Square Enix has now released the first two classic installations of the Final Fantasy series on Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

Both Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II are now available in the App Store. The games have been modified to make use of the iPhone’s touch screen.  Both games also feature added dungeons and extras that are unique to the iPhone version.

Although the main title in the FF13 project, Final Fantasy XIII, is just over two weeks away from its English-version release, we shouldn’t expect to see its PS3-exclusive counterpart anytime soon.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which features an independent story in the same universe as FF13, may not even be shown at E3 this year. Tetsuya Nomura, who is heading up the project, told Japanese magazine Famitsu that development is going well, but that whether or not we’ll see the game at E3 is an “uncertain situation”.

The game has fallen a bit behind schedule due to changes to its world map system, reportedly so that characters can be shown on screen.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a PlayStation-3 exclusive, unlike FF13, for which the English version will also be available on the Xbox 360. Final Fantasy XIII comes out March 9 in North America, Europe and Australia, and last December in Japan, where it is also PS3-exclusive.

Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy XIII is, of course, going to be one big, long game. I expect that, you expect that. Now, Square Enix is giving us a number.

FF13 will lock in at least 60 hours of your time in the first playthrough. Motomu Toriyama, who’s heading up the project, tells Kotaku:

… the size of the entire game is considerable. Just running through the main story takes experienced players over 50 hours. For the first time, I think it’s possible to play through in full in about 60 hours or so.

That’s for the storyline alone. For completionists, who look for details and run through as many sidequests as possible, we’re probably looking at nearly 100 hours of gameplay.

Not too bad.

Final Fantasy XIII will be released on December 17 in Japan, and March 9 in North America, Europe and Australia.

Square Enix’s president and CEO, Yoichi Wada again confirmed that his company plans to release Final Fantasy XIII to North America and Europe next spring.

Wada gave a brief comment on the game’s localization progress, saying that it is coming along well, and that the company should be able to release FF13 to international markets by the end of its fiscal year, in April 2010. This is more-or-less on par with the schedule laid forth back in January, when Wada said that April would be the earliest we would see Final Fantasy XIII outside of Japan.

The Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII is now being completed for a December launch in its native country. The Japanese FF13 will be exclusive to the Sony PS3, while North America and Europe will have a choice between PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

Square Enix has revealed the method of character growth in Final Fantasy XIII. Instead of a traditional level-up system, FFXIII will introduce the Crystalium System.

Those familiar with the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X won’t have too much trouble adapting to this new system. In Final Fantasy XIII, characters will earn Crystalium Points, or CP, from battles — instead of the traditional Experience Points. The CP can then be used to unlock nodes on a grid, which grant character traits and abilities. Unlocking a node allows you to progress your abilities further down that area of the grid, enabling abilities beyond that node to be unlocked.

The Crystalium System places character growth on an expanding grid, allowing earned CP
to unlock nodes and create a path to desired traits, magic and abilities.

Magic upgrades will work in the same way, allowing the familiar progression through the tiers of Final Fantasy spells, such as from Fire, to Fira, to Firaga.

Presumably, players will have to choose which abilities they want their characters to unlock to make them most useful in battle.

Final Fantasy XIII will be out in Japan on December 17, with the English translation due to hit North America and Europe in Spring or early Summer of 2010.

Here’s the English version of the Final Fantasy XIV trailer shown at the Tokyo Game Show last week. Most of the content matches earlier trailers and screens, but it gives you a good feel of the FFXIV world atmosphere.

Final Fantasy XIV is due out sometime next year.