U P C O M I N G   H O T   T O P I C Are you going to join the world of Vana'diel? Many questions have been answered about Final Fantasy XI. More information on the gameplay, the characters, the towns, the monsters, have been revealed over the past few months. Is Final Fantasy XI looking more tantalizing or are you going to skip the online adventure and just wait for the next single player title in the series? Let us know for our next mailbag update.  M A I L B A G   A R C H I V E Explore the Mailbag archive. > Current Mailbag > 04.28.02: What do you think of the new Square-Nintendo partnership? > 03.09.02: What do you think of Final Fantasy X? > 01.09.02: What does the Final Fantasy series mean to you? > 10.14.01: Final Fantasy XI: Console Blockbuster or Big Time Bomb? > 09.20.01: The Mailbag 04.28.02 - What do you think of the new Square-Nintendo partnership? Looks like Final Fantasy will be returning to Nintendo, but it's still a little unclear as to the extent of the homecoming. Will new, exclusive titles be brought to the GameCube or does Square simply have some catching up to do? Here's what you thought. Send your all your mailbag stuff to locke@ffonline.com or dh@ffonline.com.  H O T   T O P I C Hey,Locke. Nintendo and Square... That partnership made me prefer SNES over Sega Genesis... but that's in the past. PSX and PS2 arrive. I just got my PS2 one week after FFX came out. I wanted it because I wanted in on Square’s next branch of gaming... And NOW they go back to Nintendo. I could've used that when N64 was still popular. Now I must go and buy GameCube and Gameboy Advanced. Am I mad? Hell no. That gave me the perfect excuse to buy GC and GBA... but are they going to keep making games for PS2? It'd be cool if they can work with both. Anyway, I support Square's decision. I hope they make new games though, not just ports. I've rambled enough. What do I think about this partnership? I think that it's great. Good for Square, better for Nintendo. :-p - JohnLennon1985 PS: Locke is the BEST FF6 character. Square hasn’t left Sony. Nintendo recently updated its website with a page announcing the development of Final Fantasy games for the GameCube and Game Boy Advance. We’ve got pretty solid confirmation of a Final Fantasy Tactics port and hints that Square will release at least three more games for the Game Boy Advance system. Ports of previous Final Fantasy games would be a logical choice and almost guarantee a profit, but we have absolutely no confirmation beyond the Tactics announcement. Square stated that the PS2 will remain the primary platform for Final Fantasy XI and XII. The statement’s wording is vague enough to allow for ports to other consoles, but it neither confirms nor denies the possibility. - Locke Hi, I think the new Nintendo/Sqaure partnership is great, because the FF series did start out on Nintendo... I really hope that FFX and XI and so on come onto Gamecube because as a Nintendo fan I’m missing out on the great games. Bring 'em on! - Linzy There is one sizable obstacle to ever seeing Final Fantasy XI on the GameCube: no hard disk drive. And yes, you will need the hard drive to play Final Fantasy XI. Sure, the PS2 doesn’t come standard with one either, but it is available for purchase. Given the GameCube’s online woes, Xbox is a safer bet for cross-platform expansion. - Locke Locke & FFOnline, Personally, I'm almost dreading this partnership; I'm all for getting the GameCube, but having to choose what to buy when it comes to games? Please, this sort of choice definitely won’t kill anything, but having to choose the next FF game? PS2 or Gamecube... It’s bad enough that I'll have to do this for Resident Evil, but FF as well. The only good thing I can see is that the original FF's may get the Wonderswan treatment on the GBA, as you probably know the only thing we have so far is FF6 (I never had the chance to play any of the others) Not much of an opinion, but I stand by it - Mark I feel your pain, especially where Resident Evil is concerned. I had a brief love affair with Sega a few years ago before she left me for some plumber. During those brief months of bliss, I shelled out nearly $100 picking up Resident Evil Dreamcast games I already owned for the Playstation. I don’t have any qualms about picking up the newly revamped Resident Evil for the Gamecube, though; change is good. Final Fantasy is coming to the GameCube, but in what form? Will it be a rehash, a new installment in the series, or a new branch of the series entirely? If it is a rehash, will it have as many improvements as the new version of Resident Evil does? Most important, how many GameCube discs will it take up and how will that affect price? Would there even be a noticeable difference between the ports? That’s the sticking point. Square’s ports to the PC are flashing warning signs. It’s entirely possible that the only difference between a Final Fantasy for GameCube and a Final Fantasy for the PS2 will be the price. - Locke While having a few FF titles on Gamecube may be interesting, having the Square classics on GBA will be awesome. I just hope they don't add annoying voice work (Mario Advance. Ugh.). Could this also mean they will make a collaborated sequel of "Mario RPG"? - Jon Adding voices to any Game Boy Advance ports from Square seems highly unlikely. At most Square could take a cue from the beautiful