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New PSU: Ambition of Illuminus details
PSO World reports that a recent issue of Famitsu confirms new details regarding the expansion to Phantasy Star Universe. Entitled Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of Illuminus, the game is set to expand upon the original in many ways. First and foremost, several new weapon types have been revealed, including photon whips. The expansion will also include new weapons from familiar categories (many will be familiar to PSO fans) as well as new Photon Arts and SUV attacks. The game is set to feature new levels, enemies, clothing, and even a casino. Whether or not Ambition of Illuminus will have a single player story mode has yet to be determined. No other new details have been discovered at this time.Anyone out there play Phantasy Star Universe? Is it time for an expansion?[Via TeamXbox]
Sonic and the Spoiled Ending
Well, that didn't take long. Two days after the US release date of Sonic and the Secret Rings, a Sonic fan has made it to the end of the rails and posted a video of the ending on YouTube. We're sure it totally makes sense in context, but we have yet to jump into Sega's latest mascot platformer.Great news for people who only play Sonic games for the stories: we just saved you $50. It's about time Sonic fans had some good news, right? Of course, this is terrible for weaker-willed fans trying to avoid the rushing tide of SPOILARRRS.We dare you to watch the video after the break.[Via Insert Credit]
Sega: Sonic Wii was almost a port of Sonic 360
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Sonic_and_the_Secret_Rings_was_almost_a_port_of_Sonic_on_the_Xbox_360'; And how lame would that have been?During an interview with Kikizo, Sega's Sonic Team Producer Yojiro Ogawa spoke about the team's latest game Sonic and the Secret Rings. What gamers may not know is that the title was originally going to be a port of the Xbox 360 and PS3 title Sonic the Hedgehog. Thankfully though, this did not come to pass once Sonic Team got their hands on the hardware and decided to create a whole new game. Ogawa takes us back to a time before the game was under development when "the team looked at the controls and the hardware, we realised that the hardware was very different compared to the 360 and PS3 version that was under development, and that we wouldn't be able to convert the game to Wii. So we started a completely different title."The rest of the interview talks about the team's decision to play Sonic into the story 1,001 Nights and how the 'Revolution' code-name for the system gave them inspiration to revolutionize Sonic and the way we play him. Thank our lucky stars they did, because we do not want to think about what could've been.
Would more people buy a PS3 if it were called Vaio-3?
This is kind of in the same vein as the speculation of a PlayStation 3 price cut. By the same vein, we mean they're both speculation. The boss of Sonic Team, behind Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Nintendo Wii, Yogiro Ogawa, claimed that the PS3 is very expensive. Yes, we know... the price argument. Again. Forever. But that's not what the subject line of this post claims is most interesting.Ogawa was asked if the potential and overall abilities of the PS3 as a whole were worth the price. He replied: "Now I think that if Sony had sold the PS3 alongside the Vaio brand, maybe like calling it the 'Vaio PS3' or something like that, it may have been more appealing to the right people. I think that the way in which Sony has chosen to approach the PS3 could have been better. It's very expensive." We suppose that could be true... (as I glance at my aging Vaio laptop) but it's a pretty big departure from the Vaio computer line. First off, there's no standard monitor. You need those. Computers don't need TV's. Well, you guys can make your own arguments here! What do you think? Vaio-3 or PlayStation 3?
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]
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?
Sonic 2 mobile exclusive to Panasonic P902iS, for now
Sonic Team has announced that Sonic 2 will be going mobile as a preinstalled addition to the Panasonic P902iS cell phone. While a standalone release has not yet been confirmed -- judging from the current success of the original Sonic on the mobile platform -- it would seem to be the next logical step. But for the time being, to get your Sonic 2 fix (on a cell phone) you'll have to purchase the Japanese P902iS when it's released.Anyone else suspicious of the link between 'Sonic' and Pana'sonic.' Think Sonic Team's playing favorites?
