Just a little over two months now...

 March 16th, 2002 - Recently, Square's European fans have been tormented and teased; while American PlayStation2 owners have been able to enjoy Square's latest opus, Final Fantasy X, for almost three months, and the Japanese for around eight, it seemed once again that Europe had been left as an afterthought, with only a poorly-converted PAL demo as compensation. With no official confirmed release date for the first PS2 Final Fantasy, estimates were floating through the gaming grapevine quoting anywhere from February to September.

But yesterday, popping up on Square Europe's website with typical inconspicuousness, was the announcement we had all been waiting for. Make a note in your diaries of Friday, May 31st - that's the day that the latest (and some say greatest) Final Fantasy will debut in our fine continent courtesy of Square Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Oh, and I've heard there's a little football tournament or something starting on that date too. So, maybe a little earlier than some expected, maybe a little later than others expected, but here comes the really good news...

The announcement came in two parts. Firstly the release date itself, and then confirmation of that which most Europeans had been hoping for, yet nobody really expected; the PAL version Final Fantasy X will be based on Final Fantasy X International, the Japanese re-release of the original game which expanded upon the story and added more gameplay features, such as new sphere grid arrangements. Not only this, but Square Europe are taking a leaf out of Konami Europe's book and releasing the game as a special 2-disc set including the actual game disc and a bonus DVD entitled "Beyond Final Fantasy" containing, amongst other things, interviews with the voice actors for Tidus and Yuna and the game development team along with a preview of the upcoming Square/Disney collaboration Kingdom Hearts.

Final Fantasy X International Box Art.