History of Final Fantasy Kingdom

There is a great deal of history both within, and outside of Final Fantasy Kingdom, that has lead to its creation. My name is John, otherwise known as Bahamut�s Kingdom. I can say the history of Final Fantasy Kingdom actually begins some 17 years ago, in a pawn shop on 43rd and Northern Ave. in Phoenix, Arizona. We had finally gotten a Nintendo for Christmas from our mother. We were good at frequenting the pawn shop for movies, CD�s (got my first CD player that year) and now we were going to take a look at some games for the NES. I remember I got Faxanadu, Mother got Tetris, and my sister Jami got a game called Final Fantasy.
We were eager to play our games, and things were well. A few days later, I was watching, as my sister was getting frustrated. She could not find her way out of the sea you begin in. She was confused as all git, and there was no such thing as internet to find what to do. I asked to see if I could figure it out, and she agreed. I think that was basically the end for her as far as Final Fantasy was concerned. For me, it was the very beginning of everything. I finished that game about a month later. Yea, that seems like a very long time for the younger people who now play the games, but for the time, that was one difficult game. Shortly after that, Mother brought me home a game called Castlevania. (But that is a story for later on.) I was hooked on games from then on out.
My first love though has always been drawing and animation. I have had the greatest desire my entire life to be an animator for Walt Disney Co. I also had a great knack with music. I played trumpet in school, and for most of my time, I sat first chair. Art, music, animation�the making of video games. But who knew? I certainly did not see this coming. I was hooked on Disney, and that was it.
In 1994, I bought my first and only Super Nintendo. I still have it to this day, and in working condition. I found Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. It was fun, and all that, but I was really looking for something like the other Final Fantasy I had. It was a chance shot at my Aunt�s house, that I saw what was known at the time as Final Fantasy II. I wanted this game badly. There were cool effects, great music, huge monsters, and what I found to be called summons. It would be almost two years, before I could finally own this game.
In 1995, I moved to Tulsa Oklahoma. I took up a job there and thus continued my gaming, as well as getting my fill of Disney movies in a yearly rotation. I found Final Fantasy II in a rental store, along with Final Fantasy III one day, and got them. Well, I took one look at III, and thought it was crappy as heck. I played II for over 15 hours, before I passed out the first time. I had it completed in two days of solid game play. I was hooked. I had to have this game! As for that other title�I just simply forgot about it. A year went by, and I found it at a swap meet. As I was buying it, the guy placed Final Fantasy III in front of me, and said, if you like II, I guarantee you will love this one. I told him I tried it, but I hated the whole machine things you were walking in. He told me to give it another try. Well, I got it too, (Wow, back when I could blow my entire check, and not worry about bills.) After playing II relentlessly for three weeks, I decided to get III, and give it another try. I played III from 1996, until late 1997. It has to be the best of the best, as far as Final Fantasy goes. Just everything about it was fantastic. I think it was there, my affinity for Final Fantasy was solidified. From VII forward is just history. I got my younger sister hooked on Final Fantasy with VII. From then on, there was a new title purchased for her, with the book to go with it. I filled in the book with all the information I knew from playing, and would send them to her. But there would always be the call:
�John, in Final Fantasy ___, how do you do ___?�
I would reply: �Jess, did you read the book?�
�I don�t know where it is right now.� Or �I did, but I still can�t do it.�
This of course continued up through XII. (XII is not fully covered in Final Fantasy Kingdom) Well, I would sometimes get frustrated, and sometimes I would just find it funny. With the advent of the computer, I was finally able to play the one Final Fantasy I had missed out on. In the later half of 2005, I found an emulated translated version of the actual Final Fantasy III. I was having a little bit of difficulty figuring out where to go, and of course I thought to go to the internet. I searched site after site, but even those that claimed to be the ultimate Final Fantasy source was missing several titles. III was one of them. I was just getting pissed off, and my friend Joe called. I talked to him, and was trying hard not to sound angry, but well, he asked what was wrong, and I told him I could not believe sites would claim to be the biggest source of this and that, or cover all titles, when they were missing one of the main titles in the series. He just laughed and responded with �John, why are you getting pissed. You can�t do anything about it, so deal with it. I mean if it is that big a deal, why don�t you build a website?� Uh huh...
Three days later, on December 4, 2005 I created the first pages for Final Fantasy Kingdom. And the rest as they say is history.
I had no idea at that time, what I would be undertaking, what it would turn into, or that there would end up being a possible future in it. As the creation has come along, I have grown and matured in the field of website creation. With the announcement of Disney no longer making traditional animated films, my artistic talent has begun to turn elsewhere. I now focus all of my creativity into FFK.
As of August 4, 2008, I have 687 pages, spanning two game series. There are 6713 images, and 49 titles open. Of the 49, 27 are completed. It has truly been a great experience, and I hope to continue growing with each new year.
I personally want to thank my affiliates, who have been right with me from day one, my friends and family for their continued support, but mostly, I want to thank you the visitor. The true fans of Final Fantasy Kingdom, who have visited and returned time and time again. Without you, there would be no me. My hats off to you.
Sincerely,
John M.
Bahamut�s Kingdom