General Questions Why isn't "game name" available in Europe? We would very much like to release as many Square titles in Europe as are available elsewhere in the world, however, following detailed market analysis, we have found that due to the nature of the European market, certain titles may not warrant a release here. Will you consider releasing Parasite Eve or Xenogears in Europe? Unfortunately these two titles are now almost two years old and Square is focusing its development resources on converting new titles. Also, the majority of team members from older titles are now working on new projects especially now that the PS2 is well and truly here. I've seen some really cool Square merchandise How can I get hold of it? At present, the only way to get Square merchandise is to purchase it in Japan or the US. The only merchandise officially available in Europe at present is the Final Fantasy VIII figures produced by Bandai. These are available from most large toy and videogame shops. It is possible in the future that more merchandise may become available in Europe, but at present we have no plans to have an online shop. However, do look out for our exclusive online competitions, as we plan to give away some exclusive merchandise unavailable outside Japan! I'm really stuck in "name of game". Can you help me? As we are primarily a QA and localisation department, we are unfortunately unable to help players who may have become stuck in our games. If you are playing Final Fantasy VIII, we can recommend Piggyback Interactive's strategy guide, which is available from all good videogame and book shops. Alternatively, please call Sony's Powerline on one of the following numbers: UK/NI - 0881 505 505 (Touch Tone activated service. Calls charged at 41p per minute during daytime, 28p per minute at other times. Maximum call charge £2.99) Ireland - 1550 13 14 15 (Calls cost 44p per minute off-peak, 58p per minute peak-rate. Republic of Ireland ONLY) Australia - 1 902 262 662 (ITM calls charged at $1.50 per minute) New Zealand - 0990 97669 (Calls cost $1.50 (+GST) per minute). Please ask the permission of whoever pays the bill before you call! PC Questions Can you tell me anything about Final Fantasy VIII on the PC? Final Fantasy VIII PC is being released in Europe by Eidos in February 2000. You can find out more by visiting Eidos' site (www.eidos.com). I'm having trouble installing/running the PC version of Final Fantasy VII. Help! The latest information and FAQs can be found on Eidos' dedicated FF7 website (www.eidosinteractive.com/ff7/index.html). The latest patches to upgrade the game are also available from this site. Working for Square Europe I want to work for Square Europe! How do I go about it? The best place to look is on our Jobs page. As we are a localisation house, no programming or graphic design is done at our European office. If you are interested in working for Square as a programmer, please check the US site (www.squaresoft.com) for more information. If you look at our Jobs page, you will find that we only currently employ university graduates or multi-lingual staff. This is because of the large volumes of translation work that have to be done to a very high standard. I'm still at school and I really want to work for Square when I'm old enough! What qualifications would I need? There are no specific qualifications required to work in the videogames industry as such, although at Square Europe we require highly-qualified multi-lingual staff. This means that if you're an English speaker you'll need to go to university, earn your degree and attain a high level of fluency in any of the European languages we translate our games into. However, if you look at our evaluation opportunities, you will notice that as long as you are over 14 years of age, you may qualify to work as an unpaid evaluator. I've got a great idea for a new game While Square is keen to see creativity thrive in the videogames industry, we regret that we can not look at every game idea submitted. Square employs many people specifically to script stories, rather than relying on external game ideas. Square always receives many interesting game ideas from its fans. Unfortunately, we, and many other game companies, cannot use any game ideas that are received from the general public due to legal complications that can arise. That is why we have several complete development teams in Japan and a few in the U.S. whose sole purpose is to create and produce video games. Can I use some of your images/text/sound from your games on my web site/in my own projects? Although we are extremely appreciative of our fans' efforts to incorporate the story and/or characters of our popular games into their projects, we regret that we will not be able to grant any requests. Because we receive so many requests regarding copyright use, our policy is to decline any use of our copyrights. We currently are not granting permission to anyone except our own business partners. For a descriptive explanation regarding the use of website materials and information pertaining to the Copyright Notice, Trademarks, Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability, follow this link to Terms of Use of the Square Europe website. Final Fantasy VIII Looking through the manual, I can see that the game uses the Pocketstation. Is this true? Yes! Whilst, unfortunately the Pocketstation isn't available outside Japan, both Final Fantasy VIII and the forthcoming Saga Frontier 2 are fully Pocketstation compatible. Whilst the mini-games in both are good fun, they are not vital to the completion of either Final Fantasy VIII and Saga Frontier 2. I need to find the White SeeD ship. Where is it? The White SeeD ship can be found in the lower third of the map, in a cluster of islands that make up the bottom Centra continent. Here's a good starting point: While on land, position the Garden near Edea's House Face north to see straight through a canal Proceed forward through the canal Halfway through the canal, turn right and proceed east and then make another right turn; the White SeeD ship is hidden among several smaller islands. How do you beat the sorceress Adel when Rinoa is attached to her? This is a tough fight, especially if you've been relying on Guardian Forces. Since there are two targets during this fight (Rinoa and Adel), you'll need to keep your Guardian Forces under control. Almost all Guardian Forces attack multiple enemies, and you don't want to hurt Rinoa. First, be sure to draw and cast Regen on Rinoa; this will lessen the effectiveness of Adel's Drain spell. Now it's just a matter of going with your party's strengths. If you have strong magic and Cerberus, summon Cerberus so that you can cast two or three magic spells on Adel (remember, you don't want to cast spells that hit multiple targets, such as Ultima and Meteor). Definitely use Meltdown on Adel; this will increase the amount of damage you inflict on her. Depending on your party, take advantage of each character's Limit Break. Have Irvine and Zell in your party for the most effective Limit Break attacks. CLOSE WINDOW