Sakaguchi Speaks About FF XI and FF: The Movie

In a recent interview with Weekly Famitsu, Sakaguchi Hironobu spoke about Final Fantasy XI for the PS2 and PC.

"Last night, I played it with my coworkers, we walked through the forest, and it looked beautiful. The game itself is already connected to the company's local network, and we were able to chat inside the game too. For example, you can set up a PC in the local arcades and play from there. Then you can continue the game once you return to the office or back home. Furthermore, there are possibilities of using cell phones to level up your character's skills or open up your own store and see how well business is going.

"Unlike Ultima Online, you will not experience slower speed when walking through field maps based on your PC specs. Connection speeds will not be much of an issue since the game will be able to run smoothly even on a 28.8Kbps modem. We probably will impose a monthly fee for playing, similar to recent online network titles on the PC. We may eventually release add-on packs as well as downloadable patches for new dungeons and such. The game is only for the PS2 and PC, but I was hoping for a Mac version. Unfortunately, our team is currently too busy with the development.

"As for Final Fantasy: The Movie, the script (originally written by Al Reinert) is in its second draft. The studio expects to wrap up production by May 2001, and [the movie] should be ready for a summer release in North America. We haven't set a specific date for Japan yet, though."

Sakaguchi commented that Final Fantasy XI for the PS2 and PC will be released simultaneously in Japan and North America and will feature both languages.