How mysterious! A tweet from the official Final Fantasy XI account read, "The heck is this... Is something starting up...?!" Included was the above image.

Back in 2011, former Final Fantasy XI Hiromichi Tanaka mentioned that Square Enix was considering a straight port of FFXI to the PS Vita. But at that time, it was undecided and there was no concrete plan to do the port.

So maybe this tweet is referring to a PS Vita version of Final Fantasy XI? Or maybe it's a Wii U version? Who knows! Square Enix does, that's who.

これはいったい…何かが始まるのか……！？ [@FFXI_JP via オレ的]

The above lunch box cost ¥4,000 (US$50), which is shocking to people in pricey Japan. The meal looks like something you could get at a convenience store for under a thousand yen ($13), if that. No wonder people online in Japan are calling this a rip-off.

If you show up at events, be prepared to open your wallet. If you show up at Final Fantasy XI events, bring your credit card or a treasure chest of Gil.

おせち問題再来か？FF11のイベントで出された料理が酷いとネットで話題に [秒刊SUNDAY]

In case anyone was wondering how ten-year-old Final Fantasy XI scored a brand new expansion pack while you're still waiting for a Final Fantasy VII remake, consider which one makes Square Enix the most money.

According to a picture-filled account of this weekend's Vana Fest 2012 event at Famitsu (translated by Andriasang), Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada heralded Final Fantasy XI as the most profitable of all past Final Fantasy games. With a large number of Xbox 360 and PC players forking over monthly subscriptions for more than a decade now, it's easy to see why.

Perhaps one day Wada will take the stage and say the same thing about Final Fantasy XIV.

Hahahahahahaha.

『FFXI』10周年記念イベント"A DECADE OF FINAL FANTASY XI VANA★FEST2012"が開催！　パシフィコ横浜に冒険者が大集合 [Famitsu via Adriasang]

Hiromichi Tanaka, one of the earliest members of Square, with producer credits on Final Fantasy XI, Xenogears and Chrono Cross, will be leaving Final Fantasy XI and Square Enix altogether, reports Famitsu.

An interview at Vanafest 2012 revealed that Tanaka has a "major illness" (this according to Tanaka himself) and that led him into his retirement. Despite the health problem, Tanaka evidently does not intend to leave games development altogether. He told Famitsu that he wants to return to development as a sole creator.

This year's Vana Fest 2012 event started on a high note with the announcement of the Final Fantasy XI Seekers of Adoulin expansion. It ended on a low note with the announcement that Hiromichi Tanaka would not only be stepping down as FFXI's producer, but leaving Square Enix as well.

Tanaka was one of the earliest members of then Square, and did design work on the first few Final Fantasy games before moving on to a producer role on some of the company's most beloved franchises, including Xenogears and Chrono Cross.

So what caused him to leave the company with which he's been employed since 1983? Famitsu.com found out during a mini interview with Tanaka that it conducted during day two of the Vana Fest event today.

It appears that a major contributor to Tanaka's decision was his health. While not going into specifics, he says that he has a major illness, and consideration of his health lead to the decision.

This wasn't the only reason, though. He also said that he asked to resign because he wants to return to the game development scene as a single creator.

Tanaka will be replaced on Final Fantasy XI by Akihiko Matsui, whom Tanaka gave a vote of confidence to in the Famitsu interview.

FFXI Producer Hiromichi Tanaka Discusses Square Enix Departure [Andriasang]

Commemorating a decade of Final Fantasy XI, Vanafest 2012 revealed a new expansion for the MMO. Seekers of Adoulin will promise new lands, new tales, new jobs—including the "Geomancer," confirmed on the expansion's official site.

Check out its official trailer above. It's mostly text, though the background of the "new tales" clip might give you an idea of what's to come. That's followed by some work-in-progress in-world renders providing a look at what's to come. The expansion is coming in 2013 for PC and Xbox 360.

Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin [Official Site; h/t Flionheart]

Can you believe it has been a decade since the release of Final Fantasy XI? Zasalamel certainly remembers.

Today is Final Fantasy XI's tenth anniversary. I just wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to what is probably the game that has made the biggest impression on me in my lifetime.

As a kid, the SNES Final Fantasy games were the greatest thing ever to me; maybe that's one of the reasons why I like FFXI so much. It feels like a SNES FF game, but one that you can play with friends and that seems never-ending. Unlike MMOs up to that point, FFXI actually featured a real story with cut-scenes. This wasn't just some weak story thrown at you as a bone either; I'd say that FFXI's story, particularly in Chains of Promathia and Wings of the Goddess, is the best story of any FF game. And all of the endgame activities such as Limbus, Dynamis, Besieged, Assault, Salvage, Einherjar and Abyssea actually tied in with the main storylines so not only were these activities amazingly fun but they felt like they made sense story wise compared to the generic endgame raids of most MMOs.

