News / 2004 / July / day01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

20 articles

• European CEO announced
  Building on its promises to expand its global presence, including its European one, Square Enix announced a new CEO for Square Enix Ltd, its London division that will be overseeing publishing and future broadening of the PAL software library. The position will be taken by former Atlus USA CEO John Yamamoto, who is to make sure the presence of the company in this territory is expanded significantly in coming months. The company also made mention of a new office for China in Shanghai, as well as othe reorganisations at Square Enix Inc. in the US. GamesIndustry.biz
  02 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 24 ↓ discusss permalink
• New Mana title in the works
  A job opening on the Square Enix website requesting, amongst others, an Art Director and Character Model Designer to work on a new Seiken Densetsu project alludes to an upcoming announcement of a new game in the Mana series, presumably for a platform that supports 3d (why else would you need a model designer). Here's some production artwork shown to give applying artists an idea of what they're looking for. Square Enix
  02 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 87 ↓ discusss permalink
• Final Fantasy I-II Advance delayed
  Final Fantasy I-II, previously set for a July 15 release in Japan, was delayed due to the sudden prevalence of a bug in the game. This comes shortly after the initial airing of commercials on Japanese TV, but for now the new release date for the game is "unknown".
  02 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 0 ↓ discusss permalink
• Final Fantasy XI European launch date announced, but bad news for PS2 fanatics
  Square Enix confirmed today, after being asked to comment on its press release, that Final Fantasy XI will not be coming to Europe on the Playstation2. The title will however see a release at the hands of newly reformed Square Enix Ltd. for the PC this September, and as published by Ubisoft, will include the upcoming Chains of Promathia expansion that will be launched simultaneously in Japan and North America. European FFXI site
  06 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 30 ↓ discusss permalink
• New release date for Final Fantasy I-II Advance announced
  Since the announcement of its delay earlier this week, Square Enix has released a new shipping date for Final Fantasy I-II Advance. The title will be available in Japan from July 29th.
  06 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 54 ↓ discusss permalink
• Famitsu rates Final Fantasy I-II Advance
  A recent issue of elite Japanese gaming mag Famitsu contained a review for Final Fantasy I-II Advance, which received a quite unsurprising grade of 35/40, made up of three nines and an eight.
  07 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 48 ↓ discusss permalink
• "Boring" numbers from business report put Square Enix in the lead in online gaming
  A business report published by Square Enix today showcased an overview of total sales, projections, and other business blah blah. Of note were the total sales of the Final Fantasy series, currently at 60 million worldwide, and Dragon Quest, at 35 million. According to stock market evaluations, Square Enix sits behind Nintendo, EA, and Sony Computer Entertainment as fourth in the race for biggest software publisher, although it leads the online gaming market in Japan and North America with its sole title Final Fantasy XI, which has over 500,000 users. Business report (PDF)
  07 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 12 ↓ discusss permalink
• European cellphone market next target for Square Enix' mobile games push
  In a press release published on TelecomPaper today, Square Enix announced its intentions of working with Vodafone within Europe to publish three titles for its Vodafone Live! service in the near future. Two of the titles, Aleste and Actraiser (Enix titles released on the SNES and Genesis) will be out this month in Germany, ahead of releases elsewhere in Europe. The third, a mobile phone adaptation of PS2 action adventure Drakengard, will follow shortly after. TelecomPaper
  08 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 17 ↓ discusss permalink
• Full Metal Alchemist 2 to be released this year in Japan
  Square Enix announced that Full Metal Alchemist: Demon of the Red Elixir Will hit Japan on August 27th. Not to be left out of a possible merchandising opportunity, Hori plans on releasing a special edition memory card to be released at the same time as the game. Quiter
  09 July 2004 by Rachel ↑ 78 ↓ discusss permalink
• Nintendo reveals Famicom Mini Series 3 titles and that they are STUPID MOTHER FUCKING SHITFACES
  Nintendo recently revealed titles to be released in the third Famicom Mini series of NES re-releases for the Game Boy Advance. Some of the more noteworthy titles include Castlevania, Kid Icarus, Metroid, and Super Mario Bros 2. Also of note is that Tetris is NOT FUCKING INCLUDED and that Famicom Mini Series 3 DOES NOT MOTHER FUCKING HAVE TETRIS, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. Link
  09 July 2004 by Matt ↑ -984683 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix trademarks "Radiata Stories"
  Apparently Square Enix registered a "Radiata Stories" trademark at the US patent office on June 30th, but seeing as we don't know what it is (it better not be another blasted cellphone title), there's not much to speculate about. OMGWTF NEW CHRONO GAME?!?!
  11 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 23 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Haven reviews section upgraded; note to users: yes, we have reader reviews!
