"Production on Final Fantasy VII started in late 1995. After a strict hands-on approach to his series, Sakaguchi stayed in the background for Final Fantasy VI. For the new sequel, he stepped back into the lead with a mystery plot centered around Midgar, the perpetually dark capital city of Gaia, and the familiar themes of rebels fighting a corrupt system, pursued by "Hot Blooded Detective Joe." The player's ultimate goal: destroy Midgar.
That changed when Yoshinori Kitase, director on Chrono ..."

"If we’re not jumping through hoops trying to save a kingdom, we’re fetching some rare Crystal Sword of Infinite Necromancy all out of the kindness of our hearts. What do we get in return? “Ah, gee thanks for risking life and limb to do a big ol’ fancypants favor for me and restoring our world to what it once was from the Dark Ruler of Naught. Here’s a medal, young adventurer. Never mind our bustling cleavage. Now get the hell out, street rat. Sorry ‘bout the hard-on.”

Whaaaaaa? Faster than..."

"1. Final Fantasty VII
2: Xenogears
3: Seiken Densetsu 3
4: Romancing Saga 3
5: Tactics Ogre
6: Megami Ibunroku Perusona
7: Final Fantasy IX
8: Romancing SaGa 3
9: Saga Frontier
10: Wild Arms 2"

"In a rather lengthy interview, Square Enix producers who crafted Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII had an interesting discussion now that they're able to just sit back and watch how fans react to a classic RPG's prequel on the Sony PlayStation Portable. What really caught our attention is the possibility of having another Final Fantasy VII title, which could easily be the remake we've all been clamoring for.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII executive producer Yoshinori Kitase and Producer Hidek..."

"If you'd known the DS was going to be as popular as it is, would you have chosen to make Crisis Core for it instead?

The DS was already out at the time we came up with the concept of Crisis Core. It really wasn't an option to begin with and it wasn't something we regretted later because whereas, yes, there are a lot of DSs out there - but does that mean that our products sell in relation to that? That our sales grow with how many DSs or PSPs there are out there?

It's not really the case..."

"Role-playing games are most closely related to books in the video game world. As a result, graphics are of little consequence in the genre. Go back and play FFVII and tell me it’s not a compelling game. Do the graphics look dated? Of course they do. But does it matter in the least? No way. A good story could be paired with graphics from 1987 and the game would still shine.

Without a story, the RPG means nothing. As a RPG players, we understand there will be a good amount of reading/control..."

"The PS3 version of Final Fantasy VII will include these new features:

• Two additional sidequests that were left out of the original 1997 release
• A new secret outfit for Aerith on Wall Market
• Five new secret bosses
• Extended cinematics with full voice acting

[...]

There has not been a tentative date for release set as of yet, but Square-Enix executives have hinted at a possible 2010 or 2011 release."

"According to a reliable source at SCEJ, Square-Enix has something big planned for The Last Remnant's release. Or rather, they have two "something bigs" planned. First up: they will be including a 22-minute playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII with the PS3 version of The Last Remnant. This demo lets us play through a section of FFXIII that doesn't occur until a good 20 hours into the game, which leads us to believe the developers are progressing nicely. Heck, they might even be ahead of schedul..."

"Uncut and utterly biased, our top FFVII heroes and villains...

8. Cid Highwind
Every Final Fantasy game has a Cid, and every Cid is different. In Final Fantasy VIII, he's a mild-mannered educator. In Final Fantasy V, he's an aging, retired genius. Then there's Cid Highwind, the greatest of all Cids, the missing link between Chuck Yeager, Werner von Braun, and John Constantine. He grouses, chain-smokes, swears up a storm, wipes battlefields clear with one swing of his lance, and wants noth..."

"t's our favorite rumor, primarily because Final Fantasy VII is one of our favorite games of all time. But after our hopes were dashed for the umpteenth time late last year when Square-Enix never got around to announcing a FFVII remake for the PS3, we basically stopped hoping. We thought all the evidence was pointing in that direction, but it just never happened.

However, 1Up is bringing this rumor back once again, and again, we're feeling that old familiar thrill of excited anticipation. I..."

"1UP: Does Crisis Core mark the finale for the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series?

HT: No, it does not. The Compilation's finale will take some other form."

