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Bonus item event in Final Fantasy XIV's beta

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV's open beta is only going to last until the 19th, which is just a stone's throw away. This would be worse news if not for the fact that the collector's edition of the game will be launching three days after that, meaning that the game's fans will have other things to do shortly thereafter. (The game's detractors don't really need the game to run one way or the other.) But if you'd like to take part in one last hurrah before launch, Square-Enix is hosting a special event on the newly-added Karnak and Narshe servers.

All characters created on the special servers before 1:00 p.m. PDT on the 16th will have both the Onion Helm and Asuran Armguards added to their inventory. The former is the bonus for pre-ordering the collector's edition of the game, while the latter is the reward for also owning a copy of Final Fantasy XIII. It's not quite the potpourri of good news revealed from the pre-launch event yesterday, but it promises to still be a nice chance for Final Fantasy XIV beta testers to go out with a bang.

Bonus item event in Final Fantasy XIV's beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIV support page located

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, New titles, Consoles, Rumors, Final Fantasy XIV

Sometimes new information comes from the strangest sources. Apparently, when Square-Enix made their last update to the Final Fantasy XIV with two new jobs revealed, they added a little something unexpected. Not what would have been expected, either -- it was the support site for the game. Since the game is yet to be released or even have a finalized date published, said site contains only a handful of questions, which largely contain no new information... but there are at least two interesting pieces to be gleaned from the site, one minor and one slightly larger.

The smaller piece of information is the list of supported platforms for the game: Windows PC and Playstation 3. That isn't exactly new information, but it's confirmed. The slightly larger tidbit is the confirmation that Japanese releases of Final Fantasy XIII will contain a code to obtain an exclusive in-game item for Final Fantasy XIV. The answer specifies that plans to include said code in the North American or European releases have yet to be decided... which could mean anything. Will the item be exclusive to Japanese players to compensate for the game having a global launch instead of one in Japan first a la Final Fantasy XI? Will the item be cosmetic or have some game impact? Will there be different items based on region? No answers are yet forthcoming, but it should be an interesting tidbit for fans looking forward hungrily to the game's release some time in 2010.

Final Fantasy XIV support page located originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square Enix posts an 83% drop in operating income

Kyle Horner — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

The headline may seem like doom and gloom in the land of Final Fantasy, but it's important to note that the Eidos purchase price is included in this latest report. The silver lining here is that the company's game business sales saw a 7.2 percent increase in the last quarter, so even with the operating loss there's a strong chance of quick recovery due to sales.

For one thing, Square Enix's mobile sales have seen a record sales increase. Additionally, new titles like Dragon Quest IX are raking in the cash and probably won't stop for a while.

Then there's that impending release of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan, so we're really not surprised that Square Enix is predicting a full year net income even now. Next year should be even bigger for the company, as Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV both release globally. After that? Why, they're going to buy the moon, Clarice -- the moon!

Square Enix posts an 83% drop in operating income originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square's next MMO summoned at GDC?

Chris Chester — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, Concerto Gate

There are so many MMOs coming to the market and announced to be in development these days that sometimes it's hard to keep track of who is doing what. If you you look at Square for instance, there's been a smattering of news over the past couple months, none of it terribly conclusive. Back in December we heard about their Virtual World, a simplistic derivative of Second Life that would operate on ad-revenue. We've also heard briefly about Concerto Gate, a free-to-play game that looks to combine the social aspects of an MMO with the super-deformed characters and battle systems of a console RPG. And lastly, we heard a bit of news last month that indicated that Square's next big MMO is already well along in development, and is currently being tested internally.

Now the latest news on the wire is that Square's Taku Murata may talk about their big new MMO at GDC next week. If you look at his personal page on the GDC website, it says that he'll be talking about how they plan to use their new engine not only in the development of the new Final Fantasy for the Playstation 3, but also for a "new MMORPG in development." With the game development climate being what it is in the absence of E3, it's entirely plausible that they'd take the veil off of the game at GDC. We'll just have to sit around and wait another week to see if every Square fanboy's dream comes true.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Square's next MMO summoned at GDC? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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