In an interview in Famitsu Weekly, Square President Yoichi Wada confirmed that Final Fantasy XII would still be released in Japan during 2003, apparently unaffected by the upcoming Final Fantasy X-2.
   Additionally, he confirmed that Final Fantasy XIII was in planning stages, though he did not mention to which console it was headed. No further information was divulged on the thirteenth installment of the series.
   Finally, Wada mentioned that Square was planning another online RPG, though again, did not go into further detail.
   Currently, none of the games have been confirmed for release outside of Japan, though all three of the Final Fantasy titles are expected to make English appearances.

   source | Gameforms

   Square has updated the official website for its third big PlayStation 2 RPG, Unlimited SaGa with three new characters. Myth is 28 years old and likes women and wine. One day he sees the woman of his dreams in a picture and decides to search for her. The son of a high-ranking soldier, Cash is a 32-year old, who left his family and now travels around freely. The last addition to game's cast is 10-year old Judy. Her grandmother is a magician, however the upbeat Judy hasn't been too succesful with casting magic so far.
   Unlimited SaGa is set for a December 19th release in Japan. The standard version will be available at 6,800yen (54.77USD), the limited edition will cost 8,800yen (70.88USD).

   source | RPGFan

   In an interview with the developers of Final Fantasy X-2, Square confirmed that other than Yuna and Rikku, the 3rd main character in the game is a new female. In the game Yuna's new costume is a gift from Rikku. The reason for Yuna's new image is because she is a famous summoner in the world, it would be inconvenient for her to travel to different places because everybody knows her, so she decided to change her appearance. This time the story will be less linear, you can already travel to many different places at the beginning. They also mentioned that there is no Rikku version of the game.

   source | The Magic Box

   Square has opened the official Final Fantasy X-2 website. While the website itself doesn't feature a lot of new information, the opening trailer definitely does. Yoshinori Kitase will be the game's producer as expected. Final Fantasy X's event director Motomu Toriyama will also make a return, as he will be solely in charge of directing X-2. The biggest surprise might be Square's choice of composers. Apparently, for the first time in the series, Nobuo Uematsu will not contribute to the game's soundtrack. Instead, Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi have been named as composers.
   You can find the official website here - http://www.playonline.com/ffx2/index.html - but beware, you'll need the Japanese language pack installed if you are a western surfer.

   source | RPGFan

   Square has revealed 3 additional main characters in their upcoming PS2 RPG Unlimited Saga. The first is an inventor named Myth, he likes wine and woman. His life was changed by an oil painting, in which he found the girl of his dream. Myth started his journey to search for the girl of his dream. Cash is the second new character, he is the son of a high knight, but Cash dislikes his father, he left his family and wander to different cities. Cash has a strong sense of justice. The last character is Judy, the grand daughter of a magic house owner. She is still a kid but she already knows different kinds of magic spells, but her spells fail most of the time. Unlimited Saga is scheduled for a December 19 release, for 6800 yen.

   source | The Magic Box

   Only one day after Square officially unveiled its newest PlayStation 2 RPG, Final Fantasy X-2, yesterday, Famitsu Weekly has posted an interview with members of the game's development team in its most recent issue. First of all, Tetsuya Nomura will return as character designer. FFX-2's protagonist, Yuna, will be joined by two other main characters, Rikku and a third unknown female. The changes compared to Final Fantasy X, however, do not stop on the visual side, as the battle system will be entirely revamped. Toshiro Tsuchida, who was responsible for FFX's battle design won't return to the development team. Sphere grid, overdrives and overkills will all fall victim to the changes in the battle system. The action elements on the field map will be executed automatically, meaning they won't require timing a la Kingdom Hearts. Last but not least, there will be no Rikku version.

   source | RPGFan

   Dengeki Online announced today in the "Square Meeting 2002 Autumn" press & distributors meeting, Square has revealed their upcoming Nintendo Gameboy Advice title "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" to be scheduled for release in Febuary 14th, 2003 - price 5800 yen.
   In addition, a bonus movie of Square's first Final Fantasy title sequel, "Final Fantasy X-2" has been announced to be included in "Kingdom Hearts - Final Remix", scheduled for release in 12/26 - Price 6800Yen (8800Yen limited edition available).
   While the Final Fantasy X-2 movie was shown during the meeting, the version to be packaged with Kingdom Hearts is scheduled to have more features.

