MyFFXI's The NM: Issue 61: New FFXI Remixes, FFXI Pumpkin Contest Winners, A Preview Of Vana Fest 2008 And A Mystery Square Enix Countdown To What?Hello MyFFXI members, yet more news from Square Enix's president. There's also a mystery countdown clock to something. We will find out what it is for on monday when the clock hits zero. JP Button gives a preview of what is to come at this years Vana Fest. Also Allakhazam has announced this years FFXI pumpkin carving contest winners. And one of our MyFFXI members,
Luso has released 10 new FFXI remixes for all to download on his site. Lastly for fun the Square Enix Members site has opened their Fun Zone of games to play...
PART I: Luso's FFXI Remixes
Luso, one of our MyFFXI members, has release 10 new FFXI remixes for those to download for free at his personal site, which since he has more file space over there, it has more music and media that he has made, is
www.pharaohatem.com based after his Cosplay alias and Artist name. His music has been already featured on all the major FFXI podcast like
Limit Break Radio,
Pet Food Alpha and many more.
Below are all the FFXI remixes he has done so far...
Source: MyFFXI member Luso, pharaohatem.com
PART II: Harvest Festival Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners!
After a week of voting in what was without a doubt our most competitive pumpkin carving contest yet, the votes have been counted and examined and we now have our list of winners!
Before we get to that, Allakhazam is very happy to announce that the development team and the community team looked over the entries and provided us with the following excerpt for the winners:
"The entries this year are really impressive! We’re particularly amazed at how many people know how to carve into a pumpkin without going all the way through to create different shades and levels of depth. We loved how so many different entries this year focused on recent additions and changes to the game. The winners this year are far and away the most amazing pumpkins we’ve ever seen. It is clear the artists paid great attention to detail. The winning entries are so imaginative too! Each winner took interesting concepts and made them their own by thinking in very creative ways.Congratulations to all the winners!"-- Final Fantasy XI Development Team and Community TeamGrand Prize:Good vs Evil!
Good vs Evil received 172 votes, making it the Grand Prize winning entry. The Grand Prize winner will receive a gaming PC from Square Enix with Wings of the Goddess artwork displayed on the casing! Congratulations to Lahurah of Seraph on winning the top prize! Lahurah began carving her entry on October 30th and stayed up carving until 2 am, resuming in the morning and finally finishing the entry at 1 am on November 1st! We can all see the incredible amount of work that went into it!
First Place:Bomb King
Bomb King was carved by Arketa of Garuda and received 155 votes, making it our First Place winner. The First Place winner will receive a Tidal Talisman with game code to get the in-game Tidal Talisman and a month of free premium. To create Bomb King, Arketa skinned almost her entire pumpkin, utilizing pieces of another pumpkin to create his crown and securing them with toothpicks. He looks very intimidating and realistic. Congratulations Arketa!
Second Place:Black Mage
Black Mage was carved by Hollah on Garuda. Black Mage received 93 votes, making it our Second Place winner! Admired for its fine detail and realistic feel, this Tarutaru Black Mage surely makes many players in the community think of their own characters. The Second Place winner will receive one month of premium membership on Allakhazam. Congratulations Hollah!
Third Place:Lycopumpkin was carved by Mooshywooshy of Carbuncle, receiving 46 votes and earning Third Place. Using several pumpkins to create Lycopumpkin, Mooshywooshy was able to not only make an incredibly detailed Lycopodium, but also infused that air of confusing innocence these creatures tend to approach us with in-game. The Third Place winner will receive a month of premium membership on Allakhazam. Congratulations Mooshywooshy!
Lycopumpkin
The staff at Allakhazam would like to thank every participant for making this our biggest and greatest pumpkin carving contest! Everyone put together such a great effort in their pumpkins and we are honored to feature your work and your love for Final Fantasy XI on our site. You've all helped make this one of the best Harvest Festivals ever!
Source: Allakhazam
PART III: Square Enix Members Game Zone Is Now Open
Square Enix Members site has 6 new games to play at their game zone for free but you must register first to play.
Click on any of the games below to play...
Guide Chocobo down the snowy slopes as fast as you can.
Go for the distance with Chocobo's trusty hang glider.
Balance the Jail Bird while catching as many apples as you can.
Move your mouse while Ms. Shirma isn't looking!
Use the four provided numbers to create an answer of 10.
Win feathers by playing three mini games.
Source: Square Enix Members
PART IV: Square Enix Makes Western Dev Deal
Japanese giant Square Enix has announced a landmark partnership with Western developer Gas Powered Games.
The “strategic partnership” marks the first time the Final Fantasy firm has gone beyond its native country for an external development deal. Washington-based Gas Powered Games, best known for its Dungeon Siege RPG series, will develop the sequel to its RTS game Supreme Commander for the Japanese publisher.
“This strategic partnership represents one of the first steps Square Enix ... are taking towards their goal of increasing Western development efforts aimed for the global markets,” the company said in a released statement. "Additionally, Square Enix's foray into the real-time strategy genre is a significant expansion of its product lineup.”
