The version of Square Enix' massively multiplayer title Final Fantasy XI which was announced with a fanfare for Xbox 360 earlier this week will not feature any major enhancements over the existing PS2 and PC versions of the game, representatives of the firm have confirmed.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at E3, Japanese representatives of Square Enix said that the game would be "exactly the same", with the only update being the addition of HDTV resolutions. No new models or environments will be added to the game, which will run on the same servers as the PC and PS2 editions.

The company also revealed that Final Fantasy XI was originally in development for the current generation Xbox console, but that an agreement couldn't be reached with Microsoft that would allow Square Enix to implement its custom PlayOnline online gaming service on Xbox Live.

The restrictions on this have been eased significantly with the Xbox 360, the firm's spokespeople explained, and players will log into PlayOnline in order to play FFXI, not the Live service.

The team lauded the ease of development of the Xbox 360, saying that it took them just two to three months to get the game up and running on the platform, and said that it hopes to expand the audience for FFXI by moving to the new platform - especially in Europe, where this will be the first console version of the game to be made available.

• The IGN.com awards gave the Best Persistent World Game title to Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. Runners-up were Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures and Imperator.


• In the Gamespot Best of Show awards, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Game went to Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, and finalists of Auto Assault, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, and The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.


• Over at GameSpy, on their Top 25 list can be found City of Villians at #19.

1.5 million is apparently the magic number. Since it's been publicized that World of Warcraft has that many worldwide subscribers, we've noticed that publishers are taking the MMO category a bit more seriously. Previously the home to scads of vaporware projects, a look at the MMO scene of today will reveal an entirely different scenario. There's a multitude of high-profile games falling into numerous distinct niches. No longer are MMOs simply variants on the same playstyle, and nowhere was this more evident than at E3 2005.

MMO-specific companies like Mythic and NCSoft have seen much in the way of commercial success, and this is reflected by the fact that they can bankroll, publish, and distribute their own games. Even better, comparatively small companies like these are making strides just as profound as giants like Blizzard. One case in point is NCSoft's ArenaNet-developed Guild Wars, whose monthly-fee-free, expansion-pack-heavy business model might just set the standard for how these games are sold in the future.

The value of lucrative licenses isn't lost on these devs, either, if Turbine's portfolio is anything to go by. With MMOs in developed based on both Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, the Boston-based studio is in quite the enviable state. Both of the games look great, and are a testament to the timeless source material on which they're based. It wouldn't surprise us one bit if one of the larger publishers out there were to get hip to this fact real soon, and seek out some kind of mutually-beneficial partnership.

In short, World of Warcraft seems like it's just the beginning. The MMO category is on its way to becoming the most important in PC gaming, and being on ground zero at E3 makes this clear as day. Now if only consoles can catch up!

Game software developer Square Enix Co said Tuesday its group net profit jumped 35.8 percent in the 2004 business year from the previous year to 14.93 billion yen as its online game services achieved strong growth.

Group pretax profit for the year ended March 31 increased 41.9% to 25.9 billion yen on 73.86 billion yen in sales, up 16.9%. Per-share group net profit rose to 135.63 yen from 100.04 yen.

1. Guild Wars (NCsoft)
2. World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
3. The Sims 2 University (Electronic Arts)
4. DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil (Activision)
5. The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts)
6. Stronghold 2 (2K Games)
7. Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal)
8. Seaworld Adventure Parks Tycoon (Activision)
9. The Sims Deluxe (Electronic Arts)
10. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)
11. SWAT 4 (Vivendi Universal)
12. DOOM 3 (Activision)
13. Halo: Combat Evolved (Microsoft)
14. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Activision)
15. Empire Earth II (Vivendi Universal)
16. Guild Wars Collector's Ed. (NCsoft)
17. Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30 (Ubisoft)
18. LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Eidos)
19. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (Atari)
20. Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (LucasArts)