Square has released two programs that even North Americans could download. One is a benchmark program to see how well your computer can handle ff11. It is currently in version 1.0. The second program shows you your computer
statistics so you can see if you meet the requirements for ff11. The second
program is in Japanese so you cannot read it.

http://www.playonline.com/Download/PolSystemInfo.zip
The above is a program that lets you view your system that is released by
square. It is in Japanese so you can't really read the program.

http://www.playonline.com/Download/FFXiBench.zip
Above is the official ff11 benchmark Version 1.0. Run it and view your
score.

Here are the scoring ranges:
Above 4000:
You should have no problem running Final Fantasy XI. Your computer is above
and beyond the requirements.

3000-4000:
Your computer should have little or no lag running Final Fantasy XI. You
meet and exceeded the requirements. This is the category you want to be in
to play ff11.

1500-3000:
You are hanging on to the minimum requirements. Your computer will have lag
but you can still play.

Below 1500:
Your computer is crap. Don't play.
 

     FF 11 special art box is out 9/26/02. Its just limited edition and they printed
only a certain amount of this. I actually had one of these imported to me
:)!!! Beta Windows edition of ff11 is being tested in cyber cafes and pc
stations around Japan. Its been a success so ff11 is coming out on windows
on 11/7/02. Its got better graphics and its brighter than the ps2 edition. Last news that I could think of in my mind is ff12. It WILL be single player. But the development of ff12 solely depends on ff11. If ff11 turns out to be a big hit, square will make ff12 single and multi player. On the other hand, if ff11 fails miserably, ff12 will be single player.

Release date for ff12 is March
2004 in japan. About ff11 now. Ff11 is extremely expensive now that I
calculated a price. The keyboard and mouse (optional but nice to have) is
bout 20 bucks a piece. The game is bout 10 us dollars in Japan. The network
adaptor is 40$. The us release of the ps2 hard drive will be 80$. There is a
monthly payment of 10 dollar a month to playonline. You do the math.


------ opinion section -------
Since square is relying on ff11 to produce ff12, the success on ff11 is very
important. And America takes a big role in this factor because most of
squares business comes from America right? WRONG. Square is king of delays
on any games. People are not too optimistic that square can even get the US
server set up in late 2003. Well by that time, ff12 is almost complete so
the success in America won't do a thing to change ff12. And worst of all,
lets be a bit pessimistic and say square releases ff11 English in America in
early 2004. By that time ff12 is almost out in Japan. This posses another
dilemma. Will square bother spending all that cash in America to release
ff11 late and then people won't buy it and will rather wait for ff12? I'm
seeing that square has a chance that they won't release ff11 in America. If
square wants business in America, they'll have to work fast. Otherwise, ff11
will never see the light of day in the US. If ff11 doesn't come out in
America, I've already warned u. Just thought u'd like to know.