The Community Reps have been quite active recently at the official forums for Final Fantasy XIV, releasing information about ongoing changes for A Realm Reborn. Here’s an overview of some of the new developments:

• Yoshi-P made an announcement that apologized for the lack of new information, and also included some new details. First, the new Letter from the Producer will be out in the next couple of days. And secondly, the first PC benchmark is in its final stages of testing! Yoshi-P says that they currently plan on releasing the benchmark right before phase 1 of the beta test begins. ...

Shiva has been a popular recurring summon throughout the Final Fantasy series, as our own Lockharted recently pointed out in her Summon of the Month spotlight on the icy beauty. And with the developers of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn trying to do more to bring the “Final Fantasy feel” to the upcoming game, it is no surprise that Shiva will be making an appearance as a primal. ...

Wait, there’s something wrong here…. Does anybody read Al Bhed?

At just 15 years old, Rikku is the youngest member of the party in Final Fantasy X; but she really goes to prove that sometimes, age has no relevance when it comes to intelligence and heart.

Rikku is the heart and soul of the party, when everyone else has their angst and trouble, Rikku acts like a light in the darkness and a beacon of support. Of course, she’s not without angst of her own, for a while into the Pilgrimage she keeps her Al Bhed background a complete secret from Wakka, who despises the Al Bhed and Machina.

She is also Yuna’s cousin, so it is understandable as to why she wanted to stop Yuna’s pilgrimage and protect her. However it wasn’t just Yuna, she tells Tidus on the way to the Macalania Temple that the Al Bhed want to protect all of the Summoners in Spira. It is also Rikku who reveals to Tidus the truth about what happens to the Summoners when they defeat Sin.

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When I first heard the announcement of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, I had my reservations. Like many fans, I was disappointed with the ending to Final Fantasy XIII-2. For me, the ambiguous final scene did not instill thoughts of "I wonder what happens next," but rather "I'm done with this crap." So when Square-Enix announced there would be a third (and final) game in this series, I was far from thrilled.

Still, I followed every piece of news on Lightning Returns closely. I am first and foremost a Final Fantasy fan ...

Do you like Final Fantasy music? Do you want to meet Nobuo Uematsu and get his autograph? Do you live in the UK and can get to London?

If you answered yes to all of the above then you're in luck! The Final Symphony concert will be swinging by the Barbican Centre in London on the 30th May 2013. This is also going to be the first performance of video game music by the highly acclaimed London Symphony Orchestra. The concert will be unveiling entirely new arrangements of classic pieces from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X making it a historical moment for the Final Fantasy franchise and video game music in general.

Tickets range from £30-£65 and include a meet and greet with Nobuo Uematsu before the show to get his autograph! ...

On the 23rd of January, Sony will be putting most of the titles in the Final Fantasy series on a half-price sale for a limited time only in Europe.

For one whole week, fans can get their hands on some most of the older titles for an absolute steal from the PSN store. Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX, will be available for £3.99 each. Games for the PSP have also been slashed in price, with Final Fantasy Dissidia priced at £7.29.

Bulgaria, Hungary and Qatar are not included in this deal, and in some European countries, only a select number of titles are available.

This sale is a great way to build up your Final Fantasy collection! Which will you be buying?


[Source http://www.webpronews.com/final-fant...-week-2013-01] ...

Good news collectors! If you missed out on the very limited print run of The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy and have been crying yourself to sleep every night it turns out that just like most of the games in our beloved franchise - there is a happy ending in sight!

The books contain 708 pages featuring a comprehensive collection of all of Yoshitaka Amano's artwork for the series up until 2001 along with a few special bits and pieces he made especially for the books. There's even some pieces that have been previously unpublished! ...

A week ago I had covered Artist Jenna Antonelli's Chocobo Sculpture. As I follow up I contacted her and we sat down (over email) and discussed her fantastic piece of work. Check out the EoFF exclusive interview with Jenna below!

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In my last article, I introduced the topic of sexism in Final Fantasy, and tried to give an overview of why it’s a topic worth discussing. I mentioned three different types of sexism that I will be mentioning throughout this series: women as sex objects (aesthetics), limiting female characters to stereotypical gender roles, and the frequent dependence of female characters on more significant male characters for relevance to the overall plot. In this part, which is based on the NES and SNES era of the Final Fantasy series – and so before the ability to plaster big boobs all over the screen – I will be focusing on gender roles and stereotypes. ...

