Square Enix Channel and their antics!

A couple of months back, a trademark filing surfaced for a "Final Fantasy XIII-3," prompting speculation that Square Enix was planning another Final Fantasy XIII numbered sequel to follow the upcoming FFXIII-2. Square Enix Japan's PR department -- or, at least one member of the department -- has at last issued a statement about the registration.

In the latest installment of the weekly Square Enix Channel radio broadcast, Square Enix public relations agent Akio Ofuji explained that the name was just taken as a precaution by the company's US office.

The reason the name was suddenly brought in this installment of the radio broadcast is that one of the show's hostesses, voice actress Asuka Nishi, had apparently been asked by Square Enix to help promote XIII-2, and she decided to do so by contacting Ofuji, who was on business in France at the time. She pleaded with him to let her have a voice role in XIII-3, which she said she'd heard about on the internet.

Ofuji's response was that he himself had first heard about the domain name on the internet. The name was registered by the US office without knowledge of Square Enix Japan.

Final Fantasy XIII was only a minor part of this week's broadcast, which was focused primarily on Fortune Street Wii. To listen to the broadcast for yourself, visit the Square Enix Channel official site. Nishi's conversation with Ofuji appears for a couple of minutes about 3/4 of the way through.