If things went differently, we could have actually been romping around Vana'diel and consorting with Shantotto on the PS3. Turns out that Square Enix had plans to release Final Fantasy XI on the PS3 as well. According to Hiromichi Tanaka, the PS3 version could have seen the light of day if only Sony didn't fall short on the bargain. More so, continuing plans of getting the MMORPG on the console are proving fruitless because PS2 backwards compatibility across all PS3 SKUs is looking quite impossible.

Think that the only thing newsworthy thing in Square Enix's Fan Festival 2007 is the Final Fantasy 11: Wings of the Goddess expansion? Think again. The producer of Final Fantasy 11 (PC, Xbox 360) talks about a new Square Enix MMORPG in the works, and it's not even necessarily a Final Fantasy title. Read more in the full article!

Hiromichi Tanaka, lead developer for Final Fantasy XI, is set to be the international keynote speaker in this year's Austin Game Developer's Conference (GDC), joining speakers such as Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, and Habbo Hotel's lead designer Sulka Haro. In his keynote address, Tanaka will talk about the challenges and triumphs of designing a massively multiplayer online game across platforms.

Scheduled for September 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, the Austin GDC will focus on advancing game development with lectures, panels, and round table discussions on the latest issues facing the industry, such as online programming, future trends, the most up-to-date production techniques, and how-to's in creating new games. Jane Pinckard, content manager for the event, states that "Tanaka's presence at our conference is indicative of the event's global appeal."

The Austin GDC will host discussion tracks on online gaming, game audio, creative writing for games, and will introduce a new People's Choice Track, where community members can vote on what topics will be discussed in the conference. Stay with us as we keep you updated on further developments.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, when Hiromichi Tanaka, senior vice president of software development was asked if Square-Enix is too reliant on the immensely huge Final Fantasy brand, Tanaka said that despite the Final Fantasy in the title, if you look at the games that they create, you'll see that every title has a different story, and each game has used a different engine, so things aren't always similar.

He goes on to note that they don't really have an answer to the question "What is Final Fantasy," but then yes, they do admit that perhaps because the brand is so big, that they are reliant on it sometimes. He goes on to note that they to try to expand their portfolio. He explains:

Maybe it's harder to see from abroad but in Japan we are constantly working on new titles, like Dragon Quest. So it's not only Final Fantasy, we're always [trying] to add new titles to our company's catalogue.

When asked about the difference between Western and Japanese gamers, Tanaka notes that perhaps Japanese are more used to their games being closer to comics and cartoons where things aren't so strict. Whereas in Europe he says that gamers seem to ask for more realism. Sage Sundi, global online producer for Square Enix, notes that at the moment the market it changing as Western markets are becoming more familiar with Japanese cartoons through cartoon channels and that they are now more open to that style.

On the subject of next-gen consoles, Tanaka notes that up to the Sony PlayStation 2, all consoles had basically the same concept of how to deliver a gaming experience. Now, each console has different features that he feels are targeted at different audiences. So he notes that he has to make different titles for different platforms; and then those games should deliver what the audience of that platform is expecting. On a different note, Sundi says that online games might be different. He cites their cross-platform title FFXI and says that perhaps it is also purely the content within the title that they're offering that attracts the player.

And speaking of MMO gaming, when asked if they plan to try to achieve the number of subscribers the dominant World of Warcraft has, Sundi notes that no, they do not have a clear target of 8 million, nor do they have the objective of getting WoW players onto their side. He notes that "poaching players" would be ineffective since WoW will just try to get those hardcore players back anyway. He says that they prefer to target a different market.

For the complete interview feel free to head to it via our "read" link below.

This one goes way back. We have to untangle a lot of weeds here, so bear with us. During the first part of 2006, around March and April, there were rumors about a new Square Enix MMO as well as rumors about Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy VII. A lot has changed for the FF titles but regarding the MMO one, it seems that things are still pushing forward as planned.

Director and Executive Producer Hiromichi Tanaka was recently interviewed by gaming site Pro-G about the DS version of Final Fantasy III. We were quite excited about the interview but you all know how those go: game features, details, developments, and stuff. But toward the end of the discussion, something glimmered and caught our attention.

Accordingly, Pro-G asked Tanaka regarding his and Square Enix's future plans. Wonder what his response was? All smiles, the game director stated, "I'm still working on XI as it's on-going but we are also working on a next-generation MMORPG for 360 and Vista but PS3 is a possibility."

Wait, hold on. An MMO between Xbox 360 users and Vista is not entirely new as Microsoft has revealed this already in the past. But a PS3 and Vista MMO? Now, that is something. And honestly, we can't imagine PS3 users meeting with Xbox 360 players in a virtual environment.

Nope, we really can't picture the two meeting. But we most can certainly imagine them fight. This is going to be good.

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...