Evil 5
• Street Fighter IV
• White Knight Chronicles
• Yakuza 3

Unfortunately, the status of other big PS3 games, like Final Fantasy XIII, is still TBD. To check out the full list of Trophy-supported games on PS3, don't forget to check out PS3 Fanboy's Trophy Portal.