The music is also some of the best of the series. Unlike with FFXIV where he was asked to do the whole soundtrack, which was probably too much of an undertaking to expect really high quality tracks from, Uematsu was able to focus on fewer tracks and really make them great. "Ronfaure" ( [www.youtube.com] )"Airship" ( [www.youtube.com] ) and "Recollection" ( [www.youtube.com] ) stand out to me. Also the "FFXI Opening Theme" ( [www.youtube.com] ) which was used in the game's amazing CG intro sequence. That being said most of the credit for FFXI's fantastic soundtrack must go to Naoshi Mizuta who thanks to this game has become one of my favorite composers. While he contributed so many memorable pieces, none stand out more to me than "The Sanctuary of Zi'tah" ( [www.youtube.com] ). It's one of my favorite musical pieces period.

The game was also so innovative in terms of its design. It was the first MMO that allowed people from all over the world to play on the same servers regardless of location or platform. It was the first MMO to feature an Auto-Translate feature to help communicate with other people (mainly between Japanese and non-Japanese). The fact that the game was designed to be played with a controller to accommodate console players was also a welcome first. The macro system it employed was very avant-garde as well as it allowed to swap pieces of gear before attacks in order to maximize that attack. You were no longer limited to wearing the same gear all the time. You needed to have a full arsenal of varied gear to be at your best, no matter which job you played.

Another innovative feature was its amazing job system where your character could switch jobs at will and you could level as many of them as you wanted. Other MMOs forced you to make a new character if you wanted to play a different class, often requiring you to do a number of quests over. Each job played so differently that it felt like you were playing a new game every time you decided to level a new job. Tanking on Ninja was a rush like no other I'd experienced in a game. It required a constant focus and concentration which determined if you were going to be a badass that never took a single hit or a scrub that would die in seconds. My favorite job though was Blue Mage. Going around the world collecting all the spells from monsters was an unforgettable experience and playing as a Blue Mage was equally rewarding.

The battle system was also brilliant, as unlike most MMOs where combat is a big mess where you just frantically click on icons, the combat in FFXI was very calculated and strategic, requiring a balance of skill and timing. By timing special attacks and spells together, party members could create powerful Skillchains and Magic Bursts that sometimes were key to victory or at least dispatching foes quickly.

But beyond all this what made FFXI special was its community, because unlike most MMOs the community in FFXI was just that. The game was designed with cooperation in mind rather than PvP and the game's original steep difficulty really required people to constantly work together and help each other. And people actually did it, there were days when I'd log on and only help other people do stuff and it honestly felt just as good as if I had achieved something for myself, maybe even better. The community was so mature and varied, almost none of the people playing fell into the MMO player stereotypes you often see on TV like in the World of Warcraft episode South Park and such. People from all over the world, all walks of life, all races, all religions, all coming together and half of them were actually female.

It was all such an unforgettable experience. If you read some of the comments on those Youtube videos I posted when talking about the music you'll see that most people that played the game seriously feel the same way about it as I do; it was just that good. I just want to thank Square-Enix for making the game and supporting it the way they have during these ten years and for allowing me to meet so many great people, many of which I'm still in contact with years later.

Thank you for the great memories FFXI. Here's to you: [www.gametrailers.com]

Can you believe it has been a decade since the release of Final Fantasy XI? Zasalamel certainly remembers.

Today is Final Fantasy XI's tenth anniversary. I just wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to what is probably the game that has made the biggest impression on me in my lifetime.

As a kid, the SNES Final Fantasy games were the greatest thing ever to me; maybe that's one of the reasons why I like FFXI so much. It feels like a SNES FF game, but one that you can play with friends and that seems never-ending. Unlike MMOs up to that point, FFXI actually featured a real story with cut-scenes. This wasn't just some weak story thrown at you as a bone either; I'd say that FFXI's story, particularly in Chains of Promathia and Wings of the Goddess, is the best story of any FF game. And all of the endgame activities such as Limbus, Dynamis, Besieged, Assault, Salvage, Einherjar and Abyssea actually tied in with the main storylines so not only were these activities amazingly fun but they felt like they made sense story wise compared to the generic endgame raids of most MMOs.

The music is also some of the best of the series. Unlike with FFXIV where he was asked to do the whole soundtrack, which was probably too much of an undertaking to expect really high quality tracks from, Uematsu was able to focus on fewer tracks and really make them great. "Ronfaure" ( [www.youtube.com] )"Airship" ( [www.youtube.com] ) and "Recollection" ( [www.youtube.com] ) stand out to me. Also the "FFXI Opening Theme" ( [www.youtube.com] ) which was used in the game's amazing CG intro sequence. That being said most of the credit for FFXI's fantastic soundtrack must go to Naoshi Mizuta who thanks to this game has become one of my favorite composers. While he contributed so many memorable pieces, none stand out more to me than "The Sanctuary of Zi'tah" ( [www.youtube.com] ). It's one of my favorite musical pieces period.

