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FINAL FANTASY: ADVENT CHILDREN EXCLUSIVE TO PSP?
Yes, no, maybe... Square Enix responds to talk focussing on much awaited film sequel to FF VII
13:17 Reports on the ´Net of recent suggest that Final Fantasy: Advent Children - the much awaited film sequel to seminal RPG Final Fantasy VII - will release on PSP for an exclusive period before hitting DVD format in Japan this year.
As it stands, we were told today by a senior Square Enix official that the company did indeed have a date pencilled in for a Japanese Summer 2004 PSP period-exclusive release for Advent Children.
But seeing as this would would not match with the PSP unit´s tentative launch date - later this year in Japan - the official commented: " Although production on the title is as good as complete, release details cannot yet be confirmed".
He went on to add: " As far as I know, it´ll be out in Japan this year and any lack of release detail is probably down to contract issues tied to the [PSP and DVD] launch".
All that could be confirmed is that the feature film will find its way to DVD and PSP.
So to clarify, exclusivity issues are unknown at the moment and we´d wager they will hinge on the timing of the machine´s release.
It´s likely that since the losses suffered from Square´s Final Fantasy: Spirits Within cinema feature of 2001, Square-Enix will shy from any possibility of losing money - i.e., dragging the release out further than they need to.
If PSP is a long way off, then we´d guess that the title will hit DVD first, with a possible exclusive content deal for the UMD format at a later date, with perhaps some game-related bonuses of sorts.
It´s no secret that the Final Fantasy franchise is a huge draw in the East, and whereas Sony has been using it wisely to keep the Xbox at bay in Japan, it´s clearly looking at the franchise to give it a running start when the format hits later this year.
More when we have it.
Danny Boutros