Square Enix has a lot to celebrate with two big Final Fantasy events hitting this month. On May 16th Final Fantasy XI will reach its 7th year running. Players can get in on the festivities with the Annual Adventurer Appreciation Campaign and the Mog Tablet Quest. These events kicked off May 12 at 1am and run through May 25th. All the details are included after the break.

The Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete English trailer is also ready for viewing. How do you make a great thing even better? Upgrade it for Blu-ray and Hi-def, and add in never before seen footage. Check it out.

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The 1UP team sat down for a test run of Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess updates, Swarm and Moblin Maze Mongers. While they got in some quality game time they also got to fire off questions at the Square-Enix FFXI development team on the three upcoming mini-expansions: A Crystalline Prophecy, A Moogle Kupo d’Etat, and A Shantotto Ascension.

Here’s the 1UP video podcast:

You can find a full transcript of the 1UP Square-Enix FFXI interview on 1UP.

Square-Enix has announced plans to release a compilation of Final Fantasy XI, along with all of its expansion packs as The Vana’diel Collection 2008 for the Windows/PC platform. Since its launch in 2002, the FFXI MMO has had four expansions including Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promanthia, Treasure of Aht Urhgan, and the most recently-released, Wings of the Goddess.

The latest expansion, WINGS OF THE GODDESS, takes players in a journey through time, to experience the Vana’diel of 20 years past. Featuring new jobs, new environments and new questions, the expansion will take players to a very different Vana’diel—one on the brink of war. Recently, WINGS OF THE GODDESS conducted a major content update, implementing job and battle system improvements, new campaign elements, new quests for dancers and scholars, new items and equipment and much more.

Final Fantasy XI The Vana’diel Collection 2008 for the PC will be available April 15th. Versions of the collection for the PS2 and the Xbox 360 are already available.

via Press Release

Mitsutoshi Gondai, Planner, and Akihiko Matsui, Battle Director, took time out to discuss the two new classes included in the fourth expansion pack for Final Fantasy IX, Wings of the Goddess; the Dancer and the Scholar.

New jobs are a natural to include in an expansion because of the major changes involved when introducing them to the game mechanics. These two new jobs have their functions within the traditional “Holy Trinity” of the melee, healer and crowd control. The Dancer although classified as a healer can get up close and personal with enemies. The Scholar is extremely flexible and can specialize in any of the key roles depending on players combine abilities, magic and support jobs.

Personally I find that classes like this can be hard to play because they have such potential to be good at so many things, but not great at anything unless you’re careful. it can be trial and error to tweak your attributes to get what you want in a character. Even when you have a build you like, it’s not necessarily one that other players will appreciate grouping with.

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Square Enix has just released the Wings of the Goddess expansion for the Final Fantasy XI MMO. Although the discs are out, new content won’t go into effect until November 22, even with the required software installed and expansion contents registered.

Players can look forward to new areas, monsters and quests as well as changes to many existing quests, items and other game play and GUI tweaks. The biggest change for the Wings of the Goddess expansion is the new large scale battle system call Campaign. read up on all the details before the content goes live at PlayOnline.

This weekend, in Osaka, Japan, the Final Fantasy XI team hosted a Fan Festival, revealing a bit more about the upcoming expansion pack, Wings of the Goddess, which ships November 20th. At the event, a new Job for the game was announced: the Scholar.

Details:

During the Crystal War, these military tacticians often served as high-ranking officers in allied forces across Vana’diel. Extensive knowledge of ancient martial theory granted them the ability to wield dual schools of magic, between which they would alternate depending on the situation at hand. This group of academics earned the respect of all ranks of the allied forces with their ability to lead troops to victory using a combination of shrewd planning and resourceful strategies in their positions as tacticians and military officers. These academics were known as military scholars. Their characteristic gowns and hats became symbols of their brilliance as they drove the forces of Altana to victory with strategies evolved in the shade of field tents.

