The FFVII Mobile Game Initiative (2004-2008 Era)

[Shademp]

This thread concerns the hunt for- and hopefully the acquisition of these mobile games and apps from the years 2004-2008, which was before touch screens and smart phones had become mainstream.

By having a list of known compatible mobile phones, we will know what to search for on auction sites. I have already done some searches and asked sellers what games are on said phones. Naturally, I am yet to strike gold.

There are a number of factors making this hunt one unlikely to yield positive results, but it's a fact that if we don't search AT ALL then the game files will remain lost.

​

Spoiler: Acknowledgements

​

- The hunt for these games rely on them having been downloaded onto the mobile phone's internal memory and we can't know how common or uncommon this was. Typically I've found that auctions on these old-type phones don't also include their memory cards. But searching for mobile phones still narrows down the search far more than searching for memory cards would.​

​

- Some games may not be playable at all due to network connectivity demands or game servers containing much of the game data, but even then it will still be considered a victory if we can find and rip game files from a cell phone. Even partial files are better than nothing!​

​

- The ultimate goal is to find these games and create ROMs so that we may ensure their survival.​

​

- I am still at an early stage of reading up on this mobile tech so please correct any of my errors and misconceptions.​

​

​

------------------------------------
(JP) BEFORE CRISIS

  

- NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i Series
-- D901i
-- D902i
-- F901iC
-- F901iS
-- F902i
-- N900i
-- N900iS
-- N901iC
-- N901iS
-- N902i
-- P900i
-- P900iV
-- P901i
-- P901iS
-- P902i
-- SH900i
-- SH901iC
-- SH901iS
-- SH902i
-- SH902iS
-- P-01A
-- N-02A
-- P-03A

Source 1​

Source 2​

Source 3​

- Softbank Yahoo! Mobile phones
-- 920SH
-- 921SH
-- 922SH
-- 923SH

- AU EZweb phones
-- SH008

Source​

Among the FOMA 900i series is the P900iV aka "Cloud's Phone". A latter phone in the series, P903i, came with Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode pre-installed.

Going by this post written by Lex in 2015, we are unlikely to find anything more than incomplete data for Before Crisis and its parts.

The actual BC package is available to download too, but it's just a shell because each episode of the game was temporarily downloaded to the phone to be played (and the game therefore required a network connection). So no, it's not possible to emulate the game on PC. I mean it's theoretically possible, but as far as I know nobody ever collected all of the data.

Even so, I'd like to get my hands on a phone with Before Crisis data no matter how incomplete it is.








------------------------------------
(JP) DIRGE OF CERBERUS: LOST EPISODE

  

  

- NTT DoCoMo FOMA P903i (Game pre-installed, incomplete version)
- NTT DoCoMo FOMA P903iX HIGH-SPEED (Game pre-installed, incomplete version)
- NTT DoCoMo FOMA P904i
- NTT DoCoMo FOMA N904i

The trailer for Lost Episode reads at the end that the game came pre-installed on the P903i and P903iX HIGH-SPEED. This is consistent with online sources, and makes the prospect of finding a Japanese copy of Lost Episode a bit more likely.

Source 1
Source 2
Source 3


**November 2017 update: A P903i phone with the Japanese demo of Lost Episode has been acquired. Methods to extract the game files are still being investigated. The demo is easily played on the phone. See also Page 4 in this thread.**






------------------------------------
(US) DIRGE OF CERBERUS: LOST EPISODE

  

  

- Amp'd Mobile
*Disclaimer: Lost Episode's compatibility across Amp'd mobile phones are not 100% confirmed but all listed phones are deemed "likely compatible".
-- Kyocera KX18 "Jet"
-- Kyocera KX18 "Angel"
-- Motorola E816 "Hollywood"
-- Motorola Razr Amp'd Edition "MOTORAZR"
-- Motorola Q Amp'd Edition "MOTO Q"


- Verizon Wireless phone series:
-- Audiovox 8940
-- Audiovox 8945
-- LG VX8000
-- LG VX8100
-- LG VX8300
-- LG VX8500 Chocolate
-- LG VX9800 The V
-- Motorola E815
-- Motorola K1M KRZR
-- Motorola L7 SLVR
-- Motorola V3C RAZR
-- Motorola V3M RAZR
-- Samsung A890
-- Samsung A930
-- Samsung A950
-- Samsung A970

∙ Source 1
∙ Source 2*
*The list of compatible Verizon phones represent the phones that were officially compatible from June 2007. Some cell phones released later might also have been compatible.

This recording of the English Lost Episode being played at San Diego Comic-Con (July 20-23, 2006) shows the game being played on a Verizon phone. However, when the game was released in August it existed exclusively on Amp'd Mobile for the first three months.









------------------------------------
(US) FFVII SNOWBOARDING - 2005

  

These four mobiles are confirmed compatible according to Marcelo X.
Verizon Wireless phone series:
- Audiovox 8940
- LG VX8000
- LG VX8100
- Samsung A890

*The list of compatible Verizon phones represents the phones that were compatible at the time of FFVII Snowboarding's release. Cell phones released later might also have been compatible.






