KH-Vids | Your ultimate source for Kingdom Hearts media

Square Enix's blog; "Message From the Kingdom," has confirmed that Kingdom Hearts will have it's slot at the D23 Expo on October 14th, from 5pm-6pm. The "Kingdom Hearts Fun Event" will feature a planned talk show to discuss "secret stories" and other Kingdom Hearts goodies that will be exclusive to this event. Since Nomura said he'd like to reveal more information on Kingdom Hearts 3 at this event, it's likely that will get a lovely update on the next chapter. Series Director Tetsuya Nomura, Executive Producer Shinji Hashimoto, and some voice actors are set to make an appearance.

Goldplanner has translated last week's famitsu interview with Nomura to reveal a little more on the development process. Read about new bits of possibilities, such as enemies and battle styles. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be showcased further at Disney's D23 Expo as well as the Tokyo Game Show.

E23 EXPO: July 4th - July 7th 2013

Hello loyal members! With all the interviews and updates given with the upcoming Kingdom Hearts chapter, this thread was created to organize and compile them. Now you can pick and choose what you'd like to read about, as this thread will be constantly updated with each new bit of info on the long awaited Kingdom Hearts 3! Be sure to check back every now and again to get your KH3 news fix.

Date	Thread	Info
June 10 2013	Kingdom Hearts 3 is announced	No, really they announced it! Trailer and Logo are shown.
June 11 2013	Details from Square's Press conference	Kotaku's play-by-play of Square-Enix's press conference at E3 2013
June 11 2013	E3 Live talk with Nomura on Kingdom Hearts	"Square Enix Live Presents" featuring a sit-down with Nomura, recalling the information released on Day 1 of E3 2013
June 11 2013	Square Enix Press Release	Square-Enix's press release regarding Kingdom Hearts III, revealing the main plot.
June 12 2013	Famitsu Interview with Nomura	Famitsu's sit-down with Nomura to discuss both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3. Reveals information on the next gen engines and the possibilities that comes with it.
June 14 2013	Degenki and IGN Interview with Nomura	Short Interviews on the possibility of franchises that Disney has recently acquired. Nomura also states that the trailer shows only possibilities.
June 20 2013	Edge Online Interview with Nomura	Nomura's point of view regarding E3 and the next generation of consoles.
June 24 2013	New Character artwork released	A released CG Image depicting Sora, Donald, and goofy in their Kingdom Hearts 2 attire.
June 28 2013	Degenki Playstation Interview with Nomura	Not much revealed here. tidbits of info on the trailer's textures and enthusiasm regarding the world selection process.
July 2 2013	Famitsu Interview with Nomura	Information on more possibilities concerning enemies, battle styles, and visuals.
July 3 2013	Kingdom Hearts to appear at Disney's D23 Expo in October	Nomura stated that he'd like to reveal more on Kingdom Hearts 3 at this event
July 7 2013	Finaland Interview with Nomura at Japan Expo 2013	Nomura discuss his heavy involvement, along with potential co-op, playable characters, and costume designs. He also states that he wishes to include Star wars.
July 8 2013	KHDestiny and KHIsland Interview with Nomura at Japan Expo 2013	Some more development updates on Kingdom Hearts III. Possibility of announcing 2.5 HD ReMix at D23 Expo in October.
July 16 2013	RPG Site Interview with Nomura	Nomura talks development teams, as well as reasons for spin-off games.
July 28 2013	Los Angeles Times Interview with Nomura	Nomura talks KH philosophy and series continuation.
August 30 2013	Kingdom Hearts 3 will be at Tokyo Game show	Title description.
September 10 2013	IGN Interview with Shinji Hashimoto (Expect to wait for KH3)	Hashimoto discusses the progress on Kingdom Hearts 3 and that to make it great, fans will have to wait a little longer
