Square has announced that it will be releasing its titles on the Playstation
(PS) and for Windows ‘95 operating system.
Final Fantasy VII will be released in Japan in time for the 1996 Christmas
selling season for the Sony Playstation.  Its going to be 2 CD’s, and cost
approx. 5,800 yen.
At the moment, SoJ has elected to develop and publish games only for the PS,
though it is still examining and analyzing all available platforms and
options for expansion.

Why the switch to Sony?
	Square’s games require a significant amount of storage space for graphics,
programming and text.  Memory requirements continue to grow rapidly, and
Square’s designers are creating more complicated and sophisticated games.
	To date, we have been able to pack a surprising amount of data into the mask
ROM’s included in each [Nintendo] game cartridge.  But the cost of these mask
ROMs is very high.  The only logical alternative is a storage medium that can
handle the capacity of these new games.
	Square explored all the solutions, and decided that based on both price and
capacity, the CD-ROM was the best medium--presently available--for its future
titles, and that Sony’s product offered precisely the specifications/tools
etc. the Square designers were looking for.
	Example:
	Mask ROM:  128 M bit
	CD-ROM:     5,120 M bit

Which titles will be released on the PS?
	The Final Fantasy series will be the first to find its way to the PS.  Games
from Square’s other product lines will be released as they become available.
Specific titles have not been announced yet.

After releasing the last 16-bit titles, will Square publish exclusively for
the PS?
	That is the plan, at least for now, but Square is constantly researching new
platforms to expand into.  We will also be making games for the Windows ‘95
operating system for PC.

Does Square’s decision to target the PS mean it will never publish titles for
the N64?  Will Square publish for the N64 bulky drive if they approve of the
specs?
	Due to the memory limitations and cost of ROMs, Square won’t release any
more cartridge-based products.  Since Square hasn’t heard anything with
regard to the technology that will be utilized in the Bulky drive (specs,
etc.), it was forced to choose a hardware platform based on known or
published information.  Due to the lack of information at the present time,
Square would prefer not to comment on the possibility of publishing games for
the Bulky drive.

Will Square publish for any other platforms, such as the Sega Saturn, 3DO,
N64, etc.?
	Square is now researching all next generation platforms to expand into.

Why is Square moving into PS development when the installed base is only
around 3 million units?
	We believe that by releasing games on the PS we can help drive sales of PS
hardware (systems).

To date, CD-ROM drives have been plagued by slow access times.  Does Square
have some tool or resource that will minimize this problem?
	These kinds of problems can be solved via technological/programming
innovations.  We believe we can minimize this problem with new technology and
better programming.