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TGS: 8
New Must See Final Fantasy X Videos!
Click
here for 8 additional FFX mpg video's from the Tokyo Game
Show.
SOURCE: IGN
PS2
TGS: Must See Final Fantasy X Video!
Thanks to IGN PS2,
there is new video footage of the game being played at the
Tokyo Game Show. Keep in mind that this video is captured
and compressed from a DV camera and doesn't completely do
the game justice. Regardless, it still looks quite tasty and
this video is only the first of several that we'll post over
the course of the rest of the game show. So, download
it (MPG Format, 4.19MB) and revel in the beauty of Final
Fantasy X.
SOURCE: IGN
PS2
TGS: Final Fantasy X Impressions & Screens!
Click
here for 39
new screeenshots of Square's upcoming epic. Also check
out the first
impressions and new details on the battle system.
SOURCE: The
GIA
TGS: Non-Square:
Namco Unveils 'Xenosaga'
Namco's much hyped 'Project-X' for the PlayStation
2 was formally announced today at Spring Tokyo Game Show.
According to company representatives, the game is an RPG dubbed
'Xenosaga.' Unfortunately, no media was shown openly. Rather,
Namco is planning a major unveiling for July 8th, wherein
the game will be formally unveiled before 600 lucky attendees.
Nevertheless, we've been told Xenosaga will feature music
by Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger fame. It seems likely
that Xenosaga will attempt to carry on the six-episode Xenogears
story in some form.
The title also now has an official winter
2001 release date in Japan.
SOURCE: Core
Magazine | Gamespot
"Aerith's Theme"
Stakes Out Clear Lead
Square has posted another update to the
"Suteki da ne" bonus track voting on its PlayOnline
site. The campaign, which continues until the end of April,
allows Japanese-speaking fans to vote on their favorite Final
Fantasy music piece. The winning track will be remixed into
a Rikki-sung vocal track for inclusion on the CD single release
of Final Fantasy X's theme "Suteki da ne."
"Aerith's Theme" from Final Fantasy
VII has increased its lead; the track now has 1,194 votes.
That gives "Aerith's Theme" nearly four times as
many votes as the second-place song, "You're Not Alone"
from Final Fantasy IX, which has a mere 285 votes. Final Fantasy
V's ever-popular "Battle With Gilgamesh" has dropped
to third place with 234 votes.
Voting continues until April 30th.
SOURCE: The
GIA |
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Pre-TGS: Bring on the Playable FFX!
Final
Fantasy X will be playable on numerous kiosks at both Square's
and Sony's booths at the Tokyo Game Show.
SOURCE: IGN
PS2 |
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Site News: NEW FORUMS!
The
new site forums are now online. Take a few seconds and sign
up so you have the chance to say what's on your mind regarding
Square and to discuss the latest news.
Also
in the forums: the Final Fantasy Survivor trailor. Go check
it out and leave feedback.
The link for the forums can be found on
the top menu navigation bar.
Final Fantasy IX Sells
Millions
Square announced that their hit PlayStation
RPG Final Fantasy IX has sold over 1.1 million copies in
North America since its release in November 2000, the sales
in Japan has also passed 2.82 million copies. As a result,
he worldwide shipment of the Final Fantasy series has reached
31 millions.
SOURCE: The
Magicbox
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Final Fantasy IX Awarded
Square's
latest PlayStation RPG 'Final Fantasy IX' was named "Console
Role Playing Game of the Year" by the interactive entertainment
industry at a ceremony held last night. Square also was honored
with additional awards in multiple categories including: "Outstanding
Achievement in Art Direction" and "Outstanding Achievement
in Animation," both for Final Fantasy IX.
SOURCE:
Core Magazine |
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Square Announces Tokyo Game Show Line-up
Square
today official announced its roster of games for the Spring
2001 Tokyo Game Show. Headlining the line-up is Final Fantasy
X, which will debut in playable form at the show. The showing
will be the first official look at FF X since the initial
screenshots.
While FF X is sure to be the biggest attraction
at Square booth, a trio of WonderSwan Color games will also
be on display: the military strategy RPG Blue Wing Blitz;
the Final Fantasy II remake; and the SaGa series' latest chapter,
WildCard.
The Tokyo Game Show runs from March 30th
to April 1st.
SOURCE:
The GIA |
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Will Fantasy Be a Wake-up Call to Actors?
