You think FFXIV's announcement is premature?

I remember watching these, huddled around my old tank of a computer, still chugging along on Windows 98 and dial-up internet. The event was Square Millenium, back in January of 2000. A series of consecutive trailers was shown; first was gameplay from Final Fantasy IX which was released several months later in July.

The second, with bated breath, was the announcement of Final Fantasy X in junction with PlayOnline. The first Final Fantasy in the next generation! My mouth was agape as I saw the black-haired character that would evolve into Tidus jaunt across the screen in full and smooth 3-D. Swinging the camera around in all directions proved that pre-rendered backgrounds were all but a distant memory. (Although, the final version didn't give you camera control and it did have pre-rendered backgrounds in some instances.)



After that, after Final Fantasy X had left me in a stupor, another trailer started. This, of course, was the debut announcement of Final Fantasy XI. As the trailer played, I had no concept at that time of what the game would be or become. When the words "online another world" appeared on the screen, it was clear.



SOURCES: monokoma [YouTube]