More PSU to come!

[EspioKaos]

At TGS last night, director Satoshi Sakai announced that PSU isn't quite done yet.

http://tgs.sega.jp/2008/gallery/1010/photo/DSC_0013_0.jpg

This is a photo from the press conference. The screen reads:

PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus
Additional update confirmed!
* Details to be announced at a later date.

According to a story on this at Shougai PSO (http://www.g-heaven.net/pso/topics/081010g.html), Sakai revealed nothing about the game -- no subtitle, no release date... nothing -- leading the news site to believe that this title is in the early stages of planning.

[Tekershee]

Oh my!

[Libram]

If it goes through I'm gonna need to preorder. AOTI was a pain to find.

[goaferboy]

Great, that means I have to free up more space on the 360 HD. Or just stop being cheap and buy the big one.

[str898mustang]

sounds good.

[Cracka_J]

Maybe they're just going to package the 8 months of content NA/EU is behind on into a $40 update disc!!

Genius!

[DarkEliteRico]

Jesus H Christ....the waiting game begins again

[Umberger]

Here's to hoping this expansion (assuming that's what it is...) makes it to us. =|

[joefro]

This is cool but I guess I wish they would give up on PSU and just make a new console/PC Phantasy Star game. PSU's image is tarnished too much to be expanded upon, imho.

[System-Id]

ITS AMAZING IT WILL BE OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-x

[Aisha379]

I'm not getting too excited until more details are revealed.

<~~ pessimistic skeptic


EDIT: Wtf is with 90% of my posts starting a new page >_>

[EspioKaos]

Quick addition. In the image I posted, there's an asterisk below the announcement thing. I found a clear shot of it, and it says "details to be announced at a later date." Hopefully not too much later.

[Dhylec]

I think Sega is trying to save the PSU series & milk some more out of its devoted gamers. I don't mind, though; every other company is pretty much doing the same thing, right? There is hope.. ;3

[Alastor_Haven]

Excellent

[DarkEliteRico]

This is cool but I guess I wish they would give up on PSU and just make a new console/PC Phantasy Star game. PSU's image is tarnished too much to be expanded upon, imho.
Stateside at least, overseas it's still a bright shining star

[Demon-]

Awesome!

[Zorafim]

What's the phrase... Actions speak louder than words? They say they're not done, yet they're falling heavily behind with not only the American fanbase, but also part of their Japanese fanbase. Why should we care about being told about new content, when they still haven't given us all the content they said they would last year?

[Kylie]

If it goes through I'm gonna need to preorder. AOTI was a pain to find.
I might do the same, and I never pre-order. :lol: I saw this coming, honestly (though I was starting to doubt). Let the NA/EU MIGHT NOT GET IT begin! Of course, this might not even be an expansion as people are saying... :x

[Adriano]

I don't know, after all that's happened with psu even though I switched servers, I just' totally feel done with this branch of the phantasy star series.
I for one will not be getting this, whatever it is.

[BahnKnakyu]

Great news, but I'm worried about it coming over to US/EU. It'll end up being mismanaged by an incompetent American management staff with ChillAura and the two-man support team being the only ones from keeping the entire thing from blowing to high hell.

Come on Sega, get some new management and find a GM as good as Chill.

[Pika]

not enough new stuff, complain....new stuff announced...complain..some people will never be happy it seems..

meh.

i cant wait to see more information on this :D

[Adriano]

not enough new stuff, complain....new stuff announced...complain..some people will never be happy it seems..

meh.

i cant wait to see more information on this :D

That better not have been directed towards me. : |

[Pika]

no single person, just the large mass of people who complain constantly around here.

[furrypaws]

With the way the games have been going recently, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a remake of PSO with a PSU engine. As much as I'd dislike it, I'm sure it'd cater to many other's desires.

[Deissa]

no single person, just the large mass of people who complain constantly around here.

ya how dare they be unhappy at bad service

[Broodstar1337]

What's new content matter when we still don't have all the old content and no one really gives a shit about what little content we do end up getting?

[Pika]

what bad service? the servers are clean and safe, we get regular updates (even tho we doint get 20 thousand new things every week....and are behind Japan, like we were always meant to be) we still get updates on a regular basis, we get events often enough. theres more updates scheduled to come (didn't we get some new items in the trade mission in the update this morning/last night?

wait..wheres the bad in all this?

[Cracka_J]

All fun aside, I'll get it regardless if it's available for NA PC.
I intend to see this failboat though until it's neighboring the titanic.

Honestly, while v1 was unique, I couldn't help feeling that aoi seemed like a rehash: fanservice PSO mixed into PSU. I hope, if they go through with this, v3 will be unique. Unique content, unique weapons, unique new areas. If people want PSO they can play the upcoming Zero. There is no reason to include more rehashed PSO items or areas. Let's move on.

[Lyric]

We've gotten regular updates for what, three weeks - month now? Before that we didn't have any content for about two months on a game that promised weekly or biweekly updates at launch.

I've played off and on, but there is indeed a service problem. We don't even have all of the content off of the first disc yet, after all.

[Shivah]

Yay!! I can't wait for more information!

[Pika]

we didnt have updates for a month or so due to problems that they told us about. mainly being the MAG 2 delay. (which they immediately followed with a new event..) its not like sega just said "no, we dont wanna give you updates" they told us why updates got delayed, after the delay, we got updates again.

before that delay, we had been getting updates, not really on a weekly or biweekly update, but we did get updates.
(before all that, i dont remember them telling us we'd get biweekly updates, complaining about something we aren't told we'll get is just crazy)

[ShadowDragon28]

If the second expansion/Huge Update to PSU includes some of the DS game , Ps:Zero's features (like evade moves), classic PSO wepons like the Lavis series,
all-new solid-state weapons, improved visuals, and all new Cloths, new Parts, and
PSO-style unique quests; free-use of vehicles in specific missions *prays this is included.*
If it has all this, then I will "shyte bricks." Might just be wishful thinking.. I'll have to wait and see what they come up with.

*Please* surprise me with something really cool Sonic Team..please?

[Evila]

Oh wow, interesting. I never thought about what would be in store for PSU's future... Hopefully they go all out with this. Will be looking forward to details.

[Neith]

what bad service? the servers are clean and safe, we get regular updates (even tho we doint get 20 thousand new things every week

*looks at last night's update*

Yeah, great service :roll: The service for the US/EU server (hell, even the JP players to an extent, with the 360) has been pretty awful. We started a couple of months behind JP (which is fine, I expect that), now we're what, over half a year behind?

Just look at the population figures- people wouldn't be leaving as much if things were done right.

[Kinako78]

New...expansion...?! *takes a moment to get over the surprise* YES! :D

[Pika]

*looks at last night's update*

Yeah, great service :roll: The service for the US/EU server (hell, even the JP players to an extent, with the 360) has been pretty awful. We started a couple of months behind JP (which is fine, I expect that), now we're what, over half a year behind?

Just look at the population figures- people wouldn't be leaving as much if things were done right.

again...we cant expect every update to be huge, we had a good update 2 weeks ago? and as i said, the they explained why we ended up further behind then before, due to the delay this past summer.
people leave the game for new games. the problem now is theres tons of online games to play, so its hard to find people who stay on one game for years at a time.(WoW seems to be the exception here...)
some may claim other MMO's prove this wrong...but i disagree...and also point out PSU isn't a true MMO.

[Sylpheed]

Whatever this expansion/update turns out to be, it won't change anything for the NA/EU servers imo. The population base of the PS2/PC and the Xbox 360 servers has dimished so much that no promise of new content or an expansion will rekindle it.

I stopped playing just before MAG2 started, and i have no desire to go back to the game yet. There have been what? TWO noticable updates in the time that I have been away. The 360 servers are still plauged with awful slowdown and inflation due to SoA's awful handling of the Grinder Glitchers.

It's not SoA's fault that the population is so small and forever dropping it's because SoJ simply don't care about the Western servers enough to actively persue a way to boost it's numbers. Phantasy Star Zero looks like the only good thing coming from them in the near future, I doubt that this will be enough to bring me back to PSU even if it is an expansion.

[Golto]

So Pika its only because of MAG we are 7-8 months behind instead of the 2.5-3 months behind we should be at?

[Green_Bandit]

Nice! I can't wait! Even if it was a remake of episodes 1 and 2 with all the VR missions and such that would be kick ass! Remember how great episode 2 was and how linear the whole game was?! I'd plop down $30 just for a remake of that. I'm not going to sit here and shit on PSO/U because when it comes down to it basically its a good game with great potential. Whether or not they use that is on them. I could imagine then bringing back Eps 1 & 2. They seen how the users jumped for that little taste of mag, they're kinda doing it on the DS. To me logic would say, "Hmm...People still do really like the PSO world. Hey! I know how to get more money! Lets rehash Eps. 1 & 2! Done!" I'm not saying thats what they are doing or whatever whatever whatever but we both have to admit that would bring back the old PSO'ers (They are here right) so thats more fan base, the new guys would like it, and end the end SEGA sees higher profit because people loved PSO.

[Aisha379]

I think people are getting too excited over this considering the amount of details (read: zilch) we have.

For all we know, the "additional update" could be nothing more than bringing over the new items from the PSP version of the game (which would be nice in itself, but far from game-saving)

Or, heck, even some stupid little cellphone mini-game, or a specific PS3 port, or something along the lines of not being what everyone is hoping for.


Also, no offense Pika, but you should kinda save your breath. Part of me agrees with you, while the other part just thinks you sound like your defending Sega blindly. Its fine if you enjoy the game the way it is, but the truth is, the majority of people are nowhere near satisfied with the way the game has been handled (myself included)

[DAMASCUS]

AOTI seemed to be built around the improved story missions for episode 3. Now with those out of the way and fan service(PSO) being mostly dealt with I think we can expect some really good content for this/last installment.

I'm hoping for true Ultimate Mode..

[Pika]

perhaps...not like my posting will change any ones opinions...just annoys me to see so much complaining.....i mean..7-8 months behind? since when. 4 -5 maybe....we were..2 behind last spring? picked up another 2 or so due to the MAG 2 Delay......we'v been getting updates since then o.O

[Lyric]

again...we cant expect every update to be huge, we had a good update 2 weeks ago? and as i said, the they explained why we ended up further behind then before, due to the delay this past summer.
people leave the game for new games. the problem now is theres tons of online games to play, so its hard to find people who stay on one game for years at a time.(WoW seems to be the exception here...)
some may claim other MMO's prove this wrong...but i disagree...and also point out PSU isn't a true MMO.


No, we can't expect every update to be big. I'm just happy we're actually getting updates at this point. But whether you see the glass as half full or half empty you can't ignore the fact that there are glaring problems with the game. We're coming to the close of the expansion and still haven't got all of the content from Disc One, the population is dropping like flies because of the lack of updates (up until now, but how long this will last is anyone's guess.) We're paying ten dollars a month for very irregular service. If we just had regularity it would alleviate a lot of people's complaints. Though I suppose I can jokingly say it's regularly irregular. : /

Also, if anyone else can speak up on this I would appreciate it, but I'm pretty sure I was right when I said ST promised weekly or biweekly updates when PSU first launched.

I love the game but I want it to be worth the ten dollars I'm paying them every month. I'll probably get the expansion / what not. I just hope they improve the way they go about things for everyone outside of Japan.

[buzyb77]

again...we cant expect every update to be huge, we had a good update 2 weeks ago? and as i said, the they explained why we ended up further behind then before, due to the delay this past summer.
people leave the game for new games. the problem now is theres tons of online games to play, so its hard to find people who stay on one game for years at a time.(WoW seems to be the exception here...)
some may claim other MMO's prove this wrong...but i disagree...and also point out PSU isn't a true MMO.

No The GBR update was crap... full of memory leak and PAIN....sorry so far SEGAC is full of Fail....

PSU need to look more like Infinite Undiscovery... the spells and attacks in that game are really nice as well as the Spells and Food item Do something Cool unlike PSU and restore 30 hp...

[ChronoTrigga]

I hear ya lyric. If things pick up on the U.S. servers you should join us man. :P Team Dreamstation for life mate.

[Lyric]

I hear ya lyric. If things pick up on the U.S. servers you should join us man. :P Team Dreamstation for life mate.

I still play, just give me a place. Most of my usual crew is busy anymore. Haha.

[Golto]

perhaps...not like my posting will change any ones opinions...just annoys me to see so much complaining.....i mean..7-8 months behind? since when. 4 -5 maybe....we were..2 behind last spring? picked up another 2 or so due to the MAG 2 Delay......we'v been getting updates since then o.O


JPN mission carnival started 2-28-08
The earliest our mission carnival could start is 10-24-08
JPN got master types 3-27-08
The earliest we can expect master types is 11-21-08

So just about 8 months behind. So if this new AOI game is just an expansion it is probably 9 months away from being done in JPN. Add in 2-3 months for NA release could they possibly catch us up?

[Pika]

No The GBR update was crap... full of memory leak and PAIN....sorry so far SEGAC is full of Fail....

PSU need to look more like Infinite Undiscovery... the spells and attacks in that game are really nice as well as the Spells and Food item Do something Cool unlike PSU and restore 30 hp...

didnt that mission have problems before GBR?

[ChronoTrigga]

I still play, just give me a place. Most of my usual crew is busy anymore. Haha.

So far it's only me & Dam who still play on Dreamstation. o_O I just reactivated today, been out for a week or two.

[landman]

Interesting, interesting, I only ask for a proper port for 360, not another download to ad new bugs to the original game

[Cracka_J]

just annoys me to see so much complaining

you are complaining about the complainers. which is worse?

another sad case of pot/kettle syndrome.

[Darkly]

i'll follow this but more than likely wont buy unless its really going to revamp the whole thing.

Evasion tactics like shadow said, and actual fucking content would make me buy

and also taking the game off easy peasy mode too would be nice.



More than likely however, this expansion or whatever will be more of the same and likely an embarassment, i refuse to buy this if its going to take a year or more to play what ive bought.

[buzyb77]

didnt that mission have problems before GBR?



yup and they added one the Flowery pursuit... btw I reported Sacred Stream laagyness when It came out via the boards and reporting.... then 2 during Mag 2 I bit**ed about on the boards and my topics were locked and I was told to just skip it and ave patience on the fix... as 9+ moths was not enough to Fix the Memory leak...

[SabZero]

Well, I'm a fan of PSU, so I think it's great ^^

[ForteGunnerW]

This better be good

[RadiantLegend]

First - The News, the excitement, the wait

Then comes the delay, the excuses, the bawing


eh, this isnt going to change anything. In fact I think it will only get worse. yeah I have no faith in SEGAC.

[Celi-Ka]

This announcement has me somewhat curious. That's about all I can really say about it. At least until I get some more information.

Speculation is a waste of time, if you ask me.

[Masterflower]

yup and they added one the Flowery pursuit... btw I reported Sacred Stream laagyness when It came out via the boards and reporting.... then 2 during Mag 2 I bit**ed about on the boards and my topics were locked and I was told to just skip it and ave patience on the fix... as 9+ moths was not enough to Fix the Memory leak...

What is this so call Memory Leak O_o?

[Clint]

If Sega ever changes AOTI to PSU 0 DS style this will &%&&*^(&*^&((&^
The characters run around like LEGO MEN >_> and they look like little baby characters a little childs game maybe thats good to some people but I have seen the reviews im not impressed. But thats my opinion. New expansion Im happy to hear this this is good news. For all the complaints and crying and moaning lets shut down the servers completely and see how it sounds then o.o I still love to play this game if I get bored I take a break not complain, keeps it fun. :-)

[Zantra]

Zantra's Rumors and Speculation!!! Bun Bun Bun BAWWWWWWW!!!

The only things we can really expect...

Paying $50 for the PS2/PC version, and $35 (or so) on the Xbox 360 Version. (Because, it's a download.)

Offline Episode 3 for PS2/PC version with PSU/PSU:AOTI character transfer for offline/extra mode.

The Offline mode will not be available for the Xbox 360 version.

The Offline mode will contain new cut scenes and voice acting, not included in the online version of Episode 3.

Online Episode 4 missions.

New weapons, clothes, hairstyles, armors, items, Partner Machines, Room Decorations for online (and perhaps an offline version of the AOTI rooms), missions, classes, etc.

New characters/partner cards.

This is what I think we will get, based on what we recieved in PSU:AOTI, and until we get more info, this is probably quite accurate.

[Anime Sapphire]

Awsome!!! I can't wait to see what it is!

[Micro]

Oh snap, now the waiting game for more info begins. :lol:

[EasyBake Oven]

O.o A possible expansion? I believe Ambition has been the only expansion so it is good to see that there might be more goodies coming out in the future. And all the talk I've seen as a new player regarding this being a 'dead' game seems to be less accurate.

[Noblewine]

I'm looking forward to this the game needs an update. I'm gonna have to pre-order.

[Kizeragi]

*reads*

Cool, lets see if it gets this far though.

*goes back to Xbox 360*

[Drunken_Dragon]

you are complaining about the complainers. which is worse?

another sad case of pot/kettle syndrome.

Which is worse? People complaining about something they are choosing to partake in and spreading needless negativity to somehow justify themselves participating to begin with. blah blah blah blah.

On topic:

Looking forward to more information.

[relentless]

Hope dies last. SEGAC dies when hope died.

[Meta77]

Ha i told you guys this would happen at the TGS but nooooooo no one wanted to believe me back then.

[Mikura]

Wow, I really wasn't expecting anything new from PSU. It felt like they were ditching PSU for their new PS games since this is quickly becoming a sinking ship with no hope for recovery. >_> I just hope it's something big with a lot of new gameplay changes, missions, and items added. And they really, really, REALLY need to advertise this expansion in magazines and television this time (If it's a standalone expansion like AotI). This "could" save PSU, but ST needs to get it right this time (In US/EU anyway).

[Tyreek]

I think you guys are speculating a bit too much. They said PSU is not quite done yet, and that is that. As hopeful as I am to believing in a new expansion, lets at least wait and see what they follow up with this news first.

[engelsein]

Zantra's Rumors and Speculation!!! Bun Bun Bun BAWWWWWWW!!!

The only things we can really expect...

Paying $50 for the PS2/PC version, and $35 (or so) on the Xbox 360 Version. (Because, it's a download.)

Offline Episode 3 for PS2/PC version with PSU/PSU:AOTI character transfer for offline/extra mode.

The Offline mode will not be available for the Xbox 360 version.

The Offline mode will contain new cut scenes and voice acting, not included in the online version of Episode 3.

Online Episode 4 missions.

New weapons, clothes, hairstyles, armors, items, Partner Machines, Room Decorations for online (and perhaps an offline version of the AOTI rooms), missions, classes, etc.

New characters/partner cards.

This is what I think we will get, based on what we recieved in PSU:AOTI, and until we get more info, this is probably quite accurate.

remember there were new weapon types, theres space for one more on the palette so maybe... also new animation for daggers and claws so maybe something like that too.... well lets not jump to conclusions and see what info comes next

[Dragwind]

Indeed, the excruciating waiting game has begun.

[Kinako78]

Wow, I really wasn't expecting anything new from PSU. It felt like they were ditching PSU for their new PS games since this is quickly becoming a sinking ship with no hope for recovery. >_> I just hope it's something big with a lot of new gameplay changes, missions, and items added. And they really, really, REALLY need to advertise this expansion in magazines and television this time (If it's a standalone expansion like AotI). This "could" save PSU, but ST needs to get it right this time (In US/EU anyway).

Agreed. Let's hope they do get it right this time.

This does give me hope that the game won't be shut down anytime soon, though. I was about ready to have to find another online game to play. I'll stick with PSU until the end. I'm just glad the end isn't coming as soon as I feared.

[SubstanceD]

To be honest, I'm not really surprised that there is going to be another expansion to PSU. It seemed kind of obvious to me. What isn't obvious is what consoles will it appear on. I think it goes without saying that there will be a Pc version and a 360 version but will Sega still make a PS2 version or will they move on to the PS3. Is this expansion going to be download only like the 360 version of AOI ( I hope not ) or will there be an option to buy it on a disc from game retailer.



I'm not getting too excited until more details
are revealed.

<~~ pessimistic skeptic


EDIT: Wtf is with 90% of my posts starting a new page >_>

True.

I understand that Sega wants to milk the PSU thing for as much money as they can possibly get but it is a bit sad that they did not get the formulae right with PSU or AOI, there's still a very good chance that this new expansion will either disspaoint many PSO/PSU fans or it will leave us wanting much, much more. Hopefully thye will get it right this time. Suerly Sega will have learned somthing from the success of Phantasy Star Portable as well as the all the hype surrounding Phantasy Star Zero.

