Speculation on 10th anniversary suprise?

[tadtwisted]

What do you think would happen?

I can see PSO comming to xbox live, since it was on the OG xbox all they would need to do is set up the Emulator which they have done with almost all of the other xbox games and if they bind it with your current hunters licence more people would pay to play.

The real dream would be to have PSO 1&2, PSO: BB and PSO Ep 3. all on xbox live along with PSU for $9.99/month

[Volcompat321]

I heard rumors for a while now that PSO was coming to PSN for download.
Never actually thought it was true, but it would be cool. Specially if it could play online(which isn't too doubtful, but still is at the same time).

Ideally, I'd never want to pay monthly for another Phantasy Star ever again. I definitely wouldn't pay anything monthly for any type of old PS game, no matter how awesome they are, seeing how BB is free through private servers.
Since you said along with PSU, then sure, if I were able to pay for that still, and I played, then yea, those would be a lovely addition.

[stinkyfish97]

Why would you pay for PSO when it is free to play? Its not to hard to find out how to play it for free on a PC, Just seach PSO Blue Burst and you should find the server that non of us can mention or post links to. :-)

"because we had to shut down the PS2 servers we are going to start charging 19.99 a month for service, we think this will overall provide an overall better quality game".

I can see that happening.

[Orrefe]

I actually would play PSO as an XBox Live Arcade game, to get the achievements, but not as a completely serious game. It'd just be a nice side nostalgia thing from level 1. If I wanted to play PSO from a console again [I just think it feels better on a console. Specifically, the Gamecube] I'd just launch up my PSO again.

[Zeek123]

I actually would play PSO as an XBox Live Arcade game, to get the achievements, but not as a completely serious game. It'd just be a nice side nostalgia thing from level 1. If I wanted to play PSO from a console again [I just think it feels better on a console. Specifically, the Gamecube] I'd just launch up my PSO again.

Achievements. If PSO came out for PSN, trophies would be my reason for paying for it. Or if they came out with Ep. III. Which is doubtful.

But couldn't you say that their anniversary present was... closing the PC/PS2 Servers? ^^;

That's probably what they'd say.

[Boxblaster]

They'd have to add something extra to PSO if it was released to catch my interest in a payed version again. Ep. III would count, as it's a pain to try and get online now.

[landman]

I wouldn't care for an "upgraded full version" of PSO, I sometimes install my own private server just to play some exclusive PSOBB missions, specially story missions.

[Bitzen]

Maybe they'll announce the english PSPo2, using the old PC/PS2 PSU servers to power infrastructure mode? Hey, I can dream.

[Professor Xavier]

What I want is to be able to play a Phantasy Star game that is graphically as good as Oblivion. And in that game as a side games we can play PSOBB, PSU and all the original Phantasy star games. We pay a pay to play fee of 4.99 per month for only the first year. Any new content comes in the form of expansion packs we buy. Which means if SEGA wants to make profit from us they have to create really good new content. All content in the expansion packs to be released automatically. Not stopped unless there are serious glitches like S+10 or something serious. A fixed economy where no one person can buy and hord all the good materials and weapons. Its OK to make profits there should just be limits set. This is a game its supposed to be fun. If its to hard to get things then people get frustrated and quit. I think the PZ zero approach of each players getting a seperate set of boss boxes is great. If you want to hord items play PSU inside of the new game. There should be something for everyone. There should be unlock rewards for finishing every version of Phantasy Star. etc. etc. etc. Its not that hard to figure out. All of this only on one platform for all the world. Nobody gets yesterdays seconds. If anything killed PSU that decision was the one that did it. Why did SEGA play favorites?

PEACE! PX

[Mike]

Keep dreaming.

[Immovable One]

Suddenly, a new Online PS game with no monthly fee but a barrage of paid DLC itmes, missions, events, etc....

[Tek[+]Lok]

lol "surprise!" psu is shutting down

[Alis-Landeel]

Suddenly, a new Online PS game with no monthly fee but a barrage of paid DLC itmes, missions, events, etc....
DLC items... but stop, thanks!

I don't wanna pay cash for missions!

[Immovable One]

DLC items... but stop, thanks!

I don't wanna pay cash for missions!

Face it, they'll earn more money that way (not to mention that this kind of payment system works better for PSO/PSU). Especially if they merge the servers and/or make it peer to peer connection. They'll even get a guaranteed 50-60 bucks if they have us use a serial key that renders our purchased copies non-resalable.

One thing's for sure though - if the servers are not merge, play the JP version.

[Cracka_J]

Doesn't matter wtf they make next. If it gets handled the same way PSU was managed, gonna end up in the shitter as well.

I don't or have ever played wow, but if they intend on competing at all in the online mmo business in the future I hope they take a very close look at how some american companies handle their customer support, updates, security, etc. Blizzard does this and keeps millions of players coming back for more every year.

PSU was a really good game that completely fell victim to half ass management, shitty GM's, no security, no support, constant bugs, rollbacks, and no advertising. How they expected the game to do anything other then fail is beyond me.

So like I said, really isn't important what they're next big thing is. Unless you wanna enjoy the same fun filled rollertoaster that was PSU, it doesn't matter.

[Chuck_Norris]

What I want is to be able to play a Phantasy Star game that is graphically as good as Oblivion.

Stopped reading there.

No.

I don't want my characters looking hideous.

[Omega-z]

Cracka_J Actually WOW is hitting hard times too most ppl over there at the blizzard forums are pissed at it too pretty much the same thing too. there hoping the new expanion will turn things for them since they did lose like 6-7 mil in pop in the last 5-6 months. Many ppl are also mad that there take away time from making other games like Diablo and Star Craft. It seems that many MMO`s are having a hard time since 07. some even losing respect for the companies:( blame the economy (lol). at this rate maybec we could as a community make a better PS title then the ST team in JP and maybec get done faster too. since we all know what we want out of it that it took 3 years form the announcement to the launch of the game and by then the PS3 came out. lol .... side note there mite not be any good company to compire with in this time and age as far as it goes for MMo`s that is...hmm which one is Segac the lead monkey or the rear monkey in the congo line. o.o

[SubstanceD]

I always though it was strange that SEGA never made a version of PSU for the PS3. There might have been some logic to the move back when the PS3 was still back compatible with PS2 games but what about afterwards, because of this I never really felt comforatble with PSU's longevity.

Anyway, now that I've got that off my chest, now that the PS2 is more or less dead it would be nice to see TRUE 'NEXT GEN' ( technicinally this would be 'this gen' but you guys get my drift ) Phantasy Star game. Now that SEGA no longer have to work around the PS2's limitations they can make a game with bigger enviroments with more variety and more detail, better character designs and character animations and more stuff in general.

I am hoping that the "10th Anniverary surprise" is a sequel to PSO or a brand new game that has PSP2's gameplay rather than a HD Update of PSO or shitty port of the original game ( not that I have anything against a staright port of PSO, it's just that I have played that to death and it is hard to get excited about the sam old, stuff that I have played for almost a decade ). I also want SEGA to show some love to Offline gamers. I hated the way the offline version of PSU wasn't even worth playing at all since there was no content at all. I know SEGA make most of thier money through Online fees but if the Offline portion of the game is worth playing more people will buy it and most of those people will eventually try out the Online mode if they are happy with the Offline game. I think SEGA really fucked up with PSU by making PSU offline dull and boring , it didn't help that the Online version of the game didn't have any content for months either, many would argue that it still doesn't have any content. If SEGA does make a new Phantasy Star game then they need make sure it has content both Offline and especially Online, they need to support it regualarly with patched and in the case of the Online game, new missions and items.

[D1ABOLIK]

I always though it was strange that SEGA never made a version of PSU for the PS3. There might have been some logic to the move back when the PS3 was still back compatible with PS2 games but what about afterwards, because of this I never really felt comforatble with PSU's longevity.

Anyway, now that I've got that off my chest, now that the PS2 is more or less dead it would be nice to see TRUE 'NEXT GEN' ( technicinally this would be 'this gen' but you guys get my drift ) Phantasy Star game. Now that SEGA no longer have to work around the PS2's limitations they can make a game with bigger enviroments with more variety and more detail, better character designs and character animations and more stuff in general.

I am hoping that the "10th Anniverary surprise" is a sequel to PSO or a brand new game that has PSP2's gameplay rather than a HD Update of PSO or shitty port of the original game ( not that I have anything against a staright port of PSO, it's just that I have played that to death and it is hard to get excited about the sam old, stuff that I have played for almost a decade ). I also want SEGA to show some love to Offline gamers. I hated the way the offline version of PSU wasn't even worth playing at all since there was no content at all. I know SEGA make most of thier money through Online fees but if the Offline portion of the game is worth playing more people will buy it and most of those people will eventually try out the Online mode if they are happy with the Offline game. I think SEGA really fucked up with PSU by making PSU offline dull and boring , it didn't help that the Online version of the game didn't have any content for months either, many would argue that it still doesn't have any content. If SEGA does make a new Phantasy Star game then they need make sure it has content both Offline and especially Online, they need to support it regualarly with patched and in the case of the Online game, new missions and items.

