Strangely enough, one of the things I'm asked the most by people considering to buy Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on PS3 is if it's possible to play the game on Sony's console by using the keyboard and mouse combination,  like you would normally play a PC MMORPG.

The answer, as shown by the recently started PS3 beta, is "yes you can". If you plug a keyboard and a mouse into your PS3, not only the game will recognize them natively, but you'll also be able to use and customize the keyboard shortcuts pretty much exactly like in the PC version of the game.

When you first log into the game, the game will automatically recognize any keyboard input as a chat input, preventing you to move using the classic WASD keys. By going into the main menu, and from there into the Character Configuration/Control Settings menu, you can remove the check on "Enable Direct Chat". From then on you'll be able to use your keyboard normally and to use Enter to activate the chat.

There is, though (at least for the moment) a bit of a problem. While the PC version is able to switch between the traditional straight action bar and the gamepad-friendly cross action bar, the PS3 version isn't, which means that if you want to activate actions without the controller, you'll have to click on them with the mouse. Hopefully this will be fixed with further updates.

As a second piece of news, those that played the original version of Final Fantasy XIV and want to transfer their old characters to a new server can now select their world of choice with the newly opened World Transfer Application Page. You can use the feature until July the 15th, and do it over multiple times if you happen to change your mind on your selection before then. May want to hurry though, as certain servers may close to transfers if they become too crowded. Characters will be transferred at the beginning of phase four of the beta.