Japanese RPG Blue Dragon Lifts Its Wings and Flies To North American Shores

U.S. gamers will finally have the chance to join Shu and his friends in the eagerly awaited Blue Dragon for Xbox 360, when the game journeys to retailers on August 28

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that the highly anticipated role-playing game (RPG) Blue Dragon will ship to retailers throughout North America on August 28 for the estimated retail price of $59.99. Rated T for Teen, Blue Dragon will usher in the next generation of RPG exclusively on the Xbox 360, with a combination of realistic environments, anime-styled characters, unique battles and a deep, compelling storyline.

Bringing top Japanese developer talent to the Xbox 360, Blue Dragon is a culmination of the work of famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker game studio and developer Artoon. This epic RPG features the character design of Akira Toriyama, who designed Dragon Ball Z, and music by Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for Final Fantasy.

Gamers will find themselves exploring and discovering the vast world of Blue Dragon as they assume the role of Shu, a young boy who along with his band of four friends, embarks on a quest to combat the evil forces that have come to their world. These unlikely heroes possess miraculous strength and the magical power to control their phantom shadow creatures that range from a Minotaur to a phoenix to a dragon and more.

Blue Dragon will be available on August 28, but anxious adventurers can head over to http://www.xbox.com/redwhiteandbluedragon now to check out the Red, White and Blue Dragon feature, based on the premise of American Independence and Japanese Games.

In addition, adventurers can bring Shu, his friends and their quest to save the world to their websites with the official Blue Dragon Fan Site Kit, which is available for download from http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/bluedragonxbox360/. The Fan Site Kit includes artwork, skins, screenshots, forum avatars and more assets for webmasters to create their very own Blue Dragon fan site.

About Mistwalker

Mistwalker is a creative company founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original developer of Final Fantasy. Operated by a handful of experts, the direction of new Mistwalker is influenced by Sakaguchi s extensive industry experience.

About Artoon

Based in Yokohama, Japan, Artoon is a digital entertainment design, development and production company with rich talent and experience. The company was established in 1999 by Yoji Ishii and Naoto Oshima, co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 and part of Sega s Sonic Team. Centering on the design and development of original content, Artoon is mainly involved in the development of software through external cooperation, as well as the design and production of entertainment content in the mobile communication category. More information on Artoon can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.artoon.co.jp/.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox. and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows. operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as Age of Empires., Flight Simulator and Zoo Tycoon. ; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as Gears of War and franchises such as Halo, Fable., Project Gotham Racing. and Forza Motorsport. ; and MSN. Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as Bejeweled and Hexic..