"The Japanese role-playing game is a surprisingly important genre for developers to study - both in terms of gameplay and storytelling, and Gamasutra presents an 'Essential 20' explaining and chronicling the top JRPGs of all-time.

Valkyrie Profile: In most RPGs, it's your job to stop the end of the world. In Valkyrie Profile, it's your job to start it.
The battle system is a strange beast, with actions for each of the four party members assigned to a face button. Each character has a numbe..."

"

You've seen the NES Final Fantasy VII screens, now watch the clip. The game has the storyline for the multi-disc PlayStation epic crammed onto a NES cartridge. Unofficial, yes, but officially awesome."

"Someone, or some company rather, has made what was once a pipe dream come true: Final Fantasy VII on the NES. Unfortunately, neither the cartridge nor the ROM itself is branded with a release date, so I have no idea when this happened. All I know is that it was tagged NJ063 by the unlicensed cartridge factory, and was programmed by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co, Ltd, a company which now produces MP3 and MP4 audio players.

From start to almost finish, the game follows the PlayStation port...."

"While presidential candidates may not be actively courting the gamer vote, that doesn’t mean some fun can’t be had with presidential politics and video games. Below each candidate has been matched up with the video game that best represents them. Disagree with a selection? Comment below with your own choice.

Barack Obama - Final Fantasy VII
In 1997 Square released the seventh installment of its acclaimed RPG series and it became a worldwide sensation. Contrary to all past experience, Amer..."

"Ridge Racer
One of the first racing games released for the PlayStation, Ridge Racer ushered in an era of next-gen racing. Sure, it only has one track, but it's a great track. On top of that, several unlockable cars and the "mirror" options make it worth playing, especially since you can remove the disc from your PSOne and play your own CD soundtrack.

Final Fantasy VII
Square's decision to leave Nintendo in favor of the PlayStation shook the gaming world, but not nearly as much as the arr..."

"This month's edition of Official Playstation Magazine has a small follow-up to the interview they had last issue with the director of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core; Hajime Tabata. Quite a lot of the questions actually revolved around the Final Fantasy VII franchise though, rather than Crisis Core itself.

It is worth noting that when asked again about the possibility of a Final Fantasy VII remake, he said:

"The possiblity for a remake may become greater if, for instance, the schedules o..."

The US PSM magazine has recently given a rundown of the English version of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (soon to be released in March) and they are happy with what they have played so far.

According to the magazine Crisis Core brings back alot of cherished memories from the original FFVII. They were thrilled to learn that simple things such as the Chocobo Farm, Summons, or Aerith's Church were left completely intact, thus giving old FFVII gamers a burst of nostalgia with every new scene...

To mark the release of the Cloud Art-book in Japan, Dengeki Online have released a new website, which contains not just some extracts of the magazine itself, but also confirms the existence of the long awaited trailers from TGS that have been shown behind closed doors (note that none of the trailers show any of the new characters, they are simply the uncut version of previous trailers).

"Where there are games, there are conventions, and where there are conventions, there are people in character costumes – doing cosplay. The images of these devout fans in costume are part of gamer culture, especially online, where pictures of elaborate, pitch-perfect character clothing frequently make the rounds of blogs, forums and news sites. The people behind the pictures can be objects of wonderment, when the costume is good, or the butt of jokes, when it’s not so much.

According to Ade..."

"Now, for the third in the series, we present: Link vs. Cloud. It's Nintendo's most beloved vs. Square Enix's finest. We're sensing another hard-fought war along party lines… so let's introduce the competitors and get this thing started!"

""

"Do you ever find yourself humming a tune from a video game days after you last played it? We do. Some of these melodies are so catchy, they’re memorable years later. And the songs can become icons for the games themselves."

"Square's big budget fan service film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, is heading to Blu-ray and it's going to provide much more than an HD transfer. A new trailer showcased at TGS shows a few new scenes that expand upon the film's storyline. One scene took place in the alleys of Midgar as children afflicted with Geostigma appear to be melting goo. Another sequence shows Sephiroth stabbing Cloud through the chest, skewering him and swinging him like a piece of dead meat. Not only will the ..."

"The hype train has now reached full speed with the latest issue of Famitsu, a popular Japanese gaming magazine, hinting at a possible Final Fantasy VII remake.

From the translation, Famitsu states, "A third party game that will save the PlayStation 3 in Japan is to be announced tomorrow."

