There have been some really strange leaks in the past, but I think this one takes the cake. A Japanese Youtube ad for Final Fantasy XIII leaked the release date for the game’s release in Japan through a simple rewording of the link.
A few observant fans took the url for the flash ad for the game, and changed the text saying “before” to “after” revealing the date of December 17th 2009. While not confirmed by SquareEnix yet, this could very well be the first word of a release date for the title we have.
As far as an American or European release date goes, we’ll still have to wait. I doubt that’ll keep hardcore fans from getting their hands on the game though, it hasn’t before.