" When Sony dropped support of the HDD hard drive for the PlayStation 2, effective with the launch of the PSTwo redesign, the flow of new players ground to a trickle, with the only real options either being the PC version of the game, or for gamers to hunt down refurbished, original style PS2s. While the game has sustained itself, the Final Fantasy XI community is now in for its first real infusion of new players in quite some time, thanks to the upcoming Xbox 360 version of the game. While the 360 version made its debut at this past E3, then its first public appearance at Square-Enix's event in Japan over the summer (and subsequently at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show), 1UP made a special trip to Japan to get some hands-on time with the game at the Square-Enix headquarters in Shinjuku, Tokyo. We also took the opportunity to sit down with Final Fantasy XI producer, Hiromichi Tanaka, to discuss the status of the game as is, as well as the upcoming expansion pack, FFXI: Treasures of Aht Urghan, along with the 360 version in particular. "