Square finally unveiled a demo version of Final Fantasy VIII at its shareholder meeting yesterday. So we'll have new info about the game in the coming month or so.

　　GameSpot News previously reported about an upcoming stockholder's meeting at Square to show off the company's highly anticipated title, Final Fantasy VIII.

　　Here's some information about the game from that meeting:

　　There is a strange-shaped building in the game that serves as a school for soldiers like West Point. It's called Garden. Squall is one of the trainees of the school. It is a private school for kids from six to 19 years of age. If a kid doesn't pass the graduation exam during the ages of 15 to 19, the kid will be expelled from Garden.

　　There's no magic shop in FFVIII. Basically, normal people cannot use magic, but Garden graduates are exceptional and can. A much harder goal than passing the graduation exam is to become a member of SeeD. SeeD is a special force like the Green Beret or French Foreign Legion. Highly capable trainees have a chance to try out for SeeD. Squall is hoping to become a member of the squad. There are several new features for battle mode: 1) Among the commands like Fight, Magic, and Item, there is a new command called Draw where you can "draw" magic from the monster you're fighting. After selecting Draw, you choose Use or Stock. Stock means you can save it for another battle. If you draw magic, you can use it only once. Currently, it is not known how much magic you can save. And of course, you can't always draw magic from anything.

　　2) The second new feature is Guardian Force. It's much like summoning a monster, but this time the monster evolves as it gains experience in battle. You select command then you select your monster. It clearly shows that you can have several monsters as guardians. 3) On the demo disc, Squall's gunblade is available. As Squall turns, there's a gauge for the gunblade. If you pull the trigger (R1 button) at the proper time, it will bring bigger damage for the opponent. Other tidbits: Square said that the Chocobos will be a little different this time to give them a more realistic feel. Laguna will not be included on the demo disc. Despite the previous reports, Biggs and Wedge will have cameo appearances in the game. Square had second thoughts and decided to include them.