Square Enix, the publishing studio most widely known for its "Final Fantasy" series of video games, will electronically publish "localized versions" of its manga series to U.S customers.
Beginning this fall, Square Enix will tap its online store that it originally developed for its games business, and deliver manga series like "Fullmetal Alchemist" to its Web site. Square Enix also said that it would provide the first chapters of several popular manga titles to U.S. customers for free.
Square Enix did not say what the manga titles would eventually cost. Users will be required to sign up for a free membership to the store to buy manga, but users can visit the dedicated Square Enix manga site and download the first chapter for free.
Free versions of the manga series "Fullmetal Alchemist," "Soul Eater," "Black Butler," and "O-Parts Hunter" are currently on the site, Square Enix said. Four others - "The Record of a Fallen Vampire," "Pandora Hearts," "Sumomomo Momomo," and "Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning," are listed as "coming soon". (A note on the site currently says that the next update would be Aug. 2.)
Square Enix said that the number and the name of the manga titles it will eventually sell will be released later. The store, however, will be shown off at the Comic-Con convention in Los Angeles, which runs through this weekend.
Interestingly, Square Enix did not list Windows 7 or Linux as supported operating systems. Instead, either Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Mac OS X 10.4 or above will be required. Users can use either the Firefox 3.x or Safari 3.x browser to access the store, or Internet Explorer 6 (with Windows XP) or IE7 (with Vista). Adobe Flash Player 10 is required for all browsers.
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