Window Size and Display Mode: 1280×720 (Windowed)
Ambient Occlusion: OFF
Depth of Field: ON
Shadow Detail: Standard
Multisampling: 4x MSAA
Buffer Size: Window Size
Texture Quality: High
Texture Filtering: High

And here is the final recommended system requirements:

OS Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit*
CPU Intel Core i7 2.66GHz or higher
RAM 4GB or more
HDD/SDD Installation: 15GB of free space
Download: 6GB of free space on the drive containing “My Documents”
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more
Sound Card DirectSound compatible sound card (DirectX 9.0c or higher)
Internet Connection Broadband or better (always-on)
Resolution 1280×720 (32-bit) or higher
DirectX DirectX 9.0c
Others Mouse, Keyboard, Gamepad
On a 64-bit OS, the software will run via WOW64 ( Windows 32-bit On Windows 64-bit )

According to their tweet, beta invites were sent out to get “thousands of new applicants”. So, if you tried you luck out by sending in your application for that beta, you’d best keep refreshing that inbox of yours, lest you miss it.

“We’ve sent Beta Test acceptance mails to thousands of new applicants! Might you be one of them!? Check your mailbox…RIGHT NOW!”

You’d be crazy not to do as you’re told.

Here’s what you’re going to get from the Collector’s Edition of Final Fantasy XIV. Oh, wait. You didn’t know Square Enix was coming out with one? Well they are. But so far, it’s for the PC only.

IN-GAME ITEM – Collector’s Edition preorders will include a reward code to receive an exclusive in-game item, the Onion Helm (an exclusive in-game item which accelerates character recovery after falling in battle).
EARLY ACCESS – Play 8 days prior to the release of the Windows PC Standard Edition (timing of access subject to initial server capacity).
BEHIND-THE-SCENES DVD – Get an insider look at the making of FINAL FANTASY XIV, with exclusive video content, interviews and more in this special documentary DVD.
SECURITY TOKEN – A FINAL FANTASY XIV–branded Security Token for use with your regular password.
TRAVEL JOURNAL – Record your travels in this beautifully bound journal filled with pages of never-before-seen concept art.
RIGHT OF PASSAGE – Redeem a voucher to receive your fully-personalized Right of Passage Certificate, each stamped with a unique serial number.
AMANO COVER – Special PC Collector’s Edition illustration by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano.

The Final Fantasy XIV Collector’s Edition will be available on September 22, 2010, practically a full week ahead of the standard edition’s release, which is slated for September 30. Purchase of the SE will also give you 30 days of game-time, although you can subscribe monthly to it for US$ 12.99. Meanwhile, the CE will cost you US$ 74.99.

No word yet if this Collector’s Edition is crossing over to the PS3, so we suggest you keep those fingers crossed. Oh, and keep it that way too for the new release date of Final Fantasy XIV’s PS3 version.

Here is what it looks like :

Square Enix has announced that the PC version of the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV will be released on September 30, the bad news, the PS3 version will not be available until March of 2011. According to the games executive producer Hiromichi Tanaka:

“This September, players around the world will join together to explore the fascinating and exciting realm of Eorzea. We’re presenting players with a new style of online gameplay, that we know will please avid fans of online games, but welcome more casual gamers as well with the variety of gameplay and story-driven content.”

The game will be available in two versions, a standard edition that will cost US$ 49.99 and a collectors edition that will retail for US$ 74.99. It will be out on September 22 and will include “a behind-the-scenes DVD, a special branded security token, a FFXIV branded tumbler, map, a travel journal including concept art, the Onion Helm in-game item, a 30-day free trial period for the game and a pass that allows a guest to play for free for a limited time.” While the monthly subscription fee will be US$ 12.99.

A beta version of the game will go live in early July. For those wondering about the games requirements, you need to have a Windows XP/Vista/7, Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 15GB HDD space, NVIDIA GeForce 9600 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 2900 512MB and DirectX 9.

Let’s set the whole Xbox 360 version possibility aside for now and try and take a look at the PC and PS3 versions which are currently under development. Fortunately, Gametrailers has footages of both, so now we can see how far Final Fantasy XIV has come along. You can download it here.

Microsoft and Square Enix may be in talks about bringing Final Fantasy XIV to the Xbox 360, but there’s a reason that Square preferred to stay with the PS3 and PC up to this point. According to game director Hiromichi Tanaka, Microsoft wanted a closed environment for Xbox Live and that’s the biggest reason why it couldn’t work.

“The main reason why we couldn’t go with Xbox 360 was the Xbox Live system,” Tanaka told Eurogamer. “[Live is] different to the normal internet environment, so when we wanted to introduce this game in the same environment as Windows PC it had to be PS3, so that was our choice.”

“Microsoft has a different point of view: they want to have a closed environment for Xbox Live. We’re still talking to… We couldn’t come to an agreement on Xbox Live,” he added.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Yoichi Wada said that first and foremost, he’d like to see network structure that allowed third parties to “freely design different business schemes” – something that is not possible given Microsoft’s policies on Xbox Live. While the game itself could run absolutely fine on the system, it should be deprived of a few online features should Final Fantasy XIV indeed go to the Xbox 360.

[via Eurogamer / Qj.net]

Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of Final Fantasy XIV, has confirmed that the game will indeed be caught running at 1080p. That is, however, for the PC only.

So what of the PS3 version of the game? He says that it is locked to run at 720p on Sony’s power console. “The PS3 version will be running in 720p in order to ensure performance remains high quality,” he explained, “but the PC version can go up to 1080p if your machine is powerful enough as you pointed out. We also support multiple displays, so players can use two or three displays to show that game.”

Aside from the game running on multiple displays, it will also be running in 3D for those of you that can either afford a new gfx card/monitor or a TV.

To kick off E3, Square Enix has released the Final Fantasy XIV Online Benchmark to the public. Get a sneak peek into the world of Hydaelyn and make sure your system is up to spec for when the game launches later this year.

Square-Enix slipped this past me and alot of people yesterday and posted it up on their site. you can download it from our site here, nVidia’s here, and ironically enough, you cannot download it from the official site yet, but you can view everything about the Benchmark @ the site located here