------------------------------------
(JP) FFVII SNOWBOARDING - 2008

  

The official Before Crisis website has a section about FFVII Snowboarding and confirms the compatible phones:
- NTT Docomo FOMA 902i, 703i series or later








------------------------------------
- Animated Cloud, Tifa & Aerith Avatars

- NTT DoCoMo FOMA P900iV

These animated avatars came pre-installed with the P900iV, aka Cloud's phone, along with other FFVII media.

- NicoNico video showing Aerith avatar

*Update: Radigar discovered downloadable videos showing all the avatars (aka "chara-den") and their animations!

Dowload Video .3GP Aerith Greeting
Dowload Video .3GP Aerith Expression
Dowload Video .3GP Aerith Clapping

Dowload Video .3GP Cloud Greeting
Dowload Video .3GP Cloud Expression
Dowload Video .3GP Cloud Clapping

Dowload Video .3GP Tifa Greeting
Dowload Video .3GP Tifa Expression
Dowload Video .3GP Tifa Clapping

Source: Old Spanish Website called "Square-RPG"

**Update #2, February 2018: I now own two P900iV phones, both of which contain all three chara-den animated avatars. The next step is to find a way to extract the chara-den.



------------------------------------
HONORABLE MENTION

- mova SH505i demonstration app:
Cloud 3D Model

  

  

To demonstrate the 3D capabilities of the NTT DoCoMo SH505i, showcase events had the phone with a 3D Cloud Strife model in them. This app from 2003 has never been observed outside of showcasing events and it seems pretty safe to assume at this point that it was never distributed publically. Because it was never made commercially available it is highly unlikely that a phone with this app on it still exists, but nevertheless it gets an honorable mention here.


Source 1
Source 2

//
Going by first impressions, Howard Forums appears to be a good community to ask and learn about mobile phones of all brands, nations and eras. I'll probably use it to fill in my many blanks regarding cell phone technology.


So what can you do? Ask people who you think might own or used to own phones with FFVII content in them. eBay and JP Yahoo Auctions seem to regularly have some of the listed phone types on sale, so it's worth the trouble of asking a seller if the phone holds any games and if so what these games are.

 

[Tashasaurous]

Sad to say, you'd have better luck in getting Before Crisis at all now is if Square has pity for those who missed out on this game and remake it.

Unfortunately, that's not happening either, and I wished they did, because I still have yet to see a gameplay video of Episode Reno and Episode Legend.

 

[Lex]

This is an excellent idea Shad.

 

[Shademp]

Observed that the Lost Episode trailer actually ends with the following text...

P903i/P903iX HIGH-SPEED にプリインストール
P904i, N904i

Translated:
Preinstalled on P903i / P903iX HIGH-SPEED

So that confirms the validity of the other sources beyond all doubt. My impression here is that the other two models, P904i and N904i, did not come with the game pre-installed.

The official Lost Episode website says this:

料金:800FFポイント(税込840円相&#24403
※ダウンロードするにはmicroSDカードが必要です。

(Google Translate)

Price: 800FF Points (equivalent to 840 yen including tax)
※ microSD card is necessary to download.

So for phones where Lost Episode wasn't pre-installed, you needed a microSD card to have the game downloaded in the first place. This doesn't state however if a microSD was also needed for the installation.


You will find "FF Points" mentioned both for Lost Episode and JP Snowboarding. This website explains the point & currency system of these and other games under the "Final Fantasy Mobile" umbrella. Google translate leaves me confused however so I can't retell how this Point system worked other than that it was used for transactions.

 

[Roger]

That Cloud background model looks great, criminally underused.

 

[ultima espio]

I remember Advent-Children.net had all those avatars up for download back in 04. They look suspiciously like PS2 models...

 

[Strangelove]

i was so fucking sure i had a video of at least the tifa model thing and when i went to look for it all i found was the aerith one

i do have a video of cloud smiles and i'm wondering now if that was some kind of phone bonus because i don't know why i have this otherwise

but i did manage to find a youtube video showing off the character models ('chara-den' or i guess something like 'chara call' where the avatar appears when you make a call and you can press the keys to do little animations so kind of like face-timing but without using your own face)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLRcFXkRdns

edit; this video shows someone going through the phone and in the multimedia menu there's a 'melody from ffvii ac' at about 2:25 which is what i have, so i guess it was an advanced preview of the track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmo8zeqj5c

man i miss flip phones, they were cool and now everything is a boring slab

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

That last line is going in my sig. I don't remember the last time I added something to it, but this is happening.

 

[Cthulhu]

He's got a point though. I haven't been impressed with design in a while . The most daring thing they've done recently is screens that slightly bend along the sides. Science fiction hasn't been inspiring either, they just do the boring slab, but make it transparent.

Spoiler: yawn.

Shit contrast too.

 

[Shademp]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmo8zeqj5c

Original upload by HcloudXIII

HCloud13 doesn't seem to write any replies on YouTube, so I sent him a message on eBay a few days ago to inquire about rare FFVII media. At 5:45 in the video you see a photo of the Before Crisis start menu, but the video description doesn't confirm if the phone actually had BC on it.


Apart from HCloud13/HcloudXIII, I've tried to get in touch with the following people about FFVII mobile games:

- The creator of Final Fantasy Kingdom. I received a reply and the person does not have any media apart from what already exists on their website.

