Although gamers were disappointed by Final Fantasy XIII's delay, they should be pleased by the fact that Square Enix is speeding up localization efforts in order to release the game in North America and Europe as soon as possible. Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase recently told Videogamer:

I'm actually surprised Square Enix hasn't multi-tasked in the past. This shatters my image of the Japanese being the most efficient people on Earth.

The good news is that a major obstacle if being handled better than it has been in the past. Localization -- particularly for a text- and dialogue-heavy RPG -- can take a long time. Painstaking care must be used to ensure that vital plot elements aren't lost in translation. Longtime RPG fans know how a botched translation job can tarnish a game. Hopefully FFXIII's localization process is handled efficiently and expertly.

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