With all the recent rumors hitting the net lately, we can only assume they are talking about Square Enix and Final Fantasy VII (Whether or not the speculated Endless Crisis: Final Fantasy VII reporte..."

"With the Tokyo Game Show approaching, Square Enix have flooded the fans with yet more remake rumours.

A new "secret video" from the FFVII prequel "Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core" has sparked fan's interests, showing a message saying "To be continued in Final Fantasy VII". Could this simply mean that fans should seek out the PSone game to continue the FFVII story? Or is it yet another hint at a possible remake?

But this "secret video" is not the only thing that has got fans talking. Squ..."

"Thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support,

We hope this letter answers your questions.

Our parent company, SQUARE ENIX of Japan, has no current plans to create a sequel or remake to that particular title at this time. This is not to say that it will never happen, it’s just that their development teams are currently focusing on numerous other projects.

We hope this information has been of assistance.

Thanks,
Neil- SQUARE ENIX Customer Support
www.square-enix.com"

You must be thinking... "What does the title mean". Well that's pretty simple, what I mean to say is, will Final Fantasy XIII be the game that rejuvinates the RPG genre and hits it big for the PS3 platform? Final Fantasy VII was the first game on the original Playstation platform, and it (very quickly) became one of the fastest (and most) selling titles on the Playstation's.

Can Square-Enix recreate that with Final Fantasy XIII? With such improved visuals, more disc space for the SE to use...

"From the interview:

The Potion Concept is "Sephiroth Flavor"
Supposedly it’s more delicious than the last one.
"We ordered a fresh citrus flavor. Soon after we announced a second edition we wanted a completely different flavor, and I was really surprised by the result." (Nomura)

"The greatest secret of the DMW will be revealed in the last battle"
(Nomura)
"We'll know the true meaning of the DMW's existence".

"We feel that the DMW as a system that is connected to deep emotion..."

"JOIN US FOR THE STORE’S GRAND OPENING ON
AUGUST 20 (6 p.m. PST)

Quality merchandise from and inspired by the catalogue of SQUARE ENIX™ products are finally available in the United States directly from the source. Fully articulated figurines, painstakingly designed models and stylish jewelry and accessories round out the selection, including a small but growing reserve exclusive to the official SQUARE ENIX online merchandise store. See for yourself the exceptional quality and precision cra..."

"Get out your hairgel! To mark ten years of Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix is rolling out a special exhibition for all to gape at.

Take note Tokyo readers, the FINAL FANTSY VII 10th ANNIVERSARY Gallery will run from August 31 to September 2nd at Aoyama's Spiral Garden.

It will feature illustrations and original images from Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.

..."

"The Complete Dismantling and Ultimania Omega commemorates the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, thoroughly detailing the entire Final Fantasy VII Compilation from every angle, as well as including updated information regarding the Compilation.
Differing from previous Final Fantasy VII books, this book will be a memorial to the ten years of Final Fantasy VII.

It will be sold in Japan on September 13th."

"Sony and Square Enix are celebrating 10 years of Final Fantasy VII with a special edition FFVII Sony PSP console and game bundle, which we have to say, looks quite damn snazzy.

The FFVII Sony PSP bundle features a lovely custom FFVII silver PSP, which currently can be pre-ordered in Japan for 25,889 Yen (approx £108), with a shipping date of Sept 13th, but no European date has been announced.

The FFVII package features the new slim silver PSP with Final Fantasy logo and graphics on the..."

It's not everyday that Square-Enix releases special Final Fantasy products, and whilst potions have been released in the past, this time square are releasing an even more special Potion packet for Final Fantasy fans everywhere. Releasing as part of the FFVII 10th anniversary and made once more by Suntory in Japan, 77,777 bottles of these potions are set to be released to unsuspecting consumers for a whooping 3,980Yen (US$32).

The release date is also none other than co-inciding with the re...

"10. Final Fantasy XI
9. Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
8. Final Fantasy X
7. Final Fantasy Tactics
6. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Final Fantasy VII
4. Final Fantasy IX
3. Final Fantasy V Advance
2. Final Fantasy XII
1. Final Fantasy VI Advance"

"In October, Square-Enix is planning to release a series of Final Fantasy miniature trading figures. The first volume of the 60mm tall, pocket-sized characters will presumably form part of a growing collection of releases in the future. The pieces are limited in availability, so GamerSquad would advise acting with haste come October if you fancy grabbing them and a factory sealed container to hold them in."

