Details have been posted about tonight's maintenance on the official PSU homepage.
 
There will be some modifications to clear up a few item-related issues discovered since the posting of GUARDIANS Advanced Content last week. These are as follows:

• The RCSM Darkness Preta had its element changed from dark to lightning in the update. This will be corrected and they will return to their original state.
• Many of the new weapons have only dropped with a neutral attribute. These will be corrected to drop with a random element and percentage.
• Beef striking weapons have only dropped with a 33% fire attribute. These will be corrected to drop with a random element and percentage.

Any additional changes will be listed after maintenance ends.

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Recently announced, the original Phantasy Star Universe will be available for digital purchase on Microsoft's Games on Demand service for the Xbox 360. This release is scheduled for August 3rd, while pricing and regional availability have yet to be detailed.

This download version of the game will provide the perfect compliment to the now free Ambition of the Illuminus expansion as well as the addition of GUARDIANS Advanced Content to the game. It is the only part needed to get online which is not currently available already on Xbox Live. The Xbox 360 version of the game is well known to be in short supply, but this release will open up its availability to many more potential players or even just anyone looking for the convenience of separating themselves from the game disc.

It should also be noted that this is the first time that a game of this type will be available in its entirely for download on a console.

There is already a thread going about this exciting news item in the forums.

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The Xbox 360 servers went offline at approximately 7:00 pm PST last night so the Guardians Advanced Content update could be implemented. When the servers come back online, all players will be required to delete Ambition of the Illuminus and download a new version of it. Here are more details instructions from the Phantasy Star Universe website:

1. Following successful implementation of the GUARDIANS Advanced Content, servers will go back online and notices will be posted on www.phantasystaruniverse.com.
2. At this time all users can delete their current copy of Ambition of the Illuminus from their Xbox 360 HDD.
3. Under your PSU Gamer Tag, go to the "Game Add-Ons" section of Xbox Live and re-download the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion (listed under "P", for "Phantasy Star Universe").
4. Download the AOTI expansion!

In addition, the following new missions will be made available to players:

• Plains Overlord /R
• Demons Above /R
• Desert Terror /R
• Security Department Exhcange (exchange/upgrade mission)
• Security Department Standby (exchange/upgrade mission)
• Security Department Drop-off (exchange/upgrade mission)

This update has been a long time coming, but it looks very promising. Hopefully it will be implemented without any problems. After the servers come back online, be sure to share your feedback in our Phantasy Star Universe forum.
 
Update: It is strongly advised that you wait until maintenance is over to download the new version of Ambition of the Illuminus. Edward, a Sega GM, posted the following on the Sega forums:
"Some of you may already be able to download the new version of AOTI from the Xbox Live Marketplace. You are free to do so, however please note that until the update process is complete and servers are live, we can't guarantee that the version of AOTI you are downloading is the newest version, which will be compatible with online mode and GUARDIANS Advanced Content. It takes time for all regions to be populated with the current download so please be advised that even if the Marketplace description of AOTI is updated, the download itself may not yet be."
 
Update: The servers are now online!

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Edward, a Sega GM, announced today there will be two maintenance periods for the Xbox 360 Phantasy Star Universe servers over the next week. On July 15th, the servers will experience regular maintenance. In addition, the Holy Light Festa lobbies and rewards for the Sonic Birthday Event will be enabled. The Sonic Birthday Event rewards include 3 star luck and a 10% grinding boost for three weeks.

Holy Light Festa

The servers will be going offline for an extended maintenance on July 19th so the Supplemental Update, now known as GUARDIANS Advanced Content, can be implemented. The maintenance period will begin much earlier than usual. Details for downloading and applying the update will be made available soon.

Credit goes to Max_B for bringing us this news. You can discuss this update in this forum thread.

Update: According to the JP 360 homepage, the Holy Light Festa lobbies will also last for three weeks. Light Festival Décor will be available at the Variety Shop during this time.

Update: The details of this week's maintenance have been posted to the English homepage. Additionally, instructions have been posted for acquiring next week's major game update.

Update: The JP 360 homepage has noted the new AOTI requirement date as well as posted a notice of the update early next week.

Update: The scheduled maintenance is estimated to last from 7 PM PDT to 7 AM PDT according to the JP 360 homepage.

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This week's maintenance details have just been posted on the official JP 360 PSU homepage.

Due to a recent server issue which resulted in players being unable to access the game, Sonic Team will be implementing compensation starting this Friday. This compensation includes 20x the normally allotted amount of Vol Coins for a two week period following the maintenance.

Additionally, there will be a Casino item rotation from the Sweet/Berry set to the Goth set.

The rewards for Sonic's birthday event are not listed as a part of this update and have yet to be dated.