Spot on. In all honesty the PS2 needs to be elminated for this game to grow, or to make way for the next PS game. The PS2 held back PSU greatly, and everyone suffered for it. I agree with you 100% about offline mode. I am so dissapointed with the way they handled offline content in PSU. One of my best friends is an old PSO vet who always wanted to play PSU, but does not have internet, he played the offline portion and was so dissapointed. Sad cause I wanted him to like the game. I understand offline equals less content than online, but PSU V.1 offline is ridiculous. Sega needs to realize alot of people who also love PS are not going to be online, and that the offline portion needs to be able to stand on its own as a full game.

[Arika]

Doesn't matter wtf they make next. If it gets handled the same way PSU was managed, gonna end up in the shitter as well.

I don't or have ever played wow, but if they intend on competing at all in the online mmo business in the future I hope they take a very close look at how some american companies handle their customer support, updates, security, etc. Blizzard does this and keeps millions of players coming back for more every year.

PSU was a really good game that completely fell victim to half ass management, shitty GM's, no security, no support, constant bugs, rollbacks, and no advertising. How they expected the game to do anything other then fail is beyond me.

So like I said, really isn't important what they're next big thing is. Unless you wanna enjoy the same fun filled rollertoaster that was PSU, it doesn't matter.

whatever might coming next, my plan is to play JP server only this time anyway ;)

[Allison_W]

My wild guess? PSO2--or at least, another home console/PC game in the PSO subfranchise.

[ashley50]

whatever might coming next, my plan is to play JP server only this time anyway ;)

I might as well do this...maybe :E.

[unicorn]

Red Ring Rico deco or something.

[stinkyfish97]

A big F-U deco for are room deco, to show us how much sega really thinks about us!

[MadDogg]

Why would you pay for PSO when it is free to play? Its not to hard to find out how to play it for free on a PC, Just seach PSO Blue Burst and you should find the server that non of us can mention or post links to. :-)

"because we had to shut down the PS2 servers we are going to start charging 19.99 a month for service, we think this will overall provide an overall better quality game".

I can see that happening.

I hated playing blue burst. Main reason is that to me, PSO is meant to be played on a console, sort of like how games like diablo 2 is meant to be played on a PC, it just didn't feel right. Another reason is that people STILL cheated their asses off in that game, and they still do on the you know what servers.

I would pay 15 dollars a month if PSO blue burst is released on live arcade. Finally, I would be able to enjoy PSO the way it was meant to be, clean from hacks and dupes, with the ability to rollback and patch if exploits did surface.

[DAMASCUS]

The best suggestion that I have heard is Phantasy Star Zero2 on the Wii. That wouldn't excite to many people though since I doubt that Nintendo would allow cross-platform play. Their restrictions might allow international online play again; auto-phrasing and all.

I do hope its something better than that but what can we really hope for with SEGA?

[Nuclearranger]

What I want is to be able to play a Phantasy Star game that is graphically as good as Oblivion. And in that game as a side games we can play PSOBB, PSU and all the original Phantasy star games. We pay a pay to play fee of 4.99 per month for only the first year. Any new content comes in the form of expansion packs we buy. Which means if SEGA wants to make profit from us they have to create really good new content. All content in the expansion packs to be released automatically. Not stopped unless there are serious glitches like S+10 or something serious. A fixed economy where no one person can buy and hord all the good materials and weapons. Its OK to make profits there should just be limits set. This is a game its supposed to be fun. If its to hard to get things then people get frustrated and quit. I think the PZ zero approach of each players getting a seperate set of boss boxes is great. If you want to hord items play PSU inside of the new game. There should be something for everyone. There should be unlock rewards for finishing every version of Phantasy Star. etc. etc. etc. Its not that hard to figure out. All of this only on one platform for all the world. Nobody gets yesterdays seconds. If anything killed PSU that decision was the one that did it. Why did SEGA play favorites?

PEACE! PX


Why don't you just install all of the PS games on your PC and call it a day?

[Allison_W]

I hated playing blue burst. Main reason is that to me, PSO is meant to be played on a console, sort of like how games like diablo 2 is meant to be played on a PC, it just didn't feel right.

I have never understood this notion. I've always found that a game changes little to me from console to PC or back again (except for matters like port quality, modability, or version, which don't have a lot to do with the "feel" of a PC or console). Then again, I've been playing both PC and console games for several years now.

Perhaps your problem is that you need to use a gamepad. (Though I've played many console-style games on a keyboard with no trouble, even Blue Burst.)

[Cranberry]

Nintendo wouldn't block that. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time says hello.


The best suggestion that I have heard is Phantasy Star Zero2 on the Wii. That wouldn't excite to many people though since I doubt that Nintendo would allow cross-platform play. Their restrictions might allow international online play again; auto-phrasing and all.

I do hope its something better than that but what can we really hope for with SEGA?

[Anon_Fire]

Nintendo wouldn't block that. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time says hello.

Pollux Engine, btw

[MadDogg]

I have never understood this notion. I've always found that a game changes little to me from console to PC or back again (except for matters like port quality, modability, or version, which don't have a lot to do with the "feel" of a PC or console). Then again, I've been playing both PC and console games for several years now.

Perhaps your problem is that you need to use a gamepad. (Though I've played many console-style games on a keyboard with no trouble, even Blue Burst.)

Nah, I played with a gamepad, a 360 controller actually, which I was already used to since I clocked in over 2000 hours on xbox pso ep 1 and 2, using a controller s which was similar.

Its hard to explain. I've started playing PSO the second day it was released in the U.S. on dreamcast. For me, it was my first online rpg ever. After playing that non-stop, I eventually upgraded to ver2, then when gamecube pso was announced, brought a gc and pso ep 1 and 2 for that. Finally, after the xbox version was released, I got it for that console. I was always used to playing PSO on consoles, just like I was used to playing RTS games on the PC, and diablo 2.

I was always used to kicking back on the couch/laying in the bed, with keyboard on the side playing pso on consoles. When I first played blue burst, I just didn't feel right at all. I've played blue burst for a long time on segas official servers, but I quit sometime after getting bored waiting for ultimate to release. Since I was a previous maplestory player, I already knew the deal with gameguard, soon people started cheating on blue burst, I just called it quits.

To me, a PSO type game will never feel "right" on a PC. All my friends I played with since the dreamcast days of PSO felt the same, its just a personal preference to play on a console is all.

[DAMASCUS]

Besides the fact that my PC was gimp, the smaller screen did bother me for a little while too when playing Blue Burst. Which in turn didn't feel as relaxed and comfortable.

[Ezodagrom]

I hope if there's a new online Phantasy Star game it's multi-platform (PC/PS3/XBox360) with all the servers connected, so everyone can play in their prefered platform and meet people from all platforms.

[Arika]

I hope if there's a new online Phantasy Star game it's multi-platform (PC/PS3/XBox360) with all the servers connected, so everyone can play in their prefered platform and meet people from all platforms.

future xbox360 game won't be able to connect to any server, because of Microsoft sticky rule.
Not even FF14 can do that, so SQE just decide to not make xbox360 version for that game now.

the best bet is to do what FF14 is doing by making a big server which is worldwide and only for PS3 and PC.

[Apone]

actually games like shadowrun and lost planet can comunicate with their PC counterparts just fine. Also Final fantasy 11 360 players can play with thier PC PS2 counterparts. The reason why Sega used Xbox Live for PSU is because Microsoft can handle their security for them while Sega can sit back and not have to maintain the servers security themselves.

[Chuck_Norris]

actually games like shadowrun and lost planet can comunicate with their PC counterparts just fine. Also Final fantasy 11 360 players can play with thier PC PS2 counterparts. The reason why Sega used Xbox Live for PSU is because Microsoft can handle their security for them while Sega can sit back and not have to maintain the servers security themselves.

360 to PC is a different situation. Microsoft has no trouble with connecting to PC games. That's why you see a lot of 360 exclusives come to PC as well, such as Gears of War and Mass Effect. FF11 was only able to connect with the other servers because Square went over MS' head and hosted their own servers. Microsoft didn't like this, so now all 360 games must be hosted by Microsoft. In order to prevent such a thing as FF11 happening again.

Yeah, Microsoft is a bunch of dicks.

[Ezodagrom]

future xbox360 game won't be able to connect to any server, because of Microsoft sticky rule.
Not even FF14 can do that, so SQE just decide to not make xbox360 version for that game now.

the best bet is to do what FF14 is doing by making a big server which is worldwide and only for PS3 and PC.
There's a rumour that Final Fantasy XIV might come to XBox360 as well.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Final-Fantasy-MMOG-PC-Game,news-5721.html

[ChaosAngelic]

Well look at this. I leave the Phantasy Star community for a month and... the servers are about to shut down and Sega's dropped some rumors. Since it's Phantasy Star Online's anniversary, I'm hoping it'll have to do with that and not another PSU-like game.

All I can say is... 2010 could either be a great year for Sega... or they could shoot themselves in the foot. With Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and this anniversary coming up, we'll see what happens.

[Arika]

There's a rumour that Final Fantasy XIV might come to XBox360 as well.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Final-Fantasy-MMOG-PC-Game,news-5721.html


that rumor is weird, FF14 PC version has been confirmed for a very long time now (together with the PS3 version). I even applied for the PC version beta test already. It said that PC beta test will come first then follow by PS3..

