Welcome to the NEWS section of my site. This page will answer your questions on the game, and, if not, you can personally e-mail me your questions using the link on my homepage. I'd like to note that this page will be updated frequently, and to stay on top of things, should be revisited as often.
Before I go off on all the super-new information, this intro will tell you what some stuff means if you see it on my page. As most of you know, many Final Fantasy games have been released in, both, Japan and North America. If a game title appears, the first number will be the Japanese version, and the number in the brackets is the North-American. So the formula is something like this: Final Fantasy Jap (NA), with "Jap" representing the Japanese title, and the "NA" representing the North-American. If a "N/R" appears in brackets, it means that the game was never officially released in North America. Got it? Good. Now on with the news!
Is a Windows 95 version of Final Fantasy Coming out ,or not? -- 2.12.97
What about Nintendo? -- 2.24.97
Details in Square/Sony Deal -- 2.22.97
What Happened to FF IV, V, and VI? -- 3.22.97
News on Final Fantasy VIII!! -- 4.8.97
News on Final Fantasy IX (and more)!! -- 4.16.97
Fix Final Fantasy VII Petition -- 4.4.97
Other Games -- 3.17.97
Sony Playstation's new 1900 meg, 3 CD game Final Fantasy VII was released in Japan on Jan 31, 1997. Before Feb 4 it had already sold over 2 030 000 copies! That is impressive. But even more so, Sony said they had sold around 5 000 000 Playstation units in Japan, which means that nearly 50% of all Playstation owners in Japan have the game! I'd say that Square's statement on how they were going to sell 4 million copies, just might come true.
It IS true. Final Fantasy VII will be coming out for Win95. Square and microsoft have confirmed it, along with some other Square games as well (see "Other Games" below). For those who don't have a Playstation and are filled with glee to hear this news, I'd calm down. It's been rumoured that the game will require a minimum 4 megs of VRAM(Video RAM). Although I find this hard to believe (most video cards can only hold 2), by the appearance of the game, I'm surprised you don't need 10. Anyway, if you wanna know, 4 megs will set ya back over $200 so, it's pretty much cheaper to buy a Playstation. And, at least, with one of those you're not spending the money for one game. But fear not. Rumours are called rumours for a reason.
It makes me cry to see that people are still asking this question. For all you N64 hopefuls....it's hopeless. It is IMPOSSIBLE. The N64 just doesn't have the memory. You try to fit a 1900 meg game into 64 megs while keeping the graphics decent. It doesn't work. And don't get angry at Square. Square did want to stay with Nintendo. They even produced some screenshots of what the game would look like with not as good graphics so the game could fit on the N64, but that was still too much. In order for Square to produce this game of all games they would have to take away even more, and, honestly, I don't want the game to be reduced that much. Don't get me wrong, the N64 is the most powerful system out there (I've got one!), but the Playstation is also a great system (that uses CD's) and is worth buying anyway. So there is no company at fault, Nintendo made a not-so-good decision to use cartridges on their system, and, well, we have to live with it.
General Info
Another piece of impressive information is the work which Nobuo Uematsu, long-time Final Fantasy music composer, has put into the game. Although the demo only contains 1 type of battle music, the actual game is said to contain 20! Truly amazing compared to all other Final Fantasies (which all have one). In the game there is supposed to be over 100 tracks in all. Good work Nobuo!
Is a Windows 95 version of Final Fantasy VII coming out, or not?
Another set back for Win95 hopefuls, is that the Win95 version is scheduled for a release 2 or 3 months after Playstation's game is released. Since Playstation's American release date is Sept 7, expect Win95's in Nov or Dec (release dates given this early in production are usually inaccurate, so it might even be pushed to Jan. Sorry).
What about Nintendo?
Pics of FFVII cut down to fit on the N64. Still wasn't enough.
Final Fantasy II Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy IV Final Fantasy V Final Fantasy VI |
-- N/R -- N/R -- Final Fantasy II -- N/R -- Final Fantasy III |
Before I end this article, I'd like to note that Final Fantasy V will be released for Windows 95 before Christmas (it's said it will be titled "Final Fantasy Extreme) and that the North American title of Final Fantasy VII is still in debate. Sony wants to break away from Nintendo's tradition and wants to call it Final Fantasy VII, but they don't want to confuse anyone either.
I don't usually get things wrong, so don't get mad at me for this. If you've been here before you may have seen the article which said that Final Fantasy VIII might be coming out for the N64. Well. It's been confirmed that it is not. Square has officially announced that Final Fantasy VIII will be coming out for the Playstation. Why? Simple. With Sony, Square has broken all major sales records. They are impressed with this and are pleased how everything has turned out with them. The only talk now of Square and Nintendo doing any business together at all, is on Super Mario RPG 2.
Reposted with permission from The Final Fantasy VII Homepage (www.dragonfire.net/~sato/ff7hp.htm), written by Ike Sato.
Starting in April, Square will start developing a new type of game in Hawaii, Honolulu. They will form a development team consisting of about 120 staff members, mostly composed of
computer graphic technicians from the U.S. By March 2000, they will spend about 7 - 8 billion yen (approximately $ 70 - 80 million) on development and production, and their product
will be released in the Final Fantasy series. Actual developments will be handled by Square USA. They will have a Honolulu branch ready, and will recruit CG, movie, and game
technicians; 60 staff members each from Japan and the U.S. With this team, they will combine movie cinematography and a great game engine, and plan to create a next generation game
that surpass motion pictures. In conjunction to this, they are also in production of a full length CG movie based on the themes of Final Fantasy. Their primary objective is to improve their
skills in CG, as well as scenario and performance. This new type of game will be released as Final Fantasy IX. Meanwhile, Square of Japan and Square LA will continue with their usual
software developments. (Source: Nippon Keizai Shinbun - March 5, 1997)
A reminder: reposted with permission from The Final Fantasy VII Homepage (www.dragonfire.net/~sato/ff7hp.htm), written by Ike Sato.
This article has been reproduced, with permission from Crow at Miranda's Cafe.
Recently it has come to light that the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII that many of us have imported is NOT a complete
version. Square of Japan was rushed into completing the game, and so certain parts of the game remain unfinished.
I will not go into detail of what was changed, due to the fact that it involves a large spoiler. If you would like
to know the full details, you can read a description of what happened in at Miranda Cafe's "Import Aid | Misc"
section, but you will be ruining one of the major events of the game.
Suffice it to say that the fact that it is unfinished does affect the game significantly. In fact, in the Japanese
version of the game there are 2 FMV endings - however, one CANNOT be accessed, because the events needed to get
the better ending cannot be completed due to the incomplete programming. Because of this,
Lelkins131@aol.com has started a petition for Square LA to "fix" the game
for its American release. It would take a minimal amount of programming, as the FMV is already rendered for the
good ending. If you would like to add your signature, please send email to the above address.
Once again, I'd just like to thank Miranda's Cafe for letting me reproduce this.
As I said earlier, Square will be releasing other Square games for Win95 and Playstation, besides Final Fantasy VII (including a re-release of Final IV (II) !). Here's a list of games coming out for both systems and when to expect to see them:
News on Final Fantasy VIII!!
News on Final Fantasy IX (and more)!!
Fix Final Fantasy VII Petition
Other Games
Playstation
Windows 95
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