As of this writing, Square's new PlayOnline.com website is activated and ready for mass viewing. By now, I'm sure most of our readers have heard of PlayOnline, Squaresoft's upcoming gaming and information network. The network is scheduled to launch in 2001, and it will be required to play the fully-online Final Fantasy XI. Well, what does PlayOnline have to do with PlayOnline.com, you might ask? Not a whole lot, as it turns out.

As it turns out, PlayOnline.com will play a similar role to Square's main consumer website, www.squaresoft.com, providing news, game information, and more. In this early stage of the website's existance, content is limited. However, what is available is sure to please Squaresoft fans, such as a talk between Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Final Fantasy character designer Yoshitaka Amano. What begins as an interview conducted by Mr. Amano ends as an informal chat between the two, discussing the intertwinings of art, nature, and Final Fantasy.

More on PlayOnline.com that will be of great interest to Square fans include a Final Fantasy IX desktop wallpaper gallery and a Final Fantasy IX character art section. The site also includes a company page with links to other Squaresoft sites, as well as a currently content-devoid news section. PlayOnline.com wouldn't be complete, of course, without some information on Square's upcoming PlayOnline network service. Don't worry, an interesting PlayOnline "demo" is available, as well as a PlayOnline FAQ. PlayOnline.com has some great features now and is sure to have even more exclusive Square information in the future, so RPGamer suggests you check it out.