Then, that link says that PC and xbox version might coming? (why put PC which is already confirmed long ago and xbox which is just unlikely rumor together? )

anyway, if you want to know about FF, you should check info from FF dedicated website, they mentioned about xbox360 server in the past, and also said that it won't be coming because Microsoft want to separate their server with PS3 and PC, while square want to merge all.

[DuRaL]

it's not that unlikely actually..

1. FFXI has had all servers linked as well
2. it has been reported that MHF servers will be linked with the PC servers. not from the beginning, but at a later date..
3. we all know that ANY developer would pay millions of $$$ to get ANY Final Fantasy game on their platform, why should M$ miss out on a chance like this? ;P

oh, and when did either Square Enix, or M$ confirm that FFXIV will not come to 360 because M$ wanted to have seperated servers? The reason it hasn't been announced for 360 yet might as well be Sony paying some extra cash to get it exclusevely (except PC) for a few weeks/months ;)
it wouldn't be the first time in history that something like this happens..
in fact, it's all about money these days..

[landman]

Microsoft may not want to merge servers, but Microsoft wants final fantasy, so they will allow it, again. Microsoft and Sega are a totally different story lol

I only wish there are not separate regional servers, I want the same updates japan gets, at the same time.

[Corrupted-Bios]

I remember hearing, multiple times, that the reason many Asian developers are wary of putting their online games on the 360 is due to MS demanding a sizable chunk of the profits. MS may play nice and offer to host the servers, but they make up for this by demanding a lot of the profits brought in from it. I've heard it said that this isn't how Japanese game companies do business, and they've shied away from MS due in part to this.

Personally, I think the big "Surprise" will be a new cross-platform Phantasy Star MMO that makes a huge step away from all the previous games.

If I had to guess, I'd expect them to do something that PSO/PSU has never done before but people would like. such as large scale PVP (Like the Realm V.S. Realm feature found in Dark age of Camelot and Warhammer) or perhaps something we've never seen in an MMO like user-made content similar to what Mod Nation Racers and Little Big Planet have done....but online. You'd be able to make (within reason) new areas and quests, but you'd of course be unable to stock them with rare items or monsters. Still, it would be clever. Entire planets could be made by users and populated with thousands of user made dungeons.

Phantasy Star Galaxy.

hahahaha.

[Dragwind]

I like that idea. A huge PS game spanning multiple planets, persistent + instanced areas, vehicles *cough*, PvP, constant updates, and actual advertising.

Hey, I like the sound of Phantasy Star Galaxy. Sounds like a dream to me.

[Para]

I like that idea. A huge PS game spanning multiple planets, persistent + instanced areas, vehicles *cough*, PvP, constant updates, and actual advertising.

Hey, I like the sound of Phantasy Star Galaxy. Sounds like a dream to me.

Galaxy sounds like a downgrade from Universe!

[Dragwind]

What else would they really use? Not like Phantasy Star "Universe" made much sense anyhow :wacko:

[DuRaL]

well.. they could call it Phantasy Star Online... and maybe add a subtitle.. or a "2"..

other games do it, too.. look at FFXI Online and FFXIV Online, or Diablo, Diablo 2 and Diablo 3..
it's simple and good xD

[Alnet]

I like that idea. A huge PS game spanning multiple planets, persistent + instanced areas, vehicles *cough*, PvP, constant updates, and actual advertising.

Hey, I like the sound of Phantasy Star Galaxy. Sounds like a dream to me.
Sounds more like Phantasy Star Dimension.

Hey, it's easier to Google "PSD" than "PSU." I came up with at least 3 million instances of Penn State University. I wonder if they use airboards on campus?

[Endu_Landale]

Whoo! PSO ep. 5!!!
I don't like the idea of what happened to Ragol/Rykros in PSU, so here's to hoping for a PSO game that doesn't take PSU into account...plus I've always liked the PSO art style better.

[ThEoRy]

I told you guys a long time ago. And it was agreed upon that the next title should be named Phantasy Star Millennium.

[Professor Xavier]

I told you guys a long time ago. And it was agreed upon that the next title should be named Phantasy Star Millennium.


The Millennium ended 10 years ago. Then they should have called PSO PSM instead.

[zandra117]

Phantasy Star Millennium would take place on planet Motavia 324 years before "Phantasy Star IV: At the End of The Millennium" during a time when Mother Brain has been destroyed yet some of the surviving Palmans still cling to the past, attempting to repair the failing automatic systems that had ruled their lives instead of attempting to adapt without them. The NM-1000 series Newmans created by a hidden computer named GENE roam the land and instinctively seek to destroy the Palmans unwilling to adapt to the new world as a twisted form of natural selection. A large fragment of Palma has struck Motavia, destroying the capital of Paseo and flooding the old town of Zema. Some residents of Zema sought shelter in the tunnels of a nearby Bio Dome, they are the last remnants of old society and have rebuilt Zema as a small village around the Bio Dome. They call the valley leading into the Bio Dome "Birth Valley" because it is where Palman society was reborn after its destruction. There are territorial conflicts between the Palmans and Native Motavians in the east. Although there are some Palmans that seek peace with the Motavians and want to learn from them how to live without total reliance on machines. These are dark times, but a greater, more profound darkness stirs.

[Anon_Fire]

I was thinking of......... Phantasy Star Universe 2

a console version of PSP2

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

or perhaps something we've never seen in an MMO like user-made content similar to what Mod Nation Racers and Little Big Planet have done....but online. You'd be able to make (within reason) new areas and quests, but you'd of course be unable to stock them with rare items or monsters. Still, it would be clever. Entire planets could be made by users and populated with thousands of user made dungeons.

Phantasy Star Galaxy.

I might still prefer Rogue Galaxy. And not some kinda Battle Spore.

There are 2 make your sandbox style games I've heard of like this, oddly enough on the PSP console side which Sega:Sonic Team are currently focusing on for now and until news updates.

Adventures to Go! - By Natsume
Dungeon Maker 1 & 2 - Published by XSEED, don't know if another company made it off the top.

Dungeon Maker series is a bit archaic in gameplay, some magic, some melee. Then you design the layout of your dungeon maps, by floor. Not particularly expansive in options, you just choose where and what direction rooms go and face, hallways, if they're bare or have floors and walls. Choose your item rooms - where the chests are but you hunt down the keys to open them dropped by monsters. Aiming for a better score to earn an elevator room down to the next one and the ability to place the next boss room, to fight some giant axeman or Ninja.

Adventures to go is a grid based battler, like a Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics but a bit less in depth. You choose what monsters populate the area, even rarer ones and what settings you choose determine loot/drops and some have requirements to meet before you can encounter them. Might try this out, don't own this one.

[Ezodagrom]

I was thinking of......... Phantasy Star Universe 2

a console version of PSP2
I hope not...I hope it's a completely new game, with a completely new story, only in 1 planet. There's no need for 3 planets when the players have access to like 5% of each planet.

Or, since it's PSO anniversary, it could be Ragol, 1000 years after PSO. :3

[DuRaL]

Or, since it's PSO anniversary, it could be Ragol, 1000 years after PSO. :3

If so, i hope they still use C.A.R.D. Technology in that year ;P

...oh wait.. they can't, i destroyed the germ with my own hands ;_;

EDIT: but i agree with you that 1 planet is enough.. i mean, all areas of PSU could as well be combined on one planet, just take a look at the good old earth xD

[Dragwind]

I actually wouldn't mind another PS card game, especially if it was a PSU card game.

[Ezodagrom]

I said 1000 years because it would be enough time for everything to be different in Ragol. It could have a civilization now, it could have no civilization at all and have some new civilization find that planet, try to discover what happened for the "ancient" Ragol civilization (pioneer 2) to perish, could be something completely different. And based on the classic PS games, 1000 years = Dark Falz is back. :3
Would be fun if Profound Darkness was the final boss though. o_o

heh...dreaming, speculating with no details at all is fun...:3

[Para]

Phantasy Star Universe 2 with a huge revamp of gameplay with PSP2 mechanics and better?

[pikachief]

Phantasy Star 5! Phantasy Star with amazing story, awesome environments, level, and weapon design like PSO, but the awesome gameplay of PSP:2! :O

hahahahahaha I Wish!!!

[gratefulgriz]

Zandra that was awesome!!! did you make that up or did you read that somewhere??!! Cool! I want PS series to go back to basics, PSO was cool and all but the series should have kept up and going themes from PS IV. I really liked what you wrote! I don't want to see another PS MMO, or at least not without the series returning to its roots first!!

[landman]

Galaxy sounds like a downgrade from Universe!
Yes, there is nothing greater than the universe, except for multiverse maybe lol but I got the idea that if they made a game that takes place in different systems (as if Gurhal didn't have enough wasted space in 4 planets lol) for example having both gurhal and ragol-coral/earth (and algol in an expansion :P) a name that could fit that scenario would be "Worlds"

That would also mean a definitive connection between the series! XD


Whoo! PSO ep. 5!!!
I don't like the idea of what happened to Ragol/Rykros in PSU, so here's to hoping for a PSO game that doesn't take PSU into account...plus I've always liked the PSO art style better.
Rykros is not Ragol, maybe you were to enthusiastic to play the pso stages but not too interested in the story, that was distorted space, created by dark falz memory, so it could have been created on any planet and in any system.

[DuRaL]

you mean it was a bad excuse to get the PSO areas, some PSO outfits and monsters and millions of PSO-weapons into PSU, to attract PSO fans..

well, i can live with it, but i think it was a stupid idea..
when making a new game, they should make a new game, instead of copy-paste half of the old game..

they could've copied Word Select or international servers from PSO, i wouödn't have complained ;P

[Professor Xavier]

S.T.O.

[goldbrease]

wouldn't suprise me if the aniversary gift was, hey we are closing down the xbox servers as well because the last jp xbox players quit, since we only really support our jp players we are closing the xbox servers.

[ForteGunnerW]

Phantasy star Decade, yes, I won.

If they do make a new MMO, they need to think outside of typical MMO's and PSU.
I would hope for a sandbox open world, but that would be odd.
I like the idea of Ragol 1000 years later though.

[DAMASCUS]

Phantasy star Decade, yes, I won.

I like the idea of Ragol 1000 years later though.

Exploring the ruins of the colony always seemed like a given with Dallgun Flow as a final boss but I guess that would have to wait...1000 years ;)

[RemiusTA]

Doesn't matter wtf they make next. If it gets handled the same way PSU was managed, gonna end up in the shitter as well.

I don't or have ever played wow, but if they intend on competing at all in the online mmo business in the future I hope they take a very close look at how some american companies handle their customer support, updates, security, etc. Blizzard does this and keeps millions of players coming back for more every year.

PSU was a really good game that completely fell victim to half ass management, shitty GM's, no security, no support, constant bugs, rollbacks, and no advertising. How they expected the game to do anything other then fail is beyond me.

So like I said, really isn't important what they're next big thing is. Unless you wanna enjoy the same fun filled rollertoaster that was PSU, it doesn't matter.

My thoughts exactly. Seriously, PSU was setup to be a really good game, but their decisions in management on nearly every level were asinine at best. The game was handled like an evil retarded stepchild from everything from developer support, to the game engine itself and even its soundtrack, which as anyone who's followed Sonic Team in the past knows is absolutely PATHETIC. You guys cant really blame them entirely. This is a franchise that was born by an elite team of developers, and later handed down to a mediocre team that shits out games like Sonic the Hedgehog 06, which can ALMOST be considered the Superman 64 of the Next Generation of Gaming, being almost universally hated and lacking in every aspect, except for its soundtrack of course.

Sonic Team is no longer what it was 15 or even 10 years ago. Hell, even the guy behind their latest achievement (Hedgehog Engine) recently left Sonic Team to work for Square Enix. There is nothing much left in them anymore. Fuck, they handed development of Phantasy Star Portable 2 to Alfa Systems and they achieved more in a SINGLE development cycle than Sonic Team had in almost FOUR years of constant developing. They announce Sonic the Hedgehog 4, the successor to the genesis series that made them as popular as they are today, and handed it over to fucking DIMPS of all people.



Even if they make another game, i doubt they have the knowledge, talent or resources to make it as memorable as PSO. And in terms of longevity, i doubt they can design something that DOESN'T fall back on something as bullshit as unlocking ready-made content over its entire lifespan, or gameplay systems that rely on pissing over your inventory. (Admit it. the Grinding System and Synthesis Systems on AotI are complete bullshit. )

[Angelo]

Lately I've been going absolutely crazy speculating what the next big thing in the Online Phantasy Star franchise could be.

I've been getting back into the 'PSO' spirit since I started playing BlueBurst again recently. I decided to come back to these boards to see what you all have been speculating.

I posted what my 'ideal' next step in the Online PS series would be on another forum and I thought I'd share it here:

- Action combat like that in PSPo2. The ability to dodge, block, and strike all in real-time. The problem in PSU was not the combat, which was absolutely fantastic. You should also be able to use at least 2-3 Photon Arts per weapon to make combat even more dynamic. Photon Arts, and leveling them up were actually pretty fun, but using the same PA over and over and over and over again caused them to lose their 'cool' factor.

- Open world that focuses on Dungeons/Instances. The Online Phantasy Star series is what it is because of it's awesome dungeons that eventually lead up to a cool boss. The open world (worlds? Maybe another 3 planet system?) would primarily be a way for your party to travel from one dungeon to the other, fighting monsters along the way not unlike Zelda games.

- A visual style closer to PSO but with all the freedom of PSU's character creation. The idea that 'this class should look this way' is completely archaic and is losing it's steam. In RPGs we've seen Warlocks dressed in Heavy armor and Swordsman garbed in flowing robes. The idea that in PSU you could look however you want was a big draw for myself and many people that I played with.

- Ditch the 'trickle' system. Unless the game is released on Wii (not bashing Wii, I'm a big Nintendo fanboy) there is absolutely no reason for SEGA to trickle content that is already on the disc. At times this felt almost insulting. PSO was amazing for it's time and it has aged very, very well, but online RPGs are at a point where you either keep developing content (p2p) or you don't charge your customers monthly (f2p).

[DarthCastivious]

i just look up what blue burst and the page tells me nothing about what i need to do. just a few links that led nowhere fast.

[Cranberry]

I'm half expecting that the layoffs yesterday are the big PSO 10th anniversary announcement. =/

[Anon_Fire]

My Suggestions for the next PS game:

from PSPo2
Shield Weapon Category
Dodge Roll and Blocking
Type Extend System
Ability Customize System
Sayo's Prayers (You pay meseta to get a certain boost that affects you and the party)

Removed from PSU
Item Synthesis

Changed from PSU
Weapon Grinding done by paying Meseta (Payments depend on rarity of weapons)
Interaction between Offline and Online modes

[unicorn]

Did they actually say they're doing something for the anniversary? lol. I can just them having Ash, Sue, Rupika, and Kireek NPCs in lobbies giving out DB Swords or somethin.

[redroses]

As far as I remember, I think Dragon Sakai said to look forward to some special announcment regarding the 10th anniversary of PSO this year.
But I am not 100% sure XD

[Angelo]

They also said that shutting down the PSU servers will pave the way for bigger and better things in the Phantasy Star franchise.

[Tetsaru]

I figure something will come up during this year's E3 (June 15-17 I think), but it's just like Cracka_J and RemiusTA said: it doesn't matter how hyped the game may be; if it's not managed and balanced properly like a true MMORPG should be, then there's no point in wasting your time dealing with the bullshit. Seeing as how there's been a lot of good games that are out or are coming out this year, Sega will have to really get their shit together... and honestly, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

[Mighty Earth Sage]

idk if this was posted here yet since I'm too lazy to look but I can almost guarantee that PSO will not come to Xbox Live since MS is done with the whole original Xbox stuff.

now PSO on PSN is a different story though.

hell maybe PSU will even be uploaded to PSN, but it's doubtful.

[gratefulgriz]

PSV on DS, something old school for the aging players pleez!

[Immovable One]

My suggestions for next PSO:

- EXP and MP multiplier based on how long you're logged out.
- PRACTICAL DROP RATES.
- 100% SYNTH AND GRIND RATES
- character design customization similar to Soul Calibur.
- fully customizable moveset activated with specific actions such as charging a button for chain breaking attacks, rotate+attack for AOE attacks, forward+attack for line AOE attacks, etc.
- a grab and throw PA for knuckles.
- being able to pair knuckles with boots as secondary weapon
- just hold the button for charge shot, then have the other button be for third person mode, or gun PA that let's them dodge+shoot ala John Woo or any gun PA of their choice.
- hybrid weapons such as a Gun Saber or Cannon Sword.
- combination attacks (such as creating a unique effect when target is frozen, then burned).
- gaining EXP by using healing and buffing spells.
- the return of medieval fantasy+scifi hybrid style of the past PS games - no more of this oriental BS.
- oh and yeah, cel shading.

One can dream....

[Angelo]

- gaining EXP by using healing and buffing spells.

To be honest, all members of the party should gain XP just for being in the party. All games work this way now. Support characters need love too.

[Max B]

To be honest, all members of the party should gain XP just for being in the party. All games work this way now. Support characters need love too.
THIS.

[RemiusTA]

needed changes:

1) BALANCE ALL THE CLASSES. Keep the difficulty, but please god balance the 3 classes this time. Hunters can still do epic combos, and rangers can still snipe from offscreen and blow shit up, but if thats the case PLEASE return the original finesse to the Force class. Higher-level spells should be FAST and EFFECTIVE, not slow, clunky and useless. Forces, for all the trouble they are worth in every game they've been in (especially AotI), should outdamage most classes in most situations. Also, ditch the bullshit "technic binded to weapon" thing. Forces in this game would be far, FAR more awesome if they could cast technics while wielding any weapon, like in PSO. Plus it looked cool. Hell, every class would be more awesome.

2) Environments need to stay unique. This means each mission should have a room or 2 that is distinguished from every other mission COSMETICALLY. Not a few moved around trees or bushes, like a room that was designed for the purpose of you feeling like your doing what the mission description says your doing. Every environment in PSO had multiples of these. Episode 4 did this very, very, very well.


3) EXTRA ATTACK. Jesus christ, it added an amazing amount of depth to the PSO weapon system -- It allowed you to feel like you picked up a rare before you even got to hard mode. Also, it allowed the different rare weapons to actually be unique in more ways than stats and cosmetics. Also, Extra Attack allowed them to program ALOT of cool things into the game that PSU's combo system does not allow (J-Sword's blue wave attack, Dark Flow's "windscar" attack, Lavis Cannon's hadoken blasts, Gal Wind's wind cutter attack, ect ect. A perfect example of PSU's failure to make weapons unique? Ask yourself, whats the difference between a regular Sword and an Agito Replica? Besides the change from "attack" to "slash" (lame, it doesnt do anything different), the extra target (lame, crea does the same shit), and obvious changes in power (expected), the only difference is the model. For the hell its worth to obtain the weapon, you should be able to use an attack that shoots a shockwave or something. But you cant.

edit: this is what PSU should have taken HUGE, HUGE advantage of with its Synthesis system, but instead got nothing but a horrible system built around wasting time and pissing people off. If you could synth attributes like the PSO tekker system gave you (like being able to synth a Shadow Hanzo, that can kill in 1 hit, or a Soul Brand, that stole like 25% enemy HP), then PSU's Synthesis system would have had crazy, crazy depth, and would have been alot more fun. Unfortunally it didn't end up that way, and every weapon is generally the same with different stats and elemental percentages. The ones that DO have special attributes like HP stealing or extra PP upon hit feels tacked on and useless, and the few weapons that have negative attributes like Ank Kireek are so badly done it makes them useless.

4) Race, sex, AND class specific animations. This really needs to come back, PSU pisses me off with it. This only really applies if they dont stay with PSP2's superior style of class customization. Fighmasters and Hunters should not swing swords the same way. A newman, that is more agility and finesse based, should not swing an axe the same way a beast, who is raw power, would. They dont have to be more effective, they just have to FEEL different, like how the Hucaseal Dagger Animation felt unique to the Hunewearl dagger animation, which was different than the Humar one.

5) And above all, keep the art style the same as it is in PSO/PSU. I absolutely hate the new generic kiddy shit they did with Phantasy Star Zero, and Phantasy Star Portable 2 seemed to go for the more cel-shaded look than anything else. If they announce a new game and it looks like Phantasy Star Zero, im not going to buy it no matter how good it is.


That said, if it IS a new phantasy star game...i pray to jesus christ himself that it isn't Wii exclusive. In fact, it shouldn't end up on the Wii at ALL. The Wii is horrible in terms of hardware, and if the game is made for 360/ps3/wii then they have effectively downgraded the entire game for the sake of the Wii and wasted tons of opportunities. (no harddrive, shitty online service, horrible graphics hardware, gimmicky controls.)

[Immovable One]

I wish they'll offer costumes that can make you look like the characters from the old PS games. PSO was able to do this, with the hunters somewhat resembling Chaz and Nei, and the Force looking like mages (though I still want the capes and BIG HUGE shoulder pads of Noa/Lutz and Demi ).

That said, ENOUGH with the items related to other Sega titles - there should be more items related to the Phantasy Star franchise.

And while they're at it, remix the soundtrack of the old games and use them as music for the new games - PSO did it and I felt right at home.

[Tetsaru]

[spoiler-box]needed changes:

1) BALANCE ALL THE CLASSES. Keep the difficulty, but please god balance the 3 classes this time. Hunters can still do epic combos, and rangers can still snipe from offscreen and blow shit up, but if thats the case PLEASE return the original finesse to the Force class. Higher-level spells should be FAST and EFFECTIVE, not slow, clunky and useless. Forces, for all the trouble they are worth in every game they've been in (especially AotI), should outdamage most classes in most situations. Also, ditch the bullshit "technic binded to weapon" thing. Forces in this game would be far, FAR more awesome if they could cast technics while wielding any weapon, like in PSO. Plus it looked cool. Hell, every class would be more awesome.

2) Environments need to stay unique. This means each mission should have a room or 2 that is distinguished from every other mission COSMETICALLY. Not a few moved around trees or bushes, like a room that was designed for the purpose of you feeling like your doing what the mission description says your doing. Every environment in PSO had multiples of these. Episode 4 did this very, very, very well.


3) EXTRA ATTACK. Jesus christ, it added an amazing amount of depth to the PSO weapon system -- It allowed you to feel like you picked up a rare before you even got to hard mode. Also, it allowed the different rare weapons to actually be unique in more ways than stats and cosmetics. Also, Extra Attack allowed them to program ALOT of cool things into the game that PSU's combo system does not allow (J-Sword's blue wave attack, Dark Flow's "windscar" attack, Lavis Cannon's hadoken blasts, Gal Wind's wind cutter attack, ect ect. A perfect example of PSU's failure to make weapons unique? Ask yourself, whats the difference between a regular Sword and an Agito Replica? Besides the change from "attack" to "slash" (lame, it doesnt do anything different), the extra target (lame, crea does the same shit), and obvious changes in power (expected), the only difference is the model. For the hell its worth to obtain the weapon, you should be able to use an attack that shoots a shockwave or something. But you cant.

edit: this is what PSU should have taken HUGE, HUGE advantage of with its Synthesis system, but instead got nothing but a horrible system built around wasting time and pissing people off. If you could synth attributes like the PSO tekker system gave you (like being able to synth a Shadow Hanzo, that can kill in 1 hit, or a Soul Brand, that stole like 25% enemy HP), then PSU's Synthesis system would have had crazy, crazy depth, and would have been alot more fun. Unfortunally it didn't end up that way, and every weapon is generally the same with different stats and elemental percentages. The ones that DO have special attributes like HP stealing or extra PP upon hit feels tacked on and useless, and the few weapons that have negative attributes like Ank Kireek are so badly done it makes them useless.

4) Race, sex, AND class specific animations. This really needs to come back, PSU pisses me off with it. This only really applies if they dont stay with PSP2's superior style of class customization. Fighmasters and Hunters should not swing swords the same way. A newman, that is more agility and finesse based, should not swing an axe the same way a beast, who is raw power, would. They dont have to be more effective, they just have to FEEL different, like how the Hucaseal Dagger Animation felt unique to the Hunewearl dagger animation, which was different than the Humar one.

5) And above all, keep the art style the same as it is in PSO/PSU. I absolutely hate the new generic kiddy shit they did with Phantasy Star Zero, and Phantasy Star Portable 2 seemed to go for the more cel-shaded look than anything else. If they announce a new game and it looks like Phantasy Star Zero, im not going to buy it no matter how good it is.


That said, if it IS a new phantasy star game...i pray to jesus christ himself that it isn't Wii exclusive. In fact, it shouldn't end up on the Wii at ALL. The Wii is horrible in terms of hardware, and if the game is made for 360/ps3/wii then they have effectively downgraded the entire game for the sake of the Wii and wasted tons of opportunities. (no harddrive, shitty online service, horrible graphics hardware, gimmicky controls.)[/spoiler-box]

*applauds* I couldn't agree more.

[landman]

The character design is not THAT different in Zero, only the graphics and the artist are, change the artist and the world and characters fit perfectly in any Phantasy Star world: scy-fi, ancient technology and a rising civilization, it just happens in Zero it takes place while they are in the "far west" era of their civilization, only with CASTs and space elves. Parma was not that different in PSI (kind of medieval in the original game, more scy-fi in the remake), Motavia was not that different in PSIV (hokuto no ken FTW!!), only PS2 was a fully advanced space civilization, and PSO took the image of PSII.

[Mike]

5) And above all, keep the art style the same as it is in PSO/PSU. I absolutely hate the new generic kiddy shit they did with Phantasy Star Zero, and Phantasy Star Portable 2 seemed to go for the more cel-shaded look than anything else. If they announce a new game and it looks like Phantasy Star Zero, im not going to buy it no matter how good it is.


That said, if it IS a new phantasy star game...i pray to jesus christ himself that it isn't Wii exclusive. In fact, it shouldn't end up on the Wii at ALL. The Wii is horrible in terms of hardware, and if the game is made for 360/ps3/wii then they have effectively downgraded the entire game for the sake of the Wii and wasted tons of opportunities. (no harddrive, shitty online service, horrible graphics hardware, gimmicky controls.)

The dialouge scenes in PSP2 are sort of cell shaded, I suppose, but the characters and everything else look PSU characters in game. In lower-resolution of course. PS0's character designs were a joke. Everything besides the HUcast, RAcast, and HUcaseal looked horrible. If it wasn't gimped by Nintendo's online system it might have been easier to overlook the poor character designs.

Gotta agree on the no Wii thing. Unless it's a single player RPG, Wii can only lead to restrictions. Being on the 360 would also lead to seperate servers too though.

[landman]

Sega can't have merged servers on 360 but Square Enix can, I don't think it is Microsoft's fault then.

[chibiLegolas]

A title update to AOTI to implement aspects of PSP2 to PSU would be nice. (dodge, block, combos, charged guns, etc.)

But a true PSO sequel would be even better! (preferably on 360 since xbox live is awesome for co-op games).

And I'd absolutely love PSO:BB for xbox arcade.

[Angelo]

I really doubt the next game will have anything to do with PSU or PSPo2.

They said that closing down the servers is a step in paving the way for the Phantasy Star Franchise in the very near future.

If they were adding more to PSU they probably would have said PSU.

[landman]

And Sakai said PSP2 is to PSU what PSOBB is to PSO.

[Pillan]

Most of what I’d like to see in the next Phantasy Star Online was already done in PSP2, so I’ll go ahead and assume that’s the baseline for a new game. Most of the things that people see wrong with PSU weren’t bad ideas (level caps, release of new missions, and synthesis) but suffered heavily from mismanagement. If they had an initial cap of 100, free missions in every area available at the start (opened by completing story mode, which should also be complete at the start), and 100% success on all made items, those aspects would have been fine. The main issue that Sonic Team has never really been able to get the hang of is race and class balance.

So, I’ll list my dream improvements with that in mind:

- Balance the game so Hunter, Ranger, and Force all have about the same mission clear speed. Hunter can focus on flinching and juggling enemies, Ranger can focus on strafing and shooting, and Force can focus on slow, powerful damage. The stats should be balanced so that Ranger and Force are punished heavily for getting up close, of course.

- Change the way PP works so that better attacks drain PP and crappy ones don’t. For example, a handgun should not drain PP while being used to attack since handguns suck so badly. Similarly, basic techs shouldn’t drain PP. Something with the destructive capacity of a double saber (six hits to four targets) should drain PP during regular use.

- Add Just/Exact Attack to all three styles of play, when using attacks with a finite chain limit. Remove the ability to increase PP recovery with it and only give it increased damage.

- Use PSZ’s style of holding down the button to charge and end the combo on all three class types. This prevents the huge deviation between melee and tech finishers.

- Change skills to modify basic attacks with different attack, accuracy, combo limits, flinching/knockback effects, and number of targets. Also add at least one special skill for each weapon based on PSO specials (such as the Dark Flow shockwave, the Berdysh cross, and the Lavis/Double Cannon wind blade). Allow weapons to equip two of these new skills and mix and match attacks with the two attack buttons. They can still look cool and interesting, just not game-breaking.

- Change bullets to modify basic attacks with different attack, accuracy, combo limits, strafing ability, range, charged shot, and status landing rate. Allow weapons to equip two of these new skills and mix and match attacks with the two attack buttons. And find some way to make them look as interesting as the skills.

- Change the tech system back to PSO BB’s style of keyboard shortcuts. And give Force weapons TP based attacks as was done in PSZ and in PSP2 with bows and cards. Give them appropriate skills or bullets based on their type. Different weapons should alter casting speed (slowest for melee/range weapons, slow and powerful on rods, and faster on lighter tech weapons) and combo limit (no combo for melee/range, 3 on rods, infinite on Madoogs). Ideally, holding down any tech key would end the chain (and fire a massive version of the tech).

- Add a single-target, area of effect around the user, and ranged tech to every element. Also include four unique attack techs for each element. I actually like PSP2’s style of no resurrection spell and the return to a new age Shifta and Deband that buff all offensive and defensive stats (minus accuracy), respectively. And, though not necessary, a return of Ryuker would be nice.

- Remove EX traps entirely and return to the Cast-only PSO/Z trap system.

- In exchange for traps and their usual good stats and immunities, reduce all Cast attack tech damage and Resta recovery by 50%. This and the above changes fix everything wrong with every other race.

- Remove instant death and replace it with a delayed “curse” effect. This delay will stop it from being abused since you have to wait around 10 seconds for it to die from the effect anyway.

- Add a stat customization system in addition to the weapon and ability customization systems. Obviously it should be biased with the class’s stats (e.g., a Hunter has to pay 2% ATP or HP for 1% TP). This will allow Newman Hunters to use techs and Cast Forces to focus on melee and range.

- Add more areas that completely favor a specific class over another with the same number of advantaged and disadvantaged areas for each class. This way hybridized races and classes will have a clear advantage and specialists will occasionally suffer. Be sure to balance the drops for each of these areas or this is pointless.

[Kinako78]

needed changes:

5) And above all, keep the art style the same as it is in PSO/PSU. I absolutely hate the new generic kiddy shit they did with Phantasy Star Zero, and Phantasy Star Portable 2 seemed to go for the more cel-shaded look than anything else. If they announce a new game and it looks like Phantasy Star Zero, im not going to buy it no matter how good it is.


What's wrong with cel-shading?

[Danny_Dark]

I Don't Care If There Is A 10th Anniversary Surprise Or Not...

[Angelo]

I Don't Care If There Is A 10th Anniversary Surprise Or Not...

Well aren't you a jaded little champion.

[gratefulgriz]

with my luck and desire for ps v to come to a ds or handheld console with old school graphics, Sega's 10th anniversary surprise will probably be Rappy Racing. Where you are a rappy and you race...a rappy and it races. If there are any PS spinoffs like FF did with chocobos i am going to turn into a gremlin and eat a rappy:/

[Blue man]

i wouldnt mind a surprise
paying for online play i think is worth some surprises every now and then

[gratefulgriz]

@ blueman surprises fun I agree! That's awesome that you live in Wilmington, N.C. I vacationed there before, it's beautfiul

[Blue man]

its fun to visit but wierd to live here lol so many rednecks
when is this 10th anniversary though?

[Noblewine]

I'm crossing my fingers its "good" news.

[r00tabaga]

...either Phantasy Star Online HD (original) or PSO:II (a true sequel) :)

[DuRaL]

What's wrong with cel-shading?
i wouldn't mind cel-shading either, as long as it looks good =)
actually, i'd much rather see cel-shading than a too realistic look..


when is this 10th anniversary though?
december 21.
although i wouldn't be surprized if they announced something earlier this year (E3? TGS? probably not GamesCom >_>)

[Urzu4]

Does anyone besides me miss having co-op offline? i loved playing pso with my brother (its fun to punch someone when they take your drop instead of the wall) Im not sure if it was because of the hacking, but atleast please put in a co op mode with diff chars then the online. i miss challange mode too >.>

[r00tabaga]

Come to think of it...there's 3 things I'd like to see in the next pso game. 1) remove SUV's,mirage blasts & nonoblasts. Matter of fact, just remove the Beast race all together from the game. 2) return of mags are a huuuuge necessity. 3) the ability to use your created characters as NPC's in off-line mode...PLEEEEASE!
:)

[landman]

I doubt Beasts will be back, instead newman will take their place, and Dezolians and Espers will be the thech based race xD newman should never have become what they are today... PSU beasts are more similar to the classic nemwan than themselves.

[Anon_Fire]

Nobody saw my suggestion?

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2478897&postcount=71

[SStrikerR]

...either Phantasy Star Online HD (original) or PSO:II (a true sequel) :)

I don't think this will ever happen, but if it did, and they actually put some effort into it...I would shit bricks.

[DuRaL]

http://next-360action.sega.jp/

most probably not the PSO 10th anniversary surprise, but you never know xD

[MrPOW]

http://next-360action.sega.jp/

most probably not the PSO 10th anniversary surprise, but you never know xD

Came to post this, lol. I think it is, because of the prominence of "10" and because of the PS-ish font.

[DuRaL]

yea, the font reminded me a bit of PSO III or PS0, but the 10 could as well mean nothing and just be a regular countdown.
it's also catigorized as an "action title". this COULD mean PSO, since it's an action-RPG, but it's more likely to mean a shooter-like game imo..
also, a 360-exclusive PSO would kinda surprise me..
so i say don't get your hopes up people xD

[r00tabaga]

Why can't I open the link??? Can someone kindly post a screen shot of this "countdown"!
Thx-

[Max B]

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx330/maxbob51/g-1.png
above capture Japanese. Botom capture English.
http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx330/maxbob51/gg.png
there you go

[r00tabaga]

thx dude

[redroses]

I'm guessing the 10 the others saw earlier was just a countdown, with 9 standing there now.
So, I assume we get more information in 9 days.

[Max B]

I'm guessing the 10 the others saw earlier was just a countdown, with 9 standing there now.
So, I assume we get more information in 9 days.

Yes, at the end of the countdown the title of the game is released.

[DuRaL]

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9889/next360action.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/i/next360action.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

this is what it looked like before

[Ezodagrom]

If this is a xbox360 only game that is going to be announced, I really hope it's not Phantasy Star related, hope it's something completely different. :<

[DuRaL]

as i said before, i would be surprised if the next PSO game was 360 exclusive.
for 360 and PC, maybe, but 360 exclusive? a PSO exclusive for PS3 would make more sense, considering that Japan is still the main market for the Phantasy Star franchise..

but it's Sega, so you never know o.o

anyway, with the 九 and the orange color, it doesn't look like PSO anymore ^^;

[Max B]

If this is a xbox360 only game that is going to be announced, I really hope it's not Phantasy Star related, hope it's something completely different. :<

I hope the opisite :D :-P :D ^^

[Ezodagrom]

I hope the opisite :D :-P :D ^^
I hope it's not the Phantasy Star announcement because I'm hoping that it'll be a multiplatform game (PC/PS3/XBox 360), not a XBox360 only game.

[Max B]

I hope it's not the Phantasy Star announcement because I'm hoping that it'll be a multiplatform game (PC/PS3/XBox 360), not a XBox360 only game.

Well, when it comes down to it if it means better/more updates in the game and makes the game better all around I would want it to be on one platform. Seeing as most games that are exclusive to one platform come out 100000 times better than a game that is multiplatform. But.. thats just my opinion.

[Ezodagrom]

Well, when it comes down to it if it means better/more updates in the game and makes the game better all around I would want it to be on one platform. Seeing as most games that are exclusive to one platform come out 100000 times better than a game that is multiplatform. But.. thats just my opinion.
Yeah, like the "faster" updates the xbox360 version is getting now, right? :3

[Max B]

Yeah, like the "faster" updates the xbox360 version is getting now, right? :3

Well, it did not start on one platform so you can not bring that up. Also, I woud not judge that just yet seeing as we have a major update early this summer ie Supplemental update

[DarK-SuN]

I'm also hoping it's not Phantasy Star related, but it wouldn't be too farfetched if this was either Shining Force CROSS (gameplay trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UijK8fEcD7s) or even a new Shenmue (unlikely though, which is a pity).

If we're epically lucky, it'll be Border Break, albeit odd to keep it 360 only, but makes more sense than keeping a Phantasy Star game 360 only.

[Ezodagrom]

Well, it did not start on one platform so you can not bring that up. Also, I woud not judge that just yet seeing as we have a major update early this summer ie Supplemental update
An update that was released on Japan nearly 14 months ago. :wacko:
Well, in the case of a Phantasy Star Universe, doesn't matter if it would have been released on one platform or many, it would have been better if they just released the game with all the content that is available on the disc instead of slowly unlocking it.

[chibiLegolas]

Maybe a Streets of Rage style game? (when I hear "action game" I think of sidescrolling beat'm up games). Anyone remember Comix Zone? That game was awesome.

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

[landman]

Comix Zone made in Japan? not likely. Virtual On OT was exclusive to 360, sega even released a twin stick controller that sold great, it would not surprise me if they released VO4 exclusive to the 360 again, Border Break is too recent and still giving great profit on arcades to think in a DD release...

[HyperShot-X-]

if that teaser is indeed linked to this 10th anniversary surprise, then this could be something huge like Phantasy Star themed offline action adventure with rpg elements kinda similar to something like SF CROSS mentioned above(don't like the cell shaded graphics or art style tho). It could get maybe ported over to other platforms after release on 360 1st. I just don't see the point of that much hype if it was just another remake of a classic Sega title.. another Shinobi sequel maybe?

[RemiusTA]

This isn't phantasy star.

MY logic? The thing makes it look like its a 360 exclusive, or at least base title. After PSU's failure on the 360, them making a game specifically for it seems asinine. PS3 is getting more and more popular in Japan. For them to stick another Phantasy Star online series on 360 would be begging for failure.

Not to say 360 is a bad choice -- Xbox live is multiple times better than PSN. But i just dont see them doing it. Their largest base is on PS2, they might as well make the jump to PS3 this time.



And completely offtopic, ill say it again -- if the 10th anniversary surprise is PSO re-released then im done with sega.

[pikachief]

I think it'll come closer to PSO's actual release date, which i believe was in November?

So I personally, believe that its just too early for the announcement.

I personally believe..... Afri-kuh.... yada yada yada...

[HyperShot-X-]

This isn't phantasy star.

MY logic? The thing makes it look like its a 360 exclusive, or at least base title. After PSU's failure on the 360, them making a game specifically for it seems asinine. PS3 is getting more and more popular in Japan. For them to stick another Phantasy Star online series on 360 would be begging for failure.

Not to say 360 is a bad choice -- Xbox live is multiple times better than PSN. But i just dont see them doing it. Their largest base is on PS2, they might as well make the jump to PS3 this time.



And completely offtopic, ill say it again -- if the 10th anniversary surprise is PSO re-released then im done with sega.


what I meant is a PS spin-off action adventure that is not related to PSO or PSU at all, and it makes sense to code it for 360 1st then port it over to ps3 or whatever since it is likely easier that way. How can you be 100% sure it isn't?

Also, "their largest base is on PS2,.." is that a fact? Seriously, how many do you think still plays PSU on ps2(or ps3 backward compatible) on JP pc/ps2 server, like 2-3 out of 10?

[RemiusTA]

even more of a reason to start development on the superior system.

[Anon_Fire]

If it is gonna be a new Phantasy Star, It should be released for:

PC/Mac/PS3

[Ezodagrom]

Lol Mac. That definitely not gonna happen.

[tadtwisted]

If it is gonna be a new Phantasy Star, It should be released for:

PC/Mac/PS3

That would mean SEGA didnt learn from their mistakes from PSU. Next Phantrasy Star game should be PC/XBOX360

[Kent]

That would mean SEGA didnt learn from their mistakes from PSU. Next Phantrasy Star game should be PC/XBOX360
Indeed, one of the biggest flaws in Phantasy Star Universe's core was the fact that the development was held for three separate platforms - the "base" platform being the oddest one out (and the weakest, technologically-speaking) - really prevented the game from being what it should've been on that level.

On the other hand though, by utilizing common architectures that are used in Xbox 360 development, both a PC and Xbox 360 version of the game could be developed simultaneously with minimal changes having to be made to game between them (mostly things like implementing more scaling options for the PC side of things, and the few hardware-specific things that would need to be done on the Xbox 360).

Unless they make a world-class multiplatform engine like Capcom's MT Framework (which... the Hedgehog Engine is actually pretty impressive, on its own merit; they could use that), then this would probably be the best option. For all we know, that "360 action game" they've been teasing might be a new Phantasy Star game.

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

Ideally, next PS game would be PC/PC/PC.

Also there is roughly zero chance this countdown will have anything to do with Phantasy Star.

[PepperCat]

Lol Mac. That definitely not gonna happen.

As STEAM comes out for Mac... its not impossible but it could happen.

[HyperShot-X-]

^I totally agree with Kent & tadtwisted's commons sense. Developing on ps2 linked with pc only because of its largest user base present in the world did not guarantee its success in the West.

You know what'd be fair? how about next PS game on PC/Xbox360 linked and PS3 separate on its own PSN this time around, because it's pain in behind to code for PS3 and it's not so much superior to 360 from looking at multi-platform games released on both so far.


Anyways, I've been google translating teaser site hints since 'day 8':

06-count.
Sights with lots of mixed feelings too much trouble, but is expected to want to be expected.

I count 07.
I notice many sites, but these are temporary
I recently much in sight.

08 counts! What do you like what you expected.
"Action" is where the subtle (laughs)
...

I take it that it's leaning towards something big that's been expected for a while now, what else could it be other than Phantasy Star?

[Ezodagrom]

As STEAM comes out for Mac... its not impossible but it could happen.
Mac isn't a gaming platform, and, compared to the PC, it has worse hardware for an higher price. I don't think there are many gamers that would buy a Mac, when the PC runs games better for a lower price.
Also Steam is coming for Linux, should ST do it for Linux as well? :wacko:

Another thing about gaming on a Mac, early tests show that Portal on a Mac has around 25~50% lower frames per second compared to a Windows PC, while both using the same hardware. Some of the blame might be Mac only using OpenGL, while Windows uses DirectX, or also the drivers might not be optimized for games yet.



That would mean SEGA didnt learn from their mistakes from PSU. Next Phantrasy Star game should be PC/XBOX360
Having it for only XBox360 and PC is highly unlikely, since the main market for an online Phantasy Star game is Japan, where the PS3 is alot more used than the XBox360.

[RemiusTA]

Indeed, one of the biggest flaws in Phantasy Star Universe's core was the fact that the development was held for three separate platforms - the "base" platform being the oddest one out (and the weakest, technologically-speaking) - really prevented the game from being what it should've been on that level.

On the other hand though, by utilizing common architectures that are used in Xbox 360 development, both a PC and Xbox 360 version of the game could be developed simultaneously with minimal changes having to be made to game between them (mostly things like implementing more scaling options for the PC side of things, and the few hardware-specific things that would need to be done on the Xbox 360).

Unless they make a world-class multiplatform engine like Capcom's MT Framework (which... the Hedgehog Engine is actually pretty impressive, on its own merit; they could use that), then this would probably be the best option. For all we know, that "360 action game" they've been teasing might be a new Phantasy Star game.

I absolutely agree with the multiplatform issue. Personally, i don't see them doing a 360-only release of this game. There aren't many 360-exclusive JP MMOs that exist, and thats for a good reason -- the popularity of the system in that country. Im not sure about PC gaming (it isn't that popular either, but could have changed in the years since PSU was released) PS3 has been getting increasingly popular, however, and is the stronger of the two current-gen platforms.


About the graphics engine...they haven't said yet, but the Hedgehog Engine doesn't seem to have been made for PC. Also, the Hedgehog Engine runs better on PS3 than on 360. In Sonic Unleashed, the 360 version's target framerate was 30FPS, while the PS3 version had moments that dipped upwards of 60. (Not often, but it happened.) They were also able to render more effects in the PS3 version on top of the framerate jump. Not like this matters, though -- the game can always just be downgraded to run smoothly on both systems. If Final Fantasy XIII can do it, so can everyone else. (While PS3 version of FFXIII definitely looks better, nobody is going to call the 360 version ugly, are they?)


While Phantasy Star is ment to have beautiful environments, im not entirely sure if it would be more taxing on a system than Sonic Unleashed would. Well, maybe if you implement special effects and Technics/techniques, but still. Unleashed was well detailed, and had a draw distance through the roof. The Hedgehog Engine would be absolutely perfect for Phantasy Star's stylish and realistic art style. While the graphics in PSU are average at best, the character models were very well done. I'd look forward to seeing what they'd do with the Hedgehog Engine on a PS3/360 exclusive.

