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Final Fantasy XII Details Leak Ahead Of Unveiling

Posted by simoniker on from the commence-fanboy-drooling dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for its coverage of pictures and details of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII, as a Japanese print magazine released a very short preview ahead of "an official presentation of the game" on November 19th in Tokyo. According to the piece, the game "...will take place in a fantasy world where there are other races aside from humans, and flying vessels fill the sky", and "main characters in Final Fantasy XII are a boy named Van and a girl named Arche." The available media also contains a CG shot of "a soldier riding on a chocobo", for those worried their favorite winged creature would be excluded from this instalment.

89 comments

  1. Final Fantasy's new theme. by darkmayo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Mini Skirts for teh win!!!!111

    I can picture final fantasy 30 right now... XXX

    --
    "I am a kernel in the linux army"
    1. Re:Final Fantasy's new theme. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We heard your prude ass, get lost already.

    2. Re:Final Fantasy's new theme. by darkmayo · · Score: 1

      OOhh i got flamed by an anon coward. Not a prude either its just a trend in there games as of late. Tifa, Yuffie, Riku, Yuna(x-2) and now this heroine with ass huggers. I don;t know about you but if I was battling evil it wouldn't be in spandex ass pants.

      --
      "I am a kernel in the linux army"
    3. Re:Final Fantasy's new theme. by roka · · Score: 1

      You are in the wrong discussion. This is not about Final Reality 12.

  2. Different Races? Airships?!!! by quandrum · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next they are going to tell me that there is a character named Cid! Or the money is called Gil?!!! Magic with names like Fire and Firaga?!!!!!!!! Bombs as... monsters??? Seriously, this is a one page age that tells us teh characters names, and gives us an idea of their costumes...

    1. Re:Different Races? Airships?!!! by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 1

      Lord Ochu informed me that he will be appearing in FFXII as well.

      --
      Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
  3. Looks like FF's glory days are past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I used to like Final Fantasy, but the games have been on a downwards spiral since IX. I'll stick to my VI, VII, VIII, and Tactics, thank you.

    1. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by *weasel · · Score: 1

      I must be getting to old. i thought I and II were great, III and IV were questionable, and everything after that was right out.

      and what's with gamespot? one week it's 'uh oh, something leaked from a magazine, we have morals, we won't link or post to copyrighted materials'. now it's 'sweet, a leak! here's some pics!'

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    2. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by realdpk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most leaks to the media are done so on purpose.

    3. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by chrismcdirty · · Score: 1

      Everything after IV was right out? I thought VI had the best story of them all. My order of liking is VI,IX,V (maybe.. whatever FF2 in America was),VII,I,X,VIII. I thought X had a really good story, but very little actual game play between the movies.

      --
      It's like sex, except I'm having it!
    4. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, shut up.

      Have you even played FFX? It's a fucking masterpiece. I'm really tired of hearing "old-school" or "hardcore gamers" pile on games simply because of progress. When FFVII and VIII were released, all I ever heard was people whining about how the best days of the series were behind it after the SNES era. Yes, I understand that you grew up on the older games. That doesn't mean that the cinematic polish of the new ones makes them inferior.

      Generally, when people spit out that "this game suxx0r, the old one was better" response, they at least provide reasons. I'd like to hear what problems you had with FFX, and to a lesser degree, FFIX. Each game was one of the best RPGs of its time.

    5. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I always love the close mindedness of gamers sometimes. Heaven forbid the series redeem itself in any way. True, square has been on a downward trend. VII was great, VIII was good, had trouble sinking myself into IX, X was playable, but mediocre.

      I'm not even going to touch FFF (Final Fantasy Fanboy, FFX-2). And while XI looks interesting, and i've heard good things, it's not really within the series being an MMORPG.

      I'll wait and see what XII produces, and if it looks like a solid new game, it'll be worth picking up.

    6. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mine (in the SNES american version cuz I can't keep consistant) is 2, 3 and the PS's 7. 3 had the best story and was just so damned fun to play. 7 was really fun, too, but I think people constantly overhype the fuck out of it.

      Note: I am not the parent poster, just in case idiots get confused.

    7. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by *weasel · · Score: 1

      see that's funny - story in my mind is easy in a video game when you're not allowed to do anything.

      games are about gameplay, and imo everything after IV had progressively less gameplay. though they've all had pretty good combat - but that's what tactics is for, right?

      maybe it's just my preference for western dynamic-story open gameplay rpgs as opposed to the more eastern solid compressed story, linear progression, linear gameplay rpgs.

