"Fi-Fan" or "FF"? Official Abbreviation of "Final Fantasy" Disclosed

Final Fantasy has always been one of the top-selling video game series since the first title of its franchise released on December 18, 1987 by Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft). In English-speaking world the title is almost unexceptionally abbreviated as "FF" so there's no conflict there, but in Japan, there's a good many people who fondly refer to the series as "Fi-Fan".

Should we call it "Fi-Fan" or "FF"? The proper abbreviation was lately disclosed by one of the creators of the series, finally settling down the agelong debate.

Read on for details.
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The origin of the title "Final Fantasy" came out in an interview of Akitoshi Kawazu, executive producer at Square Enix and creator of the SaGa and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, posted on Nintendo's official website.

According to the interview, since Square's 1986 RPG title Deep Dungeon was often abbreviated as "DD", the developers sought for a title that can be abbreviated as two same letters; AA, BB, CC, EE or...?

They also wanted the word "Fantasy" in the title, so they looked up for appropriate adjective that starts with an "F" and came up with the final title, Final Fantasy.

So it turns out that the abbreviation came first, and "FF" is the proper abbreviation. But Kawazu also notes that since Enix's RPG Dragon Quest was all the rage at the time, commonly abbreviated as "Dra-Que" in Japan, many people, especially grade-school kids used to call it "Fi-Fan" in the same manner. He even recalls scolding his nephew once to properly call it "FF".

The latest title Final Fantasy XIII is to hit the stores in Japan on December 17, 2009. And now we know its proper abbreviation is "FF 13", thanks to Kawazu.