September 13 2013	Here's some ridiculously hi-res Kingdom Hearts III art for you	Title description.
September 25 2013	IGN Interview with Shinji Hashimoto (News on KH3 and the possibility of 2.5 HD ReMix)	Hashimoto's views on tending to the needs to make Kingdom Hearts 3 great, as well as the possibility of a 2.5 HD ReMix.
October 14 2013	D23 Coverage - Kingdom Hearts III Twitter Recap	Twitter feeds describing the D23 trailer
October 15 2013	Kingdom Hearts III - D23 Expo Trailer	Brand new trailer from D23 in Japan.
October 16 2013	Kingdom Hearts 3 Creator's Interview with Tetsuya Nomura	Nomura discusses hopes for the specifications to come with KH3 on the next advanced console. "More Dynamic Possibilities."
January 24 2014	Nomura's thoughts on Kingdom Hearts III and the Playstation 4	Nomura braces himself for the possibilities ahead
March 31 2014	New KH3 Possible at E3 2014	Here's hoping!
April 24 2014	Japanese Xbox Site Launches	It's up now
June 6 2014	No new info at E3	Well that's a darn shame...
June 6 2014	New KH3 Teaser Trailer	An analysis on the contents of the conversation between Eraqus and Xehanort
September 17 2014	Nomura leaves Final Fantasy XV to focus on KH3	With the Final Fantasy title nearing completion, Nomura aims his creativity to the long awaited sequel.
September 24 2014	Famitsu: Kingdom Hearts III Interview with Nomura	Development updates on choosing worlds, fighting styles, and more!
October 1 2014	Message on KH3 from Tetsuya Nomura	Nomura wishes to increase the challenge possibilities!
October 7 2014	Kingdom Hearts III is now using Unreal Engine 4	For the sake of graphical rendering issues.
December 1 2014	New KH3 Info Revealed at 2.5 HD ReMix Event	Another teaser shown in private! A description of the scene is depicted though.
December 28 2014	Tai Yasue Comments On KH3 Development!	Development update for working on new attractions and keyblade transformations. Also stated that more updates would come in 2015
January 22 2015	Tai Yasue Kotaku interview	Yasue discusses how The HD ReMixes were excellent practice for the game in development
January 23 2015	Square-Enix Currently Hiring for KH3	Square Enix reaches out for programmers and designers in Osaka.
June 16 2015	New Trailer shown at E3 2015	Trailer features more attacks, heartless, cutscenes, and a new outfit for Sora. Worlds based off "Hercules" and "Tangled" can also be seen.
June 16 2015	Everything you missed about Kingdom Hearts at E3	A detailed summary of all the trailers and events for Kingdom Hearts at E3.
June 16 2015	Ben Diskin confirmed to return	The voice of young Master Xehanort confirmed his involvement in the E3 trailer via twitter.
June 16 2015	Discussion with Roy Conli about Tangled	The producer for the 2010 film "Tangled," discusses the collaboration process with Square Enix to incorporate the movie into the game.
June 16 2015	High Quality trailer and Screenshots	Enhanced media from the KH3 trailer at E3.
June 17 2015	Nomura Shares More About The KH3 Trailer to Dengeki	Nomura discusses "Attraction Flow," which features the theme park attractions that can be used in battle.
June 17 2015	Nomura Interview with Engadget	Nomura discusses online features, gameplay, and the amount of worlds in the game compared to earlier titles.
June 19 2015	KH3's foundation is nearly complete	Nomura affirmed that the basic framework for Kingdom Hearts III is nearly finished!
June 19 2015	E3 2015 Trailer Analysis	A video analysis highlighting some of the more subtle aspects that stood out.
June 27 2015	8 Things You Need to Know About Kingdom Hearts III	Eight points of interest for fans regarding the development of KH3, with some being quite insightful as to the relationship between Square and Disney, as well as hints of what to expect in KH3.
August 16 2015	Big Hero 6 World confirmed	Announced at D23 2015, Roy Conli confirms!
December 18 2015	Brand New Kingdom Hearts III Trailer	A bit of new gameplay footage featuring Sora.