- Marcelo X, hoster of the now defunct WarMECH Domain. Just now I received a reply and just like with FFKingdom, the person in question does not have more files apart from what already exists/existed on their website. Marcelo will be sharing their content with me so that I can confirm the full extent of media that used to be hosted at WarMECH.

- PinoyGenius: Reviewed the English Lost Episode over at GameFAQs. Pinoy is still regularly active at GameFAQs so I'm pretty optimistic about a reply.

- Stephen Palley: Reviewed FFVII Snowboarding over at GameSpot.

- Lawrence Wong: Reviewed FFVII Snowboarding over at GameOver.

- m9105826 and Zookey over at Kotaku. These users can be found among the comments to this Kotaku news article about the 2008 port of FFVII Snowboarding, where they reveal having played the 2005 version. My comments to both of them are still pending approval and I have no idea if Kotaku will grant that approval to my comments, especially for such an old article. m9105826 has been active in recent times, so I may try messaging them on more modern threads.


I wish I knew the whereabouts of Shinra Employee #080729 who submitted their review of Lost Episode to dirgeofcerberus.Net. (The Internet Archive is currently down for me, so here's a copy-paste of the review).

Spoiler: Review of DoC: Lost Episode from dirgeofcerberus.net

By Shinra Employee #080729

Dirge of Cerberus was released for the PlayStation 2 on August 16, 2006; which was soon followed up with its counterpart Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode. The Lost Episode (which is currently only available through Amp’d Mobile.) costs 4.99 to subscribe to or 11.99 to own; yet costs 50 cents or less for each packet download. The packet downloads consist of around 3 events; which can be either stages or cut scenes. While Square-Enix mobile has stated there will be a head to head feature; it was not available at the time of this review.

The game is setup as 7 Chapters (as I refer them as) which are broke down into 33 parts. This includes both levels and scenes. During the course of the game you will be introduced to both characters and creatures encountered in the PS2 version as well as NPC’s (non-player characters) and one special character. The first stages introduce you to the game and sets up the overall objective before introducing the player to the controls by training as you go.

The controls are pretty basic in concept, most phones feature a ring pad which is designated for up/down/left/right arrows followed by an “ok” key in the center. Using the ring pad you can run forward and back or left to right. Hitting the same direction twice will make Vincent dodge roll. The “OK” key will switch Vincent to FPS mode which you can then aim the same way as moving and hitting “OK” again to fire. Accessing the menu to see objectives or to use items is done with the left soft key. Keys 1-3 will swap Vincent’s weapons between Cerberus, Hydra or the Griffon.

I was quite impressed with the graphics of the game given that fact that I was playing on a cell phone. The graphics reminded me of PlayStation graphics or Nintendo DS graphics (Resident Evil DS particularly). The audio was quite well done and could have been mp3, if not CD quality. The sounds were a bit difficult to hear, as there was not much outside of gunshots and the clanking of Vincent running around. It did sound a little scratchy but given a handheld cell I can't complain. Playing the game did drain the battery quite fast so that was downside to playing it continuously for a week.

Taking place between the end of Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 5, Vincent leaves the WRO headquarters and heads for the ShinRa Manor located in Nibelheim. The game lasts around 3-4 hours; (it was a bit difficult to gauge as I was also creating the script for those unable to get the game). After it’s conclusion, I felt there was room for expansion to the story or at least additional stages, as it does not end with Vincent’s arrival in the sewers.

What was enjoyable, is the fact that it expanded (in my opinion) the bizarre relationship between Vincent and the Tsviet; in more ways then one. As well as revealing elements that were never clear about Reeve and Cait Sith and how Deepground got around. We do get to see that Lucrecia and Vincent appeared to be closer then what we see in PS2 version, as it includes a never before seen flashback. While Nero is featured, it’s not really clear what if anything besides wanting to see Chaos he was after.

Overall, I was pleased with the game. It was nothing major as Before Crisis in story, but was visually impression and gives hope to future games Square-Enix may put out on mobile. It also makes me think that Before Crisis can make it to the states now. Would I recommend that you run out and buy it? No, I picked up the phone at 215 bucks only because it had a $100 mail-in rebate and I’m a big Dirge of Cerberus fan. Secondly, I did it to help out other fans of the compilation that aren’t as insane as myself.

 

[Shademp]

Some sites reference a multiplayer component having been added to- or at the very least planned for Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode -Final Fantasy VII-. For months now the only reference I knew of was from this Gamespot interview with Kosei Ito. The interview page was last updated on June 23, 2006.

GS: What's the long term plan for this game?

KI: After a few months in release as a single-player game, we will release a multiplayer version. However, it will not be able to connect with PS2, just mobile to mobile.

Now I found an official Square Enix press release, from May 11, 2006, that sheds a bit more light on this multiplayer idea.

Deepground Elite (DGE) Mode offers online head-to-head action with other players. This mode allows players to take on the role of a Deepground soldier and battle other players in intense battles over the mobile network.

DIRGE of CERBERUS LOST EPISODE -FINAL FANTASY VII- will be available this Summer.

As of yet these are the two only official references I have found to Lost Episode's planned multiplayer component. My guess is that the multiplayer never manifested but in all honesty I do not know.

For some good laughs from a different interview with Kosei Ito, see this post of mine from the Dirge of Cerberus research thread.



I went ahead and transcribed the ending credits to the Japanese version of Lost Episode. Thankfully the credits don't use Japanese symbols so it was a straightforward manual transcription.

