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Phantasy Star Universe expands
Phantasy Star Universe's first expansion pack, Ambition of the Illuminus, launched in the North American market today. The update adds more single and multi-player missions and storylines, new character customization options, a new single-player game mode, some social environments, and retro environments originally from PSU's predecessor, Phantasy Star Online.Sega's PSU, like Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI, is one of the few highly successful console-centric MMOs to date. It has a complete single-player campaign and a persistent online world which can be explored by groups of up to six players.If you're playing PSU on the XBox 360, you can download the expansion pack for 1,600 points. If you're a PC or PS2 player, you'll have to buy the retail game disc. Japanese players have had access to the expansion since September, and Europe will have to wait until January to get its hands on it.
Wii Warm Up: Gaming the Cube
You know how the Wii can, like, play those old games? Not the Virtual Console, but the ones that come on little discs? Game Cubes or something? We were giving some very serious thought to playing Phantasy Star Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution last night, for some reason, and decided to informally survey our commenter friends about your GameCube-playing habits-- mostly because it allowed us to mention our weird occasional habit of playing PSO Episode III, and reference Gleaming the Cube, we admit. Do you still play GameCube games now and then? Do you still have the original hardware, or has your Twin Snakes experience migrated to the Wii? If you're new to Nintendo consoles, or just skipped the Cube, have you picked up any of its games since you got the Wii?
Longer Phantasy, beta extended til Saturday
Good news for those of you already addicted to Phantasy Star Universe (me), the beta has been extended until Saturday, October 21st. Now you have three more days to die and watch your unhelpful teammates hump your corpse. Assuming you can actually connect anyway. Just to be sure, we connected earlier and the beta is definitely still working. Some of you may remember that the beta was cut short thanks to a delay and yesterday's Live outage. It's nice to see that SEGA is willing to extend the beta in light of these issues. Anybody enjoying the game so far?[Thanks, Mike]
Phantasy Star Universe beta is Live
The much ballyhooed Phantasy Star Universe open beta is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Now you can slay rappies to your heart's content until October 18th. But not on the 17th. We'll let you all know how wonderful/awful it is just as soon as possible. Perhaps an impromptu Xbox 360 Fanboy clan (X360FanClan?) is in order.
Open beta for PSU starts this weekend [update 1]
Phantasy Star fans rejoice! The open beta of the upcoming Phantasy Star Universe is coming to Live Marketplace this weekend. There is no exact date listed for the beginning of the beta so, start looking for it on Marketplace tomorrow -- or you can feverishly check every five minutes, like me. The download will only be available for two days, so get it while the gettin's good. There is one caveat and a concern, though. The caveat: you must have Xbox Live Gold to participate -- though you'll only need Silver when the retail game ships. The concern: we have no idea whether or not you can retain your gained experience should you decide to purchase the retail version. Oh, one more thing, we can only assume that this is for North America only. European friends, let us know if you've got it in you're area. For more info on the beta, visit the official site.PSU ships on October 24th. Until then, happy hunting.[Thanks, Simon]Update: Contributor vid33nyc1 pointed us to a handy Q&A thread in the PSU forums that cleared up some questions. The beta will be available in the US, Europe, and Japan. Whatever happens in the beta, stays in the beta. No levels, items, etc. will carry over into the retail version.
PSU isn't free after all
A few Ken weeks ago we brought you the rumor that Phantasy Star Universe just might be free to play on the Xbox 360. At the time we were hoping that SEGA would subsidize the game with horse armor microtransactions. Unfortunately, it looks like that's not the case. Rob from Orange Lounge Radio sent us the bad word this morning:" ... Sega sent an e-mail this week that corrected what they had earlier communicated to us about PSU being free online... it's now set to be $9.99 a month."$9.99 isn't that bad -- certainly better than some MMOs -- but it sure as hell isn't as nice as free. Oh, well. You can still count on seeing at least one of us 360 fanboys on there (i.e. me). Just think of it this way, we have the only version with voice chat. That's worth 10 simoleons, right?
