Ultimania

This is a list of companion books relating to games developed and published by Square Enix

Square Enix

is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

. Starting with Final Fantasy III, Square began publishing guide books for its games which traditionally include additional content such as developer interviews and expanded plot and setting information. Studio BentStuff wrote the first Ultimania book for Final Fantasy VIII in 1999, though the company had been contracted to write Final Fantasy VII True Script Dissection for the previous game. Since then, Ultimania books have been written for every major Final Fantasy title, including Battle Ultimania, Scenario Ultimania, and Ultimania Omega editions for some games. Square experimented with online content delivery with Final Fantasy IX Online Ultimania, but the move was unsuccessful. Another online Ultimania was planned for Final Fantasy XI, but it was dropped during development. In addition to the standard releases, Square Enix has produced a few expanded editions, such as Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition.

History

Before the branding of "Ultimania", Square had released a number of guide books with a similar focus on expanding backstory and including developer interviews and concept artwork. This concept evolved into Perfect Works by DigiCube. The company was then contracted to create Final Fantasy VII True Script Dissection and then Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, the first Ultimania book. Since then, Ultimania books have been written for every major Final Fantasy title, including Battle Ultimania, Scenario Ultimania, and Ultimania Omega editions for some games.

List of works

Title	Publisher	Date

Perfect Works

Perfect Works is a series of video game-related books published by DigiCube. Only four books were published: the first was dedicated to Xenogears

Xenogears

is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...

and printed in October 1998 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. One book dedicated to SaGa Frontier 2

SaGa Frontier 2

is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. It is the eighth original game in their SaGa series. Initially released in Japan in April 1999, an English version was made available in North America in January 2000 by Square Electronic Arts and in the PAL region the following...

and another one dedicated to Front Mission 3

Front Mission 3

is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation developed by and published by Square Co., Ltd., and was released in Japan on September 2, 1999, and later in North America on March 22, 2000, and in Europe on August 11, 2000. Front Mission 3 is the third main entry and the fifth entry overall in...

were released in 1999. The last book was dedicated to The Bouncer

The Bouncer

is a beat 'em up for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. It was co-developed by Square and DreamFactory. The game features character designs by Tetsuya Nomura and music by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi....

and was released in 2001.

These books contain artwork, timelines and detailed descriptions of events of the related games. The Xenogears Perfect Works notably contains detailed information of the world where the game is set, giving indepth descriptions of the characters, creatures, geographical and historical settings, covering all the intended six episodes of Xenogears.

Title	Publisher	Date

is a series of comprehensive video game information books written by Studio BentStuff and published by Square Enix

Square Enix

(formerly under the title of their now-disbanded publishing subsidiary, DigiCube

DigiCube

DigiCube Co., Ltd. was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of DigiCube was to market and distribute Square products, most notably video games and related merchandise, including toys,...

) in Japan

Japan

. The name "Ultimania" is a portmanteau of ultimate and mania. The series recorded a cumulative circulation of over 10 million copies at the end of 2007.

Title	Publisher	Date

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.