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    8. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by falcon5768 · · Score: 1
      actually have my pre-order for FFF :-D

      aanyway you might be surprised with 9, I just finally started to play it and I must say it is VERY refreshing compaired to 8 and 10. I personally love the many references to the other games myself (Aliens like in 4, well ok they where moonmen there but whatever, the story to get Daggers first summon is FF2 Jp, some of the towns are named after past towns and or characters Iffa tree = Tiffa etc.) but the story is actually really good, though it seems to be kinda short since im on disk 3 and i have only played 20 hours

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    9. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by 13Echo · · Score: 1

      Redeem itself? How much are you trying to contradict yourself? You claim X was mediocre, but does this new game look anything less than a clone of X? Even the characters designs are EXACTLY THE SAME.

      It's sad, but there hasn't been a truly redeeming Final Fantasy game since VI. Maybe VII. I've still got my original cars of I, IV, and VI. Every once in a while I put the games in and play them a bit. Can't say that I've picked up FF VII since at least 1998. The PSX(2) Final Fantasy era of games have been pretty sad, in my opinion. I've got no hopes for XII.

    10. Re:Looks like FF's glory days are past by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FFX was a movie with limited game play. Also: Fetus and Juna laughing ha ha ha ha ha. It was ... !

  4. Leak Happy by May+Kasahara · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Didn't the FF7: Advent Children leaks come from a Jump magazine as well? Someone there either really loves Square or really wants to annoy them. Or just wants to sell more magazines.


    In any case, as for the pics, I kind of like that the characters have a more "cartoony" look about them than FFX's characters did. Still feels Tetsuya Nomura-ish... bleah :P

    As an aside, I hope they bring the Overworld Map back, one where you can actually see your avatar/Chocobo/airship travel around on. That was the one thing I seriously disliked about FFX... no overworld (the little map that they gave you on the airship sucked for exploring).

    1. Re:Leak Happy by simoniker · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think the street date of that Weekly Jump magazine is probably after/on the 19th, but somebody in Japan is getting copies early and posting them online, though I'm not sure - I would think Square Enix wouldn't want to scoop their own press conference by printing details early elsewhere. The magazine itself is _very_ popular, it seems - has a larger circulation than any US game-related magazine, though it seems like it covers other stuff too:

      "What is JUMP? WEEKLY JUMP, rival publication of WEEKLY SHONEN SUNDAY, is a "phone book" anthology published every week, with a circulation over 4 million. It is filled with some of today's hottest titles targeted for school age boys, many of them familiar to anime fans. JUMP has among its esteemed alumni: DRAGON BALL, VIDEO GIRL AI, CITY HUNTER, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD, SAINT SEIYA, SLAM DUNK, and YUU YUU HAKUSHO / POLTERGEIST REPORT."

    2. Re:Leak Happy by falcon5768 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      it is back, it actually is comming back in X-2. that was probably one of the biggest complaints of X I heard.

      And having played every FF except 3 (including owning the original 1,2 and 3 and playing the "real versions" of all three) I for one quiet enjoy FF still, infact I feel its heyday has yet to be seen.

      It is one of those games that I could go 5 years yet still come back and play, and there is not that many of those out there these days.

      Infact I am finding the only FF I really dont like (other than Tatics which I couldnt get into and the FF advernture kiddy game which I also own) is FF 8 cause its storyline played like a episode of Gaia 90210!!!

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    3. Re:Leak Happy by shadowcabbit · · Score: 1
      Haven't checked out the pics myself-- I hate spoiling anything about an FF game, but that's personal preference-- but I'm not terribly bothered by Nomura's designs. I like them a little bit better than Amano's (but not by much-- naturally, being an old fart, I still think FF6 was the best so far), but to be honest they aren't all that great either way. FF's character design does need a kick in the pants-- get someone like, oh, I don't know, Ken Akamatsu or CLAMP to design the characters for a Final Fantasy game (or hell, have Toriyama design the cast for Chrono Break again), and then we'll talk.

      ...on second thought, CLAMP in an FF would be suspiciously like a Kingdom Hearts game with crossovers that about only 10% of the US population would get...