   source | The Madman's Cafe

   Square revealed new characters in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for GameBoy Advance, he is Cid, a character who appears in every Final Fantasy title. This time Cid is the father of the main character Mash, he is also a Judge Master. Two other new characters are also revealed, they are the Mog brothers Lolo and Mogulan, both are Time Mages.
   More info has also revealed for the Judge System. In this world there are regulations on the battles, the Judge Master (such as Cid) will watch over the battles, and if anyone breaks the rule, he / she will receive punishments.

   source | The Magic Box

   Bloomberg reported that Square is aiming to ship at least 2.5 million units of Final Fantasy X-2 for PlayStation 2 in Japan. Square will reveal further details on the game at the shareholder's meeting this week. Final Fantasy X-2 is scheduled to release in Japan in March 2003.

   source | The Magic Box

   While Square has planned an investor meeting this week on October 22nd, that appeared to be the day they would release first details of the much rumoured Final Fantasy X sequel. That all changed today when Quiter and many other gaming sites have released the first batch of info and screenshots from the game.

   Here is a break down of coverage so far:
   • Gamers.com was the first to break game details with this article
   • Gameforms.com offers a their full-blown preview
   • RPGFan with the primary information
   • And SquareAMP favorite The Magicbox also provides a preview (warning: lots of pop-ups and Gator installing ads)

   Full page scans of the V-Jump advertisement (provided by Quiter and RPGFan) are here: page 1 (.jpg, 187KB) , page 2 (.jpg, 137KB).
   It is presumed that this was the big RPG that Square was set to announce this week; their investor meeting could still provides some surprises and insight into a fully-fledged gaming Square.
   Viva la Square!

   source | N/A

   Square recently confirmed new details regarding its upcoming PlayStation 2 RPG Final Fantasy X-2. Tentatively scheduled for release in March 2003, the game is largely based on Final Fantasy X. Reportedly, the game's story will focus on Yuna and include a variety of gameplay system upgrades. Among them, the ability to jump and climb in your surroundings. Moreover, players can expect a new 'active mode' battle system, although specifics regarding its usage remain undisclosed. As expected, the game will also feature new characters, vehicles, and weapons as well. Expect more details to emerge in the coming weeks.

   source | XenGamers

   Square will start offering various i-mode content on November 5th. Three different services will be available: Square Gallery-i, Square Sound-i, Square Soft-i. The services will allow you to download tunes, high quality pictures, while Square Soft-i will make sure you are up to date as far as new press releases and information on Square games are concerned.
   While Square Soft-i is free of charge, a monthly fee of 300yen (2.41USD) will be charged for using Gallery-i and Sound-i respectively. The monthly fee includes the download of 20 pictures and 10 tunes respectively.

   source | RPGFan

   Square has revealed the official names of the three new characters in Unlimited Saga, they are Vent, Ruby and Armic. Vent is a delivery worker who likes to dress up to attract the girls; Ruby is the younger sister of a famous fortune teller, but her own skills are far inferior than her sister; Armic is a young boy of the another race, he is a skillful fighter. Unlimited Saga is scheduled to release in Japan on December 19, for 6800 yen.

   source | The Magic Box

   Square president Youichi Wada mentioned that they are planning to release a new PlayOnline MMORPG for PlayStation 2 and PC in the second half of 2003 to 2004 period, the save data of the game can be used in both PS2 and PC version, similar to Final Fantasy XI.

   source | The Magic Box

   According to GamePro.com, Square president Yoichi Wada stated that the PC version of their MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, which releases in Japan on November 7th, will be coming to the U.S.
   However, no concrete plans were laid for a U.S. release. The game originated on the PlayStation 2; it's been available in Japan since March. FFXI appeared at May's E3 show in L.A. -- on display in Sony's booth -- but no plans were ever announced to bring the game to the U.S. As time passes, the release of the PS2 version seems ever more unlikely.

   source | Gamers.com, GamePro

   Square is offering three different merchandise items themed after its upcoming GameBoy Advance strategy RPG Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The original web money cards with 500 credit points sell for 1410yen (11.38USD) each. The FF Tactics Advance Chara-Pos Collection W consists of a 2003 poster calendar set and an additional poster. It is available for 900yen (7.26USD). Last but not least, there is the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Card Collection W. It is made up of four different B5-sized character cards, which sell at 300yen (2.42USD) each.
   Final Fantasy Tactics Advance will be released sometime this December in Japan.

