News

Square Enix has announced more games for their Electronic Entertainment Expo line-up. Most titles have already been confirmed for release in America.

The list of announced games and their perspective release dates are below:

Final Fantasy XI (PlayStation 2 and PC) - TBA 2003
Final Fantasy X-2, (PlayStation 2) - November 2003
UNLIMITED SaGa, (PlayStation 2) - June 2003
Star Ocean: Till The End of Time (PlayStation 2) - Spring 2004
Drakengard (Drag-on Dragoon), (PlayStation 2) - Spring 2004
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube) - TBA 2003
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Game Boy Advance) - TBA 2003
Sword of Mana (Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu), (GameBoy Advance) - TBA 2003

Source: RPGFan.com

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Hm. I can't wait for Sword of Mana, which if you didn't know is the remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Both are gonna be so goood!

I'll assume X-2 is also being looked forward to by alot of people, any others anyone is waiting for?

It may be in Japanese, and the game it's from still way out of reach from our Canadian and American hands (further out of the reach for you folks in the UK and beyond) but here it is. The Intro Movie for FFX-2, courtesy of www.rpgamer.com

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ff/ffx-2/ffx-2mov.html

That link will also take you to a few other tasty bits of footage.

For the intro itself, I liked it well enough. It first opens up into an arena that I was sure was going to be blitzball. Instead, we get Yuna, first in her summoner's outfit. She changes classes, into her pop singer costume. While she sings a song in Japanese that is catchy, but sounds like the same sentence over and over, Rikku and FFX newbie Paine cause mischief in the audience. An interesting, colourful intro (though Rikku's braids still look very very fake, even in FMV) leaving the viewer with lots of questions (one of which may be "Why??" for those of you still against FFX-2 on principle).

To almost coincide with the opening of their North American website, Square Enix has opened up a public online application for those who are interested in beta testing Final Fantasy XI,  their upcoming (already released in Japan) online RPG.

There are applications for both the Playstation 2 and the PC versions of the game. Listed below are the requirements for each that one has to meet if he or she is even going to apply:

For the PS2 version
-PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system (duh)
-Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2)
-Internet connection (56k or greater)

For the PC version
Pentium® III 800Mhz
-Windows® 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP
-DirectX® 8.1 (included)
-32MB Direct3D compatible AGP video card
-128MB RAM
-CD-ROM drive
-5GB of free hard drive space
-Internet connection (56k or greater)

You also have to be older than thirteen years of age and be a resident of either the United States or Canada.  Keep in mind that most people will not be selected.  There are no numbers on the amount that Square Enix even plans to chose

Source: Square Enix
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I put in an application to beta test the PC version.  I probably won't get chosen, but it will be interesting to see how many beta testers they do actually select.  The application for the PC version was easy enough (it only took about 5 minutes) so I assume the application for the PS2 version would be more simple than that.  It would be neat if someone from the CoN was selected to beta test either version.

The only negative part of applying (that I can see) is that I'm probably going to get a bit more spam E-mail because of it (The privacy policy is lacking.  They even say they will probably give out your E-mail address).  That isn't entirely too bad though because I used a yahoo E-mail address when filling out the application.  Also, since it is restricted to US and Canada residents, some of you forum members are not going to be even able to apply.

As of April 1st, the Square Enix merge has been completed.
No longer seperate companies, they have released their new website and logo.

Source :  NEWFF.com
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Woo. The merger has finally been completed, and the new Square Enix has been revealed.

I really like the new logo. It's really simple, yet it stands out.
It's good to see Square & Enix getting a jump on the future and a face lift at the same time.

What are everyone else's opinons on the new logo and website?

In a startling move,  Microsoft announced early this morning that they had reached an agreement with Square-Enix stockholders concerning the purchase of the corporation.  The Square-Enix stockholders will get 0.45 of a share in Microsoft  for every Square Enix share that they own.  Originally it was believed that deal might not go through because Microsoft was originally only offering 0.30 of a share. Said Masufumi Miyamoto (the main shareholder of Square Enix), "We just thought we were getting a raw deal, Dog.  Big Billie Gates has plenty of bling.  If he really wanted our company then he would ante up. Word to your mother."  

While Square Enix have yet to release a game, they have announced their first title for the Xbox. Chrono Break!

Read about Chrono Break here at RPGamer

Furthermore, every Final Fantasy after FFXII is going to be an Xbox exclusive.  The Square-Enix arm is rumored to be known within Microsoft as the Shirt or "Square Hides It's Real Motives." One can only guess what that means.  There is speculation that Square-Enix really let themselves be purchased in order to make a sequel to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.  Or Shirt could also mean Square Enix is finally "clothing" the Xbox with some real software.

Source: TheGia

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I don't even know what to say to this.   I'm quite literally shocked.  Sure, Microsoft bought my old favorite (that being Bungie), but I didn't see this one coming.  A Chrono series game on the Xbox?  Final Fanatsy an Xbox exclusive?  Even worse, a FF:TSW sequel?  Oi.  What next?  Nintendo buying Sega?  Give me your thoughts

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the strategy RPG for the Gameboy Advance from Square, has been finally confirmed for a North American release.

Complete RPGamer Article Here

Released in Japan back on Valentine's Day, FFTA has been quite successful there.  The original Playstation Final Fantasy Tactics has been successful in North America (Note:  This is not a port of the Playstation game, it is an entire new game and story), so this news does not comes as much of a surprise.  While a concrete release date has not been set as of yet, Square is currently working on localization (translation) of the gameplay  (And considering the translation of the original, one can only hope this one will be a bit better ).

Source: RPGamer

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There was never really a question whether this game was going to be released on this side of the Pacific, but it's still nice to see a confirmation and to hear that work is progressing well on it.  For those who were unaware of this game's existance or just don't know anything about it, you can see a past news update of mine about it HERE

So... what does everyone think about this game?  Does it have a chance to leap over Ramza and the gang as the best Final Fantasy Tactics game?  

Special thanks goes out to new forum member Silent Moon for pointing out this story.