Hiromichi Tanaka, lead developer for Final Fantasy XI, is set to be the international keynote speaker in this year's Austin Game Developer's Conference (GDC), joining speakers such as Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, and Habbo Hotel's lead designer Sulka Haro. In his keynote address, Tanaka will talk about the challenges and triumphs of designing a massively multiplayer online game across platforms.

Scheduled for September 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, the Austin GDC will focus on advancing game development with lectures, panels, and round table discussions on the latest issues facing the industry, such as online programming, future trends, the most up-to-date production techniques, and how-to's in creating new games. Jane Pinckard, content manager for the event, states that "Tanaka's presence at our conference is indicative of the event's global appeal."

The Austin GDC will host discussion tracks on online gaming, game audio, creative writing for games, and will introduce a new People's Choice Track, where community members can vote on what topics will be discussed in the conference. Stay with us as we keep you updated on further developments.

Finally, Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS now has a release date for Europe. This game by Square Enix is not just a port of the original (how many fans would be disappointed if that were the case), but a remake of the game. Hiromichi Tanaka, Director and Executive Producer of Final Fantasy III, had this to say about the game:

FINAL FANTASY III has been made anew on the Nintendo DS platform, including new graphics in 3D, rebalanced jobs, and brand new characterisation for the four young heroes. We hope that not only FINAL FANTASY fans, but a wide variety of players in Europe, enjoy the new FINAL FANTASY III.

So what can we expect from this iteration of Final Fantasy. The storyline is an FF classic: The land your character inhabits was protected by the crystals of light. This all changed when an earthquake pulled the crystals into the earth, upsetting the world’s fragile balance. In this time of darkness, the people found hope in a Gulgan prophecy: four souls blessed with the light shall once again restore balance to the world.

Near the small village of Ur, fate guides Luneth (your initial character) to a sentient crystal. As the light of the crystal fades, Luneth embarks on a journey to seek three others who will fulfil the prophesy.

In addition to this interesting storyline, the game itself has features that will appeal to FF fans everywhere.

Features:

• The missing link in the evolution of Final Fantasy is unveiled.
• A job-changing system that allows for more than 279,000 party variations
• The Touch Screen interface can be used to explore dungeons, dispatch foes and cast spells.
• A complete visual overhaul with 3D graphics
• Use both DS Wireless Communications and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to access the Mognet and communicate with other players as well as NPCs to uncover hidden dungeons, quests and items
• Character designer Akihiko Yoshida (from Final Fantasy XII) lends his talents by designing the four main character

The game will be released May 4, 2007 in Europe and other PAL territories.

Cubed's Adam Riley was able to get an interview with Square Enix's Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka. Several new bits of information were revealed and several clarifications were made. Below are the finer points of the interview.

Anniversaries and Consoles - When asked about the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary project and whether or not Nintendo systems will see something special, considering that the franchise started on the NES, he responded by saying that games will be made for as many platforms as part of the project

Tanaka notes that the Wii will not be able to cope with Final Fantasy XI. Apparently, it has nothing to do with the hardware since the game has already appeared on the previous gen PS2. It has more to do with Nintendo's current online stance - which is not wanting people to interact online without the aid of Friends Codes. The bright side to this part is that Square Enix is currently in talks with Nintendo about coming up with a solution for this problem.

Franchises and dream teams - Tanaka san does not believe that the Secret of Mana franchise and the Seiken Densetsu franchise will see a remake or port in the near future, he does not however rule out working with Koichi Ishii on a future Mana title.

When asked for a clarification regarding the future for Chrono franchise, he says that it is certainly not out of the question that Chrono will make a return, it is just that it will come down to working out copyright details between the various members of the original team (Toriyama, Uematsu, Sakaguchi) most of whom are no longer staff of Square Enix.

Saving on development - In light of the FFIII engine, and the speculation that it might be re-used for other DS games, Tanaka notes that Square Enix has a habit of starting engines from scratch for each game. He says that this is proving to be inefficient and they are looking to amend this. Especially given the rising development costs of next generation titles. Aha! Reasoning behind the Unreal Engine 3 license.

That outlines most of the points covered. For a more in-depth look at Cubed
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6#@%!'s interview, feel free to use our "Read" link below

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UPDATE: More PSP rumors - 1UP reports Squeenix looks to be bringing the recently announced PSP remakes of the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II to the States. The evidence that sparked this rumor? A removed listing of the games on EBGames.

EBGames says that the game should be available on retail in June and July at a US$ 39.99 price point. 1UP notes that while EBGames listings are a good tool for prognosticating the reality/existence of games, the listings are not trustworthy when it comes to release dates and prices.

In an interview today, Square Enix Senior Vice President of Software Development, Hiromichi Tanaka, discussed the recently released Final Fantasy III. The game has sold 99% of its shipment in Japan so far, making it a very successful title. And the demand is much higher than the supply. After all this success, Square Enix is definitely looking at the whole remake business in a better light.
 

This is the first time for this game to come to the US. Alongside the plans for FFV and FFVI, we'll soon have seen remakes of every classic FF game. Where do you go from here?

Tanaka: FFIV, V and VI have been ported to the GBA. As you have seen FFIII is not a port but more of a remake. In the future, since FFIII has been received pretty well so far, we're actually considering remaking some of the other Final Fantasy games.

Seeing as Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V have just been released on the Game Boy Advance, it seems unlikely that these titles will be receiving the treatment first. Maybe a Final Fantasy VII port to the DS? Or maybe the much obsessed-over Final Fantasy VII remake for the PlayStation 3? We just might find out soon enough!