PSU info emerges
The opening of the official English Phantasy Star Universe website managed to get lost in the shuffle last week, and for that we apologize. As punishment for our tardiness, upper management has released the weasels. Believe me, the weasels ... they are merciless. Putting our freshly lacerated fingers back on the keyboard, we found that the site has lots of info for fans of the series. It's unfortunate that all of the available media on the site (apart from the above shot) more or less completely fail to display the game's lush environments -- a Sonic Team trademark. There is however, a plethora of information about all aspects of the game (except monthly fees or a lack thereof), much more than can be listed here. Some things to look for: Weapon customization and crafting Each player gets a personal room that also serves as a shop for others Each race and their abilities Mission system explanation Info on new lobbies Info on both multiplayer and single player games Vehicles The battle system A spiffy, though tiny, video (in English, no less) Lots, lots more Any Phantasy Star Online fan worth his or her salt owes it to him or herself to check it out. The game is scheduled to hit American shores on October 24th (Europe on November 24th) so, you'll have plenty of time to soak it all in. Is anybody else crazy excited for this?
Japanese TV spots for Phantasy Star
PSO World has posted some Japanese TV spots for SEGA's upcoming Phantasy Star Universe. Some of them have been seen before, but the one above is apparently new to Western eyes. The video quality isn't that great, and surprisingly it's not much better on the official Japanese site either. Still, we're starved for some more MMO lovin' and we'll take what we can get. The game is set to go on sale August 31st in Japan, with a US release planned later this fall. So, who's willing to make room for this next to Gears of War?
PSU Famitsu scans get!
Xboxyde has posted some new scans of Phantasy Star Universe from the latest Famitsu. The scans feature some of the new monsters as well as the new "Partner Machinery" which will replace the MAG system from previous installments. Also featured are some of the new vehicles, including a mountable and adorable chocobo dinosaur. Unfortunately, as Famitsu insists on publishing all of its articles in Japanese, I can't read any of it. Anybody who knows more kanji than me, feel free to translate.
Phantasy Star Universe hits Xbox 360 in '06
An update to Sega's seminal Phantasy Star series has been announced: Phantasy Star Universe. The title will be released on multiple platforms, including the PlayStation 2, PC, and--notably--the Xbox 360. With full Xbox Live support, Sega of America's VP of marketing says, "gamers can enjoy a fantasy role-playing experience of unprecedented depth both online with their friends, and offline in the robust single-player game."While the PS2 version will undoubtedly prove very popular, the integration of Xbox Live in the 360 release will provide the seamless experience that the ambitious Phantasy Star Online never quite accomplished on it's various platforms, including on the Dreamcast. Like that title, it will have "two complete RPG experiences": a 40-hour single-player action adventure, and an online multiplayer component supporting up to six players.Phantasy Star Universe is scheduled for release this Fall, offering the Xbox 360 another strategic weapon in the upcoming holiday console wars.
Games that defined Sega Dreamcast
Man, did the Sega Dreamcast have some quality games. Racket Boy on retro gaming reminisces on the best games that graced Sega's last home console release. From the article: "This feature... focuses most on the games that gave the Dreamcast its identity -- most of which were exclusives to the console. This list should serve as an excellent starting point for anybody looking to build a quality Dreamcast collection that will hold up to modern games."
Mario Kart, street cred, and Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection
Over a week now since its release and I still can't put down Mario Kart DS. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it sure has been getting good vibes overall (GR composite is 92%), including a whopping 10/10 review from Slashdot. Is this the kind of street cred Nintendo needs to shed its kiddy image and make the Revolution a success, or does it even matter? Kiddy or not, Mario Kart DS is a blast to play. On top of that, in only a few minutes, with no wires or connection fees, you can duke it out with up to four players from anywhere in the world. Slashdot writes: "The ease and fluidity with which you can be racing other gamers from the comfort of your cozy WAP is enough to make even the most jaded technology aficionado pause." It's that easy. Granted, this is only one of two currently playable games on the free network, so Nintendo has their work cut out for them (think Phantasy Star Online for the GameCube). But with Nintendo's Wi-Fi adoption rate of 45%, signs point to this easily becoming Nintendo's version of Xbox Live during the next-generation. Sure they've had their mishaps in that past, but the company is looking less and less niche by the minute.
