On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Raymond Haney wrote:

Hey, does anyone know if anybody has written just a plain story of FF7? I
mean, retelling the story in a fic format. Not script, not really game, not
really stuff you never saw, just the FF7 storyline. Cuz I have a desire to
take a swing at it.....

Far as I know, nobody's even thought of it ... and for a good reason: all
you'd be doing is shifting the format from RPG to prose. No creativity
needed, just a knack with words and a detailed knowledge of the game.
Sure, you could go into more detail with some of the side stories, but
there's really nothing to it - except plagiarism up the wazoo.
	If you're interested in trying this, I'd like to make a
suggestion: Contact Squaresoft and see if they're interested in a
novelization of FF7. If you're already a fairly good writer, have a sample
or two available for someone there to look at *IF* they're interested in a
novelization.
	As an example of what I'm talking about (well, sort of), two of
the Wing Commander novels to date (Heart of the Tiger and The Price of
Freedom) are essentially novelizations of WC3 and WC4 respectively. No
real difference between those and what I think you're talking about here.
	The trick is that *IF* you're going to write a novelization of
Final Fantasy VII, *GET PERMISSION FIRST*. Otherwise, expect a hefty
copyright-infringement lawsuit if Square ever gets wind of what you're
doing.
	Besides, I can think of one good reason why Squaresoft *wouldn't*
give permission for someone to write a novelization: it'd give away too
much of the game. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. So much that nobody who read
the book would even have to *play* the game, which translates to
"massively reduced sales of the game." Frankly, if a novelization came
out, I'd be torn between buying it and getting the PC version of FF7 when
it comes out (I don't have a PlayStation). I *want* to get the game and
play it through from beginning to end, okay? Much as I enjoy reading, half
the fun of a video RPG is working your way through the storyline as the
game progresses.