      --
      "Why Subscribe?" Good question...
    4. Re:Leak Happy by May+Kasahara · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe the Weekly Jump that provided the pages in this case is primarily a manga anthology (like the other Jump manga Shonen Jump). The same publishers also put out a mag called V-Jump, which focuses more on video games (there's also a series of V-Jump strategy guides). Thing is, I couldn't remember if the Advent Children leak came from V-Jump or Weekly Jump.

    5. Re:Leak Happy by May+Kasahara · · Score: 1
      it is back, it actually is comming back in X-2. that was probably one of the biggest complaints of X I heard. Thanks for the info! I'm looking forward to FFX-2 even more now.

      And amen on FF8...

  5. Virtual babe pageant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Where do we submit the nominations, again?

  6. Spoilers Ahead by cgenman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Final Fantasy XII takes place in a magical fantasy world, where humans co-exist with beasts. Mysterious rocks will power spells, summon monstrous beasts, and boost either HP or SP.

    The Hero is a young man, just heading out into the world with nothing to his name but a sword and a bad haircut. Soon, he will discover the truth of his origins and the love of a childhood friend. He will form a rag-tag band including a fighter, a healing spellcaster, a criminal with a heart of gold, and a cute, semi-coherent, bumbling creature. But the forces of the Dark Empire are looming, and must be stopped from destroying the planet in their mad quest for non-ecofriendly power.

    In their quest players will join the rebellion, ride on Chocobos, and fly in Airships. They must defeat the underworld people, release the spirits on a haunted boat, visit the tree of Mana, and discover the power of love.

    The game is roughly 40-50 hours long, though much longer if you want to complete all of the side quests. I don't want to give away too much here, but lots of mini-games will be involved.

    All in all, another revolutionary game from the greatest game company that ever lived. The only problem is that those random enemy encounters are just too frequent, but that will probably be fixed for the American release. 9.5 out of 10.

    --
    The ______ Agenda
    1. Re:Spoilers Ahead by DrEldarion · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that it will feature hours and hours of beautiful CG cutscenes.

    2. Re:Spoilers Ahead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget the "twist" ending...

    3. Re:Spoilers Ahead by Tofino · · Score: 2, Funny

      You forgot that the Dark Empire is ruled by a long-haired prettyboy. But don't be fooled -- perhaps that's not his true form!

    4. Re:Spoilers Ahead by May+Kasahara · · Score: 1

      ...and don't forget the romantic pop song, sure to become a hit with Final Fantasy fans everywhere!

    5. Re:Spoilers Ahead by Wog · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that at some point. A significant character will die. He/She may make an appearance through some non-physical manifestation at some crucial point in the plot, or they may just pop back to life with no more than two lines of explanation.

  7. Same Character Look by neosiv · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is it just me or do the main characters look exactly like the ones from X, just with different names?

  8. Did anyone else notice... by DragonPup · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...that pirate in the bottom right of the picture?

    --
    "Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
  9. Heyyy by Synic · · Score: 1

    That lizard-man looks familiar... Like straight from Final Fantasy Tactics!

  10. You call this a LEAK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's practically no detail here.

    The only thing we learn is that the female lead character wears a short skirt over what is most likely a great ass.

  11. Character Design by swat_r2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the Final Fantasy heroes to be made from a generic template? While I do appreciate the costume design creativity, the actual characters themselves seem to fit in the "so cute I just want to punch them" mold. And yes, the males are so de-sexed there's not much difference from the female counter-parts. Take for instance Square's upcoming FFVII CGI - Sephiroth wasn't supposed to look like a deranged female supermodel. I realize that we are a deeply vain culture and if something looks prettier we're more inclined to lay down our cash, so from a marketing perspective it does make sense to have uber-hot people as the protaganists.

    I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy fan although I loved VII to death I've become less and less excited about the series, I seriously just looked at those pictures and went "meh".

    Cool Game Character Design 101:

    1. White Hair is all the rage these days.
    2. Definitive scar over the eye.
    3. Big Hair is Better.
    4. Women's cleavage makes sense no matter what situation.
    5. Only those with ~6% body fat need apply.
    6. Sketch a woman, remove the breasts and makeup = instant male hero.


    Anyone care to add to the list? :)

    1. Re:Character Design by pmz · · Score: 5, Funny

      6. Sketch a woman, remove the breasts and makeup = instant male hero.

      No wonder I'm so attracted to male CG characters. Thanks, this means I'm not gay at all!