people behind Grandia II and toss in limited voice acting during some battle actions, but don’t count on it. There just isn’t enough action to justify it. A Super Mario RPG sequel sounds tempting, but technically it is already out there. Paper Mario for the N64 certainly isn’t as deep and involved as Mario RPG, but it equals the game’s fun and playability. Collaboration would be nice, but Nintendo can do just fine without Square. - Locke I think this new partner ship is absolutely great. I remember the days on the original Nintendo when I would sit down and play Final Fantasy, then when I got a Super Nintendo the first games I got were Final Fantasy II and Chrono Trigger. This was great for me, I love Nintendo and I love square Soft and all their games, so when they switched to Sony, even though FF VII and FFVIII were great games, I couldn't bear it. I wrote letters of anger to Nintendo and Square telling them my rage and sadness. I actually got a letter back from Square saying that they were experimenting with Sony because of change, or something like that. I still was angry. The idea of them joining with Nintendo nearly made me wet my pants in excitement. Finally, back to their roots with the best gaming company in the world. PS your site rules. - Phill It certainly is nice to see Square back on one of my favorite systems, but I’m not sure how much that will affect their work. The console industry has reached the point where no one company can outshine the other in creative possibilities, especially where Square is concerned. The type of gameplay involved in most Square epics doesn’t necessitate pushing the hardware to its limits. Back when Square initially jumped ship to Sony, that wasn’t the case. At the time, the Playstation offered many more possibilities for Square than the N64 did. PSX offered them more power and quicker development. But who knows? Maybe Square will surprise us. - Locke  G E N E R A L   E - M A I L S Dear Locke I love your site its fantastic. However, this Final Fantasy IX: PC Special Edition thing, please say it wasn't an April Fool's joke. It seems a bit suss, that the news broke on the 1st April. I remember reading somewhere on your site that the PC Port will never see the light of day. - ShyGuy Stomped by plumbers, tossed by princesses, and tricked by gaming websites; your life is rough. I’m on the level, though: you’ve been had. Go back to that article and read the bottom for a timely update. You can, uh, send your comments to dh@ffonline.com for that one. - Locke (who had nothing to do with it) I read some news about Final Fantasy XII in development. But it was mixed with news about Final Fantasy Tactics for Nintendo so I am a bit confused. I am sure that it is for PS2 but I am just a little bit worried. thanks please reply soon - Che-wing Okay, okay, I’ll get off my rear and update the mailbag just for you. I’m obligated to type standing up now, apparently, but let’s move on. The Final Fantasy Tactics announcement you read concerns Nintendo’s robust (pay me), magnificent (give me money), over-all spectacular (seriously, I’m a college student and you hemorrhage cash) Game Boy Advance. Don’t let it confuse you; Square hasn’t jumped ship to Nintendo. Square openly confirmed to its investors that the Playstation 2 is still its weapon of choice for Final Fantasy XII. Whether it will grace other consoles or even your computer monitor remains to be seen. - Locke I really like your site, I am sure that you get that a lot though. I had read what you said about the music on all of the Final Fantasy games, I think that a Final Fantasy game isn't one without the music. I just started playing the games a couple of months ago (Final Fantasy VIII) and think that the music is the best. Like when Rinoa and Squall are in the Ragnarok and that music started when they first hear that they may never see each other again since she is a Sorceress now. On other games I would probably think oh how cliché something like that always happens, but when they played that music I was like holy crap he may never see her again. So basically all that I wanted to say is that I agree with you about the music makes the game. - HamDude6 Believability is crucial in cinema and, by extension, cinematic games. With a movie, the audience needs to buy into what they’re watching. The muscle-bound guy on screen isn’t some over-aged Austrian with heart problems; he’s Johnny Shotgun and damn if the name doesn’t hold true. The scene where the ice cream truck explodes and ends up destroying an entire city block isn’t some hokey, over-the-top coordinated stunt on a closed sound stage in Burbank; it’s the thrilling climax that our hero just might not survive. Cinema is about a group of strangers sitting together in a dark room and suspending their collective disbelief, and music is an enormous part of that. Music is what draws the audience in. It tells them when a momentous occasion has taken place. It gives them the signal to clap, , tells them when to cry, and lets them know in advance that Jason Voorhees is going to bust through that door again because he sure as hell isn’t dead yet. That translates to cinematic videogames like Final Fantasy VIII and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. These games, which are in essence interactive movies, rely on music to provide drama just as much as any movie does. Good music in a game makes the characters more than just pixels and polygons. Keep on enjoying good music, whatever the source. - Locke Alright, Auron's being heaped with praise, and he is badass and all, but...as you can see in the cinema where the stadium is being attacked, he also shaves his armpits. What's up with that? Is he really a closet Barrett-type character? Or do Final Fantasy characters simply not have armpit hair? - Ishmael You know, something tells me you played an entirely different Final Fantasy VII than I did. As for Auron, the man carries a sword taller than he is. He can do whatever he damn well pleases concerning personal hygiene. - Locke Hi Locke! Great things you're doing, wonderful site! I must say that you have really put your heart into it. So, I've been looking for something, maybe you can help me. You see, is about the love theme from FFX, SUTEKI DA NE (Isn't It Wonderful?); I wondered why was it left in Japanese, and no translation? What I'm looking for are the lyrics for the song. Because I don't understand Japanese, it becomes hard for me to appreciate Nobuo's feeling to the moment. I've already have the lyrics for the themes from FFVIII (Eyes On Me; really beautiful) and FFIX (Melodies Of Life; so deep). Is there anyway you can help me getting those lyrics, and perhaps their translation? Thanks a bunch! And once more, REALLY, WONDERFUL SITE! - James I’m worthless with lyrics, but the people over at the Opera House have everything you need. As always, hold your applause until the music stops. - Locke Is the Final Fantasy series coming to x-box??????????? It is already on all the other consoles except x-box, why?????????? Please answer me. - jorisluyten There are starving children in China who would kill for some punctuation, joris, and here you are throwing it around all willy-nilly. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Square has an Xbox dev kit. I imagine Microsoft, which has yet to bring an RPG to its console that doesn’t reek of the PC, was extremely eager to give them one. The people at Square played around with it and they like it. Square hasn’t announced plans to develop for it yet, and there’s no guarantee that they ever will. So why even publicly announce that they had an Xbox dev kit? One, Square may have honestly considered branching out to multiple platforms. They’ve announced a willingness to expand Final Fantasy XI: Online beyond the PS2 and PC market; Microsoft’s internet-ready, hard-drive equipped X-Box is the perfect console. Reportedly Square and Microsoft may have had disagreements concerning how online play would work. Square is pushing Playonline as the only source, while Microsoft intends to launch its own Xbox-exclusive gaming network eventually. It is also quite possible that Square openly shopped around on other consoles in part of the behind-the-scenes negotiations with Nintendo for rights to publish on their consoles yet again. It’s well known that “no” sure as hell doesn’t mean no in business. Letting Nintendo know that its two largest rivals had access to its pre-existing library as well as its creative talent wasn’t a bad idea on Square’s part. If Final Fantasy does make the leap to the big M, it won’t be anytime soon. Microsoft has exclusive rights to ToeJam and Earl III, though, so don’t worry. I’ve got a feeling they’ll be just fine. - Locke HI, I’ve just got FFVI for the PSOne, but am a wee bit disappointed in the lack of FMV, I still think its class, but I’m now 15 hours into it and have yet to see one, i know they’re not really that important, but i would still like to have seen more. I’ve only just playing it now for the first time, I’m surprised at how easily it can compare to the FF games on the PSOne! My favourite final fantasy game so far has to be FFVII, I will never forget it when Aeris died, it was my favourite gaming moment ever! I also think FFIX is the most underrated of the lot, nobody seems to mention it, but I thought it had great gameplay, even if the plot was a little thin. FFVIII was my least favourite, apart from the FMV I don’t see what it has going for it. Anyways, this is a top website, keep up the good work! - Scott Final Fantasy VI has a detailed plot, fantastic character depth, 60+ hours of gameplay and unparalleled use of an octopus in a videogame setting. The PSOne version gives PAL games the added bonus of horrific load times and a crummy Final Fantasy X demo. Triple threat. Don’t hold your breath for those cinemas. As with the other PSX ports, Final Fantasy VI has an FMV sequence at the beginning and an FMV sequence at the end. Your favorite gaming moments, if indeed you have any in FFVI, won’t be coming to life for you in anything more than second- Long snippets of computer-generated animation. For gamers new to the series, these short FMV sequences won’t cut it. For old fans, though, the cinemas offer new life to old characters. Who knew that Shadow was blue? - Locke Hey guys! Love the site. I don’t know who all has had the chance to see the Kingdom Hearts trailer yet, but I just did. I know that a couple of FF Characters have already been listed in articles past in numerous game magazines and websites, but one of our dear old Final Fantasy Friends wasn't even mentioned yet that was clearly in the trailer.... Cloud Strife himself! You never see his front, but you can clearly see his spiky blonde hair, iron bangles, and shoulder armlet with the three prongs. Basically, some of the defining garb of a Shinra SOLDIER. Only, in the trailer, he wore a dark red cape that loosely flowed down his back. I guess this has little relevance to FFOnline, but I thought if this made the mailbag, some people would just be interested in knowing. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, I highly recommend it. Thanks again for your time in reading this. Once again, great site. Keep up the good work. - "MagitekArms" Thanks for letting us know, MagitekArms. I’ve seen the trailers and listened to Yoko Shimomura’s wonderful soundtrack. I’m very interested in the game and eagerly await its projected October 14 release date. Here’s the Square contribution roster for anyone else interested. The following characters, while not necessarily playable, appear in Kingdom Hearts: Aeris Gainsborough (FFVII) Cloud Strife (FFVII) Yuffie Kisaragi (FFVII) Cid Highwind (FFVII) Selphie Tilmitt (FFVIII) Squall Leonhart (FFVIII) Tidus (FFX) Wakka (FFX) You’d think they would toss in a few bad guys along the way, but no dice. At least there’s no Cait Sith. - Locke I am emailing you to inquire about Final Fantasy IX. I need to know where to find the final and best weapons for my team of characters. So if you have any spare time I would appreciate the help in finding the following: ULTIMA WEAPON ROD OF ZEUS EXCALIBUR II and Dagger’s final weapon... thanking you in advance - Brennan You can find them all in our Final Fantasy IX section. They’re just lying around collecting dust. - Locke A couple of weeks ago, I read that there is a code to ride right through the annoying birds on the chocobo race. For the weeks to follow, I looked on every major code site that I know of and a couple I didn't know of. I cannot find the code to do this. Either I'm blind, or the code is not true. If you have the time, could you please send me this code. I cannot afford to race that trainer any more because my supply of controllers has run out (I have a very short temper). It would be much appreciated. Thanks - Matt I don’t know of any code that allows you to ride through those pesky birds. The Japanese version of the game supposedly had a glitch allowing you to ride through them to an easy victory. Perhaps some of our readers overseas can clear that up; I can’t comment. If the glitch existed, Square removed it from the NTSC version. I’m afraid you have to beat the race fair and square. As for your temper, I’ve got a nostalgic gamer’s home remedy for you: Duck Hunt. - Locke I heard square was going to release FF7 and FF8 to the PS2 with better graphics and a whole bunch of extra goodies. Is this true? - SSgoku4001 We can finally clear things up about the remakes. Square announced many months ago that they intended to remake Final Fantasy VII-IX for the Playstation 2. They gave no other information. Was it going to be a three-disc collection like Anthology? Did they plan to give us more story, new cinemas, and graphical upgrades? Would they cave into my repeated demands to have all mention of Selphie removed from Final Fantasy VIII? Moot point. Square recently confirmed that the projects were suspended indefinitely. There’s a chance that Square will begin developing the games again in the future, but there’s also the very real possibility that the PSX versions are all you’ll ever have. - Locke Hi, Final Fantasy is soo cool words cannot describe it. Since ff10 came out it makes people love square even more, but if you take all the FMW out of the game you can make an episode and so it has come to this. FINAL FANTASY: THE SEIRES. I hope they have thought it because i have scanned the web and not 1 RPG site mentions final fantasy the series. If square do make a series I’d think it would be nice if the story was based on ff7/8/10 characters and what happens to them when they are not in the game. I think the animation should be like FMV scenes but it would take forever so i suppose that it would be anime animated so what do you think and if there is any way could you at least ask Square if they could at LEAST think about it. It would make ff fans go wild. They made Men in Black a series so why not Final Fantasy? Good news and bad news, my friend. Final Fantasy: Unlimited, an anime series, is currently airing in Japan. Unfortunately no, the fans aren’t exactly going wild. Based on the magic and creatures of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy: Unlimited does not feature returning characters from previous games. Elements such as Summons, chocobos, and enemies have been lifted from the videogame series. Taking a cue from Final Fantasy VI, tentacles also make notable appearances. Square previously attempted to animate the series in 1994’s widely unpopular Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. - Locke Hey can I borrow your pictures? - Hans-Christian Well, I guess so. Never really had anyone ask me that before. Here’s an old one of me and my friends in front of heavy assault weapons. That was the best field trip ever. I’m the one with the mildly concerned look on me face. That’s because the kid next to me looks a bit too excited about something, and I don’t know what. These are the pictures you’re referring to, right? - Locke

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