   source | RPGFan

   Square has confirmed plans to establish an official fanclub for Final Fantasy music composer Nobuo Uematsu. For a 4000 yen ($33 US) annual fee, members will receive quarterly newsletters, special membership card, access to limited edition merchandise, priority seating to Uematsu concerts, and an invitation to one members only event per year. Square plans to accept membership applications for the fanclub through their website until October 20. Membership privileges for selected members will last from January 2003 - December 2003. Unfortunately, Square will not accept membership applications from non-Japanese residents.

   source | XenGamers

   Square has held a presentation for the PC version of its PlayStation 2 MMORPG Final Fantasy XI for Windows today. At hand were not only Square President and CEO Youichi Wada, but also representatives from Intel and nVIDIA as well as Dell. Intel and nVIDIA supported Square in bringing the PS2 game to the PC platform and optimizing it for the GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and Pentium IV. nVIDIA's representative highlighted the good partnership between his company and Square. nVIDIA has already worked with Square on the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII and the infamous SIGGRAPH 2001 demonstration of sequences from Square's Final Fantasy The Movie since 1999.
   Dell has inked a promotion deal with Square under which it will sell two special Final Fantasy XI PC models.
   As both versions of the game will run on the same servers, PS2 and PC users will be able to play together. Mr Wada said he aims for 200,000 sold copies of the PC version by the end of the current fiscal year. Its PS2 brother has sold 170,000 copies to date in Japan, the current number of one-year PlayOnline subscriptions is set to be between 120,000 and 130,000.
   Final Fantasy XI for Windows will be released in Japan on November 7th and will have an open price.

   source | RPGFan

   A new Final Fantasy album, titled Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection will be released in Japan on December 4th. The one disc package, whose tracklist is not yet available, will be available for 2,381 yen (19.15USD).

   source | RPGFan

   Square has released some new details on their PlayStation 2 RPG Unlimited SaGa. Three new characters are revealed. The first is Radu, a delivery boy who likes to dress up himself to attract the girls, he is an archer in battle. The second is Ruby, the younger sister of a famous fortune teller, but her own skills are still very primitive. The third is a rabbit like young boy named Amigo, he is a very power brawler in battles.
   This time the battle system emphasizes on the combo system, you can create combo attacks by mixing the attacks of different characters. Sometime a lightbulb will show up on the head of a character, indicates the character has learned the new combo attacks. Different kinds of weapon will also give you different attacks and combos.

   source | The Magic Box

   In an interview with Gpara.com, Square producer Yasumi Matsuno talked about his current and future projects. The creator of Final Fantasy Tactics said that sometime next year a big title, directed and produced by himself would be released, but refused to give any details. It remains to be seen, whether he was talking about Final Fantasy XII, of which he is the producer, or about an entirely new project. The former assumption however is clearly contradicted by earlier announcements, according to which Hiroyuki Itou is directing Final Fantasy XII.
   Similar to most other developers, Matsuno sees online gaming as the one major trend in the industry, citing Ultima Online and Final Fantasy XI as prime examples.

   source | RPGFan , Gpara

   Square has revealed details on Final Fantasy XI's October update, which was implemented today. Apart from fixing various bugs from previous updates, the newest update has tweaked the game's previously problematic balance during party play, and improved the abilities of the job class beast tamer (the time period between catching beasts has been reduced from 5 minutes to 15 seconds). A new server will be deployed to handle the current class data of both PlayStation 2 and PC users. Black Mages now can learn the ability escape in order to return to a dungeon's entrance, while White Mages can obtain a new teleport spell. Instead of adding fixed numbers to your stats, certain meals will from now on have relative stat increases attached to them. Tactical Points will now be visible on screen. A new peninsula named East Ronfel Bubrim has been added. Furthermore, the line-up of items rewarded for conquests has been enlarged.

   source | RPGFan

   Square will re-release the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan. While the actual game has not undergone any changes, the re-release will feature a new packaging design.
   Final Fantasy VIII RV will be available today and retail for 6,800yen (55.50USD).

   source | RPGFan

   Square will be holding a Shareholders and Investor Meeting in Japan on October 22, new details for the future game titles such as the FFX spinoffs and FFXII will be revealed at the meeting.

   source | The Magic Box