Pretty neat, huh? If you want more information on the Scholar, you can visit the official Final Fantasy XI
website. In other FFXI news, the Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival is coming up, November 15^th – 17^th at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, CA. So, if you want to go, you better get your tickets now – if they are not already sold out.

Check out more screens for Wings of the Goddess here.

Square Enix announced today that the Final Fantasy XI: Return Home to Vana’diel campaign is back. Players who have deleted Content IDs, or deleted PlayOnline accounts can come back to the world of Vana’diel and rejoin their fellow adventurers through this service, to experience the long awaited fourth expansion to FFXI, Wings of the Goddess.

“Return Home to Vana’diel” offers customers two different ways to revive their characters. If the customer previously deleted their FINAL FANTASY XI Content ID, where the character’s information is stored, they can apply for the Type A service. Customers who have unsubscribed from PlayOnline can apply for the Type B service. To learn more about the “Return Home to Vana’diel” campaign, visit the official FINAL FANTASY XI Web site at http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml.

Gamers have until February 29, 2008 to take advantage of the Return Home to Vana’diel campaign.

via Press Release

Square Enix has finally delivered the Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess trailer from the Tokyo Games Show. Shipping to retailers on November 20th, the game will be released on November 22nd and servers will go live the same day. Available for the PC, PS2, and Xbox 360, the latest MMORPG expansion adds new jobs, new characters and new adventures to the ever-evolving world of Vana’diel. The newest trailer shows the gorgeous effects and smooth gameplay mechanics we have grown to expect from the franchise, so sit back and enjoy the latest taste of the Final Fantasy universe. Also, be sure and check back with us often for more goodies as Wings of the Goddess gets closer to the release date.

The next installment in the Final Fantasy XI MMORPG, Wings of the Goddess will be available in retail stores around the country on November 22nd with the service going live the same day. Available for the PC, PS2, and Xbox 360, the latest expansion adds new jobs, new characters and new adventures to the ever-evolving world of Vana’diel. Players will be able to take a step back in time and uncover the mysteries surrounding Vana’diel’s violent past when the long-awaited fourth installment in the ongoing Final Fantasy XI saga finally hits stores. Wings of the Goddess will be available in five different forms:

• FINAL FANTASY XI Vana’diel Collection 2008 (Stand-alone product including all expansions)

Platforms: PS2 and, Xbox 360

• FINAL FANTASY XI: Wings of the Goddess (Expansion pack only)

Platforms: PC, PS2, and Xbox 360

Accommodating players in North America, Europe and Japan, Final Fanatsy XI is the first MMORPG capable of simultaneous multiplayer cooperation across three different platforms. Now in its fifth year of service, FFXI has a community of more than 500,000 subscribers and more than 1.7 million player characters from around the world.

Check back with us closer to release as I am sure that Square Enix will send us a ton of goodies.

Via: Press Release

Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to introduce their new line up of blockbuster games with the support of some of the most talented and respected Japanese Developers in the business at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Takashi Sensui, general manager of the Home and Entertainment Division at Microsoft Co. Ltd., unveiled a holiday lineup of blockbuster hits and exclusives for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system at the Yebisu Garden Hall during Xbox 360 Briefing 2007.

Developers Tomonobu Itagaki from Team NINJA/Tecmo Ltd. and Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker and representatives from SQUARE ENIX announced their support for the Xbox 360 platform as they introduced their latest creations. Itagaki highlighted the announcement that Team NINJA will develop NINJA GAIDEN 2, the true sequel to the best-selling and critically acclaimed Xbox original, exclusively for Xbox 360. Sakaguchi revealed pricing and availability for Mistwalker’s upcoming role-playing game (RPG) Lost Odyssey, available Dec. 6, 2007, in Japan, and around the world in early 2008. In addition, SQUARE ENIX took the stage to discuss two new games for Xbox 360: INFINITE UNDISCOVERY and THE LAST REMNANT.

“Gamers around the world can look forward to the greatest holiday lineup in video game history,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft Corp. “We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan’s best and most innovative developers, and we’re looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond.”

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