The 6th video in the Making of a Realm series, this one is all about the music.

Pretty good interview with Nobuo Uematsu. This will be the first Final Fantasy game in 10yrs that he’s done the entire score for himself. Sounds great as always so far too.

The new prerelease trailer for FFXIV is now out. Included in the trailer are scenes from all of the starting towns, the new theme song “Answers” performed by Susan Calloway and a number of  new scenes from different parts of the game.

The 5th video in the Making of a Realm series is now out. This one is all about the cutscenes.

So far I know there’s an opening cinematic for each of the starter cities, but it looks like SE is going to be adding numerous cinematic cutscenes to the game as well. I know this was a big request from XI, since amazing cinematics have always been a Final Fantasy staple, and people loved the mission cutscenes. Even though they weren’t high quality cinematics, the ending to the Chains of Promathia missions are still a favorite for a lot of people.

For the past month, Square-Enix has been releasing videos about the making of the game. Current speculation is that these videos will be part of or the entire contents on the making-of DVD included with the Collector’s Edition of the game. I’m going to post all 4 of the previous videos here while catching up, but will create new posts as videos are released. So without further ado, enjoy!

Character Choices

In Pursuit of Real Monsters

Equipping Eorzea

Background Concepts

*Some of this is older news and some is new. Posting it all together here while catching up with the news.

Collector’s Edition Bonuses

Collector's Edition Bonuses

The listed bonuses above are for the Collector’s Edition of the game. The Onion Helm is available only by Preorder for the game. As far as I know, this is a preorder bonus directly from Square-Enix and not one of the special preorder type bonuses from GameStop, so if you order from Amazon you will get the same item.

A Closer Look at the Collector’s Edition:

Collector's Edition Log-In Authenticator

Leather-bound Journal with Map

Personalized and Mailed to You

Standard Edition Preorder Bonus

If you preorder the Standard Edition, you will start the game 8 days later and lose out on most of the bonuses above. Bonuses #6 & #7 are listed as Collector’s Edition bonuses but I’m pretty sure everyone would get those whether you preorder or not and no matter what edition of the game you buy. However, the Standard Edition does have a really sweet bonus item if you choose to preorder it:

Standard Edition Preorder Bonus

But wait, there’s more! If you still play Final Fantasy XI (or plan to quickly reactivate your account like 50,000 other people I’m sure will) you will also be eligible for another bonus!

Bonuses for FFXI Players

FFXIV Bonus for FFXI Players

• An active FINAL FANTASY XI account must be linked before the FINAL FANTASY XIV playable character is created
• At the time the FINAL FANTASY XIV character is created, the FINAL FANTASY XI content ID registered to the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account must not be invalid or cancelled
• The linked FINAL FANTASY XI account must not be within the free trial period

In addition to the in-game item for FFXIV, there are two other bonuses for FFXI players:

Bonus #2: Save $5.95 on the base FINAL FANTASY XI Monthly Subscription

• The FINAL FANTASY XI monthly service fee will be discounted from $12.95 USD to $7.00 USD per month on FINAL FANTASY XI accounts linked to the same Square Enix Account as FINAL FANTASY XIV.
• Applies only to FINAL FANTASY XI subscriptions that are paid for by credit card
• The discount will not be applied when the FINAL FANTASY XIV subscription is in its free period, as determined on the 25th of each month
• Does not apply to FINAL FANTASY XI accounts during their free trial period
• Only applies to one FINAL FANTASY XI account for each FINAL FANTASY XIV service account
• Only applies to the base monthly subscription and does not affect add-on content
• This offer will remain in effect until January 2011

Bonus #3: Transfer Your FINAL FANTASY XI Character Name into FINAL FANTASY XIV

• When creating a new playable character on a FINAL FANTASY XIV service account, a character name used from the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account can be transferred to FINAL FANTASY XIV.
• Transfer of a FINAL FANTASY XI playable character name will not be applicable in the following instances:
• If the FINAL FANTASY XIV playable character is created before an active FINAL FANTASY XI account is linked
• If, at the time that the FINAL FANTASY XIV character is created, the Content ID on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI is invalid or has been cancelled
• If the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account is within the free trial period
• If no FINAL FANTASY XI character exists on the linked FINAL FANTASY XI account
  • Please note that in some instances, it may take upwards of 24 hours for the FINAL FANTASY XI character name to be selectable in FINAL FANTASY XIV.
  • When prompted, upon selecting the FINAL FANTASY XI character name as the FINAL FANTASY XIV playable character name, the transferred name will be the FINAL FANTASY XI player character name + FINAL FANTASY XI world name the character resides on.

(As an example, if I transferred my character name from FFXI I would be Daelen Ragnarok. Personally I don’t care for this bonus much and would most likely skip it.)