I have the contact info to at least two people who worked on this game so I'll be trying to get in touch with them as well.

Spoiler: Lost Episode JP Version Credits

To be continued
in
DIRGE of CERBERUS
FINAL FANTASY VII


Developed by:
IdeaWorks3D Ltd


Producers:
Asuka Kuroda
and
Wayne Meazza


Technical Producer:
Adam Taylor


Lead Designer:
Nic Cusworth


Lead Artist:
Wayne Billingham


Lead Animator:
Paschal McGuire


Lead Programmer:
Dan Borthwick


Senior Designer:
B. Berbank Green


Technical Artist:
Barclay Deeming


Programmers:
Tom Beaumont
John Brewer
Russell Newman
Jason Colman
Mark Sheehan
Ben Woodhall


Tools Programmer:
Simon De Rivaz


Artists:
Jon Berry
Ian Plater
Tony Hagar


Animators:
Dave Pinkney
Alexandra Sydie


Audio Engineer:
Matt Clinch


Airplay Team:
Leon Clarke
Sam Clegg


S3E Team:
Tim Closs
Brian Pearson
Dave Poston
Jeremy Adams


QA Manager:
Jason Cumberbatch


Lead QA:
Dave Fowler


QA:
James Botterill
Dean Butcher
Kenric Narbrough
Christian West


Design support:
Greg Toltz
Michael Bregman

DoJa Port

Producer:
Sai Wun Poon


Lead Programmer:
Richard Powell


Programmers:
John Brewer
Christian Dunst
Steven Jeram
Hlynur Johnsen
Brian Pearson
Sean Scaplehorn


Art Support:
Colin Wren​

Special thanks to:

Executive Producer:
Rob Taylor-Hendry


Development Director:
Adam Wedhurst *Medhurst?*


CEO:
Frazer Wilson


COO:
Alex Caccia


VP Business Development:
Thor Gunnarsson


CTO:
Robert Bjarnason

Very Special thanks to:
Alison Paul


Square Enix Co., Ltd.


Director:
Ryoto Shinzato


Game Design:
Yasuaki Nasu
Toru Osanai


Scenario:
Sachie Hirano
Kanako Enomoto​

Supervisors


Game Design Supervisors:
Takayoshi Nakazato
Hajime Tabata


Scenario Supervisor:
Hiroki Chiba


Character Design Supervisor:
Yusaku Nakaaki


Character Model Supervisor:
Tomohiro Kayano


Character Texture Supervisor:
Takuji Sasaki


Motion Supervisor:
Juzo Sato


Art Supervisor:
Yusuke Naora


Program Supervisors:
Naoyuki Ohashi
Yasunobu Ito

Lead Artists:
Keisuke Wakaba
Kouta Niihara


Production Coordinators:
Kaori Fukuda
Takanori Kimura​

Voice Unit

Voice Actors:

Vincent Valentine:
Shogo Suzuki


Reeve Tuseti:
Banjo Ginga


Cait Sith:
Hideo Ishikawa


Nero:
Ryotaro Okiayu


Rosso:
Atsuko Tanaka


Lucrecia Crescent:
Rio Natsuki​

Actor Management:

AONI PRODUCTION CO., LTD.
AXTO
HAIKYO
MAUSU PROMOTION


Dialogue Editor:
Asako Suga


Voice Director:
Youji Shimizu
TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION


Booking Coordinator:
Masaya Hojo
TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION


Recording Studio:
Hitokuchi-zaka Studios 2st.


Recording Engineer:
Tomoki Kagami


Associate Producers:
Hideki Imaizumi
Ichiro Hazama

Quality Assurance


QA Coordinators:
Hideki Yamashita
Hideyuki Nukui


QA Assistant Coordinator:
Makio Hirayu


QA Testers:
Yoko Osaka
Yoshiyuki Ota
Yousuke Ootake
Hiroshi Yokote
Johnosuke Yoshida
Shiho Nakai
and
All QA Staff


QA Technical Director:
Hideyuki Kato


QA Chief Coordinator:
Kazunori Ohwada


QA Manager:
Yukihiro Shibuya


General Manager:
Koji Yamashita​

Publicity/Marketing


Akio Ohfuji
Masato Kogure
Kakuko Obinata
Yumi Katsuyama
Noriko Watanabe
Takao Kogure
Hotaka Yamagishi
Yoshiko Kurusu
Hitoshi Nishio


General Manager:
Koji Taguchi

Legal Unit:
Yasuhiko Hasegawa
Makiko Kitamura
Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Takahiro Fujii
Hiroshi Harada
Toshiaki Tarumi
Haruko Yamazaki


Special Thanks:
Yosuke Ikeda
Tatsuya Nonaka
Tomohiko Hirano
Masahiro Hora
Junko Ogashiwa
Tomoko Okada
Izumi Tsukushi
Ichiro Hazama
Hideki Imaizumi
Reiko Kondo


Production Executives:
Yoichi Wada
Yoichi Haraguchi


Producer:
Kosei Ito


Executive Producer:
Yoshinori Kitase


Character Design:
Tetsuya Nomura​

End

 

[Shademp]

English Panasonic website that has an information page about the P903i

Main Features of FOMA P903i:
1. Supports Bluetooth® standard specifications which enables you to listen to music via a wireless link.
2. Equipped with an SD audio player that can play music up to 70 hours with stereo headphones.
3. Pre-installed i-appli, “P-MoviePlayer” which enables the user to enjoy high resolution video contents.
4. Equipped with “ANSHIN-KEY” lock function to automatically lock or unlock the phone depending on the proximity of the key and the phone.
5. “DIRGE of CERBERUS LOST EPISODE -FINAL FANTASY VII-” is pre-installed.

