Chatpad be damned! You may have seen shots of the Blue Orb Texter device on Joystiq last year. Essentially, you plug your wired control into the Texter, plug the Texter into your Xbox 360, and your controller becomes a text input device ... of sorts. Applying colored labels to your controller, you input combinations of stick presses to produce different letters. If the charts above are any indication, it is exactly as difficult as it sounds. SEGA has taken it upon themselves to create a Phantasy Star Universe branded version of the device. It's the same device, although it has a spiffier label and comes with lots of PSU-related stickers and a code to redeem a free T-shirt. Though it is intended for use in PSU, it will work in any 360 interface that accepts USB keyboard inputs. Given that the 360 Chatpad will give players the same functionality with a simpler interface, we have to ask: why?
If this question does not vex you as it does us, you may purchase the Texter for $39.95. Hit the "read" link to see a video of the Texter in action.
Phantasy Star Universe isn't for everybody, but those looking for an addictive, Diablo-style dungeon crawler won't find much better on the Xbox 360. Of course, that fact is offset by the addition of monthly fees, which send many gamers running for the hills. If you've been wanting to try PSU but were scared off by monthly charges, then we may have a deal for you. Amazon is currently selling the game for the rock-bottom price of $9.99. Heck, at that price, you could buy the game and play it for 5 months before you exceeded the average price of a 360 game. Not a bad deal if you're looking for some Rappy-slaying action.
Of course, the game does have a single player mode as well, so it's quite a bit of gaming for not a lot of scratch.
The Phantasy Star expansion ever so conveniently named Phantasy Star Universe: Ambitions of The Illuminus, will be coming to the Xbox 360 this Fall and offered exclusively via download from the XBLM. The expansion will continue the "epic" PSU storyline and build upon the traditional gameplay with enhanced game and community features. But, as with the other PSU offerings, it'll cost you $9.99 per month to play on Xbox Live which you already pay for. Actually, this kind of irks us a little, paying to play on an already paid for online service. Heck, they could at least discount the monthly fee for gold Xbox Live members and keep the $9.99 price tag for silver. Stupid monthly fees ... we'll exterminate you one day.
The official Japanese website for the next chapter in the Phantasy Star world called Phantasy Star Universe: Ambitions of Illuminus has just launched with screenshots in hand. Thanks to PSO-World and the power of translation, we learn that they will be planning a public network trial for the game, but don't exactly detail when or how to sign up for it. So, you'll just have to be patient and possibly move to Japan. As it pertains to graphics ... it's nothing amazing, but you didn't expect Unreal Engine 3 quality models anyway, now did you? And for extra credit be more like Godfree and meticuously analyze each screenshot, because you might just learn something new.
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?
It's been a while since we've done a weekly release list, but it's high time we brought it back. So here are the US Xbox 360 releases for this week.
- Cars - Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Phantasy Star Universe
It's no secret that I'm into Phantasy Star, as the number of stories about it have gone up exponentially ever since I started here, but Marvel: Ultimate Alliance looks like it will be a lot of fun as well. These are the same people behind X-Men Legends after all. It will be interesting to see how well it's reviewed, especially in light of how poorly Justice League Heroes has done. Anybody out there plan on picking one of these up? By the way, if anyone knows a reliable source for European releases, let us know. We wouldn't want our friends across the pond to feel left out.
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?
Call of Duty fans mark your calendars, Call of Duty 3 has been dated. CVG lists the 360 version for November 10th, well before any other version (the PS3 version is set for March 07). Curiously absent from Activision's announcement is the date for the Xbox version. CVG speculates that this could mean the Xbox version has been canceled. It seems doubtful, but COD2 is the 360's first million seller. Maybe Activision and Mircrosoft are hoping COD3 will drive sales of the 360. Regardless, 360 owners will be the first to play.
We can't help but note that it's going to be impossible to sample all the 360 goodness this holiday. Gears of War, Phantasy Star, Splinter Cell, Viva Piñata, R6 Vegas, the list just keeps going. Who's planning on squeezing Call of Duty 3 in there?
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.
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.
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?
The opening of the official English Phantasy Star Universewebsite 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?
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?
Hey folks. I'm the new guy, and this is my inaugural post. My inaug-u-post, if you will. Enjoy.
During E3, the fine people of PSO World sat down with Takao Miyoshi, producer of Phantasy Star Universe, and asked him a few questions. The interview covers some of the new features in the game, including race specific special abilities, player controlled vehicles (!), and the new player lobbies. The new lobbies will actually encompass entire cities and can host up to 1,000 players. The vehicles are varied and include tanks, jet skis, and even mountable beasts that breathe fire. When asked about the possibility of cross-platform play (the PC and PS2 servers already support it), Mr. Miyoshi said only, "It is actually something that is not finalized." Not finalized? That means there's hope right?
Whether or not 360 owners will be able to school PC and PS2 players, they can rest easy in the knowledge that voice chat will be 360 exclusive when the game ships this fall.
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.
