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Square Enix Opens Final Fantasy VII Gallery...
Sony Computer Entertainment
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Final Fantasy VII
Gallery Shots
See More Here
Sony Computer Entertainment
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Final Fantasy VII
Gallery Shots
See More Here
IGN News said:
In addition to Labor Day, the 3rd marked a particularly special day for videogame industry. Ten years ago to the day, Sony published Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII in America, lighting the flame on what would from then on be a mainstream genre throughout the world, Japanese RPGs.
Of course, the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII had arrived earlier in the year, on January 31. So, we presume it's just a coincidence that the opening of the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Gallery in Tokyo over the weekend coincided closely with the 10th anniversary of the game's US release. In fact, Square Enix was marketing the gallery as something for the Japanese public to use as their last big activity for the summer break, which, for many, ended over the weekend.
Located at the Spiral exhibition hall in Tokyo's rich Aoyama district, a ten minute walk from the Sony Computer Entertainment building (this is also probably just a coincidence, although Kaz Hirai did speak at an opening ceremony for the gallery on Thursday night), the gallery opened its doors on Friday for a limited three day festival honoring the best selling Final Fantasy ever. Admission was free, but there was a slight cost to attend. When we went on Friday afternoon, we found a line of fans who had to wait as Square Enix let small groups in slowly in order to avoid overcrowding.
The gallery consisted of three areas. Near the entrance was a timeline of the FFVII development saga. Incidentally, the first event listed was that famous SIGGRAPH CG video demonstration that many initially assumed was going to be FFVII on the N64. The last event listed was the TBA release of Advent Children on Blu-ray.
Next to the history section was a goods corner. These were no ordinary goods, though. Square Enix had assembled a pricey set of character and beast models, some costing over $400. Definitely not for the budget-minded FFVII fan. Although one look at the quality and size of these models, and we almost ended up handing over our yen.
The main area of the gallery was a wide atrium, housing a giant recreation of Midgar, post prologue explosion, as its centerpiece. Surrounding the model were video feeds showing footage of various FFVII games, posters of all the characters, and showcases of upcoming products, like the Crisis Core themed PSP-2000 and the new beverage from Suntory. Square Enix also brought out a playable demo of Crisis Core (due for release on 9/13) which drew lines of over 30 minutes.
The gallery is gone for good now, but we managed to grab a few shots of the experience in our image gallery linked below. It's doubtful that anything like this gallery will appear outside of Japan, so those wanting to experience the FFVII 10th anniversary first hand will have to do so with Crisis Core, and whatever other FFVII anniversary products Square Enix thinks up before the end of the year.