      --
      Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
    2. Re:Character Design by chrismcdirty · · Score: 1

      I don't remember the character art for FFVII, but it could possibly be that Sephiroth was originally drawn to look like a deranged female supermodel.

      After all, look at all of the art from FFVI. Kefka (the most evil enemy of all) looked like a deranged, annorexic clown.

      --
      It's like sex, except I'm having it!
    3. Re:Character Design by falcon5768 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      huh, Im replaying FF7 and except for a little bit more feminin eyes, and purple veins all over the place, sephiroth looks EXACTLY like he does in FF7 as he does in Advent Children,

      the scene where he is walking through fire, is a direct copy of the CGI from the game after you visit the village and learn about cloud and sephiroths past. Infact the flames match so well, I would be incline to think it is actually THE scene from the game taken and re-mapped.

      I do agree on the generic squarsoft hero though, my girlfriend was at a convention where there was a guy walking around with a sign on him saying generic Square-Enix RPG hero for hire. As my girldfriends sister calls it Why does everyones hair all pointy and why does everyone FREAKING look related.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    4. Re:Character Design by Ty · · Score: 1
      pretext: I'm an American living in Japan

      You honestly havn't a clue about Japanese culture. The Japanese view of an attractive male body is quite contrary to our overly-homophobic steroid-driven desires in the West. Your quite accurate description of Sqauresoft's male heros IS exactly what Japanese want to see in heros. Tall, slim, no body fat, big colorful/non-colored (anything but black!) hair, etc. They want their women to look the same with one key difference: big boobs.

      That said, if you don't like that, then don't play Japanese games. Buy an XBOX or something that bleeds American and will give you a hero that looks like Vin Diesel.

      PS. I do find it hard shopping for clothing here :( I can never tell the men's section from the women's.

    5. Re:Character Design by falcon5768 · · Score: 1

      lol, well kefka WAS a deranged clown, hence the name Kefka. If you ever get FF6 (the remade version) there is a CG version of him, who is VERY scarry (though also very feminin)

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

  12. It's About Time... by wickedj · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's about frickin' time they added "Pirate" to the set of job classes. I can't wait to play him. Arggggggg maties... chocobo dead ahead.

    1. Re:It's About Time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      More like "Argggg maties......check out all this copyright infrigment I'm doing!"

      Tee-Hee

    2. Re:It's About Time... by ChewBakaSan · · Score: 1

      "It's about frickin' time they added "Pirate" to the set of job classes." Dude, if this is true. . . my mind just went blank thinking about all the stuff I would do. Airship off the port bow! Take her amid-ship! Prepare to board! Arrrrr!

      --
      / \ / \ / \ / \ ( l | 3 | 3 | 7 ) \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
    3. Re:It's About Time... by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

      In FFV, one of the main charactors was a pirate.

      =)

      --
      "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
    4. Re:It's About Time... by wickedj · · Score: 1

      Well, then it's about time they brought a pirate back (I never did play that one). Really though, the pirate was in reference to the magazine's mascot in the corner of the picture. I don't really think they're going to have a pirate. Sigh...

  13. Re: Did anyone else notice by CaptMonkeyDLuffy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just a quick bit of info, that little pirate is the logo of all the various Jump magazines... So, not surprising that it's there, and it has nothing to do with FF 12.

  14. Final Fantasy XII by mpweasel · · Score: 1

    Also known as...
    Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Fantasy

    When will the madness end?

    1. Re:Final Fantasy XII by ChewBakaSan · · Score: 1

      With Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Final Fantasy Fans like me, THE MADNESS WILL NEVER END! MWA HA HA HA HA!

      --
      / \ / \ / \ / \ ( l | 3 | 3 | 7 ) \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
    2. Re:Final Fantasy XII by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this joke is stupid KTHXBYE

    3. Re:Final Fantasy XII by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yours is much better. I just can't stop laughing!

  15. You sound like all the SNES-age gamers after FF6 by neostorm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hahaha!

    You know, about 8 or so years ago, everyone who is now in their late 20's - early 30's said:

    "Well... looks like the glory days of Final Fantasy are past. Everything just kind of went down after VI..."

    Youth is amusing.

