SonicTeam just posted details on an upcoming update for Phantasy Star Portable 2 which will correct a few bugs which have been affecting players who play online. A date has not been set for when this fix will be distributed, but once it has been decided, it will be reported on the official site. The following issues will be addressed with this update:
One important detail given to all players is to not use the Mimic Doll decoration in your room, as it seems to have been to blame for the disappearing decorations. The developers urge all players to remove that particular decoration from your room until the fix has been put in place. Furthermore, concerning decorations given as rewards through earning titles and using one-time-only passwords, you will be able to recollect these items through your vision phone following this update. (Passwords will have to be re-entered, but title rewards will be received as they normally would.) Remember, this will apply only to decorations, so you will not be able to get duplicate weapons or other items earned from titles. Finally, as an overall compensation for the trouble caused by these bugs, a password will be distributed with this update granting all players five Photon Boosters.
Stay tuned for details on when to expect this update to be rolled out. Thanks goes to Amherst_Wind for bringing us this information! Check out the ongoing discussion at the forum.
Update: Just in time for Christmas, the above-detailed update is ready to be downloaded! To download this update, press the triangle button after highlighting the PSP2 game icon on your PSP. This will bring up a menu with the option "Update" (??????). Select that (and make sure you are connected to the internet) to begin the installation. This file will require 19MB on your memory stick. Once installation is complete, the game's title screen will display "Ver.1.01" in the upper-right corner. Finally, for the five Photon Boosters, enter the password "ITEM GIFT" at your vision phone. But take note that you must first update your software before this password can be used.
According to vgchartz, Phantasy Star Portable 2 is expected to be the leader in Sony PSP game sales for a second straight week. During its first week of release, Phantasy Star Portable 2 sold 286,896 units. For its second week, the game is expected to sell around 75,000 units. That would add up to approximately 360,000 units sold over the first two weeks of its release.
Sales expectations for Phantasy Star Portable 2 are very high. The original Phantasy Star Portable game was the 14th best selling game in Japan for 2008. When compared against other Phantasy Star games releases, Phantasy Star Portable 2 is selling very well.
Vooks, an Australian Nintendo news site, is reporting that Sega has announced that Phantasy Star Zero will be released in Australia on February 11th. The game will cost $69.95. It scheduled to be released along-side Bleach: The 3rd Phantom. This news will be useful to our lone Australian forum member.
To celebrate the holiday spirit, Sega of Japan is releasing several new items through the Playtstation Store for Phantasy Star Portable 2. These items will be available on December 22nd for the Japanese version of the game. Here is a list of what is being released and the cost for each item:
Credit goes to Mike for bringing us this news. You can view additional pictures in this forum thread.
Not for the miserly or poor
If you're seeing this message, you've successfully made it to PSO-World.com's new dedicated server! Due to the recent plague of downtime and other related issues, we determined that something needed to be done to make PSO-World a more functional and reliable web site for the Phantasy Star community. Unfortunately, this meant leaving Gamespy & IGN, our gracious providers of free web hosting for nearly nine years.
It was a tough decision to make, as the site now has to support itself, but we feel it will allow us to make PSO-World better than we previously could. We've chosen a web host with industry-leading reliability and hope that everyone will notice a huge improvement in the months that follow. If you were previously experiencing issues with the site, these should now be fixed. This was a big move and there may still be a bug or two hiding somewhere, so please let us know if you find anything by posting in our Site Related forum.
In addition to the increased stability and future improvements, we'll be trying out some different methods of generating the money needed to pay for all of this. Some changes to the ads on our site have already been made and you likely won't even notice (though it's worth noting that we are currently displaying less ads for members who are logged in!). We've also teamed up with a number of retail partners so that you can help support PSO-World simply by shopping online through our links, something we could not do with our old host. We'll have further details on these efforts in the coming months and thank you all in advance for your support!
P.S. A big thanks to Ryna for putting countless hours of work into making this move possible!
The voting period for the Rappies Makes Things Better contest has ended. We had a great turnout in both entries and votes and hope everyone enjoyed the event! The results have been tallied and PSO-World.com is pleased to announce the following contest winners:
1st Place
Super Rappy Kart by jmanx
2nd Place: Rappy King by Mysterious-G
3rd Place: Mega Me by VorpalLord
4th Place: Rappy Troll by Alnet
5th Place: Rappy Supper by lunesta
The first place winner will receive a rare Phantasy Star Zero figurine, inflatable Rappy armband, and custom avatar. Second place will be awarded a figurine and Rappy Armband. The Third through Fifth place winners will receive a Rappy Armband.
A big thanks goes to everyone that participated and Sega of America for providing the prizes for this contest.
I typically save the front page deal stories for the weekends, but today's deals are quite good, so we'll make an exception! Today's deals consist mostly of handheld RPGs for the DS & PSP, but there is also a sweet pre-order deal for Dead Space 2 (yeah, they are already taking pre-orders), as well as a couple of other nice ones. Check them out:
The deals for Left 4 Dead and the three DS RPGs for $9.78 will only be available until 3am EST (12 PST), or until they sell out. The others will be available for an undetermined amount of time. Free shipping over $25. Enjoy!
Players interested in the next major time attack tournament can find details in a new section of the official PSU homepage. Described on the page are the list of rules as well as the in-game prizes which will be given away. While an official start date has not been set, it is planned to begin in January and continue through February.
The GMs are currently taking team entries on the official forums. Discussion about the event can also be found here on the PSOW forums.
Update: A new page has been posted on the official site detailing some additions to the prizes for the event. Players shooting for first and second place are now looking at the possibility of obtaining real-life PSU swag. Also, please note a small change to the rules.
An intriguing post was made on the official Japanese Phantasy Star Universe site a few days ago. It seems that another large update is in the works for the Japanese PC/PS2 servers, similar to what was seen earlier this spring. Of note, over 200 completely new items as well as weapons and clothes from previous entries in the Phantasy Star series are planned for release over a period of time. Among other things, some changes are planned for "community course," a way for previous PSU subscribers to continue to play the game (under limited terms) even if their GUARDIANS License has expired.
The initial implementation of this update (as with the supplemental update, it won't all be released at once, but spread out over a series of updates) is slated to begin in the last few weeks of December, all kicking off with a brand new event: Gurhal's Greatest Battle: GRM vs. Yohmei vs. TENORA! This event is said to take a different approach compared to previous events, but we'll have to wait just a bit longer to see exactly what SonicTeam have up their collective sleeve.
As with the previous supplemental update, the target platform will be PC, though PS2 users will not be entirely left out. Of course, they will not be able to see the new unique weapons and clothing models added to the game, but PS2 players can still use them. Other new features which do not depend on new graphics will likely be able to be utilized by PS2 players, as well. We'll be keeping an eye on this news as it continues to develop in the coming weeks. In the meantime, join in the ongoing discussion of this update at the forum!
We're getting a bit of an early start on this weekend's Video Game Deals Roundup. There are some great deals available starting today, as well as some existing deals that will be expiring soon. Here's a breakdown of what is currently available:
Note: Above used games come complete with case and manual.
Update: The first batch of deals (including the Modern Warfare 2 deals) sold out and are no longer available. To see what you missed, or to discuss what you were able to snag, check out the Video Game Deals Roundup thread in the forums! We'll keep this list updated as titles sell out or expire, and as new ones are added over the weekend. Enjoy!