I always thought that IX's sales were down because the PS2 had just come out? I wonder, did the same sort of thing affect XII's sales?

Also, was/is there a sort of rivalry between Steiner and Beatrix? It must be weird having two separate captains for two separate factions of knights or whatever.

From what I did play of IX, I remember really enjoying clanking around as Steiner at the very beginning, looking for the other knights. Actually, something I liked a lot about IX is how you take control of so many different characters right from the beginning. You're Zidane, Vivi, and Steiner while you're still doing intro stuff. I always appreciate multiple perspectives in games. FFX was a bit disappointing, since you only get to play as Tidus and then as Yuna briefly.