Jake

In the latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation, which released on October 12th, 2016, Tetsuya Nomura, director of the Kingdom Hearts series, talks about some of his various upcoming titles, such as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, releasing on January 12th, 2017 in Japan and January 24th, 2017 to the rest of the world, and Kingdom Hearts III. The previous day before the interview had been released, hokanko-alt, a Japanese blog website, gave us a summary of Tetsuya Nomura's interview with Dengeki PlayStation. In the interview, Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be PS4 Pro enhanced once again, however, he also states that the title will be in 4K as well. We're unsure if the 4K will be upscaled or native. Furthermore, Nomura states that the new remix for Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- was able to be done as Utada Hikaru, singer of the Kingdom Hearts theme songs, had recently returned to her music work. A new theme song for Kingdom Hearts III is currently undecided, Nomura says. Aside from all that, Tetsuya Nomura has also confirmed that Kingdom Hearts III news will be released after the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The interview has now been published in the latest issue of Dengeki Playstation and you can view an image of the interview below as well as a full translation thanks to Catherine Mueller ([email protected]). The sections focusing on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III have been bolded. Would you like a new Kingdom Hearts III theme song with Utada Hikaru? Will you be playing Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue in 4K? Let us know in the comments below!

After appearing on AmiAmi on October 8, 2016, showing a February 2017 release date in Japan, Square Enix has updated their North American online store with the Kingdom Hearts II Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai. The Play Arts Kai is scheduled for an End of May 2017 release in North America, and cost $120 USD on the Square Enix North American store. You can read the description, as well as some looks of the Play Arts Kai below.

On October 9th, 2008, KH13.com was officially created. Today marks 8 years since the creation of KH13, and we'd like to celebrate that with a refresher on the history of KH13 and how it became to be one of the best Kingdom Hearts fansites for news and media. KH13.com originally started in 2008 by KH13 Webmaster DChiuch, with the help of Co-Webmaster Aaron. The website started out as a simple project between friends, however, soon became a full-fledged website for Kingdom Hearts news, media and discussion. At the time, high quality videos and media were hard to come by, so KH13 initially established itself by providing high quality trailer and cutscene downloads. The name "KH13" was eventually settled on in a brainstorming session, after it was discovered that KH1.com through KH12.com were all taken – it seemed fitting that the first available domain would match up with Organization XIII. Around this time, KH13.com began to report Kingdom Hearts news, with the first article on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. In January, 2009, KH13 decided to do the first major redesign, which was then released on January 14th, 2009. You can check out the design below. (Looks weird today, doesn't it?) The design that is currently in use today is the 3rd iteration of KH13. Skipping ahead to 2011, KH13 had become more well known, allowing us to start sending representatives to E3 as part of the press. sqexgal (now from SQEX.INFO) was our first representative, and former KH13 News Team member Oishii, Kingdom Hearts community veteran @Churroz and KH13 staff member Toominator have all been part of the experience since. One important feature that has been prominent throughout KH13 is our gallery & video archives. Former KH13 Archives Team Leader and News Team member Sora96 has brought the video archives and gallery to what it is today, featuring over 25,000 images and hundreds of videos from the Kingdom Hearts series. Thanks also goes to Everglow, our partner, for recording thousands of cutscenes and playthrough videos for KH13's archives. Our wide selection of videos and images has brought in many visitors for KH13. As 8 years have passed, there have been many individuals who have helped bring KH13.com to what it is today. We'd like to thank the current team leaders of the KH13 staff, which are HarLea Quinn, Toominator, soraspromise, & AndrewHankinson. Aside from the team leaders, we'd also like to thank the current and past team members who have contributed to KH13.com such as (Past) Sora96, (Past) Lu Xun, and many, many more. We'd like to also give the most important thanks of all: to all of you, our readers and the Kingdom Hearts community. Thanks to everyone here on KH13 for sticking with us for these 8 years. We hope to be around for many more, and to continue to provide the latest Kingdom Hearts news and media. We'd also like to share one more thing: KH13 member Aqua7KH recently met Quinton Flynn, voice actor of Axel and Lea from the Kingdom Hearts series. Check out his message to KH13.com below. What has your favorite moment been in the KH13 community in the past 8 years? Let us know in the comments below!