It's refreshing to have an official English page about this.


Among the gems collected by Grimoire over at FFVIIExcavation is this photo:

Unlike all other images and recordings of the start menu for Lost Episode, this one includes the text "Full-voice Ver."

Go to the information page of the official JP Lost Episode website and you'll find the following specification.

フルボイス対応
フルボイス対応版をダウンロードすれば、イベントシーンを音声付きで楽しむことができます。PlayStation2 版と同じキャストによるフルボイスイベントでヴィンセントの「失われた物語」を堪能することが可能です。

(Google Translate)

Full voice compatible
If you download the full voice compatible version, you can enjoy the event scene with sound. It is possible to enjoy Vincent's "Lost Story" at the full voice event by the same cast as PlayStation 2 version.

Most of the character dialogue is voiced in the Japanese playthrough recording we possess, with some exceptions. Like Shinra Employee stated, the game is divided into seven chapters/parts.

Part 1: Prologue text scrolls by without voiced narration.
Part 2: Some of Reeve's tutorial lines aren't voiced.
Part 3: Some NPCs are silent.
Part 6: At least one of Rosso's lines lack voice delivery. Sailor NPC is silent.​

Perhaps downloading the full-voice version amended these exceptions and provided a fully voiced experience? In the JP recordings we get to see the start menu before the beginning of each part/chapter and in none of them does the start menu include the text "Full-voice Ver.". I have no idea if the Japanese version of Lost Episode was ever released in a state where it was completely without voice acting.
**EDIT: Yet another possibility is that the full voice pack was included on the P903i and P903iX HIGH-SPEED phones where Lost Episode was pre-installed and that it omitted the "Full voice ver." notice at the start menu. This might explain what we're seeing in the video recordings of the JP start menu.**



Thus far I have not found any references to voice acting being present in the English version so I'm inclined to believe that it never had any. The background noise in the Lost Episode demo video from San-Diego Comic-Con is too loud to discern any voice clips from the mobile game.

Even if the initial English version never contained voice acting, it's not impossible that a "Full-voice ver." existed as a download pack for the English version as well. On that topic, I can't even confirm 100% if the photo from FFVIIExcavation is of the JP or ENG version of Lost Episode.

 

[Shademp]

Interesting statements from the Japanese Final Fantasy wiki about DC Lost Episode.

発売日
プリインストール版：2006年11月1日
完全版：2006年11月6日
2006年8月

(Google Translate)

Release date
Preinstalled version: November 1, 2006
Complete version: November 6, 2006
August 2006

当初は日本国内の配信は未定とされていたが、2006年9月、日本国内でもNTTDoCoMo、FOMA 903iシリーズで配信されることが発表された。

2006年11月1日、プレインストールされたP903iが発売される。プレインストール版は音声が一部省略されたもので、シナリオは途中までしかない。同年11月6日にフルボイスと追加シナリオのある「完全版」へと無料でアップグレード出来るようになった。なお、さらなるアップグレードは行われない予定であるという。2007年7月25日に、P904i,N904i向けに配信が開始された。

(Google Translate)

Initially it was supposed to be undecided in Japan, but in September 2006 it was announced that it will be delivered in NTT DoCoMo and FOMA 903i series even in Japan.

On November 1, 2006, the preinstalled P903i will be released. The preinstalled version is one in which some audio is omitted, and the scenario is midway. On November 6, the same year it became possible to upgrade to "full version" with full voice and additional scenario for free. Further upgrading will not be done, he says. On July 25, 2007, delivery began for P904i, N904i.

 

[Shademp]

Gloriosa! Generosa! You can download user manuals for the NTT DoCoMo phones from their official website, both in English and in Japanese!

- Search field in English
- Search field in Japanese

Manuals for the P903i and P903iX HIGH-SPEED confirm that the pre-installed version of Lost Episode is incomplete. Only 5 (out of 7) stages/parts/chapters were included. By clicking on the "Upgrade" option at the start menu you could get the full version, which I assume meant that you got the "Full voice ver." we've talked so much about.

The manual also tells us more about the start menu options than we knew before!

This is the transplanted version of the gun fighting game which represents the world after three years from the seventh edition of the world famous role playing game "FINAL FANTASY" series.

● You can enjoy this i-αppli program up to five stages. You can upgrade the current version to the complete version.

1 Software List
> DC -FFVII- LOST EP

2 Select a menu item

New Game.....Starts the game from stage 1.
Continue......Starts the game from the stage you end last time.
Upgrade.......Upgrades the current version to the complete version.
Options.......Adjusts the sound volume level and selects whether to vibrate or not.
Credits........Displays the credits.
Exit Game.....Exits the i-αppli program.

Page 108 of the user manual for P900iV goes in-depth about the "chara-den" animated avatars.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Damn, son.

