Final Fantasy III is perhaps infamous for the fact that it took so long to be localized and released in the West. In fact, sixteen years passed between its original release on the NES in 1990 and its Nintendo DS remake, which was released in 2006. But why did it take so long? Where was Final Fantasy III hiding for all those years? Let's take a closer look. ...

Ah, Christmas. Mistletoe, chocolate, family, gifts, and weird Final Fantasy holiday pictures.

That last point is a traditional part of the festivities, is it not?

No?

Well, it's time to make it one.

I punched "Final Fantasy Christmas" into the Google Image Search box and here's what came up.

1.) Sephy Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight~~



Looks like Sephiroth is paying a little Christmas visit to our good friend Cloud. But he's not in a Santa suit and doesn't even have presents! Cloud's sure going to be disappointed when he wakes up {source} ...

Most fans consider Final Fantasy VI to be one of the finest games in the series, if not the finest. But even those who don't have to admit that there is something special about the opening scene. When you see the snow falling and the magitek armor making their slow march across the field, you know you're in for a real treat.



Terra's Theme is iconic. Perhaps it's because of that unforgettable opening scene in FFVI, or perhaps it's because it's pervasive throughout the rest of the game, or perhaps it's a little of both. But either way, Terra's Theme has not only become the quintessential theme of Final Fantasy VI, but it's transcended its source material.

Oh, sure, the song appears in Dissidia and Theatrhythm - that much isn't surprising. But did you know that Terra's Theme appears in Final Fantasy XIII? Biggs and Wedge are traveling musicians in Yusnaan, who, during the night, play their own rendition of the famous tune.

And did you hear about how it's tied to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? The first video showing the magitek armor ...

When you think of Final Fantasy, chances are that you don't think of television commercials (or adverts, if you swing that way.) That's a bit unfortunate, because you should. Seriously. Here's five of the best TV advertisements for everyone's favorite series: ...

The Final Fantasy series is filled with creatures who appeared in just one or two games before promptly disappearing, never to be seen again. This isn't particularly surprising, seeing as Final Fantasy is a series that likes to reinvent and regenerate itself for each entry, and sometimes when a world gets axed, so, too, does its wildlife. And while understandable, there are a few of these critters who just really should never have been forgotten. Here's four of them: ...

Whilst this isn't strictly Final Fantasy related, we wanted to take a moment to hold a brief tribute to a man named Ralph Baer.



Known affectionately as "The Father of Video Games", Ralph Baer was born in Germany in 1922 but would later move to the United States with his family due to Hitler's rise to power. He eventually became an engineer and, in the 1950s, the at the time very radical idea of playing games on a television screen began to swirl around in his imagination. In 1966 he decided to start experimenting with this pipe dream, and in 1971 he unveiled the very first home video game console: the Magnavox Odyssey.

The Odyssey went on to inspire several more people and companies who would also go on to be known as video game innovators, such as Nolan Bushnell (who created Pong and Atari) and Nintendo, whose first real shift from a card and toy company to a video game one was the result of securing the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan.



Would video games be like ...

The incredibly popular Blizzard MMO likes to pay homage to other games (and books, movies, TV shows...). They really do. So of course they've made a couple of Final Fantasy references through the years, most of which are minor, but one of which is quite blatant. If you're a longtime World of Warcraft player, you'll probably recognize all of these. But if not, read on for a few references you might have missed... ...

Final Fantasy has a long and storied history, and if you're on this site, then chances are you know a lot of this history already. But do you know everything? Here are a handful of lesser known facts from Square's perennially popular series: ...

It was 2003, I had just begun my second year of university, and my life could have been better.

I was going to school for no other reason than to make my parents happy, and because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life yet, I picked something interesting sounding (which I soon regretted) and decided to roll with it. I floated through coursework and classes hardly paying attention and rarely doing any of the reading. When I wasn't at school, I was working in retail, or writing letters to a crush I had who had moved away (this was before the internet was as widespread as it is today).

Needless to say, things could have been better.

I enjoyed playing video games, though, and I had a subscription to Nintendo Power, which was still a thing back then. I was flipping through one when I stumbled across an ad for a game called Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.


It was just about to be released, and Nintendo Power was giving you the option of pre-ordering it so they would send you the game and the strategy guide in the mail the day it came out.

I don't know why the ad gave me pause. Final Fantasy, although obviously a well known franchise, was not something ...

There's a big ol' discussion about this going on in another thread and it was getting kind of muddled, so here's a fresh new thread for this debate to continue.

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Just a few days ago, a rumor that Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been canceled was flying around the internet and picked up by several sites. Eventually this rumor found its way to Square Enix's Yoichi Wada, who tweeted that, contrary to popular belief, the game is still very much alive!

Happy to hear it? Come talk about it in our subforum! ...