September 26 2016	Kingdom Hearts III Recording underway	Revealed by Nomura during a Dissidia livestream.
October 27 2016	New Kingdom Hearts III Screenshots	Two screenshots revealing Sora's two new drive forms in the Olympus world
June 11 2017	New Kingdom Hearts III Trailer Released at Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World Tour	New trailer revealing cutscenes in Twilight town and Olympus Coliseum
July 15 2017	KH3 D23 2017 Trailer + KH3 Coming in 2018!	Toy Story confirmed as a new world! The game is also slated to release sometime in 2018.
July 16 2017	Tetsuya Nomura Talks KH3 Gummi Ship w/ Game Informer	Gummi Ship system slated to return.
July 16 2017	More Details Revealed about Toy Story World	The Toy story plot in KH3 is set to take place between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.
July 16 2017	Tetsuya Nomura Interviewed by IGN	Nomura mentions Second Playable Character, no D-links, higher tier magic, a possible Switch Version and more.
July 17 2017	More Information Revealed About Keyblade Transformations and Summons	Nomura discusses the new keyblade modifications as well as a new gameplay mechanic called "Athletic Flow."
July 18 2017	Famitsu Interview w/ Tetsuya Nomura	The Disney movies selected for KH3 will be less than KH2 and will not have any movies after Big Hero 6 (2014) being featured. More information inside!
December 15 2017	UNCONFIRMED Leaked Screenshots Show New World	Images supposedly found in an FTP server showcase a new world based on the film "Monsters Inc." The images are detailed, showing Sora, Donald and Goofy in new monster forms as well as Mike and Sully in their party. Unversed are also shown.
February 10 2018	D23 Expo Japan 2018 KH3 Trailers	Two new trailers confirm the inclusion of a Monsters Inc world, the return of Vanitas and Marluxia, and dream eater summons. New reveals also showcase new clothes for Riku and Mickey as well as a new theme song by Utada Hikaru; "Oath." (also known as "Don't think twice" in English).
February 10 2018	KH III Development Info from IGN Japan; Gummi Ships, Tangled World, and... Mickey's Giantland?	Development update on the process of rendering Rapunzel's hair, rare heartless, and the inclusion of Mickey's Giantland; a 1933 Disney short.
February 12 2018	Kingdom Hearts 3 Renders and Screenshots	New character renders of Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mike, and Sully from the Monster's inc world. Also shown are new renders of Riku and Mickey. Riku's new keyblade is shown!
April 15 2018	More Details on KH3 Game & Watch-Style Minigames	It has been revealed that in addition to a Giantland-themed minigame, there will be over 20 Game & Watch minigames in KH3 inspired by old-school black and white Mickey Mouse shorts,
April 16 2018	Union X Character to be a Summon in KH3	According to information from one of the panels at the Kingdom Hearts Union X event, a new summon in Kingdom Hearts III will be from a Union X world!
May 23 2018	New Preview for Japanese Version of KH3 Song "Chikai"	Preview of KH3's new opening theme
June 10 2018	Kingdom Hearts III Releasing January 29, 2019	After 5 years, we finally have a set release date!
June 11 2018	New Kingdom Hearts III trailer from Square Enix E3 presentation	Reveal of the new Frozen world, the return of Larxene, a Simba summon and more!
June 11 2018	Final Kingdom Hearts III E3 Trailer Released	Confirming the return of Port Royal and Luxord, as well as giving us our first look at Kairi and Lea, and many more surprises!
June 11 2018	Kingdom Hearts III special editions available for pre-order	In a new press release, Square Enix has detailed two special editions that will be available for Kingdom Hearts III!
June 16 2018	New KH3 Information from Famitsu	Some recap info as well as hints from the Frozen and Pirates of the Caribbean world
June 26 2018	Full version of Chikai/Oath, the Japanese theme of KHIII, surface online!	KH3's official Japanese opening theme is released!