Karl Stewart, the global brand director of Crystal Dynamics revealed that there would not be a demo released for the new Tomb Raider. He announced the news earlier this week on his Twitter page.

"There are no plans to release a demo of the game pre-launch. We don't want to spoil the story..."


He hinted at a strong narrative in later tweets, which sound promising for the expectant fans; "We've weaved such a personal story we don't believe spoiling it by having you wait a week or so to play on." He also added that there would be "no season or online pass"

It's not all bad news for the fans, the television spot for the game has been released, with bonus content being offered for those who pre-order the game with certain retailers. These bonuses are retailer specific; with different outfits, bonus locations and puzzles. Pre-ordering from Amazon.com will get you exclusive Kindle Fire content, and an Amazon edition of "The Art of Tomb Raider" - a 32-page art book by art director Brian Horton.


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Remember that first visit to Cosmo Canyon? Hearing that beautiful music play through the speakers of your television, and with a sigh, you wished you could be there?

If that sounds like you, perhaps you should read on to find out how to win a Final Fantasy VII destination of your choice! Now, I'm not talking about a holiday to Costa Del Sol, that would require a lot more MP and Summoning Magic than I care to use up. I'm talking about some art; a pretty snazzy fan-art canvas, to be precise.

In a series of five by Joseph Barron, the "Final Destinations" artwork is something unique and eye-catching which would look great on the wall of any true Final Fantasy fan!


The series features simplistic, but sentimental images of The Golden Saucer, Midgar, Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon and Rocket Town.

They're all very iconic locations not only of Final Fantasy VII, but of the series as a whole, and the artist has very kindly given "Eyes on Final Fantasy" a canvas to give away to one very lucky member! They're also ...

As we near the release of the beta version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the development team is hard at work making changes and adding content. One of those changes is the passage of time.

In the alpha version of FFXIV, there was only one time of day: high noon. But now the world of Eorzea experiences nighttime as well, and the development team has posted all-new screenshots of Gridania at night. ...

Why hello there! It's week 18 of the Final Fantasy Fan Art Showcase and this week we have some great pieces to share with you, and we hope that you enjoy them. Let's also not forget that we are now accepting cosplaying photographes in our DeviantArt group, so come on by to see some great cosplayers. Our collection is small, but it's turning out quite nice! Don't forget to visit the sources for this weeks artworks to send the artists any compliments. They really deserve them for the amazing art they've provided us.

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[IMG]http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/014/d/7/manly_rufus_by_eggabeg-d5rib7v.png[/IMG]
Manly Rufus

We start off this week with the President of ShinRa, Rufus. He's looking quite smug in this artwork, just like a boss.

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[IMG]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/014/0/a/0a393ddfd24febb5bb9f283259a17f17-d5ri2w0.png[/IMG]
Don Corneo Mansion

Here's a humorous picture of that time Don Corneo picked Cloud in that one scene. The outcome is quite hilarious, and apparently it does not sit well with Cloud.

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[IMG]http://th05.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/014/9/5/lockhart_by_addigni-d5rh977.jpg[/IMG]
Lockhart

Well here's a picture of ...

Eyes on Final Fantasy had a unique opportunity to once again be invited by Square Enix, thanks to community manager Robert Peeler, to preview another entry in the Nova Crystallis saga. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was shown to us in all its shining glory. We spoke with Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Director Motuma Toriyama for an in-depth look at this upcoming game.

In the first entry in a few series of articles about our visit, we’ll be discussing the trailer and the hands-off demo we witnessed. Combined with Toriyama and Kitase’s commentary, we had a first hand glimpse at the game and its new style.


Although the trailer was leaked early, we saw the full HD version of it with details from Kitase and Toriyama. We found out that the graphics in the video are not polished as you may be able to tell. They were more focused on the gameplay than on the graphics at the moment. Hoping to have the gameplay polished first, they wanted to show the major differences of the game for the fans.

Apparently more excited than Del Murder, I started to scribble notes like crazy. They gave us our own small note books and this Editor actually ran out of paper after using the front and back of the small notebook. Even during the ...