Sony/Columbia's
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is likely to send a chilling
message to actors that they, too, can be replaced by computers,
the London Daily Mirror indicated today (Thursday). The $65-million
movie, it noted, is the first to completely replace human
actors with computer-generated ones. Japanese producer Jun
Aida told the Mirror: "Recreating the natural human facial
expressions was the most difficult aspect. ... No one has
done this before, so we couldn't hire anyone to show us how.
We had to put an extensive amount of effort into developing
it." In its report about the film, which is scheduled
to open in the U.S. on July 13, the Mirror quoted an unnamed
Hollywood insider as saying that the advent of computer-generated
actors has been "a worry for all those second-division
stars who behave like spoilt brats and piss everyone off.
A lot of directors are going to fall in love with these computer
actors because they're cheap and reliable."
SOURCE: IMDb
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Site Redesign
Click
here
to check out the new look. |
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Blue Wing Blitz Update
Blue
Wing Blitz is being developed by the creators of Front Mission,
the story takes place in a fantasy world, where air floating
islands exist in the world. The floating islands are owned
and ruled by an evil airship corporation, you play as a leader
of the air force, your mission is to lead a team of airships
to battle against the evil corporation. The battles are mission
based like in Front Mission, all the airships and aircrafts
can be upgraded by adding different engines, weapons and armor.
Blue Wing Blitz is scheduled for release on July 5, for 4700
yen.
SOURCE:
The Magicbox |
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Despite Negative Reviews, The Bouncer is #1
According
to NPD Weekly Report, week ending March 10, 2001, The Bouncer
(which released March 6) was the number 1 selling title across
all platforms (PS2, PS one, N64, DC. Against PlayStation 2
titles, The Bouncer sold more units than the number 2 and
number three games combined (37,511 units for the week) which
is close to 20% market share. In comparison to The Bouncer,
Conker's Bad Fur Day, which hit retail stands in the same
day for the Nintendo 64, only sold through 24,000 units. NPD
tracking numbers accounts for 72% of the all videogames sold
in the US.
"We are excited to see that The Bouncer
has topped the sales charts across all platforms in its first
week of release." Said Jun Iwasaki, President, Square
EA. "Thanks to the fans and everyone's support for this
successful launch."
SOURCE:
IGN PS2 |
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Square Says No to Xbox
In
recent rumblings, IGN has learned that Square has decided
NOT to develop for Microsoft's Xbox, after all. Square had
originally said that it was interested in Xbox development,
and has apparently been in discussions with Microsoft, but
recently IGN heard that Square has decided to pull away from
any Xbox development, although it's still listed as a developer.
As everybody knows, it's quite easy to become a listed developer,
which is different than actually developing for a system.
SOURCE:
IGN PS2 |
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Site News: Added Final Fantasy Tactics to Games
We
just recently got access to a good friends old Tactics page
that hasn't been updated or viewed for over a year. We decided
that we should add it to our Games section, seeing as that
section is currently lacking for content. It's a very indepth
guide but it is missing a walkthrough. I hope you enjoy it
and email me with anything you think should be added to it,
or to help with a good walkthrough.
SOURCE:
Rune |
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Square Holds CG Seminar
Square
participated in a Cultural Affairs Media Festival today in
Ebisu Garden by holding a computer graphics seminar. The event
was highlighted by a speech from Square CG director Satoshi
Tsukamoto whose list of credits include the Final Fantasy
series. Tsukamoto-san spoke about the production methods employed
in tradition CG production for films and demonstrated advanced
motion capturing techniques before the crowd. Before leaving
the podium Tsukamoto-san said; 'CG development has been greatly
improved through game development. We're adapting all the
knowledge we've garnered through CG production in games and
movies to our upcoming PlayStation2 title; Final Fantasy X.
Expect some of the most impressive CG yet.'
Unfortunately, no real footage of the game
was shown at the seminar. Rather, Square is gearing up for
a formal showing at Spring TGS later this month.
SOURCE: Core
Magazine |
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Site News: Radio Server System Upgrade
Live365
will be temporarily halting their services from 9pm to 11pm
PT on March 12th for a system upgrade. As a result, this means
our SquareAMP radio will not be available to listen to during
this time.
