In the 2004 Summer Olympics, the United States synchronized swimming team of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova performed to the songs "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" and "Liberi Fatali" from the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack. Their performance won them the bronze medal.

Several of Zell's Limit Break "Duel" attacks are the same as that of Tifa from Final Fantasy VII such as Dolphin Blow, Punch Rush, Meteor Strike and her ultimate limit, My Final Heaven.

The Pocket Station, sold only in Japan, was used in Final Fantasy VIII. It featured a mini game called Chocobo World, starring Boco the Chocobo. While international console users could not play it, the PC port of Final Fantasy VIII did include Chocobo World in its entirety as a standalone application.

During the release of the game and some time afterward, Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards to further promote the game in Japan.

During Ultimecia's (as Edea) parade in Deling City, the masked dancers are performing the dance moves from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video.

The track "Raid on Dollet" was used in the demo, but not in the actual game.

By attacking the second form of the Fake President (Gerogero) with a healing item, such as a Phoenix Down or the Cure spell, you can beat him with one shot.

Abadon, fought in the Great Salt Lake, is a boss that can be killed in one hit, as Abadon is an undead monster. Using a revival item will instantly kill him.

The boss Gerogero was changed from the original Japanese version. His perturbing organs were changed from red to blue due the censorship. His name is also derived from the Japanese word "gero" which means vomit.

During the attack on Dollet when you meet Selphie during the FMV, she is wearing shoes with knee-high socks. However, her in-game model wears knee-high boots.

Two of the track names on the soundtrack have hidden meanings. The track "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" is actually an anagram of "Succession of Witches" and the opening track, "Liberi Fatali" is "Fated Children" roughly translated into Latin.

Kiros's weapon, the katal, is a mistranslation of an Indian weapon called the Katar. The Katar is one-handed push dagger. These are used primarily for thrusting attacks.

In April 2000, José Rabadán, a teenager from Murcia (Spain) killed both of his parents and his sister with a katana. The media accused Final Fantasy VIII of inducing Jos to do it, with one magazine stating, "he was just imitating his hero, Squall" who, in a moment of the story thinks that he must kill Spoiler: someone close to him: Rinoa.

However, José Rabadán hadn't finished the game, nor even reached the point in which this event occurs, proving the article to be jumping to conclusions. José was arrested and spent eight years in jail. He has since been known by the nickname of "El asesino de la Katana" (The Katana Killer).

The characters of Fujin and Raijin were initially designed to appear in Final Fantasy VII, however, the inclusion of the Turks made their presence unnecessary and they were shelved until Final Fantasy VIII. They were also most likely inspired by shonen-manga of the past, which ended up fitting much better into Final Fantasy VIII's cast.

Tetsuya Nomura, the game director, said that Deling City's design was heavily influenced by Paris.

Japanese rock artist Gackt once claimed in a TV program that Squall was modeled after him, even referring to the protagonist as "Gackt #2". However, the character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, says that he based Squall's appearance on the late actor River Phoenix.

In the city of Esthar, there's a shopping mall, which has a store named Cloud's Shop. This is a reference to the main character of Final Fantasy VII.

According to former Square localizer Alexander O. Smith, the US localization team had to use a GameShark cheat device to view the game's text for easier translation. This was because Square's Japan headquarters didn't think to send them a copy of the game's text files.

In the Japanese version, in Ultimecia Castle's armory, there is a sword on the wall with red blood on it. The blood is green in other versions of the game.

In the NTSC version, "Selphie Tilmitt" wields a weapon called "Nunchaku". But was replace with "Shinobou" in the PAL version, due to media laws in the UK forbidding ninja-related weapons.