TOKYO - While the biggest surprises of Square Millennium were all Final Fantasy-related, that wasn't all Square had to offer attendees. Taking up perhaps the biggest amount of time during the presentation was PlayOnline, Square's new online service that will begin in 2001 (it is also the name of a magazine currently published/distributed by DigiCube). Square began the Millennium show with a short scenario of the future, where three friends used the PlayOnline service to meet, send messages (one from a remote place), and play Final Fantasy XI (in a simulated scenario of what the game will be like).

　　After viewing online comics, chatting, and setting a time where they could all play, the three basically ended up meeting at the beginning of a dungeon, first looking through a strategy guide-type interface to get a few early tips and then proceeded inside. This type of online strategy guide will be integrated not only into Final Fantasy X but XI as well so that this scenario could come true in the future.

　　Not only for gaming, PlayOnline will provide users (and families) with a broad range of services. Here's some of the highlights:

　　Music – Users will be able to view various music charts (such as Top 20 singles, etc.) updated on a set schedule (or perhaps real-time according to popularity of downloads, etc.) and download songs to listen to.

　　Manga – If you're a fan of Japanese comics (manga), then you'll be able to read your favorites from the comfort of in front of a monitor or TV screen with this service. The latest comics will be offered, and to illustrate this point, Square had two popular artists address the crowd (one on video, the other, live).

　　Sports – Sports nut? Square plans on offering real-time statistics for sports from around the world. Another features of the Sports section will make it possible to download the latest stats and use them in sports games for the PS2. Square VP Hironobu Sakaguchi said, for instance, you could download the results of a race held sometime in the past (yesterday or earlier) and race in a racing game against “ghosts” of those racers in their real cars to see how you'd fare racing against them. Needless to say, this could be an interesting feature in any sports game.

　　Chat/E-mail – Instead of general e-mail, users who sign up for PlayOnline can set up a character name for use in the virtual world. You can decide who knows your real name (or even if they do) and you'll be able to access your messages and friends list from remote locations saved onto a memory card. Each user has a friends list to keep in touch with those people they know or play games with, and will be able to tell if they're online and what they're currently doing. One may be reading Manga, the other browsing the latest sports scores. You'll also be able to keep a shared schedule, where you can post meeting times/dates to do something together online or in real life.

　　Internet Browsing – PlayOnline will also let users browse the ‘Net via a standard web browser.

　　Everything else – Square also plans on offering e-commerce destinations where shoppers can browse a virtual store, “approximating real shopping” (from a Square press release. Square's DigiCube subsidiary, which distributes not only games but music and other items as well, will assist in the implementation of e-commerce. Other features such as news will be offered, and Sakaguchi briefly mentioned that users may be able to view real-life events around the world over PlayOnline, bringing them closer to what happens in the far corners of the world.

　　To achieve all of this by 2001, Square has joined forces with NTT Communications Corporation. While the PlayStation2 will be the primary point of access, it's not exactly known how users will connect…there's no modem planned for PlayStation2 (instead, Sony was heading directly for broadband access, such as over cable modem). Since Square has employed NTT Communications, it's expected that this will be some kind of dial-in service. Additional specifics such as how much this service will cost, and whether a similar service would be introduced outside of Japan were not discussed.

　　Of course, while many of the features of PlayOnline where highly touted as revolutionary…many are already offered (at least in the U.S.) by services such as AOL, MSN, and other ISPs. So it didn't seem to those of us in the audience who use the ‘Net all the time every day like much of a step up, except for the online play guides and online aspects of FFXI. Also, the short skit at the front of the presentation portrayed these three people as completely dependant on this virtual world, unable to escape its grasp…addicted. Will it catch on as Square hopes? Guess we'll find out in another year or so.