[AweOfShe]

Honestly, while v1 was unique, I couldn't help feeling that aoi seemed like a rehash: fanservice PSO mixed into PSU. I hope, if they go through with this, v3 will be unique. Unique content, unique weapons, unique new areas. If people want PSO they can play the upcoming Zero. There is no reason to include more rehashed PSO items or areas. Let's move on.

I agree with this, but I also hope PSZero isn't a re-release of 7-8 year old content either. Classes are fine and dandy, but items and stages..........? :P

On topic: Hooray for waiting! >.>

[buzyb77]

What is this so call Memory Leak O_o?



as I understand it the Memory leak was expalined by Hycraft....to me... I understood very little
here is what wiki says

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_leak

[Kizeragi]

^ Wiki is usually a real annoyance to understand.

A memory leak is when a computer/game console is unable to remove an object that can no longer be seen. (i.e robots) This causes the game to try and load too much, which then results in slowdown. Most memory leaks last a few seconds, but in the case of the 360's "Robot Slowdown" the whole console must be reseted to remove it.

Topic: Hopefully this is ST's "revival attempt" at PSU in the US/EU. If not, then this game is within onbound tracks of a large failtrain. And I'll be around until the very last moment. Possibly.

[Freshellent]

With any luck, they'll bring back the oh so zesty flavor of v.1 and drop the goddamn crayola people parade they brought in AoI.

I expect good things, but really all we can do is wait now.

Though, it'd be nice if they advertised this time. The population has be horrid last few months.

[Aisha379]

If Sega ever changes AOTI to PSU 0 DS style this will &%&&*^(&*^&((&^
The characters run around like LEGO MEN >_> and they look like little baby characters a little childs game maybe thats good to some people but I have seen the reviews im not impressed. But thats my opinion. New expansion Im happy to hear this this is good news. For all the complaints and crying and moaning lets shut down the servers completely and see how it sounds then o.o I still love to play this game if I get bored I take a break not complain, keeps it fun. :-)

I resent that remark! I've been playing Lego Batman for the 360 with my sister for the past few weeks, and Lego men have *much* better animations than PSU characters.

[Inazuma]

my wishlist for the game:

- supports 1920X1200 resolution and AA for pc ver
- new techniques
- balance the master types. (MF completely sux compared to FM/GM now)
- maybe a completely new palette system. the current one feels too slow and limiting.
- hotkeys so we can change our equipment on the fly
- expand on the item distribution settings and let each player have individual settings. so for example, you could check off monomates, so they would automatically skip you and go to a player who wants em.
- evade and charge commands from ps0
- it would be nice if the game actually favors multiplayer over solo. ideally, the game will scale in difficulty/items for each new player that joins the party. solo can be the easiest but you earn meseta/items the slowest.
- racial abilities for human/newman.
- vehicle use in regular missions
- more variety in monsters and better enemy AI
- make it possible for us to actually buy/sell expensive items w/ player shops >_>
- add some kind of death penalty so dying actually matters, and it should only affect the player who dies.
- balance the missions so we have more than a small handful to choose from
- increase character item inventory to at least 100
- create a central hub mission counter that lets us view/search every mission across all lobbies, plus lets us join the mission rite from there.
- let us manually sort player cards, plus sort by online/afk/offline status.
- as a reward for reaching the max level cap, convert experience pts into meseta.

[Kinako78]

I think it goes without saying that there will be a Pc version and a 360 version but will Sega still make a PS2 version or will they move on to the PS3.

Personal feelings aside, I would say it'd be on PS2 just cause of how big it still is in Japan.

[furrypaws]

Ok, so it's from the third page, but...


All fun aside, I'll get it regardless if it's available for NA PC.
I intend to see this failboat though until it's neighboring the titanic.

Honestly, while v1 was unique, I couldn't help feeling that aoi seemed like a rehash: fanservice PSO mixed into PSU. I hope, if they go through with this, v3 will be unique. Unique content, unique weapons, unique new areas. If people want PSO they can play the upcoming Zero. There is no reason to include more rehashed PSO items or areas. Let's move on.

YES.

I'll be one of the first to admit it; I liked PSU original. I liked the new areas. It was new, it was neat. I had played PSO, I still play PSO, but honestly, if all Sega's gonna do is give me a halfbaked remake by giving me stuff I paid for eight years ago, then I think I'll stick with the original, thank you very much.

Also, I've heard there's still untouched content from PSU v1. Sega, you need to release all the content before you make a new expansion. Of course, knowing Sega, the new game could simply be exactly Ambition of Illuminus, only they unlock the rest of the content. =P

[Apone]

Since all the character data is saved on the servers. It would be nice if Sega gutted and rebalanced the whole game to reduce White Beast-itis =P

[Powder Keg]

This should be good enough to give a PC/PS2 side four stars for about another 2 months....

I just don't feel excited this time around.

[Ryudo]

Great news, sega continue to be the only ones making TGS worthwhile this year

[Aorre]

Complaining is easy and fun to do...but I'm actually willing to play their little waiting game just to see what it is. ;o

[Golto]

Wouldn't it be funny if this project was just psp stuff in AOI? I'm willing to bet they could fit all of psp weapons, monsters, and clothing onto the ps2 AOI.

[ZoSo925]

my wishlist for the game:

- supports 1920X1200 resolution and AA for pc ver




OMG yes, this game desperately needs 1920x1200 + resolution. That has really baffled me why this games resolution has always been limited. Quake III and Unreal Tournament came out almost 10 years ago on the PC and it supported 1920x1200 even though it was almost impossible to have a graphics card even support it.

[ChaosAngel92]

Im so sorry to say this, but PSZ has my total attention right now. If SEGA decides to shut down or continue with PSU, this time I dont care.

[Hucast-Kireek]

Indeed, PSZ is my new craze, the only thing that will make me happy about a new expansion is Soul Eater included and more vehicles and junk.

[Treize K]

hhhh...............hhmm

[Alterin]

I am the opposite where as I really couldn't care less about PSZ. This new info on PSU is an expected yet interesting move by Segac.

[Arika]

Maybe they're just going to package the 8 months of content NA/EU is behind on into a $40 update disc!!

Genius!
If that was true, I would still gladly buy it.

However, this is not about US server at all. but they mention JP server. So, I assume next expansion. (well, expansion doesn't need to be yearly, it might be 1.5 years or 2 year/ one)

[ForceOfBrokenGlass]

Zantra's Rumors and Speculation!!! Bun Bun Bun BAWWWWWWW!!!

The only things we can really expect...

Paying $50 for the PS2/PC version, and $35 (or so) on the Xbox 360 Version. (Because, it's a download.)

Offline Episode 3 for PS2/PC version with PSU/PSU:AOTI character transfer for offline/extra mode.

The Offline mode will not be available for the Xbox 360 version.

The Offline mode will contain new cut scenes and voice acting, not included in the online version of Episode 3.

Online Episode 4 missions.

New weapons, clothes, hairstyles, armors, items, Partner Machines, Room Decorations for online (and perhaps an offline version of the AOTI rooms), missions, classes, etc.

New characters/partner cards.

This is what I think we will get, based on what we recieved in PSU:AOTI, and until we get more info, this is probably quite accurate.

All of this is A-OK with me. I only play offline PS2 version anyway. I doubt there'll be an episode 4. The Seed are exterminated at the end of 3

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

Wouldn't it be funny if this project was just psp stuff in AOI? I'm willing to bet they could fit all of psp weapons, monsters, and clothing onto the ps2 AOI.
I would actually be surprised if it is anything other than this.

I reckon they'll throw in all the PSP weapons and items and such, and maybe a few extra areas or something, but not much else.

[Space-Elf]

my wishlist for the game:

- supports 1920X1200 resolution and AA for pc ver
- new techniques
- balance the master types. (MF completely sux compared to FM/GM now)
- maybe a completely new palette system. the current one feels too slow and limiting.
- hotkeys so we can change our equipment on the fly
- expand on the item distribution settings and let each player have individual settings. so for example, you could check off monomates, so they would automatically skip you and go to a player who wants em.
- evade and charge commands from ps0
- it would be nice if the game actually favors multiplayer over solo. ideally, the game will scale in difficulty/items for each new player that joins the party. solo can be the easiest but you earn meseta/items the slowest.
- racial abilities for human/newman.
- vehicle use in regular missions
- more variety in monsters and better enemy AI
- make it possible for us to actually buy/sell expensive items w/ player shops >_>
- add some kind of death penalty so dying actually matters, and it should only affect the player who dies.
- balance the missions so we have more than a small handful to choose from
- increase character item inventory to at least 100
- create a central hub mission counter that lets us view/search every mission across all lobbies, plus lets us join the mission rite from there.
- let us manually sort player cards, plus sort by online/afk/offline status.
- as a reward for reaching the max level cap, convert experience pts into meseta.

I agree with everything and I'll add to it:
-Explore the areas freely (We have 3 bloody planets! Why are we confined to "blocks"?! )
-Have the option to travel or zip to the mission zone.
-Larger more interactive areas
-More diverse character options
-Better NPC and PM AI (For crying out loud, they're PARTNER machines not "stand around and look pretty. They're supposed to help!)
-More ways to interact with your PM (sort of like a pet of sort)
-Better character animations


But all these things I doubt they'll even bother adding to it. After playing through every mission in the game, I lost interest when things got boring and Grindy. The lack of all these ideas is what caused me to quit PSU before I ever reached lvl 100 on just one character. Guess what game replaced PSU...an outdated Korean F2P MMORPG...Mabinogi and to this day I enjoy it more as it receives support a whole lot more closer. And yes I am bitching/whinning/complaining, whatever you want to call it. Sonic Team ain't what it used to be...

[Touka]

What i'd like to see is the abilities exclusive to the humanoid enemies added to the game.Evasion,charge shots with weapons,double cast with wands and such.Also improved animations with weapons,the Mazz normal set really needs to be added for males.

[Arika]

the problem now is theres tons of online games to play, so its hard to find people who stay on one game for years at a time.(WoW seems to be the exception here...)
.
Because WOW advertise that much. it is obvious that they gain more players base than other game.

[Azure Knight]

Interesting... but we still have loads of unreleased content for AOI.

I'll reserve judgement until the formal announcement.

Fingers Crossed for something good !! :D

[BIGGIEstyle]

I sure hope they do something shiny with it. They should get away from all the old sruff and incorporate new stuff. PSO was great and all but seriously, out with the old and in with the new.

[Azure Knight]

amen to that

[IrisForscythe]

*coughcough*time to open bittorrent again*coughcough*

[Mracless]

I was hoping they'd move onto a new Phantasy Star title for the home consoles and PC, but I guess that's just too much to ask for.

I was really excited about AOTI when I first heard about it, but I was ultimately disappointed with a lots of the content.

I've mentioned this in some other thread, but they've already fit PSU v1 and AOTI on one PS2 disc.
If they have to stuff another expansion in there, there's not a lot to be excited about.
Changing the colour of a level and making me do it backwards just isn't enough for me.

It would be great if they would drop the PS2 version (for me and all other non-PS2 players), but that's not likely to happen.

Here are some things I'd like to see from an expansion:

- An improvement in graphics. It doesn't have to be anything impressive.
- A create your own class type thing. Where you have a set number of points to distribute to what weapons you can use and what stat modifiers you have.
I know some people would hate this for some reason, but I want one! ;_;
-New weapons, new weapon types, Photon Arts, the rest of the EX traps (and maybe even a new type of trap :-o), etc...
-New clothes, new hairstyles, new animations, the ability to select primary and secondary colour separately for clothes, maybe even multiple hair colours...
-Brand new missions and environments.
-More... stuff. I don't know what else to say.

Anyway, we're likely to just get some of the v1 missions that haven't already been reskinned in different colours.
Some of the other content I want will be added as well, but not to the scale that I would like.

I would really like to be able to enjoy PSU. I really would... :-(

[Arika]

I want one! ;_;
-New weapons, new weapon types, Photon Arts, the rest of the EX traps (and maybe even a new type of trap :-o), etc...
-New clothes, new hairstyles, new animations, the ability to select primary and secondary colour separately for clothes, maybe even multiple hair colours...
-Brand new missions and environments.
-More... stuff. I don't know what else to say.

that is something that will surely happen for an expansion, at least some new stuff, some new area. However, drop PS2 is not likely to happen, consider you will see a lot of complain goes back to ST for it.

[Powder Keg]

A 3rd expansion would just be pathetic and a lame excuse to get more money IMO.

[pikachief]

actually with the JP low on content(or so tehy say) for AotI, a 3rd expansion would teh the right and sensible thing to do as this game supposedly has a 5 year plan :)

[Syndrome]

Hmmm... I too am a bit iffy on this one... As much as I want this to be greatness I just don't know, considering all the complaints people have that I don't feel like repeating right this minute. Something fun would be new characters, for example FOmar/Hucaseal that episodes 1 and 2 gave us, and also to make this Massively multiplayer RPG actually MASSIVE. Yes we have three planets and a colony, but you are confided to one city per area. IMO that is one reason why games like WOW and FFXI are doiong so much better and lasting so much longer than any online PS game, you actually have an entire world to explore.

[pikachief]

lol an entire world to explore is the exact reason y i play this and not WoW or FFXI.

i wanna go where i want when i want without having to actually TRAVEL there :(

[buzyb77]

lol an entire world to explore is the exact reason y i play this and not WoW or FFXI.

i wanna go where i want when i want without having to actually TRAVEL there :(


What walking all the from San Diora to Windhurst 5x for 1 mission that makes a 5 min or less mission take 4h... is not fun...

yeah i get yah there but.... anyway according to a friend of mine the total data on the 360 version inculding downloads PSU is already 4.6GBish


also we FLY to all our missions and thank God we don't have to see that anamation every time we play a mission...

as for getting excited about more to come though..... it to me is as about as exciting as someone telling a drowning mant that another boat will come by to pick him up eventually..

[pikachief]

actually in live or death situation that can be very exciting news! :D

lol

[Touka]

that is something that will surely happen for an expansion, at least some new stuff, some new area. However, drop PS2 is not likely to happen, consider you will see a lot of complain goes back to ST for it.

Rather than drop PS2 support why don't they just do what they should've done in the first place,make the game run better on PC rather than lazily porting it.Why should PC(and 360 for that matter)suffer for the PS2's limiitations?

[RedCoKid]

PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus
Additional update confirmed!
* Details to be announced at a later date.


They have 1 update left on the JP side? Will they finish the 12 mo we're behind over here before they pull the plug? :-?

[DjDragoon]

Now THIS is what I was waiting to see from TGS... well, that and some actual INFO about the expansion.

[Hucast-Kireek]

Hmm this might mean PSP weapons coming to PSU as Dreamcast and Saturn Shadoogs are confirmed.

[ThEoRy]

A 3rd expansion would just be pathetic and a lame excuse to get more money IMO.

Only it wouldn't be a third expansion merely a second one. You have to admit, this game certainly shows much room for improvement.

[StuffBadK]

Wonder what new stuff will come along with it..
Maybe some sort of special ability for humans and/or newmans?

[Eleina]

A new update will be the excuse to terminate PC/PS2 servers. Because i doubt they will bother investing in making game discs for theose supports. They could always make the PC client downloadable though lol.

[Powder Keg]

Only it wouldn't be a third expansion merely a second one. You have to admit, this game certainly shows much room for improvement.

lol oops, 2nd is what I meant. I don't think another expansion is going to fix any problems that are driving people away from the game though.

[Mracless]

that is something that will surely happen for an expansion, at least some new stuff, some new area. However, drop PS2 is not likely to happen, consider you will see a lot of complain goes back to ST for it.

Yeah. I know that we would get a lot of that stuff, and I know they won't drop the PS2.

But because there's only so much that they can stuff into a DVD disc for the PS2,
I know that there's not going to be enough new content to satisfy me.
My hunger for new content is insatiable!

I just think the PS2 is holding back the potential PSU has for me.

[DAMASCUS]

It would be nice if they made it downloadable from the Playstation Network even if it was just the PS2 version.

Well, if things go well with the Carnival event maybe we can maintain enough people on PC/PS2 to get the last expansion. Given the sales for AOI though...not hopeful.

[BIGGIEstyle]

The best thing they could do for our servers with the "new expansion" is ADVERTISE IT. Advertise that, AotI, and even the original and get copies into stores again and bring some more people (money, as sega knows them.) to the series.

[Aisha379]

As far as "PS2 is holding everyone back" goes - I agree.

Thats why Sega should do what they pretty much done with V2 on the DC version of PSO - V2 people can still play with V1 people on V1 content, but V1 can't do V2 things.

Its no different from our V1 and AOTI PSU now, really.

It'd be like telling everyone "Sorry, but if you want all the content the game has to offer, save up and go buy a PS3 or a good PC or something, your PS2 isn't going to cut it anymore" - which might sound kind of mean to some people, but everyone knows its going to HAVE to be done sooner or later anyway (PSU aside entirely).

[unicorn]

PSU Ep 4: Death to US PC+PS2 Servers / Ambition of PSZ

They need to:
- Give us some exploration. Other MMORPGs do this and they're doing very well in the $$$ department
- Rebalance missions. Goodbye White Beast. Hello Crimson Beast! :D
- Give Humans/Newmans racial abilities + make Beast/CAST decent techers.
- Moar Masterclasses. Rebalance MF.
- Moar Weapons, Makeovers, Recreational Stuff (even ...dare I say...PVP! Yes. I hate PVP, but at this point, it might help), Improve music, Improve Room function, Battle System for Gunners and Techers
- Stay away from PSO, leave that to PSZ. Make PSU into a completely different game.

[haruna]

Mind giving us some of the cool crap the way it's done in the portable system PS games? :P

I'd love the evasive rolls in Zero, the less retarded grinding system of Portable, and so forth. And on top of that, they'd seriously better put in something really amazing to make it worth sticking with this subscription version rather than ditching it for the others.

[Tigernado]

I hope its a huge upgrade, but I really doubt it's gonna be anything mind-blowing like some of you have mentioned. If there's a new expansion then we could at the least expect:

New Areas
New Weapons
New Clothes/Parts
New Room Decoraions
Incremental game play additions and changes.
Promises of a new event or 2.
etc.

If Sega/Sonic Team wanted PSU to be able to be seriously upgraded, they should of only released it on consoles with hard drives.

[pikachief]

what would be awesome is adding special recial abilities, like for actions for the A button :O (or X if your on PS2)

as a cast u could press A and a direction on your controller to roll

a human could be able to run faster if u held the A button

a newman could be able to attack with their rod or wand lol

and beasts could be able to jump really high and dodge attacks :O


but that wont happen, all i really want is to be able to change my proportions thats it.

[Rayokarna]

I LOL at the fact people think were getting another expansion. They will just do what they did with PSO. Just port it to a new gen console.

[pikachief]

I LOL at the fact people think were getting another expansion. They will just do what they did with PSO. Just port it to a new gen console.

that would be interesting and possible, since the PS2/PC is accessed through the servers witha user name and password :P

and on PS3 they could have downloadable updates better graphics and more variety.

it would be a possible and awesome thing to do if they moved it to PS3, i just dont see it happening

[Hucast-Kireek]

If it comes to PS3 it better have next gen graphicz. :P lol

I wonder what SEGAC is up to next.

[darkante]

If this game decides to make a graphic switch and is still on PC, it´s probably the only game i would upgrade anything more on my PC for.
Really.

Can´t find a more addicting game then this and PSO. (ok Not 24/7 addicting, but you know what i mean)

[YohmeiSuras]

I was thinking this too that they should expand the PSU game, i mean some of the weapons from PSO should be brought into PSU. making it a little more intrresting. OR the new Styles of weaponry should be entered in. i had a few ideas of some weapons that would prove some fun for the PSU player :)

[Celi-Ka]

The best thing they could do for our servers with the "new expansion" is ADVERTISE IT. Advertise that, AotI, and even the original and get copies into stores again and bring some more people (money, as sega knows them.) to the series.

Concur'd to the utmost. More exposure would really help.

[SabZero]

I don't expect another expansion. They said the story was done in Episode 3. The character and job levels are at what they said would be the max (200 and 20 respectively).

I'm hoping all content (missing weapons/decorations/clothes) to be released, and maybe some just-for-fun missions. Maybe even all the event missions.

[lumia fanatic]

well for the UK you only need to download it off the xbox market :D so i dont need to find a disk :)

[Cracka_J]

I don't expect another expansion. They said the story was done in Episode 3. The character and job levels are at what they said would be the max (200 and 20 respectively).

I'm hoping all content (missing weapons/decorations/clothes) to be released, and maybe some just-for-fun missions. Maybe even all the event missions.

You do know, an expansion without a cheesy tacked-on storyline would be very welcomed by a lot of players, myself included. I've always said this game could have done without it all.

Another expansion with only new missions, new areas and new weapons/gear would be fine by me. Just for the love of god release all content from the start and kill off this jp/na update gap nonsense. Only events or gameplay adjustments we would then have to wait for, and the universe would be a much better place.

[Arika]

They never said level is max at 200 before. only people assume it themselves from PSO.
unless you meant LV max for AOI offline is at 200, then that is correct.
by offline v.1 is max at 100, AOI is max at 200, if there is another expansion, it is going to be 300.

[Micro]

If this supposed "expansion" does get released, let's hope there's some actual NEW stuff, not more reskins or dare I say it, LOLPSO.


You do know, an expansion without a cheesy tacked-on storyline would be very welcomed by a lot of players, myself included. I've always said this game could have done without it all.

Another expansion with only new missions, new areas and new weapons/gear would be fine by me. Just for the love of god release all content from the start and kill off this jp/na update gap nonsense. Only events or gameplay adjustments we would then have to wait for, and the universe would be a much better place.

I'm with Cracka on this, I never really was a big fan of the story for this game and could care less if there was anything added story wise. Same with releasing all content from day one. Hell if needed, adjust the drop rates again to make rares you know...rare?

Anyways, here's to hoping we get some exciting news about this whole "PSU expanding" in the near future.

[SabZero]

They never said level is max at 200 before. only people assume it themselves from PSO.
unless you meant LV max for AOI offline is at 200, then that is correct.
by offline v.1 is max at 100, AOI is max at 200, if there is another expansion, it is going to be 300.

Actually, the lead guy said it in an interview (you can read it on PSOW).

Edit: link (http://www.pso-world.com/phantasy-star-universe-e3-2006-takao-miyoshi.php): he mentioned only job levels of being max. 20. Oh well. 200 makes sense though.

[Arika]

PSOW: Is there anything you can tell us about the maximum levels or leveling speed in Phantasy Star Universe?

Takao Miyoshi: There are some limitations on leveling, similar to Phantasy Star Online. However, since I place the most importance on balance, it is kind of hard to know what the maximum levels or leveling rate will be just yet. There are also job levels, which will go up to level 20 and be separate from your actual character level, meaning there are two separate types of leveling in Phantasy Star Universe.
see? no mention max level. he even say that it is hard to decide the cap yet.
that 200 is only people assumption.

EDIT: nvm, seem you already posted link before me. I m sure the caped would go more than 200 if they release another exapnsion. (since JP is already lv 160!! )

[RemiusTA]

All i want to see in the expansion is Offline multiplayer and an offline mode that isnt shit. That way i can enjoy this game to the extent i enjoyed PSO -- with actual friends.

[RedRaz0r]

This will definatley be interesting..

[bp_shoruko]

oh, good. Now only another 6 months until any details surface about this...

[Mikura]

I hope this isn't true, but I'm going to laugh pretty hard if come to find out, this doesn't even turn out to be an expansion, but rather "we're just adding more lolcontent to AotI." Not that I would complain about that, but this game needs more than that to breath some life back into it again. Speculation is nice, but no one get their hopes up too high yet. Right now, I'm remaining "cautiously optimistic."

On another note, no one mentions this often, but I still feel they could release this on PS2 and PS3. Would it really be that hard to support both platforms and have PS3 share servers with PC/PS2? Throw in PS3 support and advertise the damn game this time, and the population would surely increase dramatically. Then it'd be up to ST on whether or not the population would STAY once it began to increase. To me, that's the most important thing. Gathering new players would be extremely easy, but keeping them here would be the true test.

[Lance813]

New weapons/ clothes

end of story.

[Rayokarna]

All i want to see in the expansion is Offline multiplayer and an offline mode that isnt shit. That way i can enjoy this game to the extent i enjoyed PSO -- with actual friends.

Buy Phantasy Star Portable

[zandra117]

I bet its the Phantasy Star Portable story and content added to online mode and Episode 3 for offline mode players.

[pikachief]

New weapons/ clothes

end of story.

maybe we can has a few new missions, a new boss(i bets a horrible looking..... omg my mind went blank that boss from PSO v2) and a few new enemies. :O

bassically everything AotI brought except without the gameplay changes :P

oh and an increase to the maximum amount of meseta we can hold! JP commented on this a while back saying they are working on increasing the number but it would be hard and take a large update/patch, so an expansion would be a good place to do it :P

[gameday]

http://fatchickkkks.ytmnd.com/ <--- if i could i'd go out with all 4 of those lovely ladies all at once

You think they would all fit in your Volkswagen??

[DreXxiN]

PSU Ep 4: Death to US PC+PS2 Servers / Ambition of PSZ

They need to:
-Make all races the same


THIS.

..Waitwhat?

[Meta77]

Buy Phantasy Star Zero
Fixed.

[Akaimizu]

I wouldn't say it was fixed. It would've been better as an addendum than to change the text entirely. PSP and PS0 look to fit that description. Except we already have PSP and know it does a great job of doing just that. Very well made. PS0, looks good and is likely to be good; but we haven't played it yet.

On the other hand, PS0 already looks to do one thing PSP doesn't. Have a decent amount of in-game communication.

[Stixx]

I still think they should find a way to integrate the US servers with the JP servers for the PC/PS2 version (and if they can, add in the 360 servers as well). I personally would relish the chance to play with the Japanese community and that way they wouldn't have to run two (three?) different update cycles. However, I remember reading when PSU first came out in the US that there was some sort of problem with the way the servers were set up that prevented integration...maybe an expansion could solve this issue?

[pikachief]

You think they would all fit in your Volkswagen??

they're all gonna fit even if one has to sit on mah lap! ;) lol XD

I'll have the lovely katrina on the left D: lol

[Meta77]

hmm guess your right but if im not mistaken does zero not have wi-fi and portable only have multi(not sure what you call it when 4 people sit together and play a game)

[gundam0079]

if somehow they drop psu aoi NA/EU ill just move to jp servers they will alive and kicking( hopefully) and nesies events come so oftenthere ill be capped again :D and with more and better weps than now :D oh well. im interested in what this "new" content is.

[Yoyu]

fantastic news. :D but then, anything PSU related is fantastic news. so long as there is more of everything, Yoyu will be content. there is talk concerning evasive - does that include blocking or rolling/diving out of the way? counters/reversals would be good too.

[Lyric]

hmm guess your right but if im not mistaken does zero not have wi-fi and portable only have multi(not sure what you call it when 4 people sit together and play a game)

I'm pretty sure Zero has Wi Fi. I'll have to go look it up to make sure though.

Edit: Yep. Has WiFi

[Meta77]

1UP: Can you explain the functionality between the PS2 version and the PSP version and how it works?

SS: Unfortunately, that won't be incorporated into the Western version. But just to describe what it does: You'll be able to take your character from the PS2 version, download it from the network, and upload it on to your PSP, complete with that character's weapons, armor, facial features, and everything.

1UP: Why isn't that in the U.S. version?

SS: Because of technical difficulties.

1UP: But PSU servers are still running in the U.S., right?

SS: Yes.
: man that sucks for U.S. *psp fans that is* *glad he has a ds with lots of import games lol*

[Aisha379]

"technical difficulties" my ass. The servers are the exact same from a technical standpoint, right? (except for US being X amount of years behind JP, that is).

Sounds like a stupid excuse to just ignore the western market to me.

[Cracka_J]

lol wow, guess you can never expect to see those bonus psp exclusive items now.

just when you think sega's taking a step in the right direction, they shoot themselves in the foot.

this game hasn't even released stateside and they're already turning away potential customers. yup, sounds like sega to me.

[EspioKaos]

lol wow, guess you can never expect to see those bonus psp exclusive items now.

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2165706&postcount=3

[RegulusHikari]

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2165706&postcount=3

Now, I'm not entirely sure what that all means because I haven't kept up to date with PSP at all, but if that means any extra coding on SoA's part, I would highly recommend not getting your hopes up.

Personally, I couldn't care less about PSP and its shiny little units. There is a bigger concern at hand. ST can't sell copies if it doesn't have the community to sell to.

[Aisha379]

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2165706&postcount=3

Theories that would take years for SOA to understand the concept of, not to mention implent, do not count.

Plus the majority of PSU will be dead by then, I fear. Though perhaps it is better this way. I see PSU as the zombie of a loved one - you had great times and wish it never would have turned out this way, but, deep down, you know the best thing to do is shoot it in the head, bury it, and move on with all your fond memories.

[Golto]

They've left out stuff for us before why change now?

[RubyEclipse]

Hey everyone,

To clarify on the exchange items - this is by no means word that those will not come to the US servers; simply that the Japanese method for exchanging/transferring characters from PS2 will not be included.

There's still a lot to be determined as the launch draws near, so don't jump to conclusions just yet. :)

[Masterflower]

In all honestly, we should have saw this coming because the fact this game is also on xbox. Sega mostly chose this to most likely meet the needs for xbox gamers. The fact we still dont have Real Handguns proves xbox must have everything.

[Mystic_Nessly]

no single person, just the large mass of people who complain constantly around here.

With good reason.

[Powder Keg]

1UP: Can you explain the functionality between the PS2 version and the PSP version and how it works?

SS: Unfortunately, that won't be incorporated into the Western version. But just to describe what it does: You'll be able to take your character from the PS2 version, download it from the network, and upload it on to your PSP, complete with that character's weapons, armor, facial features, and everything.

1UP: Why isn't that in the U.S. version?

SS: Because of technical difficulties

lmfao, what an absolute load of shit.

If there were another expansion and the updates were done in the same process...this game can kiss my ass. I'll bet that it would get released without even having 70% of AOI's content, while taking your money. I'll say it again: Sega deserves to go under because of their lack of support for their fans outside of Japan, especially if the update situation stays the same.

We still have a ways to go to see, but I don't think crossing our fingers is going to help.

[VR-Raiden]

"technical difficulties."

I lol'd. Hard.

[SabZero]

Well, that means I won't buy a PSP nor PSU for it at all then.

And it is quite possible that we will never get to see certain items. Remember the light Soniti the japanese players got for the launch of AoI?

And that whole "there will be an opportunity to obtain item X at a later time through other means" is just not good enough - to me it means I'll never see it, much less obtian it.

[RedCoKid]

Woah... so the option to transfer my character from PSU to PSP won't be there for US release? Count me out. If I wanted to start new characters, I could do that already in offline mode on PS2.

[Clint]

I for one still love the Online version AOTI and I am very excited about the PSP version just because you can't transfer your character doesn't mean it's worthless. Do you realy know how easy it is to get a character to level 20 on the PSP? And to get 10k less than an hour. Create your character image the same as your online one? go online and match up the numbers not hard. As for items you don't get well all the cool drops make it worth it for me. I think the news of PSP comming to US is awsome im not crying about it.

Plus this gives other people who want to play it a chance to see how fun it can be and and it's a portable PSU game as real as the online except better drops. My opinion is both systems AOTI and PSU PSP are great games take that all away and we can close these forums and there is nothing to wine about anymore >.>

GOOD MORNING!! ^^

-Clint ...


*Agrees with Arika*

To obtain Whitil Wing reach level 100 on the PSP as far as the PS2 / PC by March Im sure that will be out by then it's an Aura with HP regen Not sure which event on the Japanese Server's it came out on I missed that maybe Arika could shed some light on that :-)

[Arika]

I think people here has mistaken about transfer character.
It is not like you can transfer your Uber rare to PSP anyway.
people only transfer for one main purpose :
-to get whitil wing or wing suv in AOI


The purpose of getting lv 20 char is nothing. and you only need 10 min to make over a new character.
you are not allow to transfer your PA and equipment from AOI into PSP.

so well, they might give us another way to get whitil wing consider that Xbox user can't transfer their char into PSP no matter what.
(it is unfair to give this exclusive item to only PS2/PC server anyway)

I don't really think that this transfer is an important matter at all.

more likely, people just like to complain everything when they dont receive the same as what JP did. no matter how minor is that stuff.

[Cracka_J]

I for one still love the Online version AOTI and I am very excited about the PSP version just because you can't transfer your character doesn't mean it's worthless. Do you realy know how easy it is to get a character to level 20 on the PSP?

I don't think anyone's saying that the lack of this feature is making the game worthless. What people are saying is that this was an anticipated feature that would give unique items and allow the transfer of characters we have spent hundreds of hours playing on. Sure, you can remake them, but that kinda takes away from one of the "oh cool" selling points of the game, at least for me.

The fact that they're removing it with the excuse of "technical difficulties" after all the bs we've been through with AOI, is a severe kick in the pants. ST/SEGA has shown multiple times they will not put forth any extra effort for anyone outside of JP, this is just the latest addition to the list.

They wonder why americans hate them and their company so much after repeatedly pulling stunts like this. If they're that boneheaded, they have no reason to be in the US game market in the first place. Just gtfo and be done with us.

And Ruby, I do feel sorry you have to keep doing the PR work for them. They really should be able to cover their own asses after making statements like that, and not have to rely off of a GM/Moderator to pull publicity strings for them. That's bad business no matter how you cut it.

[Clint]

I don't think anyone's saying that the lack of this feature is making the game worthless. What people are saying is that this was an anticipated feature that would give unique items and allow the transfer of characters we have spent hundreds of hours playing on. Sure, you can remake them, but that kinda takes away from one of the "oh cool" selling points of the game, at least for me.

The fact that they're removing it with the excuse of "technical difficulties" after all the bs we've been through with AOI, is a severe kick in the pants. ST/SEGA has shown multiple times they will not put forth any extra effort for anyone outside of JP, this is just the latest addition to the list.

They wonder why americans hate them and their company so much after repeatedly pulling stunts like this. If they're that boneheaded, they have no reason to be in the US game market in the first place. Just gtfo and be done with us.

And Ruby, I do feel sorry you have to keep doing the PR work for them. They really should be able to cover their own asses after making statements like that, and not have to rely off of a GM/Moderator to pull publicity strings for them. That's bad business no matter how you cut it.

Understood ^^; this is true I'm trying to keep up the positive note in all, I would rather have the PSU games than not have them at all. Good point about our GM's for the game taking the brunt for the lack of support or mis-haps, that is bad business >.>

[RedCoKid]

Create your character image the same as your online one? go online and match up the numbers not hard.

Not hard, but annoying and definitely not exact. There is no way to accurately reproduce characters' height and weight ratios unless you wrote down and saved the info you typed in 4000 hours ago. At best you can try to copy face and hair but again, not 100% accurate.

[Clint]

Not hard, but annoying and definitely not exact. There is no way to accurately reproduce characters' height and weight ratios unless you wrote down and saved the info you typed in 4000 hours ago. At best you can try to copy face and hair but again, not 100% accurate.


You are right, that will never be 100% The key points for me is that it's portable, same or similar missions, the crazy drop rates, the grinding, the 8 slots to make characters, unless they take that away to I still would buy it ^^

[SabZero]

Well, getting these items *was* a major selling point. Same with the voices in AoI. Only we never got them. So, in my opinion, PSU PSP just went way down on my want list.

[Akaimizu]

Don't forget the huge list of features that rock about PSP. Now I haven't heard an announcement that they're taking those away; but if this announcement is all we're losing for PSP US, I'd say things are looking pretty good for the release.

You'll still come back here in droves saying, "Wow! This stuff in the PSP version is cool. Why is this not in the full version?"

It'll probably be a repeat of months ago.

[Darius_Drake]

In all honestly, we should have saw this coming because the fact this game is also on xbox. Sega mostly chose this to most likely meet the needs for xbox gamers. The fact we still dont have Real Handguns proves xbox must have everything.

Well everything ain't all sweet on the xbox side. I would gladly give you my real handguns if you could take away our robot lag issues.

[RedCoKid]

Well everything ain't all sweet on the xbox side. I would gladly give you my real handguns if you could take away our robot lag issues.

I would gladly trade you my PS2 lag for your robot lag.

[Guildmaster]

It would be nice if they addressed all the issues you can read in forums or there just going to add to the pile of shit that is Phantasy Star Universe, as for the quote about dropping PSU for a new game, I would give PSU a face lift if possible, and hope for a better game on a new update, more of PSO's balance, and they definitely need to stop using the PS2 as there guide line, they should give pc and 360 there content during maintenance instead of waiting to release it on a disk to accommodate a dead system, and just make a PS2 expansion disk available for those unfortunately play on the PS2, so we all have to suffer, it lacks what alot of free MMO's even have.
STOP RECYCLING MONSTERS AND LEVELS!!!

[RemiusTA]

All i want is for this expansion to cater to the Xbox 360, instead of the dead PS2.

This is what i would hope for in a PSU based on the 360 instead of that weak and rusty Playstation 2 :

GRAPHICAL CHANGES --

PSU would be able to run on better GRAPHICS. look at what the Dreamcast to GAMECUBE leap did to PSO Ep.1&2. Imagine all the improvement EP2 had on top of Ep1, except for PSU on 360. Fire effects would have Heatwave distortion (Foie technics too), All the water in the levels could be given distortion maps as well (Remember the Seaside, Seabed and Jungle stages of PSO? Well, think that except inside of Raffion and Neudaiz stages. Think of it in the Water Shrine stage! It would be effing beautiful, just what PSU needs to help its lackluster environments. We could get weapons that actually have their own effects, instead of cheep little medicore run arounds. Twin Headed Ragnus that actually has heatwave effects with the fire, Flowens Greatsword with the neat wavy light distortion, And Photon Weapons that actually trail like lightsabers or something. The special effects in this game are so ugly, they look like they should be in a Dreamcast or something. Throw a bit of well-placed light effects in there, and your game automatically looks 10x better.

think about it. You guys have played PSO Ep1&2 and Blue Burst correct? Which one had better looking stages? GCN/Xbox version, of course. Blue Burst couldnt compete with the special effects used in the technics / enemies / environments on the Xbox/GCN versions. And if even THAT doesnt happen, at least the game would run at 60 Fps. Anyone who has played PSU on 0 Frameskip knows that the game feels like an entirely different game.

Either way, it makes no sense for PSO Ep2, 3, and 4 to look better than PSU in every way possible except for character and weapon models.

CONTENT --
Here it is, the #1 reason PSU is failing right now. PSU deserves...no, NEEDS a harddrive for content upgrades.

If PSU used a Harddrive for upgrades :

1) we would be able to recieve NEW rare weapons in updates, instead of unlocking old ones out the game data. This means that upon release, Sonic Team would be able to unlock ALL the weapons and items in the game data, and not be afraid of running out of content since they could always make new ones.

2) We would be able to recieve new monsters, new quests, and new bosses. simple as that. We would be able to recieve new photon arts as well, whenever they decide to create them for us and put them in a content update.

3) No more having to unlock shit off discs.


OFFLINE MULTIPLAYER

The MAIN, MAIN, MAIN difference why PSU has failed to PSO in my opinion. There is absolutely nothing to do if you arent paying Sega. PSU would be the SHIZNIT if it had offline multiplayer. Every now n then you want to PHYSICALLY GO OVER A FRIENDS HOUSE and kick some ass. Nobody wants to play in their room by themselves all the time. The Xbox 360 is a fucking powerhouse. It could very easily be able to render PSU splitscreen 4 players if it wanted to. Sega just has to take advantage of the hardware and stop sucking so bad.



If Sonic Team can spend 3 years working on the HEDGEHOG ENGINE for Sonic Unleased, one of the prettiest looking games on the 360, they can spend a year optimizing PSU for the 360 as well.

Sonic Unleashed is fucking BEAUTIFUL. It has everything a next-gen game should have : Great textures, amazing lighting effects, Superlong draw distance, physics, great special effects, all being rendered at breakneck speeds.


We arent asking for Phantasy Star Universe to look that pretty, but with the horsepower of the 360 it sure as HELL can look better than it does right now.

[Arika]

I would gladly trade you my PS2 lag for your robot lag.
from PC point, no, I won't trade low population for that robots lack. :p

[Akaimizu]

Actually. The Spell Graphics went down from Dreamcast v2 to Gamecube/Xbox.

Just as one example, no one remembers the awesome transparancy waves and such from a nice explosive spell like the original Rafoie. (The original graphics for it definitely made you think DRAGON SLAVE!) So it wasn't all a graphical improvement. Plus, the environment graphical improvement was subtle at best, for episode 1. It wasn't until you got to Episode 2's exclusive areas where you saw an obviously better graphical improvement. But then again, the cool tradeoff for less intensive Spell graphics was the ability to Split screen co-op, on the same system.

[RemiusTA]

Actually. The Spell Graphics went down from Dreamcast to Gamecube/Xbox. So it wasn't all a graphical improvement. Plus, the environment graphical improvement was subtle at best, for episode 1. It wasn't until you got to Episode 2's exclusive areas where you saw an obviously better graphical improvement. But then again, the cool tradeoff for lesser Spell graphics was the ability to Split screen co-op, on the same system.

Yeah, thats what i mean. Sonic Team didnt Touch Ep1's graphics, unless they were character models, technics or Ep.2 special weapons.

The spell graphics were considerably increased in GCN/Xbox than Dreamcast, are you kidding? All of them were given far better lv 16-23 evolutions, and once you passed the 23 mark, your spells were even given Heat distortion and such. (Rafoie lv30 looks like the frigging sun exploding.)

they didnt dumb them down in GCN/Xbox. The only time they are downgraded is if you play Multiplayer Splitscreen, where all the neat lighting effects (water reflection, heat distortion, extra effects on a few technics like the 3D spinning ice on Gibarta) were removed to cut back on lag.

[BahnKnakyu]

Dead PS2? Once again we have to think about the game with the JP population in mind. In Japan, the X360 is dead. The PS2 is still alive and kicking. It makes no business sense (at least in the short term) for SoJ to develop the next PSU with a failed console in mind. Heck, the PC is much more popular in Japan than the X360 is, which probably explains why it has tons of eroge available for it over there.

[Cracka_J]

Dead PS2? Once again we have to think about the game with the JP population in mind. In Japan, the X360 is dead. The PS2 is still alive and kicking. It makes no business sense (at least in the short term) for SoJ to develop the next PSU with a failed console in mind. Heck, the PC is much more popular in Japan than the X360 is, which probably explains why it has tons of eroge available for it over there.

Ok I'm sick of reading this shyt. Do some research instead of just spitting off nonsense. The 360 has had a strong showing recently in JP due to recent price drops. It has currently outsold the PS3 for 3 weeks in a row now. The market is changing, and it will continue to. JP players likely have a hard time parting with the great system PS2 was. Great library of games, many of them can be found at really great prices. But the 360 is coming up over there. Developers are now doing cross and multi-platform games, and the 360 has some eye catching exclusives (vesperia) that are sellinig 1:1 with the system. It is FAR FROM DEAD over there, rather just beginning.

Sources: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/31996/JAPAN-360-sales-success-continues
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUST33405620081003

[Darius_Drake]

I would gladly trade you my PS2 lag for your robot lag.

I thought the PS2/PC server didn't have to deal with the robot lag?!?!? Well, looks like we are both screwed in that sense. Curse missions like Grove of Fanatics. I really want to do it, but the lag can be frustrating.

[amtalx]

Ok I'm sick of reading this shyt. Do some research instead of just spitting off nonsense. The 360 has had a strong showing recently in JP due to recent price drops. It has currently outsold the PS3 for 3 weeks in a row now. The market is changing, and it will continue to. JP players likely have a hard time parting with the great system PS2 was. Great library of games, many of them can be found at really great prices. But the 360 is coming up over there. Developers are now doing cross and multi-platform games, and the 360 has some eye catching exclusives (vesperia) that are sellinig 1:1 with the system. It is FAR FROM DEAD over there, rather just beginning.

Sources: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/31996/JAPAN-360-sales-success-continues
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUST33405620081003

You're ignoring the point entirely. From ST's standpoint the 360 is a failure in JP, as compared to the PC/PS2 servers. 360 has a lower installed base, and lower membership.

[Cracka_J]

You're ignoring the point entirely. From ST's standpoint the 360 is a failure in JP, as compared to the PC/PS2 servers. 360 has a lower installed base, and lower membership.

The post I replied to was talking about systems in general, you are talking about PSU memberships and ST's opinion of the game industry. Those are 2 entirely different things.

Something about a missed point?

[amtalx]

The post I replied to was talking about systems in general, you are talking about PSU memberships and ST's opinion of the game industry. Those are 2 entirely different things.

Something about a missed point?

Maybe. But unless I'm getting my lines crossed, you were responding to BahnKnakyu, who was talking about and SoJ's potential reasoning for choosing a platform. Even with the recent surge, the PS3 still has over 3x the installed base of the 360. Its going to take a long time to overcome that, even if MS maintains their month-to-month sales lead over the PS3.

[Spartan Law]

I'm not sure what the point of the rest of the thread is but to clarify about the 360 in Japan:

It won't ever be a system of note. Its current sales stand at a measly 750k units (hardware). With a current week selling approximately 7k a week. You are completely correct in the fact that it has outsold the PS3 for the past few consecutive weeks but again on that front, the PS3 has LBP hitting shortly with the new 80GB PS3 bundle in Japan which will without a shadow of a doubt significantly boost hardware/software sales of the PS3 and putting the 360 back firmly in last position. (7k a week is poor and is also the PS3's showing of about 6.5k a week)

Also, of note is that the top selling game is currently Blue Dragon with 210k, followed by Tales of Vesperia with 153k. (4 games after that have around 100k and the top 50 games have a cumulative sales total of about 2.8 million)

Japan as a whole market has seriously lost alot of its former influence due to its dwindling numbers on many fronts (sure some things still sell insanely well but overall Japan isn't what it used to be).

Also, of note is that the PS1 production was totally ended by Sony after its tenth year on the market. This year is the tenth fiscal year for the PS2.

[Mracless]

From the outset, the game was being made for the PS2 and PC, but ST thought they'd just create a crude port for the Xbox 360 to tap into the fairly large install base that the 360 has in the West.
They did release the Xbox 360 version in Japan in December of 2006, but I think that was only appease the very few Japanese Xbox 360 players that wanted it or because it was just easy for them to do.

I'm sure they made enough money from the Xbox 360 sales in the West to make a profit, but now the Xbox 360 version is just a hassle to them.
They have to program for it separately, which they don't want to do just for a such a small number of players and it might just not be very cost effective to use their Xbox 360 people on us when they could be of more use on another project.
Ack, I don't know how it works.

The Xbox 360 is inferior to them because it wasn't made in Japan. Us people in the West know nothing about technology according to them, I'm sure.

The Xbox 360 version is almost definitely the reason why we're running 8 months behind, and they're not going to release the PC/PS2 version stuff earlier because that's just unfair. It's not worth going to even just little trouble for the amount of people on our PC/PS2 servers anyway.

As much as I would love for ST to cater more towards the Xbox 360 and PC player, I know that the Xbox 360 version is the one they want to drop most.

Anyway, don't take anything I say too seriously. It might all just be in my head. What the hell do I know?

[thematesV2]

The Xbox 360 is inferior to them because it wasn't made in Japan. Us people in the West know nothing about technology according to them, I'm sure.


this is so far off.... I think one of the main reasons that xbox sells far less than PS3 at the moment is because sony just has a huge advantage over microsoft for the video game industry. it has nothing to do with xbox being inferior... granted, the hardware inside an xbox 360 is crap, and dies quite often, but it's all about marketing and about game selection. japan created probably 85% of all titles for the ps2, and perhaps more. they probably create some 65 or 70% of PS3 titles, most of which don't come out over here.


if they don't have tons of support for it, why would they support it....

[RemiusTA]

You're ignoring the point entirely. From ST's standpoint the 360 is a failure in JP, as compared to the PC/PS2 servers. 360 has a lower installed base, and lower membership.

Then why the hell did Sonic Team just spend appx. 3-5 years working on its next BIGGEST sonic title (and pending possibly the best one since Sonic Adventure 2) thats based off the 360's hardware?

You guys are thinking too streamlined. The PS2 is dying. Its only a matter of time before this system is dropped and everyone moves on to the 360/PS3/Wii. And hell, even after a while, people will stop making Wii/PS2 games and just make them Wii.


PSU needs to leave the PS2 as quickly as humanly possible, because it has killed everything going for it. The PSO-PSU leap needed what the DC--> GCN/XBOX leap was : Graphical horsepower and functionability. The PS2 is such a functionless system, its barely an upgrade from the Dreamcast in terms of graphical capabilities, when looking at the numbers.


So, even if the 360 is still less popular (It is by NO means a failure.), then they still need an upgrade. And unfortunally, the PS3 is too expensive even for the JAPANESE, and according to this guy :



The Xbox 360 is inferior to them because it wasn't made in Japan. Us people in the West know nothing about technology according to them, I'm sure.If thats the case, then 360 is the next runner up. It has nothing to do with inferority, rather than advertising and popularity. Sony currently is still one of the most popular technology giants around on EARTH today, so much so that in japan they're like Pop-icons.


Oh, and:


The Xbox 360 version is almost definitely the reason why we're running 8 months behind, and they're not going to release the PC/PS2 version stuff earlier because that's just unfair. It's not worth going to even just little trouble for the amount of people on our PC/PS2 servers anyway.
Um, no? we're running behind because 1) SoA fucking sucks ass, and 2) SoJ doesnt give a shit about working too tightly with SoA.



Either way, a new expansion and a facelift of the series would be the perfect time to expand the engine and allow the different developers easier access to updates and translations. The easier the communication, the easier this process is.

And on a better note, This expansion is a PERFECT time for US/EU PSU and Jp PSU to catch up. If they want to not be fucking bastards to this version, they would sync their releases and work with SoA to catch up with the fucking updates. Or just release them on the disc.

[Mracless]

Everyone's being so cruel to me. ;_;


this is so far off.... I think one of the main reasons that xbox sells far less than PS3 at the moment is because sony just has a huge advantage over microsoft for the video game industry. it has nothing to do with xbox being inferior... granted, the hardware inside an xbox 360 is crap, and dies quite often, but it's all about marketing and about game selection. japan created probably 85% of all titles for the ps2, and perhaps more. they probably create some 65 or 70% of PS3 titles, most of which don't come out over here.


if they don't have tons of support for it, why would they support it....

They support it because there's money to be made from the fairly large install base that the Xbox 360 has outside of Japan.



If thats the case, then 360 is the next runner up. (BTW i would just like to point out that comment is quite the stupid thing to say. So what, you're calling the japanese Technology Elitists, now? ROFFLECAKES you CANT be effing serious.)

I am calling them that, yes. We still haven't hooked up our microwaves and refrigerators to the internet. They must think we're living like savages.
But in all seriousness, after taking control of the video games industry from the NES onwards, I think they think that good video game systems cannot be created outside of Japan. Anyway, I did say not to take anything I said seriously, so there was no need to hurt my feelings so much. ;_;



Um, no? we're running behind because 1) SoA fucking sucks ass, and 2) SoJ doesnt give a shit about working too tightly with SoA.



Either way, a new expansion and a facelift of the series would be the perfect time to expand the engine and allow the different developers easier access to updates and translations. The easier the communication, the easier this process is.

And on a better note, This expansion is a PERFECT time for US/EU PSU and Jp PSU to catch up. If they want to not be fucking bastards to this version, they would sync their releases and work with SoA to catch up with the fucking updates. Or just release them on the disc.

There's no doubt that even if there was no Xbox 360 version, the updates would still be behind schedule due to incompetence, but it'd probably wouldn't be as far behind. There's no way to really know though.

Though there's no guarantee we're even getting an expansion pack, it would be a perfect time to catch up, but we all know that they will not take the opportunity. There'll be no push to let us catch up.

[joefro]

You're ignoring the point entirely. From ST's standpoint the 360 is a failure in JP, as compared to the PC/PS2 servers. 360 has a lower installed base, and lower membership.
Well in that case, Sonic Team is the biggest idiots in the world.
http://kotaku.com/tag/simple-2000|-the-japanese-hardware-chart/
The 360 has outsold the PS3 for the last FIVE weeks in Japan, so if ST sees the 360 as a failure, I see ST as a failure.

[Rayokarna]

There working on linking the stuff from PSP to AOI. They said it in one of their interviews Espio translated and there is too many threads to look through for it. This game will just be ported to another console(More than likely PS3 cause of the PSP connectivity). There will be another re-hash of the 360 Version(You'll be lucky to get this tbh since they have been down that road already, PSU: AOI+ LOL.).

Im more scared if they do bring out a PS3 version its not a direct port from the 360. Then ST will be no better than most developers on the market.

[amtalx]

Well in that case, Sonic Team is the biggest idiots in the world.
http://kotaku.com/tag/simple-2000|-the-japanese-hardware-chart/
The 360 has outsold the PS3 for the last FIVE weeks in Japan, so if ST sees the 360 as a failure, I see ST as a failure.

With those numbers it will take the 360 about 7 years to BREAK EVEN with the PS3s total sales. D: I'm not saying to count them out, but unless your development cycle is so long that the 360 might be competitive by the time it comes out, PS3 is still the better move.

[BahnKnakyu]

When you say "shit" in the first sentence to a statement I made about what SoJ thinks, that already tells you are quick to jump on the LOL X360 VS PS3 debate train. Do me a favor and get the hell off it - my response was what I thought was Sega's view on the X360 platform and its sales of JP X360 PSU.

The X360 has outsold the PS3 recently in Japan, I'll give you that, but it still has to match the installed user base of the PS3 over in Japan. The console also has a lower attach rate than the PS3 - the main selling point for the X360 so far in Japan has been Tales of Vesperia and a few other JRPGs that were released thereafter. It doesn't really matter IMO if there's a gazillion consoles selling over there if it's only for a couple games. These JRPGs are helping with the sales, but compared to the already much larger PREEXISTING user base that the combined PS2 and PS3 population (what Sega ended up targeting when PSU/AoI launched) has, it makes no sense to make a PSU for X360 at this time.

The recent surge in sales means little until the X360 actually ends up MATCHING the PS3's installed user base in Japan, which it won't anytime soon. It's still too much of an unpopular system over there. Again, it makes no business sense for Sega of Japan to develop PSU for the X360 when it can cater to a huge market that is already there. Even if it gets a small percent of that market share, it would be much bigger than they would ever get from developing for the X360.

Now if Sega of America just gave SoJ the proverbial middle finger and started porting a US X360-native PSU expansion, then yeah, that would be something else. I would be all for that since the installed user base in the US is bigger. Heck, give it cross-platform compatibility like FFXI - Wii users should be able to hook up with X360 users. Instant dollar signs right there.

Edit: The US X360 PSU *is* slowing down updates for both PC/PS2 and JP X360 btw. I remember over a year ago when someone asked a Sega representative why we had updates at a slow pace, it was said that the updates had to be approved by Microsoft, and that it was the decision of either SoA or SoJ to keep the platforms "on parity" (I remember that exact phrase) to each other. Basically, if there's something holding up updates on one of the platforms, then they have to stop the release for the opposing platform until the delayed platform is taken care of. Ideally, the PC/PS2 servers are controlled by SoA, so they are free to patch it whenever they want, but I imagine things are different for the X360 servers.

Meh, moving to JP PSU, bye.

[Powder Keg]

3) No more having to unlock shit off discs.


This will be the most important thing for myself and many others.

[RemiusTA]

I am calling them that, yes. We still haven't hooked up our microwaves and refrigerators to the internet. They must think we're living like savages.
But in all seriousness, after taking control of the video games industry from the NES onwards, I think they think that good video game systems cannot be created outside of Japan.
People should start paying attention to the economy and social views of more countries than their own. It sounds to me like japans views on the outside world are just your pro-Japanese opinion pinned on them.

if japan thinks we of ALL people are savages...well, we'll just leave it there.


The Xbox 360 wont fail in japan in the long run. I dont see its prices waneing anytime soon, and more and more Japanese developers are starting to use the 360 as a base platform for their large titles, not the PS3.

The 360 doesnt have nearly the one-sided feeling that the original Xbox had when it comes to appeal. And on top of that, its a damn powerful system. Just look at Sonic Unleased, the obvious source of of Sonic Team's most valuable resources right now, which is getting more of a 360 push than anything, just like Sonic Next before it. (even though it sucked ass)

The 360 is coming up. Its almost approaching cheep, its got GREAT hardware and the BEST multiplayer service hands down, and its cheeper than the PS3. At this rate Japan will most likely start ignoring how popular Sony's system is and go with the next best thing. Afterall, just because sony is big over there doesnt mean that they are ignoring the fact that the higher-ups of SCE are fucking retarded.

[Kylie]

With those numbers it will take the 360 about 7 years to BREAK EVEN with the PS3s total sales. D: I'm not saying to count them out, but unless your development cycle is so long that the 360 might be competitive by the time it comes out, PS3 is still the better move.
This is coming from a PSU 360 player and a guy that buys all cross-platform games on the 360 even though he owns both consoles, and I've heard the same thing before that the PS3 has sold more units in Japan than the 360 has. And who really gives a crap if that's true? I mean, play what you want; there's no need to throw a fit because the system you like has sold less. It's just a fact. At any rate, I think it's absolutely absurd that people are debating which system ST is more likely to drop--are you serious? For all we know, they could decide to release it for the 3DO!

[Cracka_J]

For all we know, they could decide to release it for the 3DO!

Considering the current playerbase, that may be the most effective thing to do...

[ForteGunnerW]

Would'nt it be easier to make PC/X360 server and Ps2 on there own

[Dragon_Knight]

ForteGunnerW- No...the reason being M$ is aways afraid that PC users will simply start hacking and ruining the Xbox server. Thats why in any game for 360 (with the exception of FF11 for some reason) if there is a PC and Xbox server...M$ will choose to have them serperate. Also I think it has to do with money issues as well since Xbox players pay for the right to hook the brick up to the internet but PC players, for most of those exact games, don't have to pay squat to frag each other online.

[amtalx]

This is coming from a PSU 360 player and a guy that buys all cross-platform games on the 360 even though he owns both consoles, and I've heard the same thing before that the PS3 has sold more units in Japan than the 360 has. And who really gives a crap if that's true? I mean, play what you want; there's no need to throw a fit because the system you like has sold less. It's just a fact. At any rate, I think it's absolutely absurd that people are debating which system ST is more likely to drop--are you serious? For all we know, they could decide to release it for the 3DO!

They damn well better release it for the 3DO. I've been searching for a reason to buy one, other than Gex and Way of the Warrior.

And let's get one thing straight, I don't get ALL cross-platform games for 360. I got DMC4 for PS3 because it was cheaper. :p All fighting games should be banned from 360 anyway, at least until they fix that damn D-pad (hence my reasoning for getting SCIV for PS3).

[Cracka_J]

All fighting games should be banned from 360 anyway, at least until they fix that damn D-pad (hence my reasoning for getting SCIV for PS3).

Fighting gaemz on a pad?!? :o

'Tis sacrilege!!!

[amtalx]

Fighting gaemz on a pad?!? :o

'Tis sacrilege!!!

wHaT?!?

Using analog sticks for fighters is pointless since most fighters only accept digital input (moving or not moving, as opposed to moving slowly or moving quickly). There's a reason they still make arcade sticks.

[Gibdozer]

while i don't agree with u about giving up on psu, I would be very excited to see a new traditional rpg in the series. Phantasy Star V plz!

[Gibdozer]

shockwave, the best damn reason to still own a 3do.

[Cracka_J]

There's a reason they still make arcade sticks.

Exactly.

[amtalx]

Exactly.

ICEE wut u did thar. The D-pad is just the lesser of two evils. I don't kid myself into thinking I'm good enough to warrant buying an arcade stick.

[MrPOW]

Gee, this thread hasn't gotten off-topic at all...

[Cracka_J]

Gee, this thread hasn't gotten off-topic at all...

We're discussing the possibility of the next PSU becoming a fighting game, and what controllers we'll be using. Probably.

[MrPOW]

We're discussing the possibility of the next PSU becoming a fighting game, and what controllers we'll be using. Probably.

:P

In that case I'll be using the Sanwa Street Fighter 4 stick.

[Kylie]

And let's get one thing straight, I don't get ALL cross-platform games for 360. I got DMC4 for PS3 because it was cheaper. :p All fighting games should be banned from 360 anyway, at least until they fix that damn D-pad (hence my reasoning for getting SCIV for PS3).
Oh, sh-- :-o two cross-platform games?! They should have a separate stock just for your business! Anyway, I'll add something to keep this from being entirely off-topic... I don't care which console this is on as long as:


It gets made.
It supports 16:9.
It uses the built-in hard drive.
I can use the same character. Or if it's a sequel and not an expansion, never mind.

We need the hope of an expansion soon because our morale is at an all-time low. I worry though because they'd have to catch us up to release the expansion after giving us all the remaining content we have, and we're nearly a year behind... Events seem to be the biggest problems for SOA or whoever puts up our events, and we have four of those to go... including MAG+.

We also need the next installment to take advantage of next-gen capabilities. 4:3 only on a hi-def screen is just a sin (:nono:), and using the built-in hard drive has so much potential.