Final Fantasy XI was originally planned for the Xbox too

Straight from Austin's Game Developer Conference there is an excellent summary of Hiromichi Tanaka’s keynote speech. Way back in 1999 when he was working on Final Fantasy XI there was a version planned for the original Xbox. However, the original Xbox specs only included a 2GB hard drive, which left no room for expansion packs. The port was canned early on, but Square-Enix has been thinking about support Microsoft’s family of consoles longer than previously believed.

Coming this winter is the fourth Final Fantasy XI expansion pack, Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess, which will have a simultaneous release around the world. Also in development is a brand new MMO from Square-Enix, which uses Final Fantasy XIII’s “White Engine”. Final Fantasy XI isn’t Square-Enix’s only MMO. Fantasy Earth, Front Mission Online, Concerto Gate and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII are some of their other projects, but all of them remained in Asia.