- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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?!?!
- 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
- 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
- "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)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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".
- 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
- 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
- Squenix considers Xenon development
According to a several day old Microsoft press release concerning the successor to the Xbox, Square Enix is considering development for the platform which should arrive late next year. As the next company down from industry leader Nintendo, Squenix would be a vital addition to the portfolio of the Xbox 2 and almost guarantee its success in Japan as well as overseas. Bloomberg
- Japanese gaming market continues downward spiral into woeful oblivion
"The latest annual report from the Consumer Entertainment Software Association shows that the games market in Japan declined once again in 2003, leading to an overall decline of some 40 per cent since 1997." GamesIndustry.biz
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30 July 2004 by 
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