Looks like a lot of people are becoming more and more interested in Wii Fit and its introduction of the Wii Balance Board to the gaming industry. Two of which are none other than Motomu Toriyama and Eisuke Yokoyama of Final Fantasy fame.

As pointed out by Ishaan in a recent blog post, an IGN-conducted E3 interview with the Square Enix big wigs revealed some interesting plans for future games. While the most part of the sit down focused on their upcoming Ivalice Alliance installment, Final Fantasy: Revenant Wings, they touched on certain E3-related developments.

In response to a question on incorporating the DS's Wi-Fi and microphone features to future titles, Toriyama also expressed interest in the whole concept of Wii Fit. Here's what happened immediately afterward:

Is there going to be a Final Fantasy-themed fitness game?
Toriyama: There are no actual plans to take Final Fantasy into the fitness genre, but that whole system and mechanism of using your weight and balance to control games is something we're interested in incorporating into future RPG titles.

What are your new projects now that Revenant Wings is about to launch?
Yokoyama: We're considering a sequel for Revenant Wings, and of course Toriyama-san is working on Final Fantasy XIII. And perhaps we'll start working on Final Fantasy Fitness.

This might actually be interesting. An RPG - a Square Enix RPG, at that - using the Wii Balance Board? Although how using your weight and balance to scroll through menus and submenus in a Final Fantasy game totally baffles us, maybe a more loose definition of RPG could be used here. The same kind of sense that Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales was an "RPG."

Maybe they're planning a spin-off title that's part-RPG part-minigames, complete with snowboarding (FFVII, anyone?) and Chocobo Racing thrown into the mix? What's your take on it though? If I'd hazard a guess (or maybe I'm just wishful thinking here!), it's a Final Fantasy: Blitzball Wii using a Wiimote+Nunchuk+BalanceBoard combo framework!

 

Motomu Toriyama, writer and director of FFXII: Revenant Wings, and Eisuke Yokoyama, producer of the said game, spoke to 1UP and mentioned several tidbits on why there is a delay when it comes to releasing Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings to North America.

Aside from the obvious localization, Motomu Toriyama noted that they still have to tweak the interface a bit, and make the game slightly more complex. Toriyama reasons that since the Japanese market isn't too familiar with RTS styled games, FFXII: Revenant Wings was designed more for beginners. They'll change that for the US version.

And no, Revenant Wings does not use the same engine as Heroes of Mana for the DS. Eisuke Yokoyama says: "It's not at all related."

As for the story of Revenant Wings, Toriyama notes that since it's set after the events in FFXII, it'll deal more with showing how things came about in that particular version of Ivalice. Hopefully, it'll give us a better idea where all of the Occuria - Esper - Magicite plot-bunnies in XII came from.

In related news, regarding another game set in "Ivalice", Final Fantasy Tactics A2 Director Yuicihi Murasawa and Ivalice Alliance Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu talked about how their sequel to the GBA title is shaping up.

When it comes to gameplay, Murasawa says that while they kept the Law Card system, they changed the features of it a bit just to be fresh. Also while it follows the same basic system of FF Tactics Advance for the GBA, they added in a lot of new details like mini-games and missions.

Other noted gameplay additions include the removal of "bones" (dead characters) that litter the battle field, the ability to revive KO'd characters anywhere in the stage, and a more balanced character progression - every single clan member gets experience points after a party clears a battle.

Murasawa also noted that now that they've got two screens, managing your characters, and doing all the usual upkeep things like checking skill progression and equipment should be a lot easier.

For the complete interviews, feel free to head to the 1UP report via our Read link below.