There has not been too much news of late, but there were a few FFXIV related articles that cropped up in the news.  For those jonesing for something to read on this day-before-turkey-day, here are a few links to catch up on from the past few weeks.

• Final Fantasy XI: Is FFXI Doomed?

This article from MMORPG.com attempts to look at FFXI through the lens of the upcoming FFXIV in order to determine whether FFXI will survive.  This has of course been debated in many places, including on our forums.  The author identifies 7 features of FFXI (among other unidentified features) in concluding that FFXI will continue.   Unfortunately, all of the 7 “features” will also be present in FFXIV – so the conclusion is somewhat suspect based on the argument as presented.  The reasons FFXI will survive is not because of the “cross platform” play or that it is playable via a controller or keyboard.  I think the more logical reason it will survive is because 500k accounts will not suddenly be terminated, and a great many of those accounts have put in some serious time to get to where they are and will no so easily or quickly move on.

• Final Fantasy: Has It Been Twenty Years Already?

Yes.  It has.  This article basically just kind of superficially chronicles the history of the Final Fantasy games.  The only reason it caught my eye was the “tip” at the end: “Come equipped with a dose of patience, don’t forget to level up your hero or heroes (then beating the villain won’t seem so frustrating) keep in mind that a dead end may not necessarily be what it seems to be, throw in a little puzzle solving and be prepared to be amazed.”  I thought that was actually a pretty nice summary of 20 years of Final Fantasy.  Also of note is that the author is apparently unaware that FFXIV is in development.

• Yoichi Wada Ensures Final Fantasy Will Not Get Exhausted

CEO Yoichi Wada gave a few interviews after the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS).  Nothing related directly to FFXIV, but with a lot of Final Fantasy IP coming out over the next 12-18 months, he made sure to state that “As long as there is a world with enough content and story, players will feel comfortable being in the same world for extended periods of time.”  The Final Fantasy IP is interesting insofar as each game is pretty unique – new characters, new storylines, new worlds, new gameplay.  So what is Final Fantasy?  It is a name that means you will get a quality game from Square Enix with some fantasy and RPG elements.  It is more akin to getting another album from an artist that you like.  It will be different than the prior ones, but you are bound to like it.

• Square Enix’s Wada Talks Going Beyond Globalization

Another article related about Wada at the MIGS.  Interesting to hear Wada say that while some aspects of game development is “global”, what he is really focusing on is “culture.”  Identifying and appealing to various “cultures” rather than geographic regions.  Maybe this is just wordsmithing, but it is a nice mentality to at least get away from a Japan vs. US vs. Europe mindset.

• A flat world: Ars interviews Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada

One last Wada at MIGS article.  This one is pretty interesting, as Wada laments the lack of young game developer talent coming out of Japan, and indicates that the Square Enix acquisition of Edios was to combat that fact.  He also touches on the globalization issue, stating that they are trying to develop games that attract a more  diverse (Western) audience, but also trying to better market so-called Western-style games to a Japanese audience.

That’s it for now.  Again, nothing earth shattering from a FFXIV perspective, but perhaps a few nuggets to tide us all over.

MMORPG.com published an interview earlier today.  There is not much new here, but it provides a bit of an overview of what we already know from the Gamescom interviews with Tanaka and Sundi.  Also, the interviewer indicated that “this was not a sit down interview” and that he was “not prepared for this at all” – and so  apologizes for the lack of information.  That said, the interview is a first of Robert Peeler, the Assistant Online Community Manager who will be overseeing a lot of the FFXIV community aspects (some of you may have heard him on FFXI-related podcasts – Petfood Alpha Episode 150 and Limit Break Radio Episode 53).  Basically Robert confirmed:

• Square Enix is committed to a 2010 release with a simultaneous release on PS3 and PC.  An 360 version is in development, but a release of that is unconfirmed.
• As previously reported, there is no leveling system akin to FFXI, but instead you will develop skills based on the weapons being used.
• Weapons and armor will both possess stat requirements before being able to equip them.  Also, all weapons and armor will be able to be equipped by any class provided the requirements are met.
• Also as previously reported there is a focus on being able to play solo, although certain leves will require multiple people to accomplish. 
• The game will have a check feature akin to FFXI, in order to allow adventurers to determine the relative difficulty of a monster before engaging in battle.

Again, while overall not a whole lot of new information, there are a few tidbits to chew on.