UPDATE: Square Enix Japan has updated with a listing of their own, showing an official release date for Japan of February 12th, 2017. You can check the listing here. The price is 12,360 yen. AmiAmi has recently updated with the Kingdom Hearts II Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai. This Play Arts Kai, which was first shown off at San Diego Comic-Con, and colored in during TGS 2016, features Roxas in his Organization XIII coat with his dual wielding Oathkeeper & Oblivion Keyblades. The Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai releases in February, 2017 with a base price of 12,960 yen, and 9,170 yen with a discount on AmiAmi. The pre-orders will be up on October 11, 2016. You can check out brand new images of the Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai below with credit to @aibo_ac7 for the tip.

On October 6th, 2016, in London, UK, Symphonic Fantasies was held featuring music from various franchises including Kingdom Hearts. At the Symphonic Fantasies concert, Yoko Shimomura, composer of the Kingdom Hearts series, discussed music for Kingdom Hearts. Many wondered about the music for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, releasing on January 24th, 2017, and the anticipated Kingdom Hearts III. Shimomura says that she has written new music for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and that she has a ton of tracks planned for Kingdom Hearts III with the high expectations in mind. Shimomura also addressed Kingdom Hearts in general and some of her experiences as she developed and composed the music for the games. You can check out her responses below. Thanks go to KH13 News Team members AndrewHankinson & Aquaberry for attending and taking note of the responses given by Yoko Shimomura. You can also check out some of the pictures they took below. [UPDATE] KH13 News Team Member AndrewHankinson has added the questions from the audience members and answers from Yoko Shimomura including a question asked by KH13 News Team Member Aquaberry. Please let us know if you asked one of the question on the night!

On October 6th, 2016, the official Australian classification system updated with an official rating for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The rating given for the Australian version of the game is PG. While most Kingdom Hearts games are rated PG, each game has a specific rating description attached to that PG rating. Most Kingdom Hearts games are attached with the description 'Mild fantasy violence'. However, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has a different description, hinting at possible online features in the game. You can check out the PG rating description for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue below, hinting at possible online interactivity in the game. You may also check out a list of all rated Kingdom Hearts titles from the past here. The only time a rating ever receives 'Online Interactivity' in their rating is if the game actually has online features. The official Australian classification system rated Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ before its release with a 'G - Online Interactivity' rating. The PS4 title, Ratchet & Clank, doesn't include any online features, and its rating doesn't include any online interactivity. This further shows that Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will have online features. What do you think could be a possible online function in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue? Let us know in the comments below!

At New York Comic Con 2016, held from October 6th through the 9th, Square Enix showed off Kingdom Hearts merchandise at their booth. Included in the merchandise is brand new Kingdom Hearts II Riku Static Arts Gallery, Kingdom Hearts II Sora Static Arts Gallery, & 6'' Sora Action Figure. The 6'' Sora Action Figure includes Sora's Kingdom Hearts III Keyblade with his gun transformations. It also includes him in his Kingdom Hearts III outfit. Also on display are the prototypes for the brand new Organization XIII Roxas Play Arts Kai figure previously revealed at San Diego Comic Con 2016 and the Kingdom Hearts III Sora Play Arts Kai figure that will release in November of 2016 for Japan and January 2017 for North America, as well as other figures and merchandise which have been previously released and are available for purchase. You can check out images of the new Static Arts Gallery & Action Figure below, in our gallery.

UPDATE: The North American Square Enix online store has updated with the limited edition of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The listing can be viewed here. Square Enix has officially announced a limited edition for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.This limited edition includes the regular game, as well as a pin of Sora and Mickey with the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue logo. This pin is an official Disney Collector's pin. You can pre-order the limited edition at the official European Square Enix shop. Square Enix has also said that the limited edition will be available at other participating retailers. Check out the official promo trailer & image below.

