News

Courtesy of the mighty and great OmniPlay Gaming, here is the very first screens of Final Fantasy Tactics on Game Boy Advance. The game takes place in a modern world at first, until the characters are whisked away to Ivalice following an incident. The game has three new systems according to this scan. Looks to be another WINNER from Square! I can't wait!

FFT Scan

Gamespot has just released its review of one of, if not the most anticipated NGC title yet, Super Mario Sunshine. The site gives it an 8.0, slightly less than I had come to expect based on all the hype. However, in reading the article, it's easy to understand why.

While it is a worthy successor to Mario 64, which was in itself an excellent game, some control flaws were evident to the reviewers that, if I were reviewing, would have docked the game hard. It appears that camerawork can be an issue at many points in the game, which has always been my personal complaint toward 3D platform games in general. However, overall, the game still looks like it's more than worth a playthrough to me.

Source: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10867,2878399,00.html

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,64765,

Side-stories of Final Fantasy X will be both unveiled and playable for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in September. However, the game will only be shown to a select few, hopefully someone will be able to get pictures, or a hands-on review out. The names for the games as of now are "Final Fantasy X ~ Yuna" and "Final Fantasy X ~ Rikku"

Thanks to Gerad, we now have 200+ FF4 Screenshots available in the FF4 section.

Thanks for the hard work, Gerad!

Final Fantasy Gurus, a long-standing pillar of the FF community online (and likely the next CoN affiliate), has made R51 and CoN a feature of their site newsletter this week!

CoN was an advertised site in their newsletter this week, and as such was reviewed by FFG's admin Myst. Here's what he had to say:

Quote

Caves of Narshe has been around for many years, 5 to be exact, and over the years it has grown into both a fan based site for those who wish to gain in depth knowledge of Final Fantasy 6 and 4. It has also gained a following by a group of faithful supporters who are always willing to help others. The overall feel of Caves of Narshe is one of a friendly community. The site itself is well designed. It has a very simple layout, and is easy to navigate through to find whatever you are in need of at the moment. Fan art of FF4 and FF6 takes the place of CG graphics that so many other sites use these days, and adds to the simplistic feel of the site. The art is well drawn, and there are various examples of it throughout the many sections of the site. A great deal of care was taken to give the site a simple, friendly atmosphere. This much is obvious if you venture to the forums or chat room. Both long time members, and newer folk occupy the forums and chat. They are always willing to help out if you have a question, and can also provide enjoyable discussions as well. If you're looking for somewhere to get some focused early FF knowledge, and group of people who are always up for some fun, Caves of Narshe is the place of go.

Finally, R51 was interviewed as the featured FFG member. Read the interview here: http://www.ffgurus.net/newsletter/r51int.txt

That's all!

After a technological snafu brought on by yours truly, we've got the new fanart update ready to go.

Thanks to A-Chan, we've got a lot of new art to show today. You can find new art in the following sections:

FF4-Edge
FF4-Rydia
FF6-Kefka

In addition, we had to add three new sections, too!

FF4-Edward
FF4-Group Art
FF6-Mog

Thanks for the big update, A-Chan!

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,44012,

Some screenshots of the new Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II ports to the PlayStation. The screens show some shots of the new opening FMV, and some from the actual updated gameplay. This again raises the question: Will you spend $40-$50 on games you beat on your NES?

In the spirit of continuing to make CoN a leader in FF fanart, we have five new pieces from forum and chat regular Narratorway in the fanart section now.

We've added three new pieces to the Celes section, a very interesting Rydia, and have started a brand new section with our first FF4 Cid art!

Thanks, NP!

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,46720,

When Shenmue II is released here in America on the X-Box, it will include a DVD called "Shenmue: The Movie". This is a 90-minute long collection of cut-scenes from the first game, so even if you never played the first game, you can understand the backstory and know what happened in the first game. The game will be released on November 6th.

Looks like Square is dumping their port of Final Fantasy III on WonderSwan Color to bring it to Gameboy Advance. This is awesome news. It's still up in the air, but Square DID confirm this, according to this Games Are Fun news article.

I hope this comes to pass.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,96861,

A very short clip of Crystal Chronicle appears in a commercial... you can download that commercial here.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2877391,00.html

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is a gamecube-gameboy advance game that utilizes the link between the two systems to further enhance the gameplay.  Here is a first look at some screenshots from the Gamecube version of the game.  In one of the screenshots an old-school sword is definitely visible - FF:CC might just be returning to old school just as FF9 did.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,25762,

A slew of information concerning the recently announced GBA games by Square. Basically a little more information on what Neal posted earlier.

We have one FF4 quiz and one FF6 quiz available for you to take right now! There will be a new ten-question quiz every month, so enjoy!

Remember, you must be a member of the forums and logged in via cookie to take the quiz. Thanks!

CoNQuiz

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2876895,00.html

As most of us have heard so far, Square is porting Playstation greatest hit Final Fantasy Tactics to the GBA, but more games are scheduled to follow.  Along with FFT, Square is scheduling a release of a Secret of Mana game, whether it be an entirely new game or a port of the original, a Chocobo game, and a new Final Fantasy game called Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle.  The Secret of Mana game and the Final Fantasy game are both due in Spring 2003 while the FFT Port is scheduled to be released this winter.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,60636,

Plans are now in the works for a new RPG Maker for Game Boy Advance.  Details are kinda sketchy, but it sounds like the version may be inferior to current versions, but the ability to play it whenever would make quite a bonus for us RPG makin' geeks.  A playstation 2 version (set to be released in December) is also set to be shipped to the states, and is to be USB-Keyboard compatible for easy scripting.  This is definitely a big leap forward for people who make their own RPGs, and hopefully it brings more into the mix.  I know I might have to try that PS2 version...

Source: Gamesarefun.com

Corda has just brought it to our attention that Fierce Legends is on schedule to release the first demo of their FF6 Prequel within two months. Here are the highlights:

* Demo Screenplay is complete;
* Art and Music are in progress;
* Battle Engine is demo-ready;
* Logo is complete and will be public soon;
* Flash trailer is in progress.

To check out FLS, visit the
Affiliates section. Keep checking CoN for more updates!

Welcome to the newest CoN Affiliate, Bobbin Cranbud Presents! Bobbin has a strong fanbase and a unique way of interacting with the RPGs that we've all played (except for me).

CoN Afilliates

Some spells (Cokatrice, Bomb, Mage) were missing descriptions, so I fixed them. Carry on.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,12026,

The PS2 port of Skies of Arcadia has been cancelled. The game, however, will still be ported to the GameCube.

Square confirmed that the release dates for Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy 2 will be October 31st in Japan. They will be sold as seperate games, but buyers can get a limited edition containing both games in Japan. Still no word on a US release date, but we can still be hopeful. Both games feature upgraded music, graphics, and cutscenes.

Source: Games Are Fun

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q3-2002/073102c.html

Yes kids, this wonderful Dreamcast classic is now available for play on the PC.  Probably one of my top 10 favorite games, PSO is a blast to play either online or just by yourself, but with a PC version, you don't have to buy any new-fangled cords and stuff to play on the network.  I'm buyin' it!

EDIT:  Apparently an XBox and Gamecube edition are also in the works for those of you with those systems.  Stay tuned!

Source: RPG Gamer