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Hell Freezes Over, SQUARE back with NINTENDO

Remember Yamauchi's fund to support development? Square's getting some of that money to make Final Fantasy games for GameCube and GBA. No, this is not a joke.

Major props to Powder, who sent us this extremely important news tip! According to the Saturday morning (in Japan) edition of the popular Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, Square and Nintendo are getting back together to bring Final Fantasy back to Nintendo fans on both GameCube and Game Boy Advance! Here's an excerpt from Nikkei's website. You can see the full story by registering there (credit card required, but you get a two-week free trial period during which you can cancel at any time).

OSAKA (Nikkei)--Nintendo Co. (7974) has agreed to resume procuring the popular "Final Fantasy" video game software for its game consoles from Square Co. (9620) after a five-year hiatus, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Friday.

The big news in this is not only is Square coming back, but Hiroshi Yamauchi himself is funding Square's return, by virtue of Fund Q, the fund set aside to help spark game development on GameCube. The new company to be stared by Square and Akitoshi Kawazu (one of Final Fantasy's developers), should be founded by the end of March.

Another important quote ...

The deal calls on the Square affiliate to produce software allowing users of two Nintendo consoles -- the GameCube and Game Boy Advance -- to play together by the end of the year.

"... to play together"? What does that mean???

Surely the first game to come out of this new venture will be Final Fantasy XI, as Square has been adamant about wanting the game on every console. But could we see a port of Final Fantasy X? And how does the GameBoy Advance fit in? There are a lot more questions to be answered yet.

Still, gamers' prayers have been answered. Square is officially back on Nintendo. This has been confirmed officially by NCL

More info

While not officially announced, the first Final Fantasy game thought to be in development under the agreement is Final Fantasy Unlimited, a title based on Square's anime series of the same name. In the anime series, a black pillar appears mysteriously in the waters near Japan and begins to summon monsters from another world. A Geologist named Dr. Hawayaka and his wife enter the portal and return later to write about their adventures. When they attempt to travel to the other world for a second time, though, they go missing. And this is when their children, Ai and Yuu decide to look for them.

Akitoshi Kawazu, who worked on Legend of Mana and SaGa for Square, began development on a Final Fantasy Unlimited project for an unnamed console as far back as October of last year. His role in the Q Fund startup studio suggests that the game is indeed bound for GameCube and Game Boy Advance. The titles, according to Nintendo of America, will be totally interactive with one another and will arrive, at least in Japan if not America, before the end of the year.

"This is very exciting news for us and surely for gameplayers around the world," Nintendo of America's vice president of corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan told IGNcube today. "Square's talent is well-respected. Between the combination of their good work, and Nintendo's exclusive connectivity ability between GCN and GBA, the result will be great."

The first titles, whether they be Final Fantasy Unlimited or not, would appear to be originally created for GameCube and Game Boy Advance. The link between the two consoles will certainly be emphasized, said Nintendo of America.

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