From everyone on the Eyes on Final Fantasy team, I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas (or Spiffmas) and a wonderful new year.

And for everyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas (or Spiffmas), have an awesome December 25th anyway! No reason not to, eh? ;D ...

'Dorimaga', a popular magazine in Japan, has released new details on Square-Enix's upcoming movie, Final Fantasy: Advent Children. It has also revealed some new information concerning Final Fantasy XII.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
- The movie is currently 15% complete.
- The length of the movie will be around 70 to 80 minutes instead of the previously stated 60 minutes.
- One of the characters seen on the screenshot is indeed Vincent from Final Fantasy VII.
- The DVD will be released in Japan this summer.
- The DVD will be released alone and not in a bundle.
- The movie will not be released in theaters.

Final Fantasy XII
- As mentioned before, the game is 70% complete.
- The look of the game will be improve before its release.
- Kohei Takeda, the man behind the voice of Vaan, is a big fan of the series.
- The game will have more than 100 kinds of monsters (200 if we add the modified versions).
- Balflear's name has been confirmed by Square-Enix.
- The Moogles will have a new design.
- The general extension of the game is impressive.
- The game ...

More excellent Final Fantasy XII screenshots were shown this past week at the 'Jump Festa 2004' event in Japan. These screens are all taken from the new trailer of the game that was shown to the public at the event.

Click here to take a look at the screens. As you can see, the detail in the game is awesome, and the monsters, characters and weapons look as fantastic as ever. We'll update you with more pictures and news from this title in the near future.

[Source: The Magic Box] ...

It's not quite Final Fantasy, but it's pretty darned close. The release of Kingdom Hearts II: Chains of Memories for the Playstation 2 and Game Boy Advance is getting nearer every day, and to keep us fans happy, Square-Enix has released a tantalisingly tasty teaser poster containing screens from the GBA version.

Click here to take a peek. For more screens, click here.

[Source: The Magic Box] ...

The current issue of Famitsu Magazine a handful of intriguing screenshots from the movie sequel to Final Fantasy VII, which can be seen here. Included among that group of images are pictures of Barret, the possible remains of Midgar and a mysterious character engaged in battle with Cloud Strife.

[Sources - SquareNews] ...

This week's edition of Weekly Famitsu has revealed a handful of interesting tidbits on FFXII.
Firstly, it is now confirmed that the DVD that will included with the December 27th edition of FamitsuWave DVD will contain the video from the November 18th press conference and some screenshots.

Now for the game details:
- The game will have a large number of characters, both playable and NPC.

- There will be half the amount of polygons as the ones used with FFX and XI. The game's production team, at the advice of production teams 1 and 2, is emplying similar techniques used in the development of FFX and XI.

- The weapon you equip to your character will be visible on the field map, like in FFXI.

- The use of different characters are being considered for the display of race languages.

- The battle system will be similar to that of FFX-2, "plus various alphas". On the battle screen there will be three holes for one or two blue gems.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

AllRPG.com recently held a poll to determine how many people purchased the Final Fantasy titles that have been released over the course of this year. A surprising 75% of voters purchased at least one title, which is a good indication that the series is selling phenomenally well in the U.S. and abroad.

To take a look at this interesting article, and to read some of the more detailed statistics, click here to visit the site.

[Source: AllRPG] ...

Square-Enix announced a new update for the popular MMORPG today. The new wrinkles included in the PlayOnline system are:

- The job level cap has been increased to 75
- New magic spells have been added, along with a new quest to earn new weapon skills
- The cabinet function at the Moogle House has been expanded
- The categories at the Auction House have been divided into smaller portions
- Characters can now mount Chocobos at Level 15 in the original three kingdoms
- Christmas trees will be set up in the original three kingdoms and special Christmas items can be obtained from the Moogles
- Fireworks displaying a Goblin Santa Claus can be seen in San D'Oria

These features apply to both the PC and PS2 versions of the game around the world, but players in the United States will still have to wait until after the new year for the PS2 version to arrive on those shores.

[Sources - RPGFan] ...

The next issue of FamitsuWave DVD (released on December 27) will feature a video of Final Fantasy XII. It hasn't been confirmed if this will be the footage from the November 18th press conference. However, if it is then it will be in high quality and hopefully a kind FF fan from Japan will rip it and make it available for us Westerners.

[Source: SquareNews] ...

The nice people at 'The Magic Box' have released some new, high quality Final Fantasy XII images as part of their latest site update. These images are very detailed, and show various different locations from the game, as well as close-up views of some of the characters.

If you're hungering for some FFXII goodness, simply
click here to view these excellent pictures.

[Source: The Magic Box] ...

Another large teaser-poster of Final Fantasy: Advent Children has been released to the public, and it's positively mouth-watering. Click here to take a look.

As you probably already know, the release date for this DVD movie has been set for Summer 2004 (in Japan), although an exact date is yet to be confirmed. You'll see more pictures and read more news right here at EoFF as soon as it becomes available.

[Source: Shonen Jump] ...

Former Square president Hisashi Suzuki has resigned from his position on the company's board of directors. He was the point man for Masashi Miyamoto (Square's No.1 shareholder) throughout the 16 and 32 bit eras when Square did games for the Super Nintendo and Playstation. In 1996, he helped to establish DigiCube and was the chairmen of that company. When Square president Tomoyuki Takechi left in 2000, Suzuki led the company through two fiscal years of losses (caused mainly by the bad performance of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within). In December 2001 he handed off his position of leadership to the current Square president, Youichi Wada. Since the merger with Enix on April 1st, Suzuki has been serving on the company's board of directors. He cited personal reasons for his resignation.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

The new FFXII characters have finally been revealed in JUMP magazine, as was announced earlier. Click here to see a scan of the page!
The white haired female Viera in the revealing outfit is Fran and the one beside her with the gun is Balfrea, an AirPirate. Fran is both an archer and a fencer, hinting that the game may have some kind of job system.
Both Fran and Balfrea will appearntly have a connection of some kind with each other, but details on that are yet to be revealed. Balfrea is also mentioned to be the owner of a small airship, which gives him freedom of the skies. Vaan, too, wants to be an AirPirate like him. Both of the new characters will be friends of Vaan and Ashe.

[Source: SquareNews] ...

For those of you wanting Jade's real Emotion and 1000 Words (ones that aren't ripped from the game), they will be available soon - Square is going to release the songs on the FFX-2 International + Last Mission OST on February 18th, 2004. The OST will sell for a price of 2,000 Yen ($18.48 USD). The game itself is set for a February 19th release.

[Source: RPGFan]
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