Square-Enix has dropped the rights to its trademark "Chrono Break" from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are still holding on to their Japanese trademark of "Chrono Brake", however, and so it has become a mystery as to what will happen to the successful franchise. There has still been no official word regarding a new Chrono game, and all that is known is that Masao Katou, the scenario writer for Square's first two Chrono games, is no longer affiliated with Square-Enix since finishing his work on Final Fantasy XI.

[Sources - Square Insider] ...

Final Fantasy X-2, the first sequel in everyone's favorite RPG series, had a relatively easy rise to the top of the best-sellers list in Japan in 2003, outdistancing Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire and Dynasty Warriors 3 (by approximately 200,000 and 750,000 units, respectively) to become Japan's top selling game of the year.

With nearly 2 million copies sold throughout the year, FFX-2 had no problem becoming the best in nearly every category: top PS2 game, top Square-Enix game, top RPG.

Also of note from the list of one hundred, the highly successful GameBoy Advanced game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance made an appearance on the chart, coming in 23rd with well over 400,000 copies sold. Crystal Chronicles wasn't far behind at 28th (approx. 350,000), and both FFX and FFXI continued strong prolonged runs with showing of 86th and 98th (approx. 160,000 and 130,000, respectively).

[Sources - RPGFan] ...

Square-Enix has released a few commercials in order to promote it's latest masterpiece: Final Fantasy X-2. These commercials (or adverts) give us a closer peek at the English versions of "Real Emotion" and "1,000 Words" from the official soundtrack, sung by Jade from Sweetbox.

You can download these three commercials by
right-clickity-clicking on the following links:
Commercial #1 (Real Emotion Trailer 1)
Commercial #2 (Real Emotion Trailer 2)
Commercial #3 (1,000 Words Trailer)

[Sources: Square Insider, Game Trailers] ...

It's been just over a year since the Site Staff became an official team at Eyes on Final Fantasy, and we've achieved almost everything we've set out to do - all for you! I've put together a nice little run-down of what we've achieved as a group last year, our goals for next year and a list of people who have done their part.

The 2003 EoFF Site Staff Report
If you'd like to contribute or make a suggestion to Site Staff, register at the EoFF Forums, make sure you're logged in and visit the Site Staff Forum.

If you have any comments/questions you'd like to make on the EoFF Site Staff Report, please do so by posting in the Site Staff Forum, commenting in the EoFF News LJ Community or emailing webmaster@eyesonff.com. ...

Square-Enix announced a triumph of sorts, reporting that their PlayOnline services had surpassed over a half-million users by the end of 2003. Since Final Fantasy XI was released for the PS2 in Japan back in May 2002, the service had steadily gained steam, first when FFXI was released for PCs in November 2002 and most recently when the game was introduced in the United States. The membership population, which was already a healthy 300,000, took about two and a half months to exceed 500,000. In all, over one million individual characters have been created for the game.

Since FFXI is also expected to be released in the United States on the PS2 by March, everyone can expect those numbers to continue climbing. The game's continued success is expected to have an influence on Square-Enix's other imminent releases, including Ambrosia Odyssey and Front Mission Online, and the company is expected to take those games in the same direction FFXI followed.

[Sources - Square Insider] ...

Kingdom Hearts II is shaping up to be something quite special, as we can see from these new details released by Square-Enix. The gameplay of the sequel will be almost identical to the original, but the summoning system has been simplified this time round. Also, the Gummi ships (in a reworked version), Malificent and her army of Heartless will be making a return in this sequel.

This gem of a game will be released in Japan at some point after April of this year.

[Source: Square Insider] ...

Final Fantasy X-2, the new sequel to the popular original release, was recognized recently in the 2003 edition of the Yahoo! Entertainment Awards. The game took home second place, and was a bit of a surprise as the only RPG to be among the top five finalists.

The placings are partly based on the overall number of searches a given title has on the Yahoo! search engine, but were finalized only when Yahoo! users worldwide had their say. While the Yahoo! Entertainment Awards encompass many different aspects of the entertainment industry, FFX-2's strong showing in the Game division is a testament to its popularity.

[Sources - Square Insider, Yahoo! Japan Entertainment] ...

Everyone's favorite gaming company has announced the imminent release of a new album that will feature vocals for songs in every Final Fantasy, from the first in the series to the most recent eleventh title. The majority of the tracks will have brand new vocals, while others will simply be rearranged, and all will be worked upon by Nobuo Uematsu.

Of particular note, it has been confirmed that Final Fantasy VIII's famed track "Eyes on Me", which was sung by Faye Wong for that game, will also be included in this song book. It will be produced by HMV (there is still no official word on the permanent replacement for bankrupt DigiCube) and will be released in Japan on March 10, 2004.

[Sources - Square Insider] ...

All praise Nintendo! Yet another giveaway has begun, but this time it is two black Game Boy Advance SPs and two copies of Square-Enix's Sword of Mana up for grabs. Good luck! ...

According to Famitsu magazine, Square-Enix is still #1 in the hearts of our fellow fantasy gamers over in Japan. Here are the results of a recent poll held to predict the most successful games/firms of 2004:

Most Successful Games in 2004:
Players:
1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix)
2. Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2, Konami)
3. Dragon Quest V (PS2, Square Enix)
Developers:
1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix)
2. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2, Square Enix)
3. Gran Turismo 4 (PS2, Sony)
Dealers:
1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix)
2. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2, Square Enix)
3. Dragon Quest V (PS2, Sony)

Most Successful Firms in 2004:
1. Square Enix
2. Nintendo
3. Namco
4. Sega
5. Capcom
6. Konami

Top of the polls in every list! That's an impressive achievement for any company, but it's even more special for Square-Enix when you take into account the trials and tribulations the company has experienced within the last couple of years. Let's hope Square-Enix continue to rise above the rest, and I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing what Final Fantasy goodness ...

On January 15, the 24 hour videogame channel (G4) is running a special on The History of Final Fantasy. The show will be 30 minutes long and will go on location to Square-Enix's new headquarters interviewing the man himself, Hironobu Sakaguchi (among others). Again, the special will air on January 15 at 7:00PM PST and 10:00PM EST. Check out IGN for a 2 minute teaser clip of the upcoming show.

Sources: IGN, G4tv ...

Roogle and I have decided that now is a good enough time as any to parade the artistic talents of our many site-surfers and forum-posters. If you would like to submit some fanart to the site, please send your art in an email to webmaster@eyesonff.com - please ensure you follow the below guidelines for the files: