Released last month on PlayStation Network in Japan, Final Fantasy Vee-Eye-Eye is on the way to North America’s PSN soon, as this ESRB rating now confirms. You can play it on PS3 or PSP.
FFVII came out 12 long years ago for the original PlayStation, and was the first of the series to feature 3D graphics. Groundbreaking doesn’t begin to describe its influence. Spoiler alert: Aeris dies.
Final Fantasy VII Rated For Playstation Store [One Last Continue]

The latest issue of Edge Magazine (don’t sue! don’t sue!) features an interview with James Ohlem, Bioware’s director for The Old Republic. In it he reveals another class: Smuggler (pictured), which will likely be announced next week.
Says Ohlem: “Ord Mantell is a war-torn world and it’s where the Smuggler starts off, when his ship gets stolen. He’s pretty angry; imagine what Han Solo would’ve been like if the Millennium Falcon got taken.”
Edge Magazine Bioware Interview [Starwarsmmo.net, thanks Venom]

Square Enix had decided to jump on the pre-E3 game announcement bandwagon, making live their site for their recently announced game, NIER.
Looking over the screens and the college art film trailer, it looks like the game will be Square’s answer to Bayonetta, which in turn was Platinum’s answer to Devil May Cry.
The game is being developed by Cavia, which also developed Bullet Witch and Drakengard 2. According to the website, players will assume the role of the “unyielding protagonist”, NIER, who is resolute in his quest to discover a …

As seen on Geoff Keighley’s Twitter feed.

If you got four hundred bones (Canadian) and a healthy respect for archbaddie Liquid Snake, AbbyShot Clothiers has the perfect inclement weather garment for you.
The FOXHOUND Coat replicates the look of the antagonists from Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, notably Liquid Snake. I agree that they’ve done a beautiful job with this (especially the shoulders) and it does look great open or closed. But $400 is well north of my disposable income at the moment.
AbbyShot says it designed the duster with the help of MGS fans. “This trench coat …

“Early on there was a small faction within the team that wanted the new Elite Guards to be less ‘sexy’ and more utilitarian in their look,” writes Raven’s Kevin Long. Yeah, that didn’t last long.
“There was also a slightly larger faction that wanted them to be sexy and wearing skin-tight leather outfits,” Long says. That faction might include a sizable percentage of the millions who’ve played the game since Return to Castle Wolfenstein introduced the Elite Guard.
Wolfenstein will bring back the ladies and give them the standard S/M arsenal – …

“Early on there was a small faction within the team that wanted the new Elite Guards to be less ‘sexy’ and more utilitarian in their look,” writes Raven’s Kevin Long. Yeah, that didn’t last long.
“There was also a slightly larger faction that wanted them to be sexy and wearing skin-tight leather outfits,” Long says. That faction might include a sizable percentage of the millions who’ve played the game since Return to Castle Wolfenstein introduced the Elite Guard.
Wolfenstein will bring back the ladies and give them the standard S/M arsenal – …

Eurogamer got their hands on what appears to be some high-resolution official shots of the PSP Go. Video, specs, games confirmed? If not it’s one hell of a hoax.
Someone’s PSP GOing to Get Fired [Eurogamer]
Someone’s PSP GOing to Get Fired [Eurogamer] Someone’s PSP GOing to Get Fired [Eurogamer] Someone’s PSP GOing to Get Fired [Eurogamer] Someone’s PSP GOing to Get Fired [Eurogamer]

The rumored pictures of the PS3 slim immediately brought, like a chorus of boos at Question Time, denunciations of fakery. They sure got us in trouble with a lawyer-mans. But someone thinks the retail box, at least, is real.
PlayStation Lifestyle took a look at the Slim Box, compared to the PSP Go Box, and thinks the Slim box is standardized enough that it isn’t fake, which gives credence to the pics of the hardware itself. Saith PSL:
The box has a strikingly similar layout as the PSP Go box. The logo …

Astute tipsters discovered some unprotected directories on Ubisoft’s site, and we now have 20-second clips of Splinter Cell: Conviction and Assassin’s Creed 2.
AC2 is up thar; SCC is down thar. These don’t feature gameplay, QT events only. We’re assuming these are meant to be played sometime at E3. Thanks to chillchillin and Byvar for the discoveries.