After a month of its release, Sony's PlayStation 2 had sold an amazing 1 400 000 units. At the end of last week, it reached the 2 million mark. This is good news for Sony, as there were concerns over certain faults with the machine and export restrictions. There is no doubt that the PS2 will keep on selling as big name games, and of course RPGs, continue to be announced.
Source: [Minaduki]

Various media reported that due to the lack of certain parts of the Gameboy Advanced, it will be delayed. This has been vehemently denied by Nintendo, saying "We have not made any announcements regarding the delay of Gameboy Advanced due to a lack of parts". After being asked whether the handheld would be released on time, Nintendo replied "Around the time of the Financial Report in May, we may announce the release date of GBA". Looks like eager gamers will have to wait.
Source: [Minaduki]

From June 29 in Japan, 4 previously released Square games will be sold at a cheaper price of 3800 yen (about 37 US dollars). Called "Square Millenium Collection", the games will be Saga Frontier, Saga Frontier 2, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Brave Fencer Musashi.
Source: [Minaduki]

Rumors are going around Japanese sites that around August a "Wonderswan Color" will be announced for a Christmas release. Apparently it will be slightly smaller to the black and white Wonderswan, and the buttons will be gold. Further, there is speculation that the Wonderswan version of Final Fantasy will use the color version.
Source: [Minaduki]

The upcoming Shen Mue - Chapter II will be influenced by Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa's epic The Seven Samurai. In an interview with the magazine Asahi Graph, Yu Suzuki commented that the camera work in the game has been inspired by the movie.
Source: [G-Next]

Pokemon Gold & Silver is finally starting to lose places in the charts, according to this week's Weekly Famitsu magazine. So far, it has sold 5 238 698 copies all together but it is now 11th place in the charts.
Source: [Weekly Famitsu]

Three major RPGs are in the top most wanted games, according to Weekly Famitsu. Number 1 is, of course, Final Fantasy IX, Number 2 is Dragon Quest VII, and Number 3 is Final Fantasy X.
Source: [Weekly Famitsu]

Square has started releasing trading cards with Final Fantasy artwork by Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshitaka Amano, as well as CG images. There are over a hundred different cards, with each pack randomly generated. On the back of the cards is various information regarding the picture, whether it be character or scene information. Called Final Fantasy Art Museum, it will be sold in stores in Japan, and an American release is not unlikely, due to the popularity of the series.
Source: [Weekly Famitsu]

Another new RPG is coming to the Dreamcast. Called Ring Age and made by Takuyo, the game will be a network action RPG in which players will have to battle for items in a dungeon. There is also a story mode for a single player.
Source: [Takuyo, Weekly Famitsu]