 

[Shademp]

Thanks to Tres I now have a template message to send to Japanese sellers over at Yahoo JP Auctions.

どのゲームが携帯にインストールされていますか？ありがとう。

(Translation)

What games are installed on the phone? Thank you.

Feel free to use the above template if you venture into auctions for the same purpose (and if you, like me, can't write your own Japanese sentences ).

I created a Yahoo JP account this morning. Where google translate wasn't enough, I received aid from this YouTube video. The only bit I had trouble with was the postal code and the video shows you the wide range of Japanese postal codes you can pick.

I have thusly sent the inquiry about installed games to plenty of P903i auctions and two P900iV auctions. EDIT: Add numerous P904i and N904i to that list.


As far as my eBay ventures go, questions about what games are on the phone(s) have been met with "I have no idea" a dozen times. Sometimes the seller can't check because the battery is not functional. One time there was a phone with "Mobile Hawk & Black Jack" on it.

Spoiler

You'll find a few sellers who like selling mobile phones in bulk and you are pretty much out of luck there. Not only are the sellers unwilling to check each individual phone for games, but the explanation behind the origins of these phones indicate that they don't contain games downloaded by users, since they apparently never entered the market.

Example from such an eBay auction that had the courtesy of including a background explanation:

Seller Notes: “This phone is a overstock in 10/10 New Condition with NO damage, scratches, or defects. Includes (battery, wall charger, etc), not in retail box, without manual. These phones are shipped to us in bulk as individual handsets with lens tape. This phone may have been part of a carrier overstock, discontinued model liquidation sale, or from a large company that may have activated but never used the phones. We package, at our facility, the phone along with new accessories.”

Sketchy origins are sketchy. Either way, they don't have what we're looking for.

 

[Shademp]

The P900iV manual states that the phone came pre-installed with a port of the original Final Fantasy. There are no specifications about whether this is a complete or incomplete installation. "BombLink" was another pre-installed game.

        

BombLink

Rotate a bomb, get its fuse fired using flames falling from above at both sides to explode the bomb, and then light a fire. Point the fuse of other bombs to the exploding bomb and the bombs get exploded in a chain. Bombs rise up from the bottom in series. When the bombs are piled up to the top of the display, the game is over.

Thus far the replies from Yahoo JP Auctions, when I ask what games are on the phone, are 7 times out of 8 "The phone has been initialized/reset". *EDIT: In other words, any game that might have been on the phone, pre-installed or not, has been deleted.* One time a seller could not confirm the games present because they don't have a functional battery.

 

[Shademp]

Mobile games of the pre-smartphone era were based in Java, ergo you need a Java emulator to play them.

- Here is where I downloaded a Java emulator

The download includes the game "Prince of Persia" but that was too boring. I downloaded Sonic Jump and had a great, GREAT time!

Spoiler: Before completing Sonic Jump today I had actually never beaten a Sonic game legitimately!

Desktop dump of me just having beaten the final boss and about to acquire the final Chaos Emerald piece.

I collected all the Chaos Emeralds, completing the game in about 2-3 hours. Once I got past the horribly composed music of Green Hill Zone and found that the soundtrack is actually quite decent, I was even able to forget that I was playing an old mobile game. That is how much fun I had!

Quoting the emulator download page:

Java or Jar games were popular over a decade ago in Nokia and Java phones. These games have a .jar extension and can be played on any Java enabled mobile phone. Since the launch of powerful smartphones platforms like android and iOS these games have now extinct because Java phones are rare today. J2ME is a small platform but we have seen some of the best Java games from Gameloft and Ubisoft like Asphalt, prince of persia, skyforce etc.

This reddit thread passionately talks about the state of J2ME/Java/Jar/Midlet emulation and the limited efforts to preserve the software. Before Crisis is mentioned as an example of a game that risks being lost, if it hasn't already disappeared completely.

J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition) is/was a technology that allowed programmers to use the Java programming language and related tools to develop programs for mobile wireless information devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants.
In practice it was the dominant programming language for software made for mobile devices for a bast number of years, (I'd say up until Android came out, and even then, it remained for a while since it was so popular).

...

Most software had multiple versions made (to save space) each for a different resolution, and some made specifically for certain phone models.
So for example, Doom RPG had a 176x208, a 208x208 and a 240x320 version, so it would adapt and fit most screen sizes (at the time) but all of them basically being the same game. Had size limitation not been an issue back then, they would have probably all been programmed together and fit into a single .jar file, or maybe it was just a simpler way to program the soft to fit (since there was actually uni-size soft made too)

Remind me to at some point create reddit threads about the FFVII Mobile Game Initiative.


In the Japanese credits to Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode -Final Fantasy VII- there is a bit devoted to the "DoJa Port" staff.

Spoiler: Credits section

DoJa Port

Producer:
Sai Wun Poon


Lead Programmer:
Richard Powell


Programmers:
John Brewer
Christian Dunst
Steven Jeram
Hlynur Johnsen
Brian Pearson
Sean Scaplehorn


Art Support:
Colin Wren

So what does this mean?

DoJa profile is a Java application environment specification for DoCoMo's i-mode mobile phone.