  Recent improvements have been made to our game review scripts that have made for the betterment of both staff and reader reviews. The Square Haven staff invites all non-vapid buttmunches to freely submit quality reviews in substantial quantities. Recent reviews include a relentless crucifixion of Final Fantasy X-2 by Rachel, Matt's ignorant eulogy to Einhander, and reader reviews of Xenogears and FF:TSW, both by non-vapid pillars of the Square Haven community. Square Haven Reviews
  12 July 2004 by Matt ↑ -32 ↓ discusss permalink
• Yamamoto pledges improved support towards the European market
  In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Square Enix Ltd CEO John Yamamoto pinned down a couple of details relating to future activies of Square Enix in the European market. "Yes," Yamamoto said when asked if the company plans to increase the number of titles it publishes in Europe, "because we're going to be our own publisher and distributor, the answer is yes." Yamamoto also hinted at possible future software development in Europe, although nothing is certain at this point. Other notable comments include a confirmation of Final Fantasy XII's and Kingdom Hearts II's release in Europe next fiscal year, and the release of Star Ocean 3 this September, only a month after its release in North America. GamesIndustry.biz
  16 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ -1 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix trademarks term to describe "milking a franchise"
  As reported earlier today in a Haven news broadcast, Square Enix announced its intentions to trademark the term "Polymorphism". Polymorphism?, an abstract to define the use of a franchise or brand with cross-media applications, it said, will be used in future to stimulate sales of franchises even when there is no longer any new content to put into them. Square Enix Ltd CEO John Yamamoto commented only yesterday that examples of such polymorphic? content will be apparent soon in series such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Final Fantasy VII. Stay tuned as Square Haven provides indepth coverage of Polymorphism? in coming weeks.
  17 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 15 ↓ discusss permalink
• Sakaguchi says fuck it, founds new game dev studio, according to Famitsu
  Recent spewage from the gob of Japanese mag Famitsu indicates that Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has created a new game company named Mist Walker with which he intends to create "next generation RPGs" for the upcoming console generation, possibly together with developers and individuals such as Yoshitaka Amano. Whether or not this means he's leaving Square Enix is up in the air, but no doubt after being tossed off the FF team for good with no more than an advisory role on Final Fantasy XII, we wouldn't be surprised.
  21 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 38 ↓ discusss permalink
• Kitase, Japanese magazines elusively hint at further implementation of milking, er, polymorphism? with the Final Fantasy VII brand
  Yoshinori Kitase (FF6, FF7), producer of Advent Children, commented some more on the possibility of a Final Fantasy VII sequel in game form, but didn't reveal any actual details. Yet, the fact that they are even considering it, as he says, should be worth noting - there may be another surprise yet to be added to the upcoming Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Additionally, Japanese game mag V-Jump seems to know more, printing a silhouette of Vincent alongside text stating that we could expect an upcoming title involving him that may or may not involve gunslinging action. Errrr.
  23 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 33 ↓ discusss permalink
• Mist Walker has new Vice President, also; Sakaguchi said fuck it 3 years ago
  Kensuke Tanaka (general producer of the anime Final Fantasy Unlimited, and also involved with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XI) was revealed as Mist Walker's new Vice President. Sakaguchi announced that Mist Walker was founded over three years ago, and also said that they will soon be making a major announcement. Well, that was kinda underwhelming. Quiter
  26 July 2004 by Rachel ↑ -7 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square ensures that just because you leave Vana'diel, it doesn't mean that Vana'diel leaves you.
  Square unveiled further cellphone plans which included no further details on FFVII: Before Crisis, but they did announce plans to keep you in touch with your pals in Final Fantasy XI's world of Vana'diel, such as chatting and other features that are currently undergoing development. Quiter
  26 July 2004 by Rachel ↑ 53 ↓ discusss permalink
• Square Enix asks Final Fantasy I-II Advance buyers what games they'd like to see on Nintendo DS
  Gamers getting their hands on Final Fantasy I-II Advance, which is to be released tomorrow in Japan, receive a questionnaire along with the pack that asks of them what other games they might want to see released on the Nintendo DS (the final design of which was also unveiled today). Games that can be chosen include Final Fantasies 3 to 6, Seiken Densetsu, Saga, Front Mission, Hanjuku Hero, Chrono Trigger, and Chocobo. The company already confirmed that it would be creating a version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and some iteration of Dragon Quest for the upcoming system, next to its previously displayed and announced Egg Monster Heroes.
  28 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 89 ↓ discusss permalink
• Killer Shrimps to be shown at Venice's 61st International Film Festival this September
  Piero Golia's upcoming KILLER SHRIMPS has been confirmed to appear on the list of digital content that will be shown at the upcoming film festival in Venice in September alongside Square Enix' FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN. Compared to the former's impressive eighty minute showing, Advent Children's meagre 30 minute expanded trailer seems infinitessimally irrelevant. Perhaps it is made on polymorphic film which expands during showing. Link
  30 July 2004 by Rahul ↑ 10 ↓ discusss permalink