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Starting on June 30th, Ambition of the Illuminus will be a free download on the Xbox Live service! Previously, this Phantasy Star Universe expansion cost 800 points ($10 USD). This download is 2 GB in size and requires Phantasy Star Universe to utilize it. Considering that Ambition of the Illuminus has been made a requirement for PSU's online play, this move will be welcomed by new players. You can discuss this update in this on-going forum thread.

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The day of birthday celebrations continue, with Sega announcing a Sonic video contest which will send one lucky winner and a friend to Tokyo, Japan. To win, participants much create a video showing off their love for Sonic and post it to YouTube. Entries will be judged on creativity, effort, and entertainment. Bonus points will be given for submissions that get Sonic in the public eye (viral marketing, anyone?). The top ten videos will be posted on the official Sonic 4 website, where the winner will then be selected by the fans.

The grand prize? A trip for the winner and a friend to Tokyo, Japan to visit Sega headquarters, meet with Sonic Team, and get some exclusive play time with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I. Two iPod Touch prize packs are also up for grabs and 100 random winners will receive free Sonic swag.

We think this is a great contest and in the spirit of things, would like to raise the stakes even higher. We know there are a lot of Sonic fans here on PSO-World and would love to see one of you win. Creatively slip a PSO-World reference into your video and place in the top ten and we'll throw in a Phantasy Star swag bundle to go with any additional prizes you win from Sega! Be sure to post your entry in our forums for all to see and we may even spotlight it on the front page, hopefully netting you some bonus points during the judging process!

Check out the official Sonic 4 site for the full contest rules. Entries are limited to one per person and the deadline for submissions is Monday, July 12th at 9:00AM Pacific time. Good luck everyone!

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Today is Sonic's 19th birthday and in addition to some in-game celebrations, Sega is slashing prices on a number of Sonic games on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and iPhone / iPod Touch. In total, more than 25 games & DLC packs will be on sale during specific time frames, some at more than 50% off the normal price. Here's the list of eligible titles:

Playstation Network & Playstation Portable (6/22 thru 7/6):

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Metal Sonic Death Egg $7.99 $5.49

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing: Ryo with Forklift Character $4.99 $3.49

Sonic Unleashed Apatos & Shamar Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic Unleashed Chun-nan Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic Unleashed Empire City & Adabat Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic Unleashed Holoska Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic Unleashed Mazuri Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic Unleashed Spagonia Adventure Pack $2.99 $1.99

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Shadow Missions $2.49 $1.49

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Silver Missions $2.49 $1.49

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Very Hard Sonic Missions $2.49 $1.49

Sonic Unleashed Add On Bundle $17.94 $8.99

Sonic Racing Add On Bundle $12.98 $6.49

Sonic Rivals 2 (PlayStation Portable over PSN) $19.99 $13.99

Sonic Rivals (PlayStation Portable over PSN) $15.99 $10.99

Sonic Rivals 1 & 2 Bundle (PlayStation Portable over PSN) $35.98 $17.99

iTunes AppStore / iPhone / iPod Touch (6/23 thru 6/30):

Super Monkey Ball $4.99 $2.99

Sonic the Hedgehog $5.99 $3.99

Super Monkey Ball 2 $5.99 $3.99

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 $5.99 $3.99

Streets of Rage $2.99 $0.99

Golden Axe $2.99 $0.99

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Ed. $7.99 $4.99

Xbox 360 Live Arcade (6/24 ONLY):

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 $5.00 $3.00

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 $5.00 $3.00

Sonic the Hedgehog $5.00 $3.00

Sonic & Knuckles $5.00 $3.00

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Previously announced for tonight, GGCII winners on the Xbox 360 were slated to have their in-game prizes made available to their common boxes. This has been rescheduled for Monday night's maintenance. Note that while maintenance is usually held on Thursday nights, this one will be held earlier in the week.
 
In addition to the item distribution, the Wedding lobbies and current GBR will be removed and the Sonic lobbies will be posted. Players will have a chance to see Jaggo Sonichi (as well as its available drops) up until July 15. Don't forget to participate in his upcoming birthday event!
 
As a final announcement, there has been another change in schedule. It was stated prior that during this maintenance, Sega would be discontinuing support for players who have not upgraded to Ambition of the Illuminus. A notice has been posted in which they have pushed back the cutoff to a currently undetermined date. It is said that there will be more information on this soon.

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Sega has released a small collection of ten new Phantasy Star Portable 2 screenshots as part of their E3 2010 offerings. Nine of the screenshots appear to be from the game's story mode, while the 10th shot shows the multiplayer mode. There doesn't appear to be a whole lot we haven't already seen here, but maybe you can spot something we missed. We've added the screens to our image gallery, so go have a look!

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