PlayStation Access, which is the official YouTube channel for PlayStation UK, is at EGX 2016 in Birmingham, England, currently streaming various demos that are available for attendees to try out. Among the playable demos at EGX 2016 is Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, with playable booths for Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD & Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-. PlayStation Access will be providing direct gameplay from the playable demo, which is the first time we've received direct footage of the demo since Square Enix uploaded a snippet of gameplay at E3 2016. We'll be re-uploading the direct KH2.8 gameplay footage by PlayStation Access from EGX 2016 soon, this time in 1080p, as soon as it's available. Stay tuned! KH13 is also at EGX this year, with Aquaberry representing us at the event. We have played the demo once again, but it seems to be the same as the one we played at E3 2016; it does not seem to have been revised. Check out the gallery below for a view of the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 booth!

Monogram Direct has updated with a page containing new Kingdom Hearts series 3D Foam Keyrings, which will be released in November/December 2016. These keyrings will be in 24 blind foil bags featuring Goofy, Pete, Roxas, Axel, Mickey Mouse, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald Duck, the Kingdom Key Keyblade, and a Shadow Heartless. There are two types of packs you can get: Inner Case (PDQ BOX): 24 Blind Bags Master Case (6 Inner Cases): 144 Blind Bags UPDATE 1: Monogram Direct has released a new unboxing video for the Kingdom Hearts series 3D Foam Keyrings. You can check it out below: UPDATE 2: Monogram Direct have announced their Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyrings collection will grow with the addition of a Series 2. You can check those out here. UPDATE 3: Monogram Direct will be selling a San Diego Comic Con exclusive Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyring 3 piece set at their booth, (#3645), during the convention in July 2017. Included in the set are Sora, a golden Kingdom Key Keyblade, and Mickey Mouse. Only 500 of them are made, and it will cost $25.00 USD. You can check it out below: UPDATE 4: Monogram Direct have revealed that their Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyrings collection will grow with the addition of a Series 3. You can check those out here. UPDATE 5: Monogram Direct will also be selling their SDCC exclusive 3D Foam Keyring set, shown above, at New York Comic Con 2017 with limited availability, along with their other San Diego Comic Con exclusive merchandise. Check out more about that in the full article here. UPDATE [Nov. 19, 2017]: The Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyrings Series 1 is currently available to purchase at BoxLunch and on the BoxLunch website. They're listed for $5.90 USD each, but are currently on sale for $4.72 USD each. You can purchase a blind bag here. You can check out the BoxLunch product description for the Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyrings Series 1 here: A Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Sora Chibi magnet is also currently available to purchase at Hot Topic and on the Hot Topic website! It's listed for $4.90 USD, but is currently on sale for $3.92 USD. You can purchase it here. You can check out the Hot Topic product description for the Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Sora Chibi magnet here: UPDATE [Nov. 20, 2017]: A Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Riku Chibi magnet is now available at Hot Topic and on the Hot Topic website! It's listed for $4.90 USD, but is currently on sale for $3.43 USD. You can purchase it here. You can check out the Hot Topic product description for the Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Riku Chibi magnet here: Which Kingdom Hearts 3D Foam Keyring or magnet do you want? Let us know down in the comments below!

With Tokyo Game Show 2016 running from September 15th till the 18th, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue was available for attendees to play as they await for the release on January 12th, 2017 in Japan and January 24th, 2017 everywhere else. In the playable demo, it appears as though the lighting has gone through a major change. This change seems to have been an improvement from the E3 2016 demo that was available for attendees. You can check out some of the comparisons below, thanks to YouTube user Gamersyde Official for the TGS 2016 demo capture and GameXplain for the E3 2016 capture. E3 2016 <3 TGS 2016 <3 You can check out the full videos below for each demo thanks to those respective users as well. Did you notice any other differences? Let us know in the comments below!

Tetsuya Nomura has released a new sketch at Tokyo Game Show 2016 to commemorate Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. This new sketch features Aqua, Sora, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Riku. You can check out the sketch below, thanks to @naxkia for the tip/screenshot. Do you like this new sketch? Let us know in the comments below!