Kingdom Hearts III was officially announced at Sony’s E3 Press Conference a few weeks ago. Fans, who have been salivating for a sequel since the release of Kingdom Hearts II back in 2006, delighted at the news. Following the trailer, Sony's Adam Boyes retook the stage to confirm that the title will be headed to the PlayStation 4. Boyes went on to publicize that Square-Enix had one more gift for PlayStation fans-- that Final Fantasy XIV will be released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and 4. This exclusivity of FFXIV led some to wonder about the exclusivity status of Kingdom Hearts III. The following day at Square-Enix’s private conference, they officially confirmed that the titles Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV (formally, Final Fantasy Versus XIII) would see release on both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

For most, the announcement was small news—at the very least, it was overshadowed by the enthusiasm for the upcoming games. However, a small but rather vocal outlet of fans has spoken out against the news. There will be—and have already been—arguments made that the game will be worse off because of the decision to make the game multiplatform. Arguments have been made that it does not even make sense for the 'third' game in the Kingdom Hearts series to appear on the Xbox One, when the titles have only been on either Sony systems or Nintendo handhelds. But really, Kingdom Hearts III appearing on two platforms is no big deal.

Learning from Last-Gen

This past generation of consoles has shown that 3rd party publishers, such as Square-Enix, will present their games to whichever console is a viable platform to make profit. Last generation, both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 sold similar figures at about 75 million units each. There was such a large potential market, as well as a substantial increase in development costs associated with the previous generation of consoles, that it would be a mistake to not bring games to multiple platforms. This had already worked in favor of both Xbox and PlayStation fans as previously exclusive franchises were now shared between platforms—Xbox fans could now indulge in the Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy series, and PlayStation fans could sample from games made by Bioware and Bethesda.


Admittedly, some of these once-exclusive franchises did receive poor ports when moving onto an additional console: Final Fantasy XIII ran at a lower resolution on the Xbox version, with missing shadow effects and less-than-stellar cut scenes; Bethesda was infamous for its failed attempt to keep the PS3 version of their 2011 hit, Skyrim, performing at a playable frame-rate after extended hours of play.

These titles, though notable, do not in themselves suggest that multiplatform is a mistake. When developers are given the time for console optimization, multiplatform titles are at parity with one another. Dead Space 3, for example, is near identical between the 360 and the PS3. The games themselves do not suffer as a result of being multiplatform. Ports to other platforms may not be up to par, but the main console that the game was developed for does not suffer and, ultimately, fulfills the developer’s vision.

And still, despite this cross-over of titles and the 360/PS3 consoles earning the moniker of “The HD Twins,” Microsoft and Sony's own development studios, with emphasis on their platform features, still gave the consoles unique identities.

Similar Hardware

Stepping into this coming generation, it seems that the situation will be relatively the same for each console. Despite the backlash against Microsoft for their Anti-Used Game and Internet-Required policies, the reversal of those restrictions, in combination with exclusive titles such as Dead Rising 3 and Titan Fall, guarantees that the PlayStation 4 will not leave the competition in the dust or have a market dominance that the PS2 saw. The Xbox One has at least a fighting chance.

The safe bet is that each console is going to have a comparatively similar install base--much like the current gen. Publishers have had a generation to create games on multiple platforms, and to learn from their mistakes. Furthermore, the hardware between the two consoles will be far more similar than the previous generation. Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have the same fundamental x86 architecture and both will have a CPU and GPU created by AMD.


The biggest differences between the two consoles lie in their GPU and RAM. The PS4 slightly overtakes the Xbox One in terms of GPU capabilities. Further, the PS4 has 8GB of high bandwidth GDDR5 RAM, whereas the Xbox One has 8GB of DDR3 RAM with an additional 32MB chunk of eSRAM to close the gap between the bandwidth speeds of the two memory types.

All in all, however, the consoles are evenly matched. Multiplatform games may look and perform better on the PS4, but the discrepancies between the two systems are not so large to where there would be significant downgrading. Having both systems employ a x86 architecture means that there is very little cost in bringing a game over to an additional platform--certainly much less than the last generation, when developers had to port between the two very different architectures of PS3's Cell and the PowerPC environment of the 360.

Kingdom Hearts III

Focusing on the development of Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura has stated that it is being developed using Square-Enix's Luminous Engine, which was specifically designed to create next-gen games for both the PS4 and the Xbox One. From the very beginning, the game has undergone development with multiplatform in mind. Being built with the constraints of both systems, nothing from the game can possibly be 'sacrificed' as there are no downgrades or compromises to be made.

Even if plans change between now and the game's release so it becomes PlayStation 4 exclusive, the game would hardly benefit. The difference of power in the two systems is not great enough to affect feature sets or gameplay options, so Kingdom Hearts III will be the same in those respects regardless of console exclusivity. And let's be honest, as beautiful as the games are, Kingdom Hearts is not known for pushing millions of polygons. The Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX looks gorgeous today, even though the source games are PS2 titles, because they’re being rendered at a higher resolution, with some re-texturing. Kingdom Hearts III is never going to be a game that will push the limits of the PlayStation 4's hardware, so it stands to reason that the title wouldn't need any aspects to be removed or tweaked to accommodate the Xbox One.

Bottom line, the game is finally being made after all these years. It is still coming out for the PlayStation 4 and it will more than likely perform better than its Xbox One counterpart, so why even be disappointed? If anything, this only means that more people will join the Kingdom Hearts fan base, which is a great thing.

Square Enix has release a few more collective goodies to release this fall. Sora and Riku in their Chain of memories poses along with Sora, donald and Goofy Keychains, all go on sale on September 27th 2013 for 600 Yen. If you're more of a stuffed plush fan, the Dusk nobody from Kingdom Hearts 2 is also being released on the same date for 3,800 Yen.