Square Reissues Final Fantasy Complete Works
[06.23.02]>> By Cloudclone

German gaming site Gamefront has reported that, according to Sony, certain PlayStation 2 models are incompatible with Final Fantasy XI. The online title, which had massive problems during its Japanese launch, refuses to play on certain unspecified PS2 models. Instead of booting at all, the system simply registers an error message and quits loading. Any players having this problem should notify Sony, though it has not been said if this is to rectify the problem (by replacing the system in question) or simply help research it.

This announcement of the incompatible PS2 systems is the latest in a long string of recent problems. The PS2 hard drive has been notoriously hard to come by, requiring consumers to purchase them through select ISPs instead of offering them in stores.

The majority of ISPs offered the hard drive only in bundles that included internet service, effectively leaving out those gamers who already had DSL broadband service. In addition, hard drives are taking up to seven weeks to arrive once ordered, making the wait even longer. Those that do try to find the hard drive separately are forced to contact multiple ISPs until they find one that has the unit in stock and is willing to sell it separately.

Square also took down the PlayOnline servers recently over this past weekend for bug fixes and upgrades. This may be the first patch ever issued for a console game, tweaking numerous abilities and adding a myriad of small features. The new version of the game was required to log on once the patch was issued.

Final Fantasy XI is due out in North America in 2003, which hopefully will be enough time to fully debug the game.

~Source: GameForms