The much-awaited 13th version of the long-running mythological role-playing game series, ‘Final Fantasy,’ hit the Japanese stores on Thursday, ahead of the next-year-scheduled launch of the game in North America and Europe. The cost of the latest version is ¥8,300 (US$93).

The sales of the ‘Final Fantasy XIII’ version of the best-selling video game - which has been a flagship product for the Sony PlayStation and the ‘Final Fantasy’ publisher, the Japanese gamemaker SquareEnix – commenced as early as 7 a. m. at the Tsutaya software store in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

Simultaneously, the sales of the game - in which heroes team up to save the world, in an intricate computerized background - also began at other major electronics stores across the city.

With ‘Final Fantasy XIII’, the Final Fantasy series has been launched on the PlayStation 3 platform for the first time.

Hinting at the popularity of the game and the eagerly-awaited new version, Yoichi Wada, the CEO of game developer Square Enix, said at the “Final Fantasy XIII’ launch that the pre-release shipments for the game have touched nearly 1.8 million copies.

About the game, Wada said: “Final Fantasy XIII is an entire world developed by one of our creators. Of course you can complete the game fast but if you take your time you'll be able to live inside the game for several months.”