Some more Final Fantasy news: 

Though not set in stone, there are rumors of plans by Square and Sony Pictures that a release of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (the movie) will be slated for the Playstation 2.  No, it will not be an actual game from the movie storyline, instead, it will be a release of the DVD movie, but in a PS2 specific format.  There is no word as to whether the release is also compatible with a standard DVD player, only that the PS2 specific version will be optimized for use on the PS2 console.  Also, Final Fantasy XI is rumored to be seeing more platforms than just PS2 and PC. 

For more in formation, visit:  Eyes on Final Fantasy

It is now about 2 weeks until the release of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and I cannot wait.  The movie will hit theatres on the 11th of July.  July is going to be a big month for Final Fantasy fans.  July marks the release of not only the movie, but also the American release of the next saga in this epic series, Final Fantasy X for the Playstation 2.  Also, there will be an American release of Final Fantasy Chronicles, which is a collection of 2 earlier Square titles: Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger.  And last, but not least, July will mark the re-release of one of Square's biggest flops known as Final Fantasy Tactics, which was released shortly after Final Fantasy VII (in my opinion the best one), which were both published under the Sony label, rather than Square's label like normal.  July 10 is to be known as Final Fantasy day and a large showcasing will be held in San Francisco.  Damn, wish I could be there.

For more details on all of the above, check out www.thefinalfantasy.com

I know that this is a site dedicated to the Playstation, but I just can't help it.  I have found another PC game that I must recommend to all of you RPG gamers out there.  A year and a half ago, Microsoft sponsored the dreams of a programmer and help create a small 7-person staff known as Turbine, and in a partnership between the software giant and its "project" company, a small group's dream came true in the form of Asheron's Call.  Asheron's Call is known as a Massive Multi-Player (MMP) RPG.  The game usually costs in the range of $20. which is refunded in the form of a mail in rebate.  The catch is, you can only play the game on the internet, and to play it on the net, you must pay the monthly fee of $9.95.  You get the first month free and can cancel your subscription at any time and resubscribe at any point.  The thing that makes the game worth the monthly fee (at least to me) is that it is updated on a monthly basis.  Updates include storyline changes, changes to several elements of the game, game mechanics changes, new NPC's (Non-Player Character's), even topographical changes.  This will tend to make it a new experience each month, plus the edition of new players, and playing with people the world over.  For example, today, I met a level 62 character from Korea who was helping me out by temporarily increasing various stats of my character.  However, I was unable to tell him thank you due to the fact that he was only able to say a few words in english.  He said, "I Korea; No English".  To meet characters that primarily speak another language is not an uncommon occurance.  Within the game, most other characters of higher levels than your own will be very willing to help you out.  At any point during your travels a total stranger may hand you thousands of "Pyreals" (money), or cast numerous spells to increase your player stats, and expect no thanks.  Many times they will even run away before you can.  Also, you can find a character of higher level to "pledge to".  This character will become your patron and is responsible for training you up in the way a player should go.  A good Patron will go to towns you are unable to go to and equip your character with armor and weapons way ahead of your level.  They will also give you other items, pyreals, and direct you to quests that you should be able to complete, and direct you to monsters that you should be able to defeat.  There are way too many elements to the game for me to write in a single post on this website.  For more information on the game, visit:

www.acvault.com

www.zone.com/asheronscall

Ok, its time to settle a long running misconception.  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is NOT, I repeat, NOT going to be based on any games from the Final Fantasy series. Furthermore, there are currently no plans to turn the movie storyline into a game.  The movie is an original story written by some of the Final Fantasy series' best writers and animated by the same CG animators that animate those gorgeous FMV cut sequences that are integrated (in some cases seemlessly) into the games.

For more details, check out the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within webpage by Sony.

Now, I sincerely hope that I will stop seeing webpages that say that the movie is based on a game.  Although, i would love to see the Final Fantasy VII storyline turned into a full length feature film (HINT HINT WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE all you Sony producers out there).

It finally happened.  Sega has announced that the Dreamcast console was removed from production as of March 31.  Several games slated for release on the Dreamcast by several companies including Sega will still be released as planned, to include Sonic Adventure 2.  The price of the 128 bit console will drop to $99.99.  You ask, "why is this on a website that is dedicated to playstation?"  This is because Sega has also anounced that they will become a third party software company.  This means that while they continue to create games for the PC, they will also begin creating games for other consoles to include the Playstation 2.  Already slated for release on the Playstation 2 is the next in the Virtua Fighter series; Virtua Fighter 4.