NA Press Releases

LOS ANGELES, Calif., (January 14, 2004) — Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. ("Square Enix U.S.A."), the publisher of Square Enix™ interactive products in North America, today announced its first release for 2004, Drakengard™ for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Shipping to North American retailers on March 2, 2004, Drakengard is an action-filled game based in a mysterious kingdom overflowing with the discovery of magical beasts and mysteries.

"Drakengard is not your ordinary action game," said Jun Iwasaki, president and CEO, Square Enix U.S.A. "The unique blend of RPG-style character growth, action, and a solid story that binds it all together makes this title a perfect hybrid of genres. This style of gameplay found in Drakengard is very addicting and appeals to gamers looking for a deeper action game."

Drakengard tells a tale of love, sacrifice, obligation and bitter compromise following the struggles of a Union soldier, Caim. He comes to find the Empire, an army with unexplainable great power, has taken his sister prisoner. In order to save his only living family member, he joins souls with a dragon. Together they begin their quest to unravel the mystery behind the Empire's sudden rise to power. They will soon discover there is a connection between the Empire, Caim's sister, the mythical Seeds of Resurrection and the gods themselves.

Drakengard features diverse battlefields, multiple experience and growth elements based on the player's decisions that immerse the player in an all-new gameplay experience combining fantasy, interactivity and a tragic saga. In Drakengard, players can maneuver through the game on a powerful dragon utilizing two different modes, "Aerial Combat" in which players fly high above the landscape attacking airborne enemies and "Strafe Attack" allowing a large mass of enemies to be annihilated in one blast of fire. Players also explore and battle on foot, with an assortment of powerful weaponry imbued with magic. As the game progresses, the dragon and the character's abilities will mature and the weapon selection will increase, allowing the player to choose from more than 60 different weapons. The tragic tale is conveyed through event sequences, CG movies and through the gameplay itself. Depending on the decisions made, players will encounter different story elements, environments, enemies and endings.

Early previews of Drakengard among the enthusiast press have been very positive. The title has been named as one of Official PlayStation Magazines' "Big Games for 2004." Drakengard also won "Best of E3 - RPG" and was nominated "Best of E3 - Overall" by IGNPS2.com."To say that we were amazed... is an understatement, as this brand new RPG takes an ambitious step forward in the realm of the RPG genre...the design team has borrowed elements from several categories and opened up its medieval Celtic world to both ground and air-based combat. Whether you enjoy slashing evil on the ground or burning it from the sky, Square Enix's big game for 2004 has exactly what you want." --- IGNPS2.com

"Graphically, Drakengard is looking pretty slick...the dragon's breath looks awesome...Square Enix's record with fantasy games and RPGs is unmatched and anything with dragons in it gets us excited." --- Game Informer Magazine

"This is, well, a cool game...what cinemas there were, were of extremely high quality -- if the story lives up to the technical quality, this game should be really interesting and fun to play." --- Gamespy.com

Gamers wanting to get a glimpse of Drakengard can look forward to a playable demo in the March issue of Official PlayStation Magazine. Playable demos will also be made available through specialty retailers EB, EB Canada and GameStop starting the end of January. Additional information on Drakengard can be found at http://www.square-enix-usa.com/games/drakengard.

Drakengard will be available at North American retailers for a suggested retail price of $39.99 (USD). The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated Drakengard "M" for Mature. For more information about the ESRB, visit http://www.esrb.org.

About Square Enix Co. Ltd. and Square Enix U.S.A., Inc.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) develops, publishes and distributes entertainment contents including interactive entertainment software and publications in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Square Enix brings two of Japan's best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 47 million units worldwide and DRAGON QUEST (DRAGON WARRIOR® in North America) which has sold over 31 million units worldwide - under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Square Enix U.S.A. Inc., located in Los Angeles, Calif., handles operations in North America including localization, marketing and publishing of Square Enix titles. More information on Square Enix U.S.A. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com/.

TOKYO, Japan and BELLEVUE, WA (January 16, 2004) — Square Enix Co., Ltd., an industry leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software including the world’s popular franchises FINAL FANTASY® and DRAGON QUEST, and UIEvolution, Inc., a leading wireless software company, today announced a strategic partnership designed to help Square Enix expand its mobile content business by using UIEvolution’s software technology to deliver applications across multiple wireless device types and platforms. Through this agreement, both companies will begin collaborating on new and innovative content offerings for the US market. This agreement also includes an investment by Square Enix through its 100% subsidiary Square Enix U.S.A. Inc. of $4 million, making them the third largest shareholder in UIEvolution.

To capitalize on the growing market in the US, Square Enix started providing games through Verizon Wireless in December 2003. This partnership between Square Enix and UIEvolution will help them expand this opportunity and enter into new markets using UIEvolution’s technology, which has become the standard for cross-platform, cross-device delivery of networked applications. UIEvolution’s technology gives Square Enix the opportunity to increase their global mobile phones business by providing applications with community features that connect their users together regardless of device type or wireless network.

“Our relationship with UIEvolution allows us to expand our business by reaching out to our growing wireless customer base with new products and services,” said Yoichi Wada, President of Square Enix Co., Ltd. “This market presents an enormous opportunity for growth and we expect this partnership to expand our business globally.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with one of the leading interactive entertainment companies in the world to help them deliver rich interactive content and applications to wireless devices,” said Satoshi Nakajima, CEO and founder of UIEvolution. “Square Enix customers expect the highest quality experience, and we are excited about the opportunity to work with them to deliver the same high quality experience to their mobile users.”

UIEvolution’s innovative software approach to cross-platform, cross-device client-sever application development and deployment enables customers to deliver a data-rich, dynamic, interactive user experience across BREW, J2ME/MIDP, J2ME/DOJA, MS Smart Phone, MS Pocket PC, PalmOS, MS Windows, i-Tron, VxWorks, Symbian, SPOT, Danger, and Gameboy platforms used by any OEM. In addition, UIEngine runs applications over virtually any wireless network including GPRS, CDMA 1xRTT, EDGE, WiFi, PDC, PHS, Bluetooth, and IRDA. UIEvolution products are deployed by existing customers including Disney, ESPN, Airborne Entertainment, Moviso, Interactive Imagination, TOS, ITX-EG, and the Company will announce a number of new significant customers in the coming months.

It is expected that applications based on Square Enix interactive content, utilizing UIEvolution technology, will be available in the coming months.

About Square Enix

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) develops, publishes and distributes entertainment contents including interactive entertainment software and publications in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Square Enix brings two of Japan’s best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 47 million units worldwide and DRAGON QUEST (DRAGON WARRIOR® in North America) which has sold over 31 million units worldwide - under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Square Enix U.S.A. Inc., located in Los Angeles, Calif., handles operations in North America including localization, marketing and publishing of Square Enix titles. More information on Square Enix U.S.A. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com/.

About UIEvolution

UIEvolution is a privately held Bellevue, Washington-based software company which delivers software technology, development tools, and core applications that simplify the entire wireless application development and deployment process. Companies that design and deploy wireless applications are rapidly adapting UIEvolution’s cross-platform software solution to enable developers to focus their time on creating innovative wireless applications rather than the deployment headaches caused by multiple operating system device standards (i.e. J2ME, BREW, Symbian, Pocket PC and Palm) and varying network speeds. With UIEvolution, an application is built once to work on any wireless device, operating system and wireless network worldwide. See the difference at www.uievolution.com.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., (January 20, 2004) — Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. (“Square Enix U.S.A.”), the publisher of Square Enix™ interactive products in North America, today announced that FINAL FANTASY® X-2, a PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system exclusive and the first female-led FINAL FANTASY game in the franchise’s history, has sold more than one million units in North America.

Released on November 18, 2003, FINAL FANTASY X-2 is the sequel to FINAL FANTASY X, one of the best selling PlayStation 2 titles with a total of 6.6 million units shipped worldwide. In Japan, FINAL FANTASY X-2 was released in March 2003 and has shipped over two million units to date. The life-to-date units shipped for both FINAL FANTASY X and FINAL FANTASY X-2 combined reached an astounding 10 million units worldwide.

“Hitting this milestone reinforces the high review scores and widespread recognition FINAL FANTASY X-2 has received for its storyline, gameplay and graphics,” said Jun Iwasaki, president and CEO, Square Enix U.S.A. “It also shows that fans of FINAL FANTASY X were waiting to continue the journey in this sequel. We are pleased with the wonderful response that FINAL FANTASY X-2 has received from the public and at retail.”

FINAL FANTASY X-2 has an ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating of “T” for Teen and is available at a suggested retail price of $49.99 (USD).

About FINAL FANTASY X-2

FINAL FANTASY X-2 is the first sequel in the long respected series. While keeping the series’ traditions, the sequel stays fresh with several new elements. Among them, the reintroduction of the ATB (active time battle) system accelerates the pace and excitement of battles. FINAL FANTASY X-2 is also the first mission-based FINAL FANTASY, allowing for non-linear gameplay and features new and unique job classes, which provide diverse looks for the leading female characters and an enhanced character development system. The first female-led FINAL FANTASY hails the return of a free-spirited Yuna, her enthusiastic cousin Rikku and introduces Paine, their sarcastic, hardnosed friend. The game is filled with light-hearted and melancholy moments, fueled by a tragic story of unrequited love and ominous secrets that threaten the peace of their world, Spira.

Taking place two years after Yuna’s fateful journey to defeat Sin in FINAL FANTASY X, the once chaotic world of Spira has gone through a massive transformation, entering a period of “Eternal Calm.” Despite the Calm, Yuna’s heart is empty and longs for her lost love. When she obtains a mystical sphere that contains imagery of what might be the Blitzball player she thought was gone forever, Yuna is driven to seek the truth behind what she has seen.

Throughout the land of Spira, players will find “spheres” which contain visual recordings of historical events. The trio of “sphere hunters” - Yuna, Rikku and Paine - is out to search and collect the spheres. “Dress spheres” are also collected, opening up different types of jobs ranging from Warrior, White Mage, Alchemist to Trainer and many more, all of which can be changed in the heat of battle. In addition, dynamic movements have been incorporated into gameplay resulting in a deeper immersion of the game. Additional information on FINAL FANTASY X-2 can be found at http://www.square-enix-usa.com/games/FFX-2/.

About Square Enix Co. Ltd. and Square Enix U.S.A., Inc.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) develops, publishes and distributes entertainment contents including interactive entertainment software and publications in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Square Enix brings two of Japan’s best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 48 million units worldwide and DRAGON QUEST (DRAGON WARRIOR® in North America) which has sold over 31 million units worldwide - under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Square Enix U.S.A. Inc., located in Los Angeles, Calif., handles operations in North America including localization, marketing and publishing of Square Enix titles. More information on Square Enix U.S.A. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com/.