So yeah, it depends on what they do. The Hedgehog Engine was designed for simultaneous production for the Xbox 360 and PS3, so that knocks that out. Microsoft, however, seems to have problems with sharing servers with people, so they screw that up pretty effectively. Final Fantasy XIV, however, is a PS3/PC game, so perhaps that'll happen.


I personally dont care for 360 anymore, seeing as mine just broke. Xbox Live is amazing, but the system is highly unreliable in terms of longevity. If my 360 was working right now, i'd be playing PSU online right now. But since it broke almost as soon as the summer started, im giving my new PS3 some love.

[landman]

Heh, I won't change my mind, console exclusive should be the way to go, PSU and FFXI are the only MMOs on console, that's why PSU360 is kind of a success, no competition, and that doesn't seem to change in the near future, since most announced MMO for the console have been cancelled. And having a single worldwide server for 360 and PS3 would be great, but that's something only square is allowed to do....

[DuRaL]

well, i don't really care for what console the next PSO will be made. Best, of course, would be a PSO for 360, PS3 and PC, with linked and international servers so ALL players on ALL platforms from ALL countries get the same support >_>

If they make it exclusive for PS3 and PC, that's fine, too. I'd probably just buy a PS3 only for PSO then (if it looks as good as i hope it will) xD

the only thing that'd bother me would be a PC-exclusive (i don't play PC games at all) or a PSO for Wii (byebye, good graphics and cheat-free gameplay).. although i might consider buying a Wii if it's a Wii exclusive PSO.. i'm just too addicted ~__~


the countdown is more likely to be for a new Virtual On than Phantasy Star. Virtual On for xbox live arcade was very popular in japan, and there's even a special Virtual On Controller out for 360 in japan ;)

[RemiusTA]

Funny thing is, these guys never tease in english.

And besides, Sonic Team doesn't really have to "tease" a phantasy star title. At most, all they have to do is release a slideshow of words and artwork, like they did before PSU was released.


*remembers that beautiful CG concept video and how PSU did not turn out that way*

Edit: had to do it : (


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchDkrStK30&feature=related


It kills me how this video still gives me chills even now that the game has been out for like 5 years. Lets hope the next one lives up to this video. Also, anyone notice Ryukros at 2:05 in the video? Looks way cooler than it does now. (well, everything does. Looks like the game was also originally going to be user-oriented storywise other than feature a main character like it does now.) Man, even the main theme in this video is more epic than anything in the final...

Enough wishing now... : (

Edit again:

[spoiler-box] Dude i keep finding these old videos of this game....WHY does the pre-release version look so watered down of the one now?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN6V3UhS7OE
[/spoiler-box]

[Ezodagrom]

Phantasy Star Universe isn't the only Sonic Team game that looked better in early trailers. *cough Sonic 06*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k59_cHorjNk

[RemiusTA]

Yeah...and we all saw how THAT turned out.

That game was like a Next-gen Superman 64.

[DarK-SuN]

For those wondering, the "next 360 action game" is Virtual ON Force.
http://kotaku.com/5542249/another-countdown-clock-sorta-ruined-but-hey-virtual+on
Famitsu just announced it and the teaser website is mentioned (and the teaser website now also hints at the Famitsu "leak" as well).

We'll definitely have to wait for TGS for the Phantasy Star announcement, because this sure isn't it!
I'd say Phantasy Star staying away from being a 360 exclusive at this point is a pretty safe bet.

[r00tabaga]

I'm sure that the new PSO/PSU/PS? will be on PS3,360 & PC and the only exclusive title was Virtual-On...

[mvffin]

I kinda hope the next thing isn't PSO re-release; PSO was good when it came out, but it really shows its age to me. I can't play it anymore unless the control and battle system gets updated.

Personally, I don't care if the next PS title is 360, PS3, PC. As long as its ONE WORLD SERVER. I'm super fucking tired of multiple versions of MMOs which are treated extremely differently from the others.

In the other MMO I play, there are multiple versions and the US version is super shitty compared to the others. Even the European version, which has much less population, gets their updates and information in a timely manner, where the US version gets nothing for months at a time with zero support staff interaction.

TLDR, I won't play the next Phantasy Star MMO if it has regional servers.

[HyperShot-X-]

Well, PSO started as One World server on Dreamcast and we all know how that turned out in a matter of months, it's probably easier said than done and the main reason of having regional servers was for security purpose IMO. There might never be a One World server multi-platform PS game in future without sacrificing one thing or another.

You know, one undeniable reason why PSU pc/ps2 Eng server got so effed up like it did was that Sega tried to bite off more than they could chew from the beginning and they didn't expect it to get hacked like it did even with all that security and server side saving. The fact still stands that hackers found their way to room hack and mess up others account, dupe meseta, etc.

I'd rather have next PS game on a closed network for a specific console in each region and I'd like Sega to focus on 1 console at a time for each region namely PS3 in JP 1st and 360 in the West, and then port it over to PC like they did with PSOBB, or they could just link PC version to either console later on after they have console versions firmly in place 1st.

If they ever learned anything from their past mistakes, they won't do some half-assed job and expect it to survive for long against the competitions in today's market.

[RemiusTA]

I'd rather have next PS game on a closed network for a specific console in each region and I'd like Sega to focus on 1 console at a time for each region namely PS3 in JP 1st and 360 in the West, and then port it over to PC like they did with PSOBB, or they could just link PC version to either console later on after they have console versions firmly in place 1st.

If they ever learned anything from their past mistakes, they won't do some half-assed job and expect it to survive for long against the competitions in today's market.

Look, the different consoles have NOTHING to do with the quality of this game. More consoles = more income. Anyone who does a game right will tell you that, and that alone should tell you what the problem is. Look at Square Enix for reference. They're A PERFECT example with the first multiplatform Final Fantasy title. The issue lies in Sega not being able to develop efficiently anymore.

They just make stupid, stupid decisions now. You dont port a game that was developed for near high-end PC's in its time to the weakest console system in its generation. You dont port a game to a system you barely know anything about at the LAST MINUTE of production (Xbox 360). Sega sucked at optimizing the game on PS2, they sucked at optimizing it for 360, and they even sucked at optimizing it for PC. It seems like they had too many last minute decisions, and it cost them a workload that wasn't going to fit into their development time before the deadline, hence PSU's initial sucking in content and it STILL lagging up all the systems it runs on.

It really has nothing to do with the multiplatform problem. If they develop the game for PS3 and 360, then it should run on PS3 and 360 equally as well as the other, graphical complications dealt with beforehand. If they're going to develop for Japanese and English userbases, than the game should be simultaneously done in Japanese and English. Boom, issue solved. This way, the updates can be near SIMULTANEOUSLY released and translated. A month or two behind at BEST.



My only scare for this announcement is that whatever they're doing is going to be some kind of experiment instead of a successor to PSU, which is what these users DESERVE. Phantasy Star Portable 2 is everything PSU should be and more -- nearly EVERY aspect of PSP2 is something from PSU that was drastically improved upon, from the class system, to the missions and bosses to the gameplay itself. AotI is like the retarded child of the series now.

[Zantra]

Hmmmm, if I had my wish. It would be Phantasy Star Zero for the Wii. With enhanced graphics and customization, free online play (either with friend codes, or without), and with Classic/Gamecube Controller support. Plus free dlc missions, and/or weapons, like Monster Hunter Tri has.

[Anon_Fire]

Wait until TGS 2010

[Sayko]

When is the 10th anniversary anyways exactly anyways? I HOPE its a new PS game, but Im not getting my hopes up.

[Ezodagrom]

When is the 10th anniversary anyways exactly anyways? I HOPE its a new PS game, but Im not getting my hopes up.
Phantasy Star Online was released on November 21, 2000 on Japan, so the 10th anniversary will be on November 21, 2010.

[DuRaL]

pretty sure it's December 21st, 2000

just to make sure i checked wikipedia, and it's saying november 21st, however, wikipedia.jp says december 21st, and the japanese should know better when they got PSO ;P

(EDIT: it's been corrected)

[Anon_Fire]

Like I said in my last post.


Wait until the 2010 Tokyo Game Show for an announcement.

[Tetsaru]

Wait until the 2010 Tokyo Game Show for an announcement.

Or wait for this year's E3, like I'm doing. Personally, I'm more interested in what's going to show up here in the US; if it's being showcased at the Tokyo Game Show, chances are it'll be a while before it gets over here. But, if you don't live in the US, or you feel like waiting forever for a game in Japan to get localized elsewhere, or like to import games, whatever creams your twinkie. :wacko:

Also, after some quick Googling, this year's E3 (http://www.e3expo.com/) will be from June 15-17 - about half a month from now. The Tokyo Game Show (http://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2010/en/) will be September 16-19.

[DuRaL]

iirc PSU was first shown to the public at 2004's E3, so an announcement at this years E3 could be possible..

but TGS would be closer to PSO's 10th anniversary, and also don't forget how much Sega loves their japanese customers..

[Max B]

I see it shown at E3 just like Psu was shown in 2004. Also, Sega is slated to announce games that will be supported by Project Natal. During an interview in March "boss" of Eu/Na Sectors of Sega Mike Haynes said "