• Phantasy Star Portable Slated for March 2009 in U.S.!

    According to gaming news site 1Up.com, SEGA have confirmed that Phantasy Star Portable is scheduled to be released in the United States in March of 2009! An exact date within the month has not been revealed, but stay tuned as we'll be sure to report any information on that as it surfaces.

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    Special thanks to Sydz for the news tip!

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    Update: In an interview with director Satoshi Sakai, conducted by 1Up.com, it was confirmed that the localized release of Phantasy Star Portable will not support the character upload feature that the Japanese version has. To clarify, this only means that you will not be able to transfer the likeness of your character (with some items, Meseta and a small jump on leveling) from AOTI to PSP.

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    Update: The official press release has been posted here. The initial batch of screens have been posted here.

    Comments 28 Comments
    1. mario20061's Avatar
      mario20061 -
      Shiny i carnt wait tho i still have 2 inport that as im from the uk but at least it will be in english BUT NEXT YEAR WHAT THE GORRAM HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!! y will it take that long????
    1. Lord Hammerheart's Avatar
      Lord Hammerheart -
      About time!!!! I'm so pumped to get this game! I bought a PSP about a month for this game, and I was hoping that the "it's for sure coming out in the US eventually" wasn't wrong. Even with the announcement of PS0 I was still impatiently waiting for an official announcement for this game. Awesome!
    1. Amherst_Wind's Avatar
      Amherst_Wind -
      It's good that theyre finally releasing it but I just dont want to think of how bad it could all go... I mean theres only a few PSO weapons on PSU and they got some of them wrong in translation. This game is PACKED with PSO weapons... it could be very disappointing if they're all translated incorrectly. Then theres the downloadable content, who knows if that will arrive in a timely manner. I really hope none of these problems occur but...
    1. ironman24682's Avatar
      ironman24682 -
      I just hope SEGA leaves everything intact, I really don't want want to see some of the weapons, armor, etc. getting cut in the US version. On the plus side they might put some US exclusive items into it...
    1. IrisForscythe's Avatar
      IrisForscythe -
      Well we got screwed out of some of the AOTI weapons that you could only get if you uploaded. Thanks alot SEGA, I'll not be buying your PSP version now.
    1. SStrikerR's Avatar
      SStrikerR -
      Maybe they'll be available at a later date another way, don't flip out.
    1. Masterflower's Avatar
      Masterflower -
      Thats great news, lets just hope Sega gib us Innocent Girl mission for our wings <<
      edit: I saw a release date on PSUblog for March 15, 2009.
    1. IrisForscythe's Avatar
      IrisForscythe -
      Eh if that becomes the case all is fine. But this IS Sega you're dealing with here.
    1. Quebe_Lae's Avatar
      Quebe_Lae -
      Laaaaame on not being able to transfer your character over. Hopefully at least there will be a trial version on the PSN that will allow our characters leveled with great anticipation to be transferred from demo to the game.
    1. Scejntjynahl's Avatar
      Scejntjynahl -
      Wellthat settles it. THE only reason I was EVEN planning on getting the PSP version was to DOWNLOAD my character into it. Now that we wont, I guess I will save myself my money and spend it elsewhere. I dont even know why I bother pretending to be surprised by this turn of events.
    1. mvffin's Avatar
      mvffin -
      eh, I'm on 360 anyways, I am not too concerned about the download your character thing. I am curious as to why it was taken out. No good reason for that.
      Also, will there be a demo for the US version? I wouldn't mind playing around on that for a while.
    1. Xefi's Avatar
      Xefi -
      eeeh...March??? By that time, i probably lose
      interest in this portable game and play another. -_-
    1. Heinekev's Avatar
      Heinekev -
      About damned time. The import is fun, but it's too much of a chore figuring out what the fuck to do. March is a long ways away.
    1. moomoopenguin's Avatar
      moomoopenguin -
      so i'm guessing that means no whitill wings or suv for the normal servers then huh?
    1. Sharkyland's Avatar
      Sharkyland -
      I'm just hoping I can get a better connection. I guess it isn't so bad with PSU portable. I wonder if 4 characters are a limit again. I always wanted to make more.
    1. Mike's Avatar
      Mike -
      Unless they change things, it will likely be the 8 characters that was in the Japanese version.
    1. Googlebonker's Avatar
      Googlebonker -
      What?! XD lol Why would Sonic Team leave out one of the MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES from US PSU PSP? Eugh, can they do anything else to drive people away or hurt their US sales and subscription fees?
      It seems quite clear to me that Sonic Team has catered to their Japanese customers of online Phantasy Star games. Why haven't they provided us equal customer service and features? Sonic Team has made some awfully bad business choices.
    1. EspioKaos's Avatar
      EspioKaos -
      Not necessarily...
    1. Ken_Silver's Avatar
      Ken_Silver -
      I kind of knew that we would not be getting the whole connectivity thing. Ah well. I can safely delete the demo off my PSP now. No need for it. I just hope that nothing else gets cut from the game.
    1. Darius_Drake's Avatar
      Darius_Drake -
      I am on the 360 so the ability to upload a character would have never been an option for me. The fact that they took out this great feature still gives me concern though. For a game that hasn't been released yet here, the US version is already behind what the Japanese are getting. Looking at the differences between the servers for PSU already shows what Sega is willing to do as far as how they treat the Japanese gamers as opposed to the rest of the world. I might be a little peeved if I get this game only to have a repeat of what happened on PSU.
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