The game was also so innovative in terms of its design. It was the first MMO that allowed people from all over the world to play on the same servers regardless of location or platform. It was the first MMO to feature an Auto-Translate feature to help communicate with other people (mainly between Japanese and non-Japanese). The fact that the game was designed to be played with a controller to accommodate console players was also a welcome first. The macro system it employed was very avant-garde as well as it allowed to swap pieces of gear before attacks in order to maximize that attack. You were no longer limited to wearing the same gear all the time. You needed to have a full arsenal of varied gear to be at your best, no matter which job you played.

Another innovative feature was its amazing job system where your character could switch jobs at will and you could level as many of them as you wanted. Other MMOs forced you to make a new character if you wanted to play a different class, often requiring you to do a number of quests over. Each job played so differently that it felt like you were playing a new game every time you decided to level a new job. Tanking on Ninja was a rush like no other I'd experienced in a game. It required a constant focus and concentration which determined if you were going to be a badass that never took a single hit or a scrub that would die in seconds. My favorite job though was Blue Mage. Going around the world collecting all the spells from monsters was an unforgettable experience and playing as a Blue Mage was equally rewarding.

The battle system was also brilliant, as unlike most MMOs where combat is a big mess where you just frantically click on icons, the combat in FFXI was very calculated and strategic, requiring a balance of skill and timing. By timing special attacks and spells together, party members could create powerful Skillchains and Magic Bursts that sometimes were key to victory or at least dispatching foes quickly.

But beyond all this what made FFXI special was its community, because unlike most MMOs the community in FFXI was just that. The game was designed with cooperation in mind rather than PvP and the game's original steep difficulty really required people to constantly work together and help each other. And people actually did it, there were days when I'd log on and only help other people do stuff and it honestly felt just as good as if I had achieved something for myself, maybe even better. The community was so mature and varied, almost none of the people playing fell into the MMO player stereotypes you often see on TV like in the World of Warcraft episode South Park and such. People from all over the world, all walks of life, all races, all religions, all coming together and half of them were actually female.

It was all such an unforgettable experience. If you read some of the comments on those Youtube videos I posted when talking about the music you'll see that most people that played the game seriously feel the same way about it as I do; it was just that good. I just want to thank Square-Enix for making the game and supporting it the way they have during these ten years and for allowing me to meet so many great people, many of which I'm still in contact with years later.

Thank you for the great memories FFXI. Here's to you: [www.gametrailers.com]

Nor is it Dragon Quest. As mentioned in an upcoming issue of Famitsu, the Tokyo-based game company is working on a new action role-playing game. The game currently does not have a title.

While info has leaked from Famitsu, the full article has yet to hit newsstands.

Helming the game will be Ryutaro Ichimura, who produced several Dragon Quest games, including Dragon Quest IX, Dragon Quest Swords and kiddy arcade game Dragon Quest Battle Road.

Square Enix will develop the game, an action role-playing game, internally—on the Epic Unreal Engine. This isn't a first for Square Enix, who also did The Last Remnant (above, pictured) on Unreal.

According to the leak, Famitsu has images of the game's protagonist. And the game's character design looks as though it's aimed at Western players.

Currently, the core staff working on the game consists of 35 individuals. Square Enix plans on running help wanted ads to assemble a bigger team.

Ichimura apparently told Famitsu that two years were spent circling the globe, surveying players, assembling art, and solidifying the basis of the game. Not sure why 2 years required. They could have just played Mass Effect or The Elder Scrolls and called it a day.

If this leak turns out to be true, expect confirmation later this week. In the meantime, Kotaku is following up with Square Enix.

【スクエニ】新大プロジェクト発表！完全新規ARPG始動！ [オタク.com]

Emiri Kato doesn't just play Final Fantasy XI, she lives there.

The voice actress has an impressive resume of anime and game titles she's worked on, but that's nothing compared to her FFXI playtime.

As pointed out on website 4Gamer, Kato has played FFXI for 557 days and 18 hours. That's 13,386 hours.

Before you say, wow, that's a lot, remember, this is a MMORPG. It's not a game. It's a lifestyle.

ヴァナ・ディール"を14日間体験できる [4Gamer via オレ的]

Never one to shy away from porting a game, Square Enix talked about doing just that in the latest issue of Japanese game mag Famitsu. The choice, this time is rather odd.

According to Square Enix's Hiromichi Tanaka, the Tokyo-based game maker is considering whether or not to bring a straight Final Fantasy XI port to the PS Vita. There are currently no concrete plans.

Tanaka apparently also added that due to the PS3's unique characteristics, it's difficult to port games to Sony's home console.

Final Fantasy XI was originally released in Japan on the PS2 in 2002. A PS Vita port could be interesting, but really Square Enix, another handheld port?

Tanaka is a Final Fantasy vet, who worked on the first title. He was one of the lead designers on FFXI and was the producer for Square Enix's latest MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV until last December. Surely you remember how that turned out.

田中＜俺が社長ならスクエニの団結力の向上を図る [2ch]