Gaming News Round-Up: December 14th, 2004

Today's round-up includes information on a North American Final Fantasy concert series, as well as some interesting Chinese space simulation development work. - Square Enix, Inc has announced a multi-date 'Dear Friends' Final Fantasy symphony concert series for North America, starting on Saturday, February 19, 2005, at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, IL. The concert, featuring full orchestrations of Final Fantasy music alongside projections of classic moments frmo the series, will be performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and the CPO Festival Choir, and produced by series composer Nobuo Uematsu, who will also make an appearance at the concert series. A previous 'Dear Friends' concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, conducted around the time of E3 2004, sold out swiftly, leading to this series, for which additional dates and venues are yet to be confirmed. - New Jersey-based Pyramid Design has announced the development of an open-ended simulation engine, called A-OK! Spacecraft Simulation System, that can be used to produce many types of simulators for launch vehicles and spacecraft. The company has also announced that Hongyu Space Technology, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, will use the completed system to produce a commercial game-like product that simulates the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft, the first manned spacecraft of the People's Republic of China. This joins the existing Mac-based product, A-OK! The Wings of Mercury, which simulates a range of U.S.-constructed Mercury spacecraft.