With hundreds of thousands of prepurchasers already set to buy Final Fantasy VII on its September 7 release date, Sony has firmed up its marketing plans for the game.

　　Sony has launched a multimillion dollar marketing campaign, with three dedicated television spots - cable, network, spot and syndication - in addition to print advertising, national promotions, and point-of-purchase displays. Starting in September, customers who buy PlayStation hardware will receive a Square demo disc, which includes a playable demo of Final Fantasy VII and previews of other soon-to-be-released Square titles.

　　Limited edition Final Fantasy VII T-shirts have been given out to over 260,000 prepurchasers of the game so far. Best Buy is also giving a limited edition Final Fantasy VII phone card to consumers, which gives them five minutes of prepaid long distance calls and five prepaid minutes on Sony's hint line, in case they get stuck in the game.

　　"Based on Final Fantasy VII's incredible record - breaking sales success in Japan, with 2.5 million copies being sold in the first three days, and the incredible feedback we've already been receiving from North American retailers - we want to make every attempt to ensure that consumers don't walk away empty-handed on Sept. 7," Jack Tretton, SCEA's vice president of sales said in a statement. "We want to give the customer every possible opportunity to purchase this groundbreaking title as soon as it hits the market."