Square Plans Bouncer
Soundtrack
Square is planning to release a two-disc
music soundtrack for their PlayStation2 action title 'The
Bouncer' on March 23rd in Japan. The compilation will reportedly
feature 29 tracks from the game, and will retail for 2854
Yen ($22). All associated music tracks were composed by Noriko
Matsueda, whose list of credits including Square's PlayStation
title 'Racing Lagoon.'
No word on whether Square plans to release
the soundtrack outside Japan.
SOURCE: Core
Magazine |
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New
Details on Square's WSC Strategy RPG's
Famitsu
today revealed a few additionial details concering Square's
WonderSwan Color title Blue Wing Blitz. The strategy RPG will
focus on air combat; players will pilot various types of planes
in combat instead of fighting on foot or in mecha. The game
will also feature fully 3-D graphics. A release date has not
yet been announced.
Famitsu also reconfirmed Square's forthcoming
WSC port of the Super Famicom strategy RPG Front Mission.
Despite rumors that the title had been canceled, it is obviously
alive and well, as evidenced by the first
screenshot of the game. Front Mission WSC is currently
on track for release next winter in Japan.
SOURCE: Famitsu
International
Site News: Two Updates In One Day?!
If
you feel there are any additions to SquareAMP you would like
to see, and they include scripting or any kind please e-mail
Rune, Topic SquareAMP.
Please include what you want to see added and if possible
a link to the script that you would like to see implemented.
SquareAMP is for you the fans so any and all input is appreciated.
SOURCE: Rune
Site
News: SquareAMP Radio Gets An Update
After
being down for most of yesterday and the day before, SquareAMP
Radio is back up and with more songs. You can also e-mail
santino, with your
requests for songs you feel should be included in the radio
program.
SOURCE: santino
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Square's "Unnamed Portable RPG" Revealed
In
a spate of announcements last month that included multiple
remakes and new titles from Square, an "unnamed portable RPG"
was also listed. That game has now been revealed to be Blue
Wing Blitz, a simulation/RPG set to join the rest of the company's
portable titles on the WonderSwan Color.
Blue Wing Blitz will be Square's second
original production for the WSC, coming after card battle
RPG WildCard and a half-dozen Famicom remakes. No other details
have been released.
SOURCE: The
GIA |
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Interview: Final Fantasy X
Following
the initial media blitz concerning Final Fantasy X, Square's
camp has grown unusually quiet regarding their premiere PlayStation
2 RPG. Last week several development team members including
Yusuke Naora (art director), Tsuchida Toshiro (battle director),
Kazunari Nojima (scenario writer), Tetsuya Nomura (character
designer), and Yoshinori Kitase (chief director) broke their
silence in an interview conducted by DengekiPS to reveal a
wealth of new Final Fantasy X info.
The full interview can be found here.
SOURCE: Core
Magazine |
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"Suteki da ne" Bonus Track Voting Update
The
first round of results from Square's music survey are in.
The survey, which began February 16th, gives Japanese-speaking
fans a chance to vote on which Final Fantasy track they'd
like to see redone as a vocal piece. The winning track will
be remixed with lyrics by Nobuo Uematsu, sung by Rikki, and
included on the CD single of Final Fantasy X's theme song,
"Suteki da ne."
In just a few weeks, "Aerith's Theme" (Final
Fantasy VII - Disc 3, Track 19) has emerged as the clear favorite.
With over 600 nominations, it has more than four times the
votes of the second-place track, perennial fan favorite "Battle
With Gilgamesh" (FF V - Disc 2, Track 3). Holding third-,
fourth-, and fifth-place positions are "Aria di Mezzo Carattere"
(FF VI - Disc 2, Track 8 -- the opera song), "You're Not Alone"
(FF IX - Disc 4, Track 9 -- Zidane's march through Pandemonium),
and "Searching for Friends" (FF VI - Disc 3, Track 7 -- the
World of Ruin airship theme), respectively.
The results are far from final, however.
Voting continues through April 30th, so it's still possible
for "Battle With Gilgamesh" or another track to pull a come-from-behind
victory.
SOURCE: The
GIA |
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Site News: Forums & Fanimation
The
forums will be moving onto a new server sometime next week,
make sure that once this happens to go in and register.
Also there will be a new addition to the
FanAmp section which will be called Fanimation. Those of you
who have seen the site before it was called SquareAMP will
remember this as Toons. |
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