Square-Enix and one of America's largest wireless networks, Verizon, announced today a joint venture to provide an array of cellular phone games for those members of the latter's Get It Now service.

The first game, Brave Shot, is a full-color and vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up along the lines of such classics of Gradius or Raiden. The release of Brave Shot also marks a milestone, as Square-Enix has released this software in the United States first, before being made readily available in Japan.

The game can be picked up by Get It Now customers for either $1.99 per month, or a single $4.99 payment for unlimited use. More information on the service can be found here, while more general information on Brave Shot and other Square-Enix mobile gaming content can be found at Square-Enix's official site.

Special thanks to our member eestlinc for the lead.

[Sources - Square-Enix, Verizon Wireless] ...

Square Enix have been promising the collection for a while now, but it has finally become a reality. The 'Greatest Hits' collection has just been released, and the games are on sale now priced $19.99 each.

The titles on offer are: Final Fantasy Anthology, Final Fantasy Chronicles, Vagrant Story and Xenogears, all of which are fantastic games that are well worth purchasing if you're an RPG fan. True, most of the hardcore Square fans out there will already own these titles, but for those of you that don't, now would be a great opportunity for you to buy them.

[Source: AllRPG] ...

Tokyo's Jump Festival is nearly upon us, and on December 20th, Square Enix will make it's presence felt at the show by releasing eight non-playable demos and five playable demos for everyone to get their hands on. Take a look at the list of currently confirmed titles:

Non-Playable Games:
- Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (DVD)
- Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission (PS2)
- Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
- Front Mission 4 (PS2)
- Front Mission Online (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)
- Slime Morimori Dragon Quest (GBA)

Playable Games:
- Dragon Quest V (PS2)
- Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission (PS2)
- Front Mission 4 (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)
- Slime Morimori Dragon Quest (GBA)

Quite a list, eh? We'll keep you posted concerning the happenings at the Jump Show.

[Source: The Magic Box] ...

The world of Final Fantasy XI is immense, so why not show off a certain peaceful spot or two that you like? Playonline has announced its first screenshot contest, themed "My Favorite Place", and the winners will have their top shots displayed on the site and available in greeting cards! The site will accept entries until December 21. More details can be found here.

[Source - Playonline] ...

AllRpg.com have posted a fantastic article on their site concerning Final Fantasy. The article is entitled 'Final Fantasy History', and contains a special look at all the Fantasies, right from FFI, all the way up to the latest installment - FFX-2.

The article also contains plenty of information and screenshots concerning the 'lesser known' Final Fantasy games, such as the much-overlooked Mystic Quest, and the excellent Final Fantasy Tactics.

It's well worth a look. To read the article, click here.

[Source: AllRPG] ...

According to Square-Enix, a surprise is on the way for all players of Final Fantasy XI in order to celebrate the holiday season. No word on what it is yet, but it sounds quite special.

The surprise could be similar to the Halloween insanity that FFXI players experienced, in which treats could be obtained by handing candy to the NPCs in the game.

[Source: Playonline] ...

The latest online edition of 'PS World Hyper Streaming Station' contains a very interesting movie showing brand new footage from Final Fantasy XII.

The video is quite long, and is in RealMedia format. That means you'll need either 'RealOne Player', or some other fancy media playing utility to view the file.

To view the movie, click here.

[Source: Game Informer] ...

Spike TV held it's Video Game Awards recently, much to the delight of the channel's regular viewers. Amongst the categories were 'Best Animation', 'Best Performance By a Human' and 'Best Fantasy Game'. Oddly enough, none of the Final Fantasy games won in the last category.

Square-Enix didn't go home empty handed, though, as Final Fantasy XI picked up the coveted trophy for 'Best Online Game', which is a big achievement. Hopefully, more awards will be flying Square-Enix's way in the future.

To see the other results, click here.

[Source: Game Informer] ...

Last week, long time Square Enix soundtrack publisher DigiCube declared bankrupcy thanks to a debt of 9.5 billion yen ($866.67 million USD). The company found trouble in the ever shrinking Japanese game market over the years. The delay of Final Fantasy XII until summer of 2004 was cited as a reason for their action. Also to note, Square was a major shareholder to DigiCube, with a stake of 47.38% until 2001 when they sold 9% of it in August of that year.
Already the first backlash of this development is being felt, as Square has cancelled the December 22nd release of their Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ultimania strategy guide that DigiCube was to have published.

[Source: RPGFan] ...

Eyes on Final Fantasy is proud to present the GameBoy Advance SP/Fire Emblem Giveaway! We're giving away two Flame Game Boy SPs and two Fire Emblem Advance Video Games to two winners! Check it out! ...

IGN.com has posted a very in-depth Q & A section on their site concerning Final Fantasy XII. Questions answered in this article are 'Can you tell us how the Final Fantasy XII camera system works?', 'Can you comment on some of the equipment from the game and your possible role in designing it?' and 'Is the Ivalice of FFXII the same Ivalice as that of Tactics?' amongst others. Interesting stuff, as I'm sure you'll agree.

To take a look at the full, four page article, click here.

Thanks to Tidus Andronicus & Loony BoB from our forums for pointing this out.

[Source: IGN] ...

Final Fantasy X-2 International and Last Mission for the Playstation 2 will be released in Japan on February 19th, 2003. Square-Enix has also promised that a trailer of the new Final Fantasy movie: Advent Children will be included with the game.

[Source: The MagicBox] ...

Square Enix has announced that Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's Cut will be released in Japan on January 22, 2004. The game will be priced at 6,800 yen. We'll keep you posted once release dates for other countries become available.

On top of that, this year's Jump Festival in Japan will get a playable demo of Dragon Quest V. New footage of Final Fantasy XII is also expected to be revealed at the festival. The celebrations begin on December 20th, 2003.

[Source: The MagicBox] ...

Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima left his job at Square Enix Japan last month. The 39-year old had part in Square's first production team, working on stories and scenarios for FF VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2 and Kingdom Hearts. These aside, he was also the director of the strategy RPG Bahamut Lagoon and worked with Akitoshi Kawazu on Racing Lagoon.

[Source: RPGFan] ...