Photos: NYC celebrates 'Final Fantasy XII'

Final Fantasy XII Day in New York included a showcase of entrants and winners from an official "Final Fantasy" cosplay competition. Here, an entrant poses in his costume, complete with wig.

Two entrants in the Final Fantasy XII Day cosplay competition show off their homemade outfits in New York's Times Square.

The winners of the Final Fantasy XII Day cosplay competition pose with company executives in Times Square. From left, they are Mallory McClellan as "FFXII" character "Ashe"; "Final Fantasy XII" Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu; Laura Jones as "Ashe"; Square-Enix president and COO Daishiro Okada; and Scott Strichart as "FFXII" character "Balthier."

"Final Fantasy XII" cosplay competition winners Laura Jones, Mallory McClellan and Scott Strichart stand onstage as the trailer for the new PlayStation 2 game is played. The game release date is Oct. 31.

Kawazu and Okada pose with the three cosplay contest winners again. Laura Jones (far left), is a 19-year-old art student at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland; Mallory McClellan (center) is an 18-year-old art student at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio; Scott Strichart (far right) is a 25-year-old from Orange County, Calif., who is working on obtaining teaching credentials. Cosplay is serious business: Jones said her "Ashe" costume took about 11 months to create.

Two "Final Fantasy XII" cosplay contest participants celebrate at the reception following the press conference at the Times Square Information Center.