Eorzea Prelive gave us a lot of new information to sift through, so let's get straight down to brass tacks.  Part one of our Eorzea Prelive covers the facts as they were presented.  How will Final Fantasy XIV change between now and the retail version?  What things will be added for adventurers to enjoy?  Square Enix has been kind enough to provide a summary in English of all those nitty-gritty details.  We present it to you below, interspersed with pictures direct from the event!

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The Japanese Square Enix Members account has been buzzing on Twitter today about the upcoming sales campaign for Final Fantasy XIV. Gaming stores across the country are about to receive some posters, standees and wall scrolls to decorate their windows and get the word out. I apologize for the poor quality, but the account holder appears to use a tiny cell phone camera most of the time.

Check below for the pictures!

Just hours ago, Square Enix announced on the official Final Fantasy XIV Twitter account that select net cafes in Japan will be hosting the Final Fantasy XIV beta.  In total, there will be nine establishments players can turn to for access to Eorzea:

• Monkey Net (もんきーねっと) in Chiyoda ward, Tokyo
• Comic Buster (コミックバスター) in Machida, Tokyo
• Net Cafe Warehouse (ネットカフェウェアハウス) in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa
• GRAN CYBER CAFE BAGUS in Osaka city, Osaka
• Internet Cafe @wan (インターネットカフェアットワン) in Osaka city, Osaka
• MUSE CLUB in Uji city, Kyoto
• Internet & Manga Kissa-ciao (インターネット＆まんが喫茶チャオ in Nishio city, Aichi
• Conpara (コンパラ) in Toyokawa city, Aichi
• Aprecio (アプレシオ) in Shizuoka-city, Shizuoka

According to the promotional site, prospective adventurers can go to the service counter at any of these locations to check if any booths with the beta installed are available.  If there is a spot open, the customer will receive a registration code, which is then used on the Square Enix Account Management page to register the account for the FFXIV beta.  Once that is complete, the customer is in!

If you happen to live in any of the areas listed above, you can get more details by clicking here.  Links beside each location will open a page with a full address and map to your desired cafe.  For players in Japan waiting for that ever-elusive beta code -- or with a less than stellar computer -- this could be a good opportunity to experience the beta first-hand.

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Nothing huge in the magazines this week, but Final Fantasy XIV has reached a milestone in its build-up to release.  In Famitsu, the MMO has broken into the top 5 of the 30 Most Anticipated Games for the first time!  According to the survey, FFXIV garnered 410 votes, falling 99 votes shy of Ni no Kuni in 4th place.

Games in the top 5 get a picture and a small blurb.  FFXIV has a shot of Meglaocrabs and a description of how they live along the La Noscea coast and that the red ones are Snippers.  Kind of an odd choice when most blurbs contain a something more representative of the game itself.

As Famitsu focuses mainly on console games, FFXIV is listed for the PlayStation 3.  Only the PS3 date is currently listed, which is tentatively set for early March 2011.  The price for the PS3 version is still unknown.

Game Entertainment conducted a "Key Person Interview" with key people Hiromichi Tanaka and Nobuaki Komoto. The interview revolved around their goals regarding their newest MMO, and the themes it is based on. They had a lot to say, so let's get right into it.

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Two perky idols from Morning Musume, Ai Takahashi and Linlin, stopped by the Square Enix offices to try out something new -- an online game! Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Director Nobuaki Komoto sat them down in front of Final Fantasy XIV to give it a test run and share their impressions. The interview was recorded in this month's volume of Game Entertainment!/p>

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The Final Fantasy XIV beta is confirmed for July 10th!  Just two more days until lucky testers get to jump in and play with the new and improved Eorzea.

Today, Famitsu published a few comments from Battle Planner Atsushi Okada on some of the improvements he has made to the battle system.  Check out what he had to say after the break.

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Enterbrain, the company that publishes Weekly Famitsu, has now released an application, or app, if you will, for the iPhone and iPad.  The app updates itself every Friday with a small "preview" version of the magazine, which hits shelves every Thursday.

Famitsu has brought us so many great Final Fantasy XIV articles and interviews over the past year, so I thought it would be worth a look.  Let's see what the app has to offer, and how you get it for yourself!

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A reporter for ITMedia Games, with an admittedly sour outlook on MMOs, sat down with Final Fantasy XIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka to find out what he was missing.

Tanaka sheds some light on his motivations and those of his team and tries to explain how FFXIV will set itself apart in a world already swamped with MMOs.

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Famitsu.com has brought us a host of new monsters that will be stomping their way into Eorzea.  Translations and descriptions should appear on the official Final Fantasy XIV site soon, but for the time-being, I took a quick crack at it.

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