Square has revealed new info on their PlayStation 2 RPG adventure game Kingdom Hearts, scheduled to release in Japan in spring 2002. This time several new characters are revealed. Now Disney's Tarzan and friends will join with the hero Sora to battle with the enemy Heartless. Tarzan and his friends Jane, Clayton, Kerchak, Kala and Terk will live in the Deep Jungle. During the quest, Sora will also encounter Cid, Mog and Chocobo from the Final Fantasy universe, Cid is a 42 years old weapon shop owner, and who seem to be a skilled fighter when he was young.

   Discussion ... source | The Magicbox

   Square announced a new PlayStation 2 baseball title in Japan, called Nichibeikan Pro Baseball: Final League, scheduled for a March 2002 release. The game will feature real name pro baseball players from both Japanese and America leagues, players can pick teams from both leagues for dream matches. There are 3 play modes in the game: All-Star, Tournament and League.

   Discussion ... source | The Magicbox

   Well due to some changes that went on at Live365, both of our servers IP addresses have been changed - as well as the 56k connection being totally erased. I went ahead and set it up with some new music, as well as fixed the IP Address listings on the Winamp launch file - so please click above and start listening once again! Keen fans will notice that the 56kbps connection will sound much better but requires a faster connection. Currently the 56kbps is featuring the breathtaking arrangements from Chrono Cross and Xenogears (both by Yasunori Mistuda). The 24kbps features the same old scores of FF4, FF6, FF7, FF8, as well as Xenogears, Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve 2.
    There is also a flood of new remixes, featuring site favorites Jaxx, Kaijin, Matt Pollard and Dale North - as well as the addition of our first (and definitely our favorite) FFmusic Dj track.

   source | N/A

   Just wanted to note to fellow Square fans that the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was released on DVD to those of us living in the U.S. While I have yet to receive my copy, it is said that the DVD is packed with extras that will please those who purchase the product. The release has also brought up the popularity of FF:TSW, moving it to number 3 on Amazon.com's Top DVD list . Click on discussion below to let us know what you think so far, and what you thought of the Thriller music video.

   Discussion ... source | N/A

   GameSpot has learned further details on Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2. As previously reported, the game takes place in the world of Vana Dir, where swords, sorcery, and technology coexist. More than 20 years ago, humans and monsters fought a battle. The land has remained peaceful until recently, as an evil presence is starting to cloud the land of Vana Dir once again
   The character selection allows players to choose the race, sex, and job of their character. It has not been revealed whether the job system will follow the style of previous games in the Final Fantasy series. One of the races is called the "hume," which is basically the human form, either male or female. There will also be nonhuman races to choose from. Aside from player's characters, NPCs also exist in the game, partially to move the story along.
   The PC version of the game is being developed concurrently with the PlayStation 2 version. With a North American release planned, the game will include language support for both Japanese and English. Currently 65 percent complete, the PlayStation 2 version of Final Fantasy XI is scheduled to enter the beta-testing phase sometime this winter in Japan.

   Discussion ... source | GameSpot VG

   Final Fantasy XI will take place in the world of Vana Dir. In this world, different races live in a place where sword, sorcery, and technology coexist. Details regarding the game's story are sketchy at this point, but it is known that the game involves battling against a resurrected evil existence and searching for crystals.
   No specific gameplay details have been disclosed yet. However, in Hironobu Sakaguchi's vision the game's story will be more involved than in previous online RPGs. Sakaguchi hopes that the world of Final Fantasy XI will have a general history and the game's plot will sweep through the entire gameworld.

   Discussion ... source | GameSpot VG

   An internal short film made as a precursor to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, titled "The Grey Project" will be included as one of the extras for the upcoming FF:TSW DVD release. The film clocks in just around five and a half minutes, and features Grey as the main character. Please check out Square Source for their exclusive screenshots from the film.

   Discussion ... source | Square Source

   Square Fans awoke this morning to find some news about what their favorite gaming company had produced at the 2001 Fall installment of the Tokyo Game Show, among the new details are:

:: Gamespot provides a new trailer for Final Fantasy XI
:: TheGIA also provided a look at the logo from the upcoming online RPG
:: PS2Ign gave a look at a new Kingdom Hearts video, revealing Tarzan will make an appearance
:: TheGIA also gave the heads up that Final Fantasy IV is CONFIRMED for release on a handheld.... but not the handheld everyone was waiting for. The game will come out for Bandai's WonderSwan Color
:: TheGIA posted the promotional poster for Final Fantasy XI: Online

   Discussion ... source | The GIA, GameSpot, PS2Ign

   Project Majestic Mix, a grand tribute to Nobuo Uematsu that has been in the making for the last 2 years, has been completed. The project, masterminded by Stephen T. Kennedy, includes many remakes of Nobuo's greatest compositions. Please go on over to KFSS Studios Majestic Mix site to download an exclusive demo of what is to come. The release date for the disc is still pending, but the site projects it should be available around Christmas 2001.

   Discussion ... source | Project Majestic Mix

   According to early morning reports coming out of Japan, Sony is in the final stages of securing a 19% interest in Square. With the software giant currently suffering under an enormous loss due to the financial disappointment of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Square will be selling 11.2 million shares of stock to Sony at a cost of 1,330 yen a share.
   The 14.9 billion yen ($124 million) investment will make Sony the second largest shareholder in the company, second only to Square's founder. Sony's new stake in Square will undoubtedly have repercussions for the company's output and, at the very least, should assure that Square's marquee titles do indeed remain PlayStation exclusive.
   A bigger question may be what effect this will have on Square's burgeoning PlayOnline service. The ambitious online network was ultimately meant to offer games, music, chat, and other entertainment across a wide variety of platforms -- Square's business plan for it required it. But with Sony's support and the company's new interest in Square, PlayOnline could possibly become a PlayStation exclusive. This move could in turn have further repercussions for the industry; Enix and Namco had recently partnered with Square to develop games for the service.

   Discussion ... source | The GIA, Bloomberg

   Despite Square's disappointing financial announcement days ago, stockholders have reacted well with the news that Square had dropped their volitle movie business. After confirming that they will put their resources into videogame making, Square's stock shot up 6.7% Thursday, to 1,696 yen. This follows Wednesday's even larger gain, when shares rose an additional 9.5%.

  source | Square Source

   Following in the footsteps of such twice-removed projects as Great Expectations: The Novelization of the Movie, the Final Fantasy-inspired anime series, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, is in turn inspiring a new series of Squaresoft RPGs. According to Final Fantasy series producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, the games are very early in development, and might not even carry the Final Fantasy name. The target console has not yet been chosen. The games will be directed by Akitoshi Kawazu, SaGa series director and initial concept director for the anime series. No further details are available at this time.

  source | The GIA, Anime Dream

   Due to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within's disappointing performance in both the American and Japanese markets, Square announced today that they're leaving the film business. Though cost-saving measures such as reusing the character of Aki in different genres were rumored, it now seems that these are not to be. As a result of the losses, Square will also likely not post profits this financial quarter.

  source | The GIA, Video Senki

   The story takes place in two different worlds: one is Disney Castle, where all the Disney characters live in, another one is Destiny Islands, where the 3 main characters Sora, Riku and Kairi live. The battle system is greatly simplified, you will only be able to control Sora, the other two character will be controlled by the CPU. You can see the monsters in the exploration mode, and choose to avoid or contact them for battles. This time when you cast summon spells to summon many famous Disney mascots to battle for you. For example, Sora can summon Jumbo the Elephant to use his powerful water gun attacks...

  source | The Magicbox