"Square Enix today announced that on June 22nd, 2007, it filed a copyright infringement lawsuit with the Seoul Central Court against Phantom Entertainment Group and Mr HONG Jeong-ho.
The complaint alleges that Phantom, a Korean talent agency, used live-action replicas of scenes from the Square Enix CG-animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in Korean singer Ivy's music-videos, without obtaining permission from Square Enix.
"

"Square Enix has revealed some new images of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, for PSP. featuring Yuffie, the Turks, Zacks, Angeal, and the mysterious Genesis clones.

Some of the screenshots have been translated into English."

"In EDGE's Final Fantasy special this month, they have interviewed Tetsuya Nomura. It looks alot like the interview with him that we posted earlier, but at least this time we can understand it! He pretty much covers the same points, and pretty much secures the much discussed Playstation 3 exclusivity of Final Fantasy XIII, or thats how I read it anyway. He speaks a lot about how they're doing so many things they haven't be able to do before thanks to the Playstation 3, and the fact that it was..."

"Scan translations:

A member of crisis-core.net has kindly translated the scans ...

There's an unexpected amount of work in form of "Missions" to be done in the strategical search for Genesis. It seems that there are also Missions where you can get special treasure!

Screenshot: A SOLDIER: 2nd CLASS saying, "You should take great care when accepting, and go on a mission for average skill."
Caption: Missions are the daily duties of Shinra's SOLDIERs. There are a lot of Missions, rangin..."

"About the development of FF7: Kitase says the sudden change to 3D and the new PS hardware was a big deal which made the work important. Nomura said it was exhausting, but that the experience for him was wonderful. This is mainly because, back when working on FFV and FFVI, he had a lot of ideas that got rejected. With FF7, he finally had some freedom to do what he wanted.

Regarding Nomura's rut as a "30% batter" (because about 3 out of 10 ideas he submitted were accepted), he was rejected e..."

"Early images from next week's issue of the Japanese magazine Shonen Jump have turned up, showing some new screenshots from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Among the images are shots of Shisune (the "Shuriken" Turk from FFVII: Before Crisis), the CG image of Zack used on the title screen of the Square Enix Party demo, and a screenshot of a side mission featuring Yuffie in her Before Crisis outfit."

"Sephiroth:
His name is known across the world, a hero who is called the strongest SOLDIER First Class. Possessing near super-human strength, he always manages his duties perfectly. He is closed-off to strangers, and does not show his true feelings, but it seems that Angeal, Genesis, and Zack are allowed a glimpse at his real intentions.


Genesis:
A SOLDIER: 1st Class of the Shinra Company. He devotes himself to literature and enjoys reading from the epic Loveless. He has a friendship wi..."

"Tabata: Up until now it wasn't possible to really depict Sephiroth as a more human character. In order to help Angeal he will have to take actions to deceive Shinra to ensure that Shinra commands fall through, and this leads into an unintentional give and take with Zack. Thus Sephiroth's true self will be a big highlight.

The voice acting has been improved again. While the seiyuu have been bringing Aerith, Zack, and Sephiroth to life from the outset, they've had to spend time under a lot ..."

""THE SHOCK! At a few hours of looping, here are that fall between my hands an official official statement from SE indicating the "remake from very appreciated FF VII on Ps3, only". Whereas Sony was made bad blood with all these exclusivenesses which pass to him under the nose, veiled that an advertisement comes to flatter its catalogue. SE does not finish any surprising since, rappellons it, since the technological demo of FF VII for annopncer the arrival of the PS3, nothing had not filtered ..."

Today a rumor has again has risen again about Final Fantasy VII remake. According to a Konami insider, a Final Fantasy VII remake has been confirmed for the PlayStation 3.

First of all we have the 1UP release date that was added sometime ago and now this. Information is coming from a Konami Insider, the very same guy that brought you the Pro Evolution Soccer 7 news earlier on. He has said that he heard the news from the developers meeting.

Proof that he is some what reliable here is a ...

Either the staff at one of the world's biggest gaming websites has gone mad, or they know something we only dream of. For some reason, Final Fantasy VII's page at 1UP.com has a release date inside: January 1, 2008. I highly doubt the release date is real, but are 1UP.com hinting that we should expect a remake announcement soon?