Square Enix president Yoichi Wada, who has on many occasions stressed the importance of expanding his company westward, said of the new deal: "We see great opportunities in European and North American markets, both of which are expected to be maintaining sustainable growth over these coming years.”
“It is crucial we create alliances with proven developers such as Gas Powered Games in order to serve these significant markets better by providing products and services in tune with customer tastes."
John Yamamoto, president and ceo of both Square Enix Ltd and US sister company Square Enix Inc, gave high praise for the firm’s newest partner. "Gas Powered Games is an accomplished development house that has demonstrated its ability to successfully create and develop intellectual properties. We are extremely excited to begin working with Gas Powered Games' talented personnel and see this strategic partnership as a significant step in our efforts to bring Square Enix titles to a broader global audience."
Suggestions are mounting that Square Enix will be adding more titles to its external development portfolio in the coming months.
Source: EDGE
PART V: Preview For VanaFest 2008
Just 10 more days until VanaFest! I can hardly wait to hear what we can expect from the new update. Let’s talk about where VanaFest 2008 will be held, look back at last year’s Altana Matsuri, and finally, make some guesses at what we can expect at VanaFest 2008.
VanaFest 2008 will be held in Tokyo. The site is Meetsport, a relatively new center located near Tokyo Dome, home of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The area around the dome is a gigantic entertainment zone with rides, restaurants, and event stages.
Meetsport was opened just this past spring to revitalize the Tokyo Dome area. Its main hall, JCB Hall, is actually underground and can seat up to 2507 people. In a press release from before Meetsport opened, officials said the average cost of using the hall (seated concert) on a weekday would be around 2, 205, 000 yen. That’s about $22050 USD. Meetsport also helps to link Tokyo Dome with another nearby train station.
While an estimated 2500 tickets is still not enough to allow anyone who wants to attend, it’s an improvement over last year’s Altana Matsuri. Altana Matsuri was held at the Umeda Fine Arts Theater close to the JR Osaka and Hankyuu Osaka stations. Only 1800 tickets were available for the event. It’s said that they sold out in minutes, angering many fans.
Being right before the release of WotG, a lot of new information was released at the event. FFXI related goods were also a big hit.
Attendees were given stickers to wear with their server name on it to make it easier for people to strike up conversations. Because the event was close to Halloween, attendees were also given pumpkin hats to wear. In contrast with the longer California event where many people could try out new content, only a lucky few were selected to take part in a special battle event on stage. Instead, all attendees were given codes to use in-game to gain access on their own accounts. At the end of Altana Matsuri, the Star Onions played various tracks from the game and the upcoming expansion.
Elmer, from JP Button, posted what’s been
officially released about this year’s event before so let’s look over some of it. There will be two panels with the development and management teams. Chances are one will cover the new expansion while the other will be answers to questions people have submitted over the past week on the VanaFest website. Much like the special battle on stage last year, a few people will be chosen by lottery to participate in a special battle on stage. The team that earns the most points will get some sort of prize. They will also have a Chocobo Racing event between Chocobos raised by the development team. Attendees can choose which Chocobo they think will win and people who choose the correct one will win an in-game item. The first Chocobo Racing event was done at the Square Enix Party 2007. For that event, people were given a mini racing newspaper to mimic what is done for horse racing. Will they do it again? Hmmmmm…. Also, The Star Onions will be making their return and performing a mini concert.
People will be able to exchange special tarot cards during the event. The server stickers from Altana Matsuri were supposed to get people talking with each other but one event reviewer remarked that it didn’t work very well. Maybe this will get people talking!
Yesterday, the official website was updated with information on what will FFXI goods will be available. The keychains and card case from TGS will be available as well as some other keychains and the 3 nation rings. The new Shadow Lord statue will also be available! It will go on sale on the website in December, but VanaFest attendees will be the first to be able to take him home. Oddly not on the list are the adorable baby Chocobos.
With the event so close, it’s hard to imagine too much more will be released on the website but we’ll continue to check as the event approaches.
Source: JP Button
PART VI: Square Enix Counts Down To What?
Click on the pic to go to the official countdown clock site.Square Enix certainly loves their countdown clocks. The last one wound up giving us a Nintendo DS remake of Chrono Trigger, and this latest one? All we know is it's for a game involving Bahamut, the giant dragon we've come to alternately love and hate, depending on which game he shows up in. The first thing that crossed my mind was a remake or sequel to Bahamut Lagoon, the Super Nintendo tactical strategy RPG, though what's with the colossus down there at the bottom? It reminds me of the fight between Bahamut and Alexander from Final Fantasy IX, though that would be one hell of a giant Alexander.
Whatever it is, well find out on Monday once the stupid countdown clock finishes doing what it was made for. In the meantime, I'll be desperately pouring through soundtracks trying to figure out where I know that music from. Hit the jump for the full teaser graphic.
Source: Square Enix
