I think no one will disagree if I say that Final Fantasy is one of the most successful franchises ever made. To date, there are now 12 titles to the Final Fantasy numbered series, one successful MMO, a couple of games for mobile phones, three anime productions, and two full-length CGI films. Surely, such massive success is a collaboration of a few smart minds. 1UP gives us a good look at one of those minds - Yoshitaka Amano, character designer of the first six FF games.

Of course, this 53-year old (54 by July 28 - a few days from now) Japanese was not a FF designer all his life. He first spent 15 years at Tatsunoko Productions, which is famous for Speed Racer, Gatchaman, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. He landed a spot designing characters for Final Fantasy when, after leaving Tatsunoko, his exhibits in New York City, Los Angeles, Germany, and Switzerland displayed a unique, delicate, and ethereal distinction.

His talents were not limited to the Final Fantasy series though. He also worked with Neil Gaiman on some Sandman title and also did some work for Marvel and DC Comics. Yet even though he's considered one of the most talented and in demand artists nowadays, he remains a humble and generous person as reflected in this documentation of a day spent by 1UP's James Mielke with the famed Japanese artist.

Read Mielke's interview and view the three installment videos of the "A Day in the Life of Yoshitaka Amano" docu by clicking on the link below.

Whoever says Final Fantasy XI is boring will get what he deserves. With the upcoming version update to the Treasures of Aht Urhgan, there will be a lot of new and exciting features to look forward, to such as notorious monsters and trying battlefields.

Why notorious, you ask? Let's just say that with the update, a high notorious monster (HNM) is going to be added to the beastman strongholds, and it's not something you'll easily beat.

A new feature implemented in the game is the accumulative magic resistance effect. This will be implemented on monsters with strength readings of "impossible to gauge." This feature will certainly affect the monsters and other players in the game, but the developers made sure that the effect (on black mages, magic users and on monsters) will not be major.

A notorious monster when repeatedly hit with several spells (black magic, white magic, magical blue magic, ninjutsu, to name a few) will accumulatively build magic resistance. (Bahamut in "The Wyrmking Descends" quest and Diabolos in the "Waking Dreams" quest had both been given stronger accumulative magic resistance compared to other monsters.)

Several new battlefields have also been scheduled for certain Treasures of Aht Urhgan areas which you'll be able to attempt using your Imperial Standing credits. Players will be able to make an attempt once or twice a week, or as often as they want to depending on their credits.

Game developers Square Enix are making sure that these new battlefields will be more accessible to players compared to other events like the orb battles.

The exact date of this scheduled update has not yet been disclosed, but expect us to deliver the latest news on Final Fantasy: Treasures of Aht Urhgan.

Final Fantasy is arguably the best fantasy-themed title in the history of gaming. Heck, you have to be more than special after being called "final" more than a dozen times. As a testament to that reputation, news have leaked out that a sequel to Final Fantasy XI is already in the works and will come out on next-gen platforms PS3 and Xbox 360, and will also be on Windows Vista formats.

Yep, Square Enix is already deep into preparation for the upcoming adventure of the Children of Vana'diel. Apart from the confirmation that it is indeed being developed, no further details on exactly what plot the upcoming game will follow (if it's a direct followup of the Vana'diel quests or not), who actually will be the people handling the project, and when it will be out (or at least the date when we can actually start to expect it).

As usual, speculations were abound on who exactly is shaping up the project. IGN thinks Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka and his team are still the crew manning the ship, given the said producer's previous announcement that they are currently working on another game (apart from FFXI).

We can all guess as much as we want but judging from the already-rich lore that surrounds the said franchise, it's hard to do anything wrong with it. But then again that strength may very well be the source of its weakness. We all know how touchy we are when it comes to well-established institution on any media (cough * Star Wars * cough). Sometimes, there are just expectations that can't be reached; not because the people doing it underachieved, but because the bars set were ridiculously high. Well we've been humbled before, we're dying to be again, bring it on Square Enix!

Update: Square Enix has just issued a statement denying that they are making the reported sequel. In the statement: "The Company did not make such an announcement and has not made any decisions resembling those detailed in the media report. As the Company announced in May 2005, it is currently developing an online title for next-generation platforms including game consoles and PCs; however, this title is being developed as a completely new MMORPG. We will disclose further details of this title, including platform compatibility, immediately after any relevant decisions are made."

Although they did mention that "In addition, the Company continuously plans to release expansion packs for Final Fantasy XI, available on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and Windows, as well as perform version updates." All hope isn't yet lost I guess...

To accommodate those whose busy schedules allow them only occasional casual gameplay, Square Enix is adding some new Assault Missions in Final Fantasy XI. Some adjustments to the Assault Points system for existing missions is also planned. These additions are in conjunction with the release of two new mercenary Ranks, Lance Corporal and full Corporal. Five new missions will be available at each rank, and will require new strategies.

These new Assault missions allow a wide range of options for raiding parties of different sizes and job compositions. The number of Assault points that can be earned will depend on the size of the party, and parties in which particular jobs predominate will be more suitable for some raids and not others.

