Final Fantasy VIII
Publisher: Square Soft
Developer: Square
Genre: RPG
Origin: Japan
Release Date: Fall 1999

My Personal Opinion:
Everyone is waiting for this game.The 8th game to the blockbuster series. un-doubtly I belive this will be the best one yet. (Just By seing the trailers.) Check them out there awesome!!! If you thought that FFVII was good just wait until this game comes out.

A brief Intro of the game: (quoted from http://www.psmonline.com)
    "The history of the Garden and SeeD: The Garden is a military school where six to nineteen-year-old boys and girls gather to learn military skills while enduring communal living. Each country in the world decided that graduates of the Garden would form a private group, independent of any government or army.

    Assignment to any army was compulsory for Garden graduates depending on
whether negotiations were made between the Garden's staff and a certain country's army. Graduates
could become commanders of a foreign army, but couldn't pick their place of duty. Passing the
intense final exams at the Garden were necessary to attain this lofty
prize, however.

    SeeD is a special forces group dispatched by the Garden. Each member has exceptionally high
abilities, but widely differs in battle capabilities. Garden cadets may opt to take the SeeD Entrance
Exam instead of taking Final Exams, but passing the test is extremely difficult. The duty of a
SeeD member ranges from guarding to riot suppression, regardless of every possible battle
condition.

    Squall Leonhart apparently has a past with SeeD. It's not known whether he was part of SeeD
from the beginning of the game, or developed some sort of relationship along the way. What is known is that he was once part of Garden.

After Final Fantasy VII
    Performed so well in the gameplay and graphics departments (well hell, every department), and the massive, money-laden marketing blitz that Sony implemented ensured its commercial success (it
already had the hard-core RPG market cornered), Square quickly turned to face its new task. To
create an even better, more epic, RPG with Final Fantasy VIII.

    Creating Final Fantasy VIII is sure to be a extraordinary undertaking, and Square, which
has consistently delivered year after year with great games, doesn't appear to be faltering.
With screen-shots, renders, and artwork up across the world, the eighth sequel to the Final Fantasy
series has already captured the world's attention with the force of a knock-out punch.

Only bits and pieces
    Are known about Final Fantasy VIII right now, and more is sure to follow as the months draw near. In fact, when Brave Fighter Musashiden arrives this July in Japan, Square said a bonus demo disk will arrive with a playable version of FFVIII
in it.
   

    But until then, the Final Fantasy VIII world is still a wonderful mystery, with a few exceptions. Since the days when Square worked with sprites on the NES, the characters had to essentially perform as if they were in a play. In FF VIII, you will see the best performance from the characters
ever, attaining the level of a classic drama. With two new characters as definite stars, IGN can describe a little about Squall Leonhart's and Laguna Loire's personalities.

Laguna Loire:
    Laguna Loire is an expressive, optimistic 27-year-old, with a strong sense of justice and charity. Popular with and trusted by his companions, Laguna is the exact opposite of Squall. Originally a
soldier, he is now a journalist who fights for justice.

Squall Leonhart:
    Squall Leonhart is a 17-year-old youth with a large scar on his forehead. He is expressionless and unfriendly. He's essentially a lone wolf. He cares not for himself, and shows no concern for
anything else. Personality-wise, he is very close to Cloud.

    Apparently, Squall was created to appeal to the ladies. His scar apparently has some relationship and meaning to the story. Developers assure that it was not with him in the beginning of the
game, but that it happens to him along the way. Squall's one-of-a-kind Gunblade can only be used by him, just as Laguna (wrong another character is suppose to use a gunblade) and the other characters will have weapons specific to themselves.

Tetsuya Nomura:
    Tetsuya Nomura, in charge of the character designs for Final Fantasy VII and Parasite Eve, revealed these two characters for the upcoming Final Fantasy VIII. Nomura did not reveal whether
these two characters were enemies or friends, and there is also a female character to come. This woman could perhaps be part of a love triangle between Squall and Laguna, but the facts aren't in just yet.

    What is known, however, is that the game will feature fully textured characters, unlike the Gouraurd shaded characters found in Final Fantasy VII. FFVIII's players' party members will appear on the world map and in towns simultaneously, and they should also appear in the game in nearly identical form to the ones displayed in the promo video that was displayed by President Tomoyuki Takechi and Vice President Hironobu Sakaguchi on May 21.

    All of the characters looked much more realistic. This is partly due to the larger size, and partly due to unusually detailed textures. Possibly the most striking thing about the characters' appearance is that they are created in a more universally artistic style, rather than the previously heavy Japanimation style.

Battle Style:
    There's a chance that the style of battle screens will change greatly. The "materia" system in FF VII will be replaced by the system employed in Soukaigi. The player won't use materia, but the
concept of your character being able to create something is now under consideration. Although the movies will be breathtaking, Square doesn't want gamers to overlook their battle and field maps,
either.

    Although Final Fantasy VIII is expected to appear on Japanese retail stores this winter, Takechi explained that the game is being    developed in a more universal style, which is to say that the Japanese version will be easier to understand for overly-eager Westerners."