Tales fans who follow the series's developments in Japan know what's special about today --- it's the start of the yearly Tales of Festival event that Namco Bandai holds. News from the closed event is beginning to break and we'll be covering today and tomorrow's events in a daily wrap-up column. Any further updates that come in through the day will be added as updates. So without further adieu, let's get on to the news!

The first bit of news is a confirmed release date for Tales of Xillia. The game will be released in Japan on September 8, 2011 for 8,379 Yen. We also have our first look at the game's boxart, which appears to show off two more characters behind all the other characters that haven't been formally announced up until now. Namco Bandai did state that there will be only six playable characters, so these new characters are likely either antagonists or directly related to the events in the game.

For those without a PS3, a package called Tales of Xillia X Edition (X standing for Cross, much like it did for Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X) that comes with a custom PS3 and the game for 37,980 Yen.


And for those who want the most expensive option, the people behind the Tales of Graces f limited edition item, LaLaBit Market, are having their own release for Tales of Xillia which includes the game and two figures of Jude and Milla for 12,980 Yen.


In addition to the other two special packages of the game, Famitsu's online store is coming out with their own. It includes the game, a stuffed Tipo doll, one of the characters, a poster, a clear file and a cloth.


Next up is the pre-order bonuses for the game. Namco Bandai has confirmed that fans who pre-order the game will receive redeemable codes for a Cress Alvein (Tales of Phantasia) costume for Jude and a Stahn Aileron (Tales of Destiny) costume for Milla (yes, you read that right). A video from the event showing off both costumes can be found below.



In addition to the costumes, fans who pre-order will get 10 codes for Tales-related PS3 themes, two of which were featured at the event today. One features Jude with a blue-ish theme, while the other features Milla with a pink-ish theme. If you have viewed the game's official Japanese website the color scheme is very similar. In the same image a series of special mascot charms were also revealed, which come in a set of four, two for Jude and two for Milla (one being their original outfit and the other being their costume outfit). Buyers will receive one at random, however.

According to reports from the event, Tales of Xillia's theme song will be called progress, not Making Fate as we previously were led to believe through an earlier scan. Also, much like previous non-Tales media tie-ins, Tales of Xillia will feature DLC costumes from the anime Star Driver, although no exact timeframe for them was announced at the event.

The last piece of news from today's event was the release date and theme song artist for the Tales of Symphonia: The Animation United World Episode. The first volume of the arc will be released this Fall in Japan and the song will be Honto Uso by Me. The name should sound familiar, as it was the guest artist who performed the theme song for Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 along with fellow artist BACK-ON.

That's all of the news so far as of today. As said before, we'll add any updates if more news breaks throughout the day. The event continues on tomorrow, so be sure to check back to see what other news comes out from the event.

UPDATE (5/29): Added information about the Tales of Xillia Famitsu DX pack.

UPDATE (2:06pm EST): Added some clarification and additional information to the original post.