Yes, it hasn’t even been a week since Final Fantasy XIII’s western release date. But who doesn’t love rabid, fan-inspired, forward-looking speculation? In a recent <a href="http://.schrijversblok.nl/?p=261″ target=”_blank”>interview, FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase spoke of many aspects of the game, including its global response, early sales results, and some pointed criticisms at the game’s largely linear play mechanics. But of particular interest were Kitase’s thoughts on a possible sequel: “In the past three years we worked both on the world and on the various systems. Creating these systems isn’t very glamourous and can frankly be a bit boring. If we could do a XIII-2, we could direct all our attention to the story and refine what we have already built.”

This, of course, makes sense – leveraging the already existing technology in FFXIII would allow producers to focus on creativity and artistic innovation for a sequel. But, can RPG fans hope such a game would come to pass?  Quoth Kitase, “That depends on how well the game sells in the West!”

Though it’s scheduled for release on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, developer Splash Damage won’t be playing favorites for any specific platform when it comes to their upcoming title, Brink. CEO of Splash Damage, Paul Wedgwood, talked to IncGamers of the studio’s objective to “set out from the very beginning wanting to design the game that worked well for all three platforms.”

“We have developed a kind of internal approach which I believe is entirely platform agnostic. When we’re trying to solve a console design issue with someone like Richard Ham, because he’s the co-creator of Syphon Filter, that’s the best-selling shooter on the original PlayStation.” Wedgwood mentioned and continuing on to say that no one platform would be “superior or inferior” to another. Though that may be the case, we already know what has gained superiority and that’s Brink’s GDC trailer. The Splash Damage title is due out this fall.

There’s been a fair amount of media surrounding Medal of Honor, but even so, it’s a big mystery. We know DICE, the dudes behind the solid Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are doing the multiplayer, and EA Los Angeles is heading up single-player, and that the two components are on different engines. And… well besides some images and clips here and there, that’s about it. This new trailer clears the air a bit on what we can expect in the game, and some glimpses into the story to boot.

The game’s looking pretty cool, and something about this trailer makes it more appealing than it’s looked up to this point. I’m intrigued. More info as it comes I’m sure, as the game hits Xbox 360, PS3, and PC later this year.

While OnLive plans to launch solely with a subscription-based service, a subscription-free service called “OnLive Game Portal” is scheduled to follow the initial release. The service is, to simply put it, for people who just want to play the available on the service.

“The OnLive Game Portal is for gamers looking for direct access to OnLive without being required to subscribe to the features of the full OnLive Game Service. Through the OnLive Game Portal, gamers will be able to play select directly on a rental basis as well as game demos for free; subject to available OnLive service capacity and whatever usage limits are associated with each given demo. Rentals will be priced on a per-game basis,” wrote Steve Perlman, founder of OnLive.

OnLive is scheduled for release in the US on June 17. European details will follow at a later date.

Final Fantasy XIII is quickly becoming one of the more divisive in recent memory, but no matter if you love it or hate it, everyone who has played it can agree on one thing: It’s really, really pretty thanks to Square’s proprietary Crystal Tools engine. This engine cost Square a lot of time and a lot of money, and the Japanese publisher is looking to get a head start on their next one.

A recent job listing is asking for top tier talent to help Square Enix with a ”new generation game engine development project.” If you live in Tokyo and you happen to be a game engine system programmer, 3D graphics core programmer, online system programmer, Windows application programmer, rendering programmer, server/DB programmer, plug-in programmer, technical artist, or a technical writer, Square might want have a little chit chat with you.

This might sound a little excessive since they just finished an engine that produced one of the best looking ever made, but most of Final Fantasy XIII’s delays were apparently engine related, so having a game engine that is actually completed and ready to go from the start of the next generation will probably alleviate some of the problems that plagued the development of FFXIII.

"I don’t know personally about any project underway regarding Kid Icarus, but if so many of those people are interested in it and really want to see it on the Wii they should really speak up," Sakamoto told Kotaku in an interview today.