Two. Two is the number of cosplayers who prominently donned their garb and turned out for Square Enix's Final Fantasy Anniversary at Sony's store in the Metreon. Harajuku, San Francisco is not. Still, fans of the series were no less eager to get their hands on the newest remastering of the first playable Final Fantasy game on the PlayStation Portable, Final Fantasy Anniversary. Previously, the series had only appeared in the form of the UMD movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

　　Near the stroke of six, the first few Final Fantasy faithful calmly filed through the Metreon's side door (this is a reputable place of business, after all), to be greeted with a grab bag including every eventgoer's ultimate prize--that's right, a free T-shirt. Sony's Metreon store isn't exactly a spacious venue, so the lack of buster swords turned out to be a boon.

　　Human contact was unavoidable as the throngs huddled around video displays of in-game cinematics, green screens, and a huge plasma screen displaying, of all things, coverage of the Square Enix Party in Japan last month. SE also had several kiosks set up that were running Final Fantasy Anniversary, and representatives were quick to point out that the second installment is releasing next month.

　　Urging fans to stick around, Square Enix reps raffled off gift certificates to its recently announced North American online store. Also occurring at regular intervals was a 20th anniversary video montage of highlights and epic moments from the series. Despite SE's better efforts, all the attractions were trumped by Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition itself, as more than a few fans seemed to be content standing around, staring into their PSP screens as they revisited the town of Coneria one more time.