PS2: Final Fantasy XI Update, Questions

 
   The servers for FFXI have been up and down over the past couple of days since the game's release (mostly down, however). Due to the problems, Square is waiving the fees for PlayOnline to customers signing up to the service between May 16 and June 30. 
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   We're unable to set up an FFXI account with PlayOnline and would like to hear from anyone who has had success setting up service in the United States or Europe. Overnight, Sony made an announcement concerning ISPs/users being unable to log into PlayOnline and they're working on a fix but we're unsure if this is the reason that we're unable to set-up an account or if Square has locked out service to anyone outside of Japan. We've heard from one customer in Hong Kong who used a Japanese address and a Japanese credit card to authenticate his account on Friday but it's unclear if an account using a USA credit card coupled with a Japanese address will work. We have a couple of Japanese mailing addresses we can use but the credit card bills to an address in the USA and the server's not accepting it. There's a bunch of conflicting information coming in and floating around out there but we'd like to thank Barubary for clearing up some hardware issues concerning Magic Gate and authentication. 
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   Finally, newer PS2 hard drives appear to have problems with the BBNavigator software and will not allow connections to PlayOnline. Any input on this issue would also be much appreciated while we try to figure out whether or not to keep our full shipment of this game, due to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday. We've received a copy over the weekend for trials and testing but so far, we're not getting anywhere with the game. Please send any additional input/help/recommendations to our account at nconsole@earthlink.net. Thank you kindly. 
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 Links of interest
Final Fantasy XI Live Cam Square's PlayOnline
 

 

ETC: Restock, Others [JPN] 

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  • Bloody Roar 3 [BEST] ships to preorders today at US$39. With the PS2 library growing older, expect a wider assortment of older titles to find their way back to the market by way of the Best Collection.
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  • Gamecube Component Cables are in stock again today. Any back-orders will ship this afternoon. Pricing remains at US$39. Here's a useful conversion project for our European customers who need a SCART RGB cable for use with their Gamecube. 
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  • PS2 DDR Max (US$58), Gundam Giren's Ambition (US$58), and Gundam: Federation vs Zeon DX (US$53) were all restocked today and shipping to backorders.
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  • Harry Potter Widescreen DVD was restocked today and shipping. Watch Harry, Hermione, and Ron learn their arcane craft at Hogwarts... a week before the official USA street/ship date.
 
News: Weekly Import Outlook [JPN]

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   There's a selection of imports due on Wednesday but some of the Dreamcast re-releases may be delayed until next week, including Sakura Columns 2 and Guilty Gear X. 
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  • DC Garou Mark of the Wolves, Last Blade 2 Final Edition, and Virtual On Oratorio Tangram. Pricing at US$33 each.
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  • PS2 Eve of Extinction, Runabout 3 Neo-Age. Pricing at US$53. 
   Later in the week but possibly delayed until Monday or Tuesday of next week, PS1 Dragon Quest Monsters 1-2 and PS2 Konohana True Report 2, Blue Train Express are also shipping this week from publishers. Xbox Live World Soccer 2002 may arrive on Thursday-Friday but we'll update accordingly as the week pans out. 
 
NCS Weekly Recap

Monday PS2 Bloody Roar 3 [Best]  NEWS FFXI madness, restock, weekly outlook
Tuesday NEWS FFXI Update, GC Price Drops, PS2 preorders for August 2002, Xbox Live
Wednesday NEWS Additional August preorder portents, NCS half-day...sort of
Thursday NEWS Domo-kun plushie pre-order, Miscellaneous updates
Friday NEWS Domo-kun update, UPS ruins NCS commerce initiatives