Since the English version of Lost Episode was released over two months before the Japanese version, and with the 3D graphics side of things having been handled by Ideaworks 3D rather than Square Enix, it is my conclusion that the Japanese version is in a way a "port" of the English one. Ergo, the Java of the English game was adapted over to the "DoJa" profile, mentioned during the JP ending credits.

Kosei Ito: Dirge of Cerberus is a collaboration between the Square team that worked on Final Fantasy Before Crisis, based in Japan, and Ideaworks 3D in London.

GS: Why the split dev team?

KI: The Japan team has some great knowledge about Java, but when it comes to BREW, it's not quite up to speed. Ideaworks has a strong knowledge of BREW. Also, our team in Japan is great when it comes to working on 2D games, but Ideaworks is experienced working with 3D, especially on the technology front.

GS: Will there be different versions of the game based on territory?

KI: So far, we are planning to distribute the game only in North America. I created this title specifically for the North America market while I was here [based in Seattle].

GS: So it will never get a release in Japan?

KI: It may be released in Japan later on, but no plans have been made so far.

 

[Shademp]

According to imkrut, creator of the aforementioned reddit thread...

The best end-user experience and compatibility on PC, seems to be KEmulator but other exist (like Microemulator which is Opensource but has some big graphical problems or Midp2Exe )

To play Sonic Jump, I used "KEmulator". So on this, my first day of looking into emulators for old mobile phone games, I now know of four emulators:

- KEmulator
- Midp2Exe
- MicroEmulator
- FreeJ2ME

Som emulators are still being updated, some are not. Excerpt from the FreeJ2ME download page, which was updated seven days ago:

FreeJ2ME is a simple J2ME emulator with a focus on old mobile phone games. It was designed to run on Windows, desktop Linux, and on the Raspberry Pi 3 using Libretro and Retroarch as provided by RetroPie.

It supports some games not playable using MicroEmulator and Kemulat0r, though it does not support every game those play. At the moment, it's best to have all three if you're interested in those types of games.

Some games only run at specific resolutions. Per-game configuration is available from the menu (by pressing esc). Preferences are saved and will automatically load.

Games automatically scale with the window size, making it easy to play games designed for smaller screen sizes.

The reddit thread also seems to show that nobody has extracted or found Japanese .jar files (i.e. ROMs), so there's no precedence that demonstrates if the DoJa profile of games like JP Lost Episode is at all compatible with current Java emulators.

At this point i think we are pretty much stuck hoping that Japanese emu authors and enthusiasts took preserving Japanese mobile games faaaaaar more seriously than western emu authors and enthusiasts have taken preserving western mobile games, and the results are just being hoarded :/

 

[Shademp]

We didn’t send your message because it looked like it included contact info. We've also restricted your account for 7 days. You won't be able to send any messages until your restriction is over.

I did NOT include contact info in that message! I was trying to inform a person who is selling the P900iV where they might find batteries for the phone but even when I included no website links eBay decided to restrict my account. I've contacted eBay customer support about this unfair restriction.

Interestingly, this seller faced the same issue as Channy did when she bought the P900iV.

No returns accepted. Item is sold AS IS. Has minor wear and tear (few scratches) and does not come with a battery (as when I purchased it years ago, they would not ship a battery with it overseas).

This prompted me to look up what in the actual heck is going on here...

Years ago, the Japan Post Office banned lithium ion batteries from being shipped (primarily banning shipping by airplane), though there were a few expensive and cumbersome ways to get the batteries shipped.

A comment written four years ago to the article reads...

Since no one commented on it, the article needs to be updated.

We can now ship Lithium batteries from 119 different post offices in Japan.

Here is the PDF link with the list of post offices and the explanations.

http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/use/restriction/restriction02_en.pdf

If the restrictions in the document still applies, then you can only have the batteries shipped if they are already installed in electronics. You can't ship lithium ion batteries by themselves.

...Well then. The cheapest way to get P900iV batteries then would be to order a phone with the battery already inside it. Unlike in the past, the battery SHOULD not be removed while it's being shipped.


Japan is not alone in their fear of lithium ion batteries on airplanes. The Federal Avian Administration has limitations put on the shipping of such batteries and there are international regulations, put in place last year, that place the same restriction as Japan that the batteries must be shipped while inside electronic equipment.

Because lithium batteries are designed to provide high levels of power, the electrical energy in these batteries is significant, meaning that such batteries can sometimes generate a great amount of heat if short circuited. In addition, the chemical contents of these batteries may catch fire if damaged or if improperly designed or assembled. For these reasons, there are safety regulations controlling the shipment of these types of batteries. Shippers must conform to the applicable regulations published by IATA and/
or PHMSA.

HOOBOY

 

[Kionae]

So, I honestly don't know if it's legit, and I'm at work so I'm limited on what the firewall lets me download, but, this site claims to have an .iso of DOC Lost Episode.

http://nycgames.info/download/dirge_of_cerberus_lost_episode_final_fantasy_vii__7057.html

 

[Shademp]

We can safely say that these files are not legit. There is absolutely no reason for the files to be so big, in the ranges of 4.7 to 7.4 gigabytes. I won't even bother downloading them because I don't want my computer infested with the malware and viruses that are sure to come with them. If we find legit Lost Episode download links I expect them to be only a few megabytes in size. Possibly in the .jar format.

