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http://www.gaming-age.com Brief: Final Fantasy XI is coming to a Japanese PS2 near you, and even sooner than we originally thought.
Related Links: PlayOnline
Today, Squaresoft of Japan announced the release date of their next Final Fantasy title (and first online RPG), Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2. The magic release date is... March 2002, definitely sooner than we thought Since FFXI is an online title, PlayOnline will obviously also be ready to go by the time the game is released in Japan. Final Fantasy XI is indeed pay-to-play as was reported earlier, and customers will actually not be charged until a month after the March release date. The price of the game itself, which is not 100% decided upon yet, should be between 6,000 and 7,000 yen according to the announcement.
The official announcement did not mention any other platforms besides the PlayStation 2. We are sure Square EA will announce a US date and plan, sometime in the near future.