What is most likely of greatest interest to North American gamers is a detail Mr. Makoto revealed near the end. When asked if localization on the game had started, he replied saying it would begin after the Japanese version was done. Considering how large a title Xenosaga is, it was widely assumed Namco (Monolith is a subsidiary of Namco) would no doubt localize the game anyway, though this is the first official word on it.

A few other smaller details were revealed in the interview that some may find useful and/or informative:

• Though there is no support for Dolby surround, Mr. Takahashi said perhaps the next part of the series will include it. He also said if they were to use it in Xenosaga, the game could end up using 4 DVD-ROMs, as opposed to 2.
  
• At least for now, Monolith has no intention of porting the game to other consoles.
  
• Mr. Makoto suggested there's a possibility for an online game in the Xenosaga universe, though they're unsure about online gaming right now.
  
• In-game character models clock in at around 5,000 polygons each for battle models, and around 10,000 polys for the higher-quality event models.
  
• Xenosaga will utilize the PlayStation 2's upcoming hard drive to speed load times, though doing so (as in Square's Final Fantasy X) requires players to install the game on the drive. Xenosaga is expected to take about 40 minutes to do so.
  

Look for even more info soon in our revised Xenosaga: Episode I preview, and of course keep checking RPGFan for the latest on the game.

• GameSpot Video Games

• Xenosaga Media & Info Update
• Xenosaga Screen Shots