The North American FAQ for Final Fantasy XIV has been updated to tell us about the promotion code packaged with Final Fantasy XIII. It looks like the PS3 and XBox both have promotion codes but they do different things. The PS3 one version gets you a shot at the FFXIV beta along with an in-game item for FFXIV. The Xbox code gets you some outfits for your Xbox360 Live character. All of the new questions and answers are below.

Update: Joystiq and others are talking about the promotion code included in the FFXIII box. You get 2 things from it. (1) A chance to be selected for the PS3 FFXIV beta and (2) a FFXIV secret in-game item. Seeing that every FFXIII game sold today and over the next few weeks will include this beta access code, and assuming 10% of people fill the form out online, you can still expect 100,000+ people submitting an application for FFXIV beta for the PS3, maybe more. So the odds of being selected for beta testing may be better than the PC version, it still may be slim to get it. But you should still enter if you are planning on playing FFXIV on your PS3. Be sure to read the FAQ entries below as it talks about the submission process.

There has been a lot of activity with VanaFest 2010. Below is a recap of the events that occurred over the past week.

News For the Past Week:

• Feb 25: The Japanese FAQ was updated to include some old topics about account management and security.
• Feb 28: Our live blogging of VanaFest 2010 as seen from the video stream. Two FFXIV songs from event are available for download here.
• Feb 28: The FFXIV Beta Website is set to launch on March 11.
• Mar 1: Clarifying that alpha testing begins on or after March 11, beta will start at some pointer later.
• Mar 1: ZAM gave us a write-up of the opening movie for FFXIV, but Square-Enix asked them to take it down.
• Mar 1: Some hints about combat were revealed in the opening cinematic
• Mar 1: Beta emails were sent out, which revealed the URL for the beta website.

Extra Articles:
ZAM attended VanaFest this year and recently posted a write-up covering the event from beginning to end. It’s a nice recap of the event as a whole, but it is very light on FFXIV information.

FFXIVCore translated a recent Connect!On article that is basically all speculation about FFXIV. Nothing entirely new here, but if you enjoy speculation, it’s a fun read.

Beyond News:
Beyond the news we had a small update to the FFXIV FAQ. At 7:00am CST March 1 (10pm in Japan), the North American and Japanese FAQ had the following entry added to it:

Q: When is the next Beta Tester selection taking place?
A: The dates have not been decided.

Which makes us think that all the alpha/beta invites for the first round of testing have already been sent out. For those of us that were not lucky enough to be selected, we’ll just need to wait for the next round of invites.

Along with this, it seems the beta registration page for FFXIV got a small update. If you attempt to register a second time, it will tell you before you fill out the form that you’ve already registered. This is a nice way to verify that you submitted your application.

The frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the official Japanese Final Fantasy XIV website has been updated with 66 new entries. As we do not have a translator we are relying on Google translator to do the lifting for us. We’re hoping another fan-site picks this up and translates it for us. If the US FAQ gets updated we’ll be sure to post that.

Update: After further analysis of the new FAQ topics, it seems that all of these topics were written up in the past. The update just linked these older entries discussing Square-Enix Account Management with the FFXIV FAQ. There is no real information in the topics. We believe that this further shows that Square-Enix Accounts will be used for FFXIV, along with the possibility that Crysta may be used for FFXIV. Though, Crysta may just be limited to the Japanese audience and the rest of the world will use normal cash translations.

All of the new entries are after the break.

Square has updated their Support site with a number of frequently asked questions about the Final Fantasy XIV beta. Here are a few of the interesting ones.

Q: How are the participants of the Beta Test selected?
A: We will select participants based on the information that is provided during the application process. We cannot specify what criteria we will look for in the application.

Q: If I am not selected for the inital Beta Test, can I apply again?
A: If you are not selected during the drawing, your application will be automatically entered into the next drawing, so you do not have to re-apply.

Q: Can I transfer the right to participate in the Beta Test to other people?
A: Transferring participation rights to the Beta Test is forbidden by the FINAL FANTASY XIV Tester Agreement.

Q: Is there an open Beta Test?
A: The schedule has not been finalized, but we are planning to have an open Beta Test.

Q: I would like to check whether or not my Beta Test application was submitted.
A: If you receive a message stating that you have already submitted an application when you try to submit the application again, then the application has been submitted.

Q: Is the Beta Test sign up, launching on 12/17/2009, for both the Windows and PlayStation®3 versions?
A: Currently, only the application for the Windows version of the Beta Test can be submitted. Please wait for further announcements regarding the PlayStation®3 version submission period.

Q: Why does the PlayStation®3 version of the Beta Test application period vary by region?
A: We are unable to answer questions regarding why the Beta test application periods differ by regions.