There was a time when people genuinely worried that the PlayStation 2 might be used “for military purposes,” and that paranoia ended up creating a surprisingly “very difficult” situation around Final Fantasy IX. Kazuhiko Aoki, the RPG’s event designer, recalled how the PS2’s powerful CPU caused major complications in Hawaii when the team tried to obtain a development kit.

The PlayStation 2 represented a major shift in video game visuals. Sony’s second console amazed countless players with what felt like realistic graphics at the time, alongside spectacular experiences designed to squeeze every ounce of power out of the hardware. The PS2 separated itself from competing technologies largely thanks to its exceptionally advanced CPU – to the point where some even speculated about potential military applications – and, unexpectedly, that odd reputation created a real headache during the development of Final Fantasy IX.

The PS2 development kit took a long time to reach the Final Fantasy IX team due to export restrictions

If you were online a lot in the 2000s, you likely came across everything from reports to urban legends suggesting the PS2 could be used in military contexts because of its processing power. Kazuhiko Aoki, event designer on Final Fantasy IX and producer of Chrono Trigger, brought up this strange chapter in PlayStation history during a Famitsu interview (via GamesRadar+) that was mostly focused on Square Enix’s RPG to mark its 25th anniversary – but also included an unexpected anecdote about the PS2.

To fully understand what happened, it helps to remember that Final Fantasy IX was developed by a core team based in Hawaii, which meant constant back-and-forth communication between the United States and Japan, where Square Enix operates. Aoki explained that toward the end of his stay in Hawaii, there was talk of shipping him some kind of PS2 testing equipment so he could confirm whether Final Fantasy IX would run properly on Sony’s next console. It was a strange request considering the RPG launched on the original PlayStation and there was no obvious reason to test it on the next generation – but the team still proceeded, only to run into the real obstacle: the PS2 had not yet been released, and importing such a device from Japan raised concerns.

According to Aoki, the PS2’s CPU was considered so powerful at the time that authorities feared it could be repurposed for military use, which led to export restrictions. This became a serious issue for the Hawaii team, and Aoki described it as “a very difficult situation,” noting that the hardware took “quite a while” to arrive. In the end, though, it was mostly a scare: Aoki eventually got the kit, tested Final Fantasy IX on PS2, and the rest is history.

Source: 3djuegos