News

Although not the first time something like this has been found, Squenix now has an official radio station where fans can listen to Final Fantasy music continuously online.

It's found on:

"America Online's Radio@ Network. It is available for listening on Radio@AOL, Radio@AOL for Broadband, and Radio@Netscape under the Soundtracks & More category, and features approximately 200 tracks from the 32-bit and onward Final Fantasy games." (Source: RPGamer)

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I can't tell if this is AOL users only or what, but either way, it's nice to have an official Final Fantasy station. I've heard other stations where it's all video game music, or all RPG music, but I don't think I've seen all Final Fantasy before.

Square Enix has announced that it will re-release a few of its Playstation 1 titles under Sony's Greatest Hits this coming December.

The titles being re-released are all Square titles: Final Fantasy Anthology, Final Fantasy Chronicles, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears. Being under the Greatest Hit means that the titles will be reasonable priced, each costing around $20 US. For those who don't know, Final Fantasy Chronicles consists of FFIV and Chrono Trigger while Final Fantasy Anthology packages FFV and FFVI together.

Source: Games_Are_Fun

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I might just have to pick up Chronicles and Anthology. I can't see myself buying either at the ridiculous price they go for on EBay and used game stores, but I can see myself plunking down 20 bucks. I think it is a good move by Square Enix. They might as well be making the profits off the games instead of the EBay-ers if there is still a big demand for them.

(Note from Phoenix: This news update is courtesy of SSJ_Cloud; he is currently unable to access the forums, and asked me to post for him.)

Japanese gaming news site Quiter has some of the first Final Fantasy XII art and screenshots I've yet seen. We appear to have good renders of the male and female leads, some early screenshots, and a cluttered scan of the logo.

If you can't hack navigating through the pics in Japanese (it shouldn't be hard), an English-language mirror is available at RPGFan..

I'm filling in for the news staff at the moment, most of whom are having intermittent troubles getting to the site as described in my news post of a few days back. That said, here's my commentary: unless they stop using Tetsuya Nomura as the lead character designer, they're going to turn a lot of people off. Aren't we all getting just a bit sick of seeing the same character designs since FF7? Thank goodness Amano came in to do FF9 and 11.

In a recent news conference to discuss their projected earnings, Square Enix revealed that it will not ship the Japanese release of Final Fantasy XII in March 2004 as first announced.

Because of this news, Squenix has lowered its predicted earnings from ten billion Yen to eight billion Yen for this fiscal year (which ends in March). However, the company hopes to make up some of this through its recently announced Dragon Quest V remake. The company plans to have this title out the door by the end of the fiscal year.

Source: Games_Are_Fun

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I'm almost glad this game is being delayed. Square Enix has been pumping out Final Fantasy titles much too quickly as of late. I actually have high expectations for this title because of the team that is putting this one together.

Square Enix has announced through V-Jump magazine that a Dragon Quest V remake is in progress.

The remake of the 1992 Super Famicom title will be for the Playstation 2. The original was one of the Dragon Quest titles that did not see North American shores as a Dragon Warrior title. It is unclear whether the remake will either. The graphics will be upgraded, but it is not believe they will be even up to par with the PS1 Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior VII.

Games_Are_Fun has a magazine scan that shows a few scenes from the game.

Source: Games_Are_Fun

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I have only played Dragon Warrior 1. It was probably seven or eight years ago now, but I think I recall enjoying it. So I'll definitely be interested in this if it is reasonably priced. I don't mind some of these remakes as long as they are reasonably priced and the companies are still trying to make other new, innovative titles at the same time that they are working on these.

Service for Square's newest addition to the FF series, Final Fantasy XI, began yesterday in North America.

For those not familiar with the title, Final Fantasy XI is Square's first Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG) release. The game offers players a myriad of gameplay experiences, from customizable characters to multiple platform support.
Character customization includes race, gender, and job class. Available races include Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Galka, and Mithra. Fifteen job classes have been released on the Official FFXI website (including Final Fantasy classics like White Mage, Black Mage, and Thief), along with allusions that other jobs may exist as well.
FFXI has currently been released on both Windows and PS2. Players on both platforms can play and interact on the same realms; additionally, realms are international, allowing players from different nations to team up to complete quests. Also, Square has included an automatic in-game translation system for common phrases to help facilitate international gameplay.

More can be read at Square's recently revamped FFXI site, The Final Fantasy XI Van'Diel Journal

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Hype about the game's release seems high among Caves of Narshe members. In a recent poll on the website, over two thirds of the 201 responding members said they would purchase the game for one of the available platforms. Complete poll results are below:

Thinking about getting Final Fantasy 11?

25.4% - I'll buy it for PS2
34.8% - I'll but it for PC
6.5% - I'll buy it, but I don't know for which platform
16.4% - I'll try it before making a decision
16.9% - It's not for me

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Admittedly, I'm a little skeptical about the game.
After hearing about the major server problems upon initial release in Japan, and after witnessing first-hand the endless shelves of unsold FFXI copies in Japanese gaming stores, I can't help but wonder if the game will really work out to be everything Square's said it will be...