  16. Recycled Character Designs by Renegade2010 · · Score: 0

    Is it just me, or does the girl look a whole lot like Yuna? Not to mention, the dude on the right side of the pic looks a lot like Squall...

  17. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion....... by ChewBakaSan · · Score: 1

    I don't think that anyone should be ripping on any FF game. If you don't like a certain one, like FFIX or FFX, then please don't sit there and b***h about them. Other people liked them, and it's really only a matter of opinion. Just because some people don't like a game dosen't mean that it realy does suck.

    --
    / \ / \ / \ / \ ( l | 3 | 3 | 7 ) \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
  18. Re:Everyone is entitled to their own opinion...... by Naffer · · Score: 1

    Is anyone honestly surprised that there are so many flamebait modded posts on a Final Fantesty Topic?
    I'll probably end up buying it, playing it, and being mildly dissatisfied at the end. Such is life.

  19. Hey Naffer by ChewBakaSan · · Score: 1

    that may be true, and I might be the sucker in the end, but I will always buy FF games.

    --
    / \ / \ / \ / \ ( l | 3 | 3 | 7 ) \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
  20. Movie? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    Its funny, these days when I think about playing the newer Final Fantasy games, especially FFX, I think of it less as a game, and more as an extremely long interactive movie. I have no doubt I'll be awed by the graphics, but it says something when I find it more enjoyable to download and watch all the CG cutscenes than to play the game.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    1. Re:Movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean? Just maybe it means that the game *sucks*?

  21. Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sex sells. RPG's sell glossy guides.
    Glossy guides + sexy game = auxiliary magazine sales at convience stores.

    Oh, you mean for gamers? Wake up! They got bought by Enix. Hopefully they won't suck _all_ the fun out of the franchise.

    On a side-note, I wish I looked that good in ass-huggers. I'll probably end up not playing it out of embarrassment.

    --
    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
    1. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

      They didn't get bought out by Enix. It was closer to the reverse. I'ld post a link, but I'm lazy and looks like you were lazy to with links. =)

      One thing I'ld like to see is them rerelease old Enix games like they rerelease old Square games. Especially the Illusion of Gaia trilogy.

      As for the girl's costume, couldn't they have made it possible to see anything but her ass? Yeah, I buy FF games to stare at a pixelated girl's ass. I miss Yunie's old costume.

      --
      "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
    2. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hey, I like starring at pixelated girls asses. You know, they don't give you this ..look.

    3. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by 13Echo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Enix to Buy Square for $764 Mln to Add Video Games
      (Update5)
      By Hiroshi Suzuki

      Tokyo, Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Enix Corp. agreed to buy Square Co. for 93.2 billion yen ($764 million) in cash and stock, combining the makers of ``Dragon Quest'' and ``Final Fantasy,'' Japan's most-popular role-playing video-game series.

      http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsqu ot e99_relnews.ht&s=APeMumxNkRW5peCB0


      While we're at it, I'll mention that several companies have invested in Square. In fact, they've been bleeding so much cash for the last few years because of their failed movie venture and sheer lack of new, hot-selling games (look at how long it has taken to release FF XI), that they've HAD to look to other sources for money.

      Enix was Square's pillow. A Squareophyte like you might be blind to it, but it's the truth. Hell, even Nintendo *gave* them some money, and that is allegedly what landed the Gamecube and GBA a few exclusive Square titles.

      By the way... Enix is much bigger in Japan than Square is. It's kinda the reverse in the USA, on the other hand.
    4. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by 13Echo · · Score: 1
      Oh, and here is a link with finalized details.

      http://www.planetps2.com/mmcafe/soup_11-27-02.html


      Major Japanese software companies Square Co. Ltd. and Enix Co. have announced today of their decision to merge Companies on April 1st of 2003. The new comapny name has been announced as "Square Enix".

      Square will be desolving and merging into Enix, with Enix trading 0.81 stock to each Square stock. Enix CEO Fukushima and associates will invest approximately 30% to the new company's capital, with Square's top shareholder Masashi Miyamoto leading behind at 18 % and Square's second top shareholder SCE at 8%.

      Development structures for both companies are not scheduled to be changed at the current time, and no employees are planned to be laid off due to the merge (Current number of employees: Square 891, Enix 140.). Software developments announced by both companies prior to the merge decision will be developed as scheduled.

      It is still not clear what kind of new software will be produced with the merger of Square and Enix. However, No combined Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest(Warrior) title is currently planned for development since both series have distinct differences to each other.

      More details on the corporate strategies for the new company will be revealed at the analysts meeting on 11/29 in Tokyo.

      (Reuters, Quoted) -- "TOKYO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Japanese game software makers Enix Corp 9684.T , known for its blockbuster "Dragon Quest" series, and Square Co Ltd 9620.T , maker of "Final Fantasy", said on Tuesday they would merge to help fight off intense competition.

      Enix and Square said the deal would be worth about 89 billion yen ($727 million) based on Enix's pre-announcement share price.

      The pact comes as Japanese video game software makers are facing rising development costs to create games for advanced systems such as Sony Corp's 6758.T PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Corp's MSFT.O Xbox in a heavily saturated market.

      "We're going on the offensive with this merger. This will make our strengths complement each other," said Square President Yoichi Wada, who will become president of the new firm.

      Wada told reporters that Square had a leading position in the online game market as well as strong name recognition in Europe and North America, while Enix had been successfully operating network games for personal computers in Asia.

      The stock market gave the deal a high score, but analysts had mixed views. Enix shares, which stood at 1,821 yen by midday, shot up by their daily limit of 300 yen or 16.0 percent to 2,175 yen, while Square shares rose 6.42 percent to close at 2,005 yen.

      "The merger is seen as a positive move for both companies as it will provide ample funds to cash-strapped Square while helping to smooth wide earnings swings at Enix, which depends solely on Dragon Quest sales," said Takeshi Tajima, analyst at BNP Paribas.

      STABLE EARNINGS

      Enix is known for stable earnings. It has never posted a loss since it became a listed company in 1991 and its cash reserves stood at 38 billion yen ($311 million) as of September.

      But Takashi Oya, at Deutsche Securities, described the deal as a "virtual" merger and expressed doubts about the benefits.

      "Enix outsources game development and has few in-house creators, while Square does everything by itself. The combination of the two provides no negative factors but would bring little in the way of operational synergies," he said.

      Under the deal, one Square share will be exchanged for 0.81 share in Enix, which will be the surviving entity. Enix will issue 48.76 million new shares to swap for shares in Square.

      Deutsche's Oya said the deal would create a company with a sizable market capitalisation, making it more attractive to investors. The combined companies have a market capitalisation of about 223 billion yen ($1.8 billion) at Mond

    5. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

      Alright, I admit it was more of an assumption than knowledge. I heard the American branch of Enix was basicly shutting down before Square came in, and there hasn't been any new Enix games in America since the merger, I assumed that Square was the one on top.

      That's wierd that they're reverse in Japan. I think Enix would be bigger in the USA but they don't release nearly as many games as Square

      --
      "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
    6. Re:Even I can't understand why this is a problem. by 13Echo · · Score: 1

      Enix in the USA has unfortunately never had a whole lot of support. I remember them shutting down their US offices in the early '90s for some time. Then, during the PSX era, they seemed to pop up again out of nowhere.

      Now, since the merger with Square and the US office shutdown, there is hardly any mention of their existence. The Square/Enix site (really the Square site made-over) mentions very few of their games. Strangely, all of the Square games are listed, even the poor ones.

      It's a shame that Enix is relatively unrecognized in the US anymore, because Valkyrie Profile and the Star Ocean titles were some spectacular games of the last few years, Bust a Groove is quite cool as well. It is quite possible that the US branch of Enix was going to shut down again though. They just didn't have the level of US support to warrant their existence. I wonder if the employees were given the option to work with the new company?

  22. This is new: statistically generated post from CNN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These trolls keep getting lamer all the time.

  23. I want them to go back to FF 1 by kabocox · · Score: 1

    I'd like them to go back to the format of FF 1 were I could pick four characters from eight different classes then play the game from there with a good plot.

    I also would love not having a "main hero" that I can't remove from the party except under a few rare instances.

    Could you imagine FF where you selected characters then the story just unfolds rather than that evil empire destorying the world by using up the life force/magic/mana. It would be nice to have a FF that followed Glen Cooks "Black Company". (No good guys mainly bad vs badder vs woreser vs pure evil vs hey there is a more evil...)

  24. Isn't the name of the series a bit odd? by Neologic · · Score: 1

    Does anyone else find the name 'Final Fantasy XII' rather odd? Shouldn't the final fantasy be once and for all? Great series and probably the most famous of all RPG's, but a better name would have been nice. Still, I suppose it is too late to stop now...

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    "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

    1. Re:Isn't the name of the series a bit odd? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does anyone else find the name 'Star Wars' rather odd? No stars tried to kill each other in any of the movies.

      Really, if there's anything old and tired about Final Fantasy, it's the near-constant stream of posts like yours criticizing the name. Nothing personal. :)

  25. Why still use the FF name? by jimius · · Score: 1

    Because everybody knows it!
    No sensible businessmanager is going to _not_ use the Final Fantasy trademark. Just for the fact that it is called Final Fantasy it will sell well. Even though it is basically a new game.

  26. Re:You sound like all the SNES-age gamers after FF by Daetrin · · Score: 1

    Hmm, i'm in my very late 20s now, and am _still_ saying the series started sliding downhill after FF6, with brief respites in FFT and FF9. I haven't tried FF10 yet though, so i'll have to see how that goes. FF8 was definitely the crap though.

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  27. Welcome back by Daetrin · · Score: 2, Funny
    Does anyone else find the name 'Final Fantasy XII' rather odd? Shouldn't the final fantasy be once and for all? Great series and probably the most famous of all RPG's, but a better name would have been nice. Still, I suppose it is too late to stop now...

    Welcome out from under whatever rock you've been hiding under for the past fifteen years! After you've finished scraping off all the moss that must have accumlated over that time, i'd like you to read through this six foot stack of printouts detailing every one of the hundreds of thousands of instances in which someone has made an "OMG it's called _Final_ Fantasy but there's been more than one of them! HAHAHAHAH!" joke.

    Once you've familarized yourself with the long, boring, and not anywhere near anything even remotely resembling funny histoy of the topic you will be prepared to participate in a real discusion.

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    1. Re:Welcome back by Neologic · · Score: 1

      Yes, I have been under a rock in terms of games- heck, I still remember Bard's Tale as the pinnacle of RPG's. Actually, I have never heard of any of those jokes about FF, but then again, I don't play them. Now back to my rock.

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      "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

  28. More like Final Fantasy X-3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get some new fucking character designs already...

  29. Uhhh FFIX? by illumina+us · · Score: 1

    Ships that fill the sky and a fantasy world with races other than humans. Boy and a girl as main charactes... hmmmm I smell FFIX all over again...

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    -illumina+us "I put on my robe and wizard hat..."
    1. Re:Uhhh FFIX? by blkmage · · Score: 1

      Except that this fantasy world also happens to have a huge metropolis in the backdrop.

    2. Re:Uhhh FFIX? by illumina+us · · Score: 1

      umnmm... FFX???

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      -illumina+us "I put on my robe and wizard hat..."
  30. Re:You sound like all the SNES-age gamers after FF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't get me wrong, I say the same thing. It just comes with age.
    I wish I could find the post I made about htis before, but to sumarize it, people who grew up with Atari thought games started losing their touch with the arrival of 16 - 32 bit machines.
    People who were raised on the NES and SNES (and appropriate Sega machines) thought the same thing about 5 or so years ago.

    In 10 years everyone who grew up having PS3 as the height of their gaming career will be hating this new fangled fully-immersive-virtual-life interative entertainment. I can hear it now:
    "Man, things really wen't downhill after FFXV. Boy do I long for the days of FFXII, that was the best."

    Go figure...

  31. You know what would be cool? by Inoshiro · · Score: 1

    If Squaresoft actually went and made a new Final Fantasy game with generic characters. People you could name, who didn't have preset names of paths. Like the Light Warriors of FF1. No preset names, no preset paths -- only what you did with them.

    Another Final Fantasy game that has the exact same gameplay with the exact same hundreds of cliche plot points and done-it-before gameplay makes me yawn.

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    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
  32. Re:You sound like all the SNES-age gamers after FF by Daetrin · · Score: 1
    I actually did most of my growing up with Atari, Colleco, and NES, the SNES was mostly high school for me, and PSX in college.

    I'll admit that nostalgia plays a factor in the games i like and like to replay, but that doesn't seem to be all it. NES games i just want to replay because of nostalgia, SNES games i want to replay both because of nostalgia and because they're fun.

