Squaresoft 5-1ch Movie Collection Promo DVD

1 General Information
2 Media
- 2.1 Images

General Information[edit]

Chrono Cross[edit]

This Squaresoft 5.1ch promotional DVD special disc could only be obtained by purchasing a P2DiPOLE speaker system, which came out in Japan in 2000. This item was never available to buy separately. The P2DiPOLE speaker system was specifically tailored to the then newly launched Playstation 2's Dolby Digital playback capability. This disc was included as a bonus for the early adopters of the Playstation 2, as the PS2 was the first home console to have DVD playback capability.

Original price for this package was 29,800 yen, which equaled about $276 in USD using the May 2000 exchange rate. The Square 5.1ch Movie Collection was an incentive bonus for buyers to adopt early. (Note that this is a standard Region 2 DVD and can be played back in any multiregion DVD player.) This disc was meant to be something of a tech demo for new Playstation 2 owners. What makes this DVD special for Final Fantasy fans is that the Square Visual Works department remastered the game's CG to full DVD resolution specifically for this limited disc. As you may know, the original PS1 had a fairly low native resolution, approximately 320 x 224. All movies on this disc have been mastered directly at 720 x 540. As such, you can see more detail and resolution in these clips than you could on the Playstation releases. In addition, the disc credits state that Square Sounds was responsible for upgrading the sound to Dolby Digital 5.1 to demonstrate the capacity of the P2DiPO speaker system.

This disc includes clips from the following Squaresoft titles:

Final Fantasy VIII
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Front Mission 3
Chrono Cross

Note that only a couple scenes per game are featured. For Chrono Cross, these are a) Serge regaining his human body and b) Terra Tower transforming. For more information, visit this link (in Japanese).