It starts tonight. Not much else to say! Head over to the official site and you can download the client software installer before the whole thing goes live.
Square-Enix is changing things up with how they handle the different regions very soon, so make sure you pick the right region.
Update: The open beta is postponed because they came across 'critical bugs'. No new release is available right now, and the download of the installer will be suspended later today.
Source: FFXIV Official Site
via Official Twitter
...Coming to you from the Short Notice Department: Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii will be present at Nintendo's launch event for Dragon Quest IX for the DS this Saturday, July 10th. Horii will be signing the first 30 copies of the game sold, and I imagine he'll be hanging around for photo ops and fan adulation afterwards. If you can't get an autograph from Horii, I can give you my autograph since I'll be there too. I promise it'll be worth something, someday...
Hosted at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, the event will also feature DQ music, snacks (from a Dragon Quest Ice Cream Truck!), giveaways and an opportunity to have your picture taken in a Dragon Quest themed booth. It takes place from 1pm to 4pm at the store.
Seriously though, if anyone else is going and they want to link up, the easiest way to contact me is through Twitter @JKTrix.
Details: Nintendo World Store
...I'm afraid I can't go into detail on the contents of this flashy site since I'm stranded at my parent's house in Bermuda for a few weeks with their slow internet, but these kinds of things are always better when you look at them yourself. So, go look!
......a third person shooter called MindJack. Siliconera discovered trademarks for it last month, and now there is a trailer for you to smirk at. The whole premise is rather ridiculous. I love me some over-the-top games, but I'm not sure Squenix has it in them to make something tongue-in-cheek. This is being developed by FeelPlus (LostOdyssey), which is kind of an offshoot of Mistwalker which is kind of an offshoot of Square. Got a bit of in-breeding going on here.
Source: Siliconera
Square Enix has started a video blog called "Life in Eorzea" which looks to feature select aspects of the Final Fantasy XIV alpha test. It is in Japanese, but it'll give you a look at the game as well.
Also interesting is that the YouTube account that they created just for Final Fantasy XIV has existed since 2006.
Source: Final Fantasy XIV YouTube
...The official Japanese site for Final Fantasy XIV updated with more information on the different races and their tribes, with several new images for each. Check the site out to hear a neat arranged version of the classic Final Fantasy theme, and then head over to RPGLand where they've translated all of the new information into English. For the rest of us, beta signups for the game have been going on for a while, so you might want to check it out if you have a PS3 or a PC that you think can handle it.
For a different Square-Enix MMO beta that you can actually play right now though, the free-to-play Fantasy Earth Zero is on its 2nd round of its Open Beta.
Source: Official Final Fantasy XIV site, Famitsu, RPGLand
...Speaking of games with 'Heart' in the title, this one is actually making it out of Japan. Not that it should be any surprise, but Square Enix announced about a week ago that Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep for the PSP should be out in the US by the summer.
Over in Japan though, they've just released the 'Ultimania' guide book for the same game. Technically it comes out tomorrow, but it's already 'tomorrow' in Japan. In case you're not familiar with SquEnix's Ultimania brand, they are basically enormous super duper guidebooks that cover every single thing in the game. For their bigger games they would even have one Ultimania book for all of the story and scenario stuff, and a separate Ultimania book for all of the battle information. The Ultimania book for Birth By Sleep is 656 pages.
In the back of the Birth by Sleep Ultimania, there is an interview from game director Tetsuya Nomura. You can read a translated version of it on Heartstation.org, as he covers a few things regarding the future of the series. One thing I thought was interesting was that Nomura says that Sora will always be the 'Hero' of the series. In an earlier interview that ...