Thanks for being on the lookout though Kionae

I've found as many as five download links (one has expired by now though, because it violated the google terms of service) that raise red flags for me. I dare not download these, much less install them. All of these are on google docs.

- One
- Two
- Three
- Four

If you dare look into these files I will take no responsibility for the harm done to your computer or any compromise of your personal info and bank accounts.

 

[Shademp]

Last night I discovered that the reason the Wayback Machine wasn't working for me was that I had too many cookies and/or I had corrupt cookies. After deleting the cookies I can now re-engage in the archeological digs!

The archived review of Lost Episode by Game industry News stands out because it lists multiple items, and their effects, that aren't described in such detail in any other English source I have found thus far.

While in the option menu you can review your objectives and score as well as use items that you have picked up such as potions which restore 250 HP, Hi-potions which restore 500 HP, X-potions which restore all of your HP, grenades which add explosive damage to your bullets, dazer which stun your enemy, or dragon fang which adds a lightening attack to your guns which makes them more effective against mechanical targets.

You can also see what accessories you have found so far including the Reflect Ring which improves your defense by 10%, Protect Vest which improves your defense by another 10%, Tough Ring which improves your speed by 10%, Chocobo Feather which improves your speed by another 10%, Champion Belt which increases your collected ammunition by 25%, or Sneak Glove which increases your collected ammunition by 25%. You can also adjust the configuration settings including the master volume and turn vibration on and off. Finally you can exit the game from this screen by selecting quit. Items are one use and accessories are your's for the game once you find them.

Holy smokes! This makes the inventory of Lost Episode filled with FAR MORE Final Fantasy VII nostalgia than the PS2 game by a longshot!


The existence of these types of items and accessories is corroborated in the review by PinoyGenius:

Finally, there are a few items and accessories that you can collect in this game. You have your standard healing potions as well as a few items that make Vincent do more damage to the enemy. The accessories allow you to do things like move faster, hold more ammo, and take more damage. Those who played the original FF7 on PS1 will most likely recognized the accessory names in this game.

So in summary, from the Game industry News review...

Items
- Potion: Restores 250 HP.
- Hi-Potion: Restores 500 HP.
- X-Potion: Restores all HP.
- Grenade: Add explosive damage to bullets.
- Dazer: Stuns enemy.
- Dragon Fang: Adds lightning effect to gun. Effective against mechanical foes.

Accessories
- Reflect Ring: Improves defense by 10%.
- Protect Vest: Improves defense by 10%.
- Tough Ring: Improves speed by 10%.
- Chocobo Feather: Improves speed by 10%.
- Champion Belt: Increases collected ammunition by 25%.
- Sneak Glove: Increases collected ammunition by 25%.​

EDIT: The review by Games industry News still exists outside of the Internet Archive, it was merely moved.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

That's ... a lot more customization than I would have expected this game to have.

 

[Shademp]

In 2006 on August 18, when Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode -Final Fantasy VII- (boy the full title is such a mouthful) was released on the Amp'd Live game store, Amp'd Mobile had three phones: The Jet, Angel & Hollywood.

- Kyocera KX18 "Jet"
- Kyocera KX18 "Angel"
- Motorola E816 "Hollywood"​

No archived variation of the game's product page specify which phones it was compatible with. Whenever a mobile game was limited to this or that phone type, the limitation was worked into the product name, for example:

- Resident Evil: The Missions (Hollywood)
- Resident Evil: The Missions (Jet/Angel)​

Since it was part of Amp'd Mobile's strategy to advertise how all their phones were compatible with 3D gaming (in multiplayer and on the 3G network to top it off!), and given that there are no compatibilities listed at all for mobile Dirge of Cerberus, I'm going to assume it was compatible with all these phones.

The compatibility of the Motorola E816 (aka "Hollywood") should come as no surprise, since its predecessor the Motorola E815 was already confirmed compatible with Lost Episode on the Verizon platform.



After Dirge's mobile release, Amp'd would come to release two new cell phones.

- Motorola Razr Amp'd Edition "MOTORAZR" *
- Motorola Q Amp'd Edition "MOTO Q" *​

*Nicknames, abbreviations and lower- and upper case for these phones may vary depending on the source.

The Motorola Razr was released only two months or so after Dirge of Cerberus. Advertisements of it also include the classic CG shot of Vincent Valentine.

Spoiler: MOTORAZR & Vincent

It would be pretty weird if this phone wasn't compatible with Lost Episode. The same would hold true for the Motorola Q given Amp'd Mobile's focus on portable 3D gaming, but... Holy smokes this is a weird phone.

Spoiler: MOTO Q and the keypad of death

This looks like a pain in the a$$ to play games on.


I will proceed to add these phones to the list in the opening post but with the disclaimer that Lost Episode's exact compatibilities on the Amp'd platform are more or less speculative.


Amp'd mobile phones are pretty rare on eBay. Probably has something to do with the company existing for less than 2 years. There is one promising-sounding specification from their archived FAQ page though.

Where is my downloaded content stored?

Downloaded content is stored on your Micro SD Memory Card and can be found under MY STUFF in Amp’d Live. Only games are stored on the phone’s memory. Your phone comes standard with a 128 MB card. You can upgrade to a 256 MB or 512 MB card.

If my understanding of the tech is correct, this should increase the likelihood of finding an Amp'd phone with Lost Episode on it.