    I didn't like most PSX games as much, but that are still some i get nostalgic for even though they're after games that i feel no nostalgia for. FF7 was okay, FF8 sucked. However FF tactics was great, as was Xenogears. I'm only 3/4ths through FF9 right now but so far it's the best FF since 6 and i think i'll probably be looking back on it with nostalgia in about five years.

    So i don't think it's _just_ nostalgia, although nostalgia certainly helps.

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  33. Re:You sound like all the SNES-age gamers after FF by Nikkos · · Score: 1

    Funny how you're statement just shows that different people will like different things. Many say FF7 was great, FF8 was alright, and FF9 was the stinker.

    Despite all the moaning and groaning and lemming-like "me-toos," somebody will enjoy FFXII. Of course 90% of RPG-ers will buy the game and play it despite the whining - making it a financial success and ensuring a FFXIII.

    Nikkos

  34. Japan by swat_r2 · · Score: 1

    I'm not complaining about Japan per se, I'm just as sick of seeing the typical "Conan" type in American games as well, I just want to see game designers challenged to avoid cookie cutter heroes. And they are slowly coming to this point.

    I consider myself pretty well versed in Japanese culture. I live in Vancouver which has a huge number of Japanese people, I watch lots of Anime and Japanese movies, play imports, etc so I realize that they like pretty men. On a side note I watched the Friends last night which had Joey in a Japanese commercial wearing lipstick for men.. damn hilarious!

    I want to see a fat, middle aged, balding car salesman as the star of a game - sweat stains and all. Or a pregnant housewife. Or an Indian protaganist. Even a homosexual male. I don't care as long as the designers get a kick in the shorts and try not to fall into the generic trap.

  35. Yay overworld by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

    I wish the "map" in X could have at least been more clear, you could barely make out which continent was which, let alone where the cities were.

    As for X-2, I've heard absolutely nothing bad about it. I'm not sure why people don't seem as excited about it like they were for the rest of the FFs.

    8 I didn't mind the story so much, just the gameplay. 7 I minded the story. I didn't care for insane boy at all, and did it bother anyone else that after Aeris died he wound up with Tifa? Probably not. Oh well. =)

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    "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
  36. Agreed. by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

    I love the FF games and all (own every one) but I'm started to get a little tired of the pattern of the boy with spikey hair falls in love with the white mage and saves the world. At least X-2 has a girl main charactor, though it would be more impressive for a unique FF to star a girl.

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    "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
    1. Re:Agreed. by swat_r2 · · Score: 1

      Do you think it would sell as well if it was an African, Indian or other ethnic character? We all know Barret was the first African to star in a Final Fantasy game, but his ebonics detracted from the game in my opinion.

      I think that after FF12 Square will really have to change something drastically or become stale and predictable. I'm also getting tired of the Spikey Haired boy falls in love with Beautiful Girl Mage who is destined to die tragically, because it's her "fate".

      I mean it's still enjoyable and I love the series (and always have) but it needs a serious kick in the pants, something a bit more edgy and less melodramatic?

    2. Re:Agreed. by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

      I'ld like to say it would sell as well with an ethic charactor, but I just don't know. I know for me it doesn't take much to convince to buy an FF, but other people aren't like me.

      The most common thing I've heard against X-2 is that it's "too girly". As the first female led Final Fantasy, I'ld think that might come with the territory. And it's not like Metal Gear Solid and other games like that are ever dismissed as "too masculine" since you can only play as men. But, from everything I've seen, I'm the only one who thinks it's a good thing that the main charactor is finally a girl.

      If they had a main charactor who was black or indian or hispanic, I would hate to have people dismiss it as too ethic as they dismiss X-2 as too girly. And then worse is the thought that they'd speak ebonics like Barret. =/

      Also, since the games come from Japan, we're probably just gonna get more anime-styled charactors. I don't think the Japanese are as pro-ethnic diversity as Americans.

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      "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
  37. Gameplay by ElleyKitten · · Score: 1

    Gameplay is always lacking on turn-based RPGs, especially Final Fantasies. The people that buy them, buy them for the storyline and expect the storyline to overshadow the gameplay. That's just how we like our RPGs, and if you don't like games like that or think they don't count as games, then don't buy them. But don't waste space telling us what we've already heard a millium times. Just let us play our Final Fantasies and you can go play Unreal or whatever it is you play.

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    "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.