Japanese videogame creator Square Enix will launch the latest edition of its Final Fantasy series on Dec. 17 in Japan. The company is developing the title exclusively for the PlayStation 3 for the Japanese market, but in North America and Europe the game will also be playable on the Xbox 360. Final Fantasy XIII will retail for 9,240 yen ($100) in Japan (sometimes it does pay to be in the US), and Square Enix plans to launch the new version overseas next spring.

Sony and Microsoft are hoping that the launch of such a long-awaited game title will help drive sales of their game consoles, which are running behind Nintendo’s Wii. Both companies recently cut the prices of their game hardware in an effort to spur demand prior to the holiday season.

Source: MSNBC