4Gamer recently got the chance to sit down with Naoki Yoshida, Akihiko Matsui and Mitsutoshi Gondai to talk about the changes that have been made to Final Fantasy XIV and the kinds of reactions they’ve gotten from the community on the official forums. They also talk about some of the changes coming to the battle system with patch 1.18 as well as the upcoming Job System.
Check out the full interview after the break!
Famitsu and 4Gamer have released a few images from Square Enix on their websites. The images are of things we can expect to see in the future, however, the articles don’t specify exactly when. Some of it could be for November or December. Some of it could be included in version updates later down the line. Either way, the images are fun to look at, right?
Check out the images here at Famitsu and then come back for the descriptions from Square Enix (the green text below the pictures). It doesn’t seem the sites were given any specific information outside of the PR text.
After Square Enix posted a general outline of some of the things they hoped to include in the November and December updates, fans wrote into Japanese gaming site 4Gamer with their opinions. Namely, why weren’t some of these issues fixed before the game was officially released? 4Gamer decided to see if Square Enix would give them some more insight into what they hope to achieve with the upcoming version updates. What follows is our translated version of 4Gamer’s email interview with Square Enix that addresses player concerns, lag, and what areas they see as the highest priorities for improving the game’s playability. The first question was about billing concerns and rumors that players using Crysta would have to pay late-payment fees if they ran out of funds. Square Enix’s operations team addressed the issue reassuring players that they would not be hit by fees in such cases. The rest of the interview is below.
News has been floating around on the forums about a trailer for Final Fantasy XIV being shown in 3D as part of Sony’s press conference at Tokyo Game Show this week. That news hasn’t appeared on the front page because there hasn’t been any way to confirm what people were saying, that FFXIV was going to be 3D for the PS3 version. It was not listed on the slide of games that are confirmed to support the technology such as the upcoming Gran Turismo 5. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka has also said the previous display of FFXIV in 3D was a tech demo done in cooperation with NVIDIA.
The evening the news hit, we watched twitter and 2ch for chat from Japanese players about Sony’s presentation. After all, it would be big news right? Nobody was talking about it.
Today, a number of Japanese gaming news sites like Famitsu and 4Gamer posted their articles about the Sony presser. They all say the same thing. Final Fantasy XIV was shown in 3D at the Sony press conference as a tech demonstration only. There were other games as well that were shown in 3D as a demonstration of the technology, like Metal Gear Solid Rising, but the press was told that the demos do not mean the games will actually be supporting 3D.
So there you have it folks. Hopefully nobody ran out to buy a 3D TV after they saw the announcement. This isn’t to say that FFXIV won’t support 3D in the future but for the meantime, don’t plan on it.
If you’d like to check out pictures from Sony’s press conference, including a few images of FFXIV, check out Engadget’s coverage here.
Eorzeapedia wasn’t the only website attending this year’s E3 with an eye on the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV.
Several other media sites were there, and they also got some hands on time with the latest build of the game as well as a chance to sit down with FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka. Now that everyone has posted their information we’ve thrown it all together in an easy to read list. Below we have videos, interview summaries and links to hands on experiences.
If you haven’t already, make sure to also check out our exclusive interview.
Additionally, you can also see all of our E3 2010 posts here.
As always, I have a lot of appreciation for the people at 4Gamer. Their articles feel more informative and gamer-friendly compared to the magazine powerhouses of Famitsu and Dengeki. The interaction between their staff and FFXIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka also seems much more relaxed. What follows is our translation of 4Gamer’s E3 interview.
I highly suggest that you also check out the original article in Japanese on their website to see all of the interesting photos and screenshots.
Sales have started in Japan for HP’s newest summer line of desktop PCs. In particular, today started sales for a special version of the HP Pavilion Desktop PC HPE 290jp/CT. This bad boy is also being touted as a “Final Fantasy XIV Adventure Ready PC” despite the fact that the game isn’t even out yet. What makes this PC so ready for FFXIV? Well, the first 1000 of these special units sold through Japan’s HP Directplus program will also come with passes to the FFXIV beta test. No word on if a similar promotion will be made available in the future in North America or Europe.
Original article in Japanese with more information about the computer’s specs can be found at 4Gamer.net.
Alpha testing continues for Final Fantasy XIV at the rate of one to three testing windows per region per week. This week, we have 4Gamer’s take on how the alpha is progressing.
The report starts with a general warning to visitors of the site. Things in the alpha build have vastly improved from how they started. People had trouble just being able to log into the servers. Even if they got in, some had troubles doing anything due to lag. Then recently, video of in-game play was uploaded to the Internet by players breaking their NDAs. The reporter says that people need to keep in mind that FFXIV is just at the alpha stage and still not the quality we should expect from the final product.
The bulk of the report is about the Guildleve system. First, a review of what the Guildleve system is all about. 4Gamer summarizes it as a user friendly growth system. To begin a Guildleve, first, players must obtain something that looks similar to a tarot card. Then, they head out to an Aetheryte crystal to begin the quest related to that card. There is a wide range of Guildleves for players to choose from. Some are designed for people that wish to spend their time soloing. Some are designed for parties of different sizes. This system allows people to complete quests with a relatively light amount of preparation and time.
