Final Fantasy IX
Pre-Release Hype
 November 13th, 2000 - The biggest
release of the year on the ageing PlayStation's release schedule is just around the corner for North America (tomorrow),
and you can feel the hype in the air.
Starting from today, SquareSoft will be pushing Final Fantasy IX on all the major television networks in America - such as Comedy Central, FOX, ESPN and MTV -
and also to the movies. Not only will commercials be playing, popcorn boxes and stands will be littered with Final Fantasy IX characters.
Not only does Europe and the U.K. get fogged off by Sony and PlayStation 2 allocations, Square also seem to put the increasingly important European market
and a bit of a back-burner. When contacting large U.K. mail order company Gameplay, a release date of 'sometime in January 2001' was murmured.
We'd say this is most likely to be the release date put in place by Square Europe -- in other words, don't be expecting Final Fantasy IX before
Christmas.
While on the subject of Europe and Square, Infogrames have signed a lucrative deal with Square Europe to publish all upcoming Square games in
Europe. This includes, amongst others, Final Fantasy IX and Parasite Eve II. Square commented [on the issue of distribution]: "This a problem we have faced since we set up in Europe: Square Europe is a third party publisher, whose distribution is handled externally."
Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart will be striving to provide the best walkthrough, tips and general guides to Final Fantasy IX with the support of
our many members. Make sure you check back in the coming weeks to see what we can offer.
In the meantime, check out the two U.S. commercials put on air today (note that they are the same as the Japanese ones from earlier in the year, but
the downloads to the lower of the page are the American versions).
Article by Rob for Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart.
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