FINAL FANTASY(R) XI COMING TO XBOX 360

Square Enix Announces First Collaboration with Microsoft

LOS ANGELES, California (May 16, 2005)

Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan, “Square Enix”) a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software including two of the world’s most popular franchises FINAL FANTASY® and DRAGON QUEST™, today announced that FINAL FANTASY® XI will be released on Xbox 360™, Microsoft's next-generation gaming console, and Xbox Live, the company’s premier online gaming service. The partnership was announced at Microsoft's Media Briefing held in Los Angeles on May 16th. Xbox 360 will be available this holiday season.

“As we move forward with our cross-platform strategy to bring our titles to more gamers in multiple formats, we are extremely excited to launch our popular MMORPG on the Xbox 360 and look forward to this collaboration with Microsoft,” said Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix. “The Xbox 360 provides a powerful platform from which gamers can be immersed in the spell-binding FINAL FANTASY XI story that comes to life through collaborative online game play.”

“We’re thrilled to be working with Square Enix to bring their incredible game FINAL FANTASY XI to Xbox 360,” said Robbie Bach, Microsoft chief Xbox officer. “The power of our next generation games and entertainment system combined with the creativity and innovation of Square Enix promises to truly revolutionize video games on a global scale.”

FINAL FANTASY XI is a massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG). The original version of the game was released in May 2002 in Japan, October 2003 in North America and September 2004 in Europe, with a subscriber base now in excess of 500,000 active accounts.

With the release of the Xbox 360 version, Square Enix will be expanding its cross-platform strategy, making FINAL FANTASY XI available to a much wider audience. Players will be able to choose their hardware and play on the same servers as existing gamers. The powerful next-generation capabilities of the Xbox 360 will provide a much more dynamic and visually impressive gateway to Vana'diel - the world of FINAL FANTASY XI.

No further information regarding FINAL FANTASY XI for Xbox 360 is available today. More details will be released in the coming months.

The trailer that was shown at the press conference started off with a lot of landscape shots of the existing world of Final Fantasy XI, eventually building up to show characters one by one, fighting monsters such as Diablos and Behemoths. Details were far and few between, but from the trailer that was shown at the press conference, the gameplay looks on par with the PC version of the game, although the detail is more apparent with the X360 rev.
What's questionable will be whether or not the game will include the expansion Chains of Promathia, although chances are with the changes made to Xbox Live, the expansion might be a downloadable upgrade. But that remains to be seen. The game will utilize MS' Xbox Live service in conjunction with their PlayOnline service to deliver what'll be an attempt to merge both PC and Xbox 360 players into the same game world. This is a first for any MMORPG title that's currently active online, and it'll certainly present a huge challenge for both Microsoft and Square Enix to pull off without a hitch.

Final Fantasy XI was the first game in the popular role-playing series to go online, and the Xbox version will sport new high-definition graphics and make use of all of Xbox Live's features.

Ankama Studio announces the world release of DOFUS, a massively multiplayer role play game on Internet. This international version will be available on the first of september 2005. Armed with the rising success of DOFUS French-speaking version, Ankama Studio takes the world by storm with the international launch of its MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). Available in French since September 2004, DOFUS is yet a reference in France and French-speaking regions of Canada, Belgium and Switzerland.

With more than 100,000 registered users and almost 15,000 total subscribers, Ankama Studio has accepted the challenge to carry out and market on its own a MMORPG.

Ankama will take advantage of the E3 Expo in Los Angeles to officialize its international display (May 17th-20th, 2005).

The first stage will be the recruiting of Anglophone testers in order to validate DOFUS new technical infrastructure. Registrations will open the 17th of May 2005 on the official site (www.dofus.com) and beta-tests will start in Summer 2005.

The DOFUS phenomenon; a unique multiplayer video game:

The MMORPG DOFUS offers a unique blend of tactical fights, role play game, mad humour and colourful graphics. The atypical and evolutionary structure of this online video-game, the practical and technical assets, its reasonable cost and the regular additions and modifications are so many reasons for the game success which appeals to both casual and hardcore gamers.

The Guild Wars title comes in two versions: the regular box and the super deluxe – a.k.a. the Collector’s Edition. The gameplay is the same and you do get a “divine aura” (favor of the gods, apparently other players can see it) for having the Collector’s Edition, but what is also included for the $30 extra are a few pretty cool items. There is a 128-page hardcover book that shows the Art of Guild Wars, including paper dolls of the classes and the concept art that evolved into the mobs and settings for the game. There is also a Guild Wars headset, with the headphones that hook around the back of the head and over the ears (for comfort) and a microphone (the Internet Chat Headset, made by Logitech and complete with a GW logo), along with a three-month subscription to Speakeasy-hosted Teamspeak service. And there is one more little goody in the box – a CD of the Guild Wars soundtrack featuring 28 of the themes created by British Academy Award winner Jeremy Soule. Do not expect anything that gives a distinct in-game advantage (well, the headset and Teamspeak is very good stuff for PvP-team combat), but relish, rather, in the added materials.

The sale of virtual goods in massively multiplayer online role-playing games has exploded and, though Wall Street may not yet have caught on, buying and selling imaginary gold is proving to be a wise investment this year. Behind the facade of undead wizards and gnomish engineers lurk hard-nosed capitalists who know how to turn over a buck.

According to data gathered by Advanced Economic Research Systems, a company that tracks eBay sales, through April more than $2 million was spent on World of Warcraft (WOW) gold this year.