So far, the specifics on point adjustments are as follows:

• Assault Point Adjustment 1: When participating in an Assault mission with 4 or more people, the penalty on the number of Assault Points earned per person will be decreased.
• Assault Point Adjustment 2: The number of Assault Points earned for each Assault mission will be adjusted to better reflect the level of difficulty.
  

A word of advice from the developers: these new Assaults will require players to stay sharp, so don't let those mercenary skills get rusty!

The virtual world of Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urghan has been experiencing some "real world problems" as congestion and overcrowding are becoming a problem in the city of Al Zahbi. To address this issue, the development team has introduced a series of taxes on Auction Houses and Bazaars, and made adjustments to the Besieged. Theses improvements, as well as upcoming Mog Locker expansion, will hopefully lessen overcrowding in the new towns.

The "Mog Locker" is for players wishing to explore new areas of Aht Urghan. Currently, the capacity is limited to 50 items, but this restriction should be lifted in the next update. In addition, players should be able to use their Lockers from anywhere in Vana'diel, although this will shorten the time of the lease. You will, however, be able to renew the lease (for One Imperial Bronze) from any location.

Other upcoming features:

- The Chocobo Stables in Al Zahbi will open for use. Players will be able to rent a chocobo and ride out into the Wajaom Woodlands, but beware; if the stables are captured during Beseiged, the chocobos will be disabled until rescued.

- New NPC's ones for equipment storage, special event item storage, weather forecast, as well as a "Pursuivant" NPC to transport players to Brenner and Ballista matches.

- The number of special event items that can be stored will be increased.

Yeah, so I have a big problem with RPG's, I want to love them, I really, really do, but I think they kind of suck. Now cool down a bit and hear me out first, I know that's a sweeping generalisation so let me state that not all of them suck, but even the ones that don't are guilty of a crime in my court. What's this crime that so many RPG's have committed then? It's the fact that they're the only genre where the core experience and gameplay mechanics can be replicated exactly on another medium... pen and paper. Why not just pick up a literary copy of Dungeons and Dragons and play that instead? The only thing missing is the graphical presentation, and while that enhances the experience does it really truly enrich the gameplay?  Think about it for a moment, the first person shooter experience can't be replicated by any other entertainment medium, neither can the platformer, or the action adventure, sports and simulations are just what they claim to be... simulations.

So what needs to happen then, how can the RPG become a true videogame genre and not merely an almost direct adaptation of an already existing medium? Simple, they need to better take advantage of the interactive nature of videogames. The basic formula of stat tracking, random battles, turn based combat and level grind is archaic and truly belongs in the pen and paper realm. These systems were developed with the limitations of pen and paper games in mind, and they continue to hold back the RPG. The shortcomings of the videogame RPG become all the more apparent when you consider just how non-interactive they are. Most of the game unfolds through a series of long FMV's or dialogue, and is strung together by often random battles with combat systems that nine times out of ten require the player to click the same button over and over in order to unleash a sequence of attacks. Don't get me wrong, some RPG's have made significant headway in this area, games like Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story and the upcoming Final Fantasy XII spring to mind.

If you disagree with my viewpoint that's perfectly fine, I expect a lot of people will, but ask yourself why we are still tied to all the limitations inherent in the pen and paper RPG's, is there anything other than the visuals that the videogame counterpart provides us, anything at all that can be done in a videogame RPG and not on the pen and paper? If your answer is no, then yeah, there is a problem with RPG's, unless you don't mind getting essentially the same experience across multiple media, and really where's the fun in that? If you do think videogame RPG's provide something that their pen and paper counterparts can't or don't, please let me know in the comments section, I'd love to debate it!

Since the debut of the next generation of Final Fantasy at E3 2006,  Japan-based game developer Square Enix has been giving hints has to whats in store for the next decade.

They have dubbed this vision for FFXIII "Fabula Nova Crystallis" (Latin for "Tale of the New Crystal"), and it is the heart of their ten year plan. Three FNC games are currently in development, and there may be more, depending on how well these are received.

Meanwhile, FFXI has made its successful transition to the XBox 360 platform, but don't look for an expansion or followup any time soon; Square Enix has no plans for a sequel before next April.

For any of you gamers who Hate Their Jobs working in a fast-food kitchen, dealing with loud, obnoxious, rude customers, putting up with a supervisor who is little more than a tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood, working long, high-pressure hours in a steaming hot kitchen on weekends when you've made other plans - all this for the bargain price of $5.15 an hour...you may just want to check this out.

"Machinema" is the art of making original films using game figures, models and animations. While this particular 90 seconds of hilarity was made using the "stop action" method" (similar to "Claymation," using 3d models instead of clay), it's hard to tell this isn't a session of FF that slipped out of its "normal" setting and into a bizarre world of deep-fat fryers and paper hats. Created by Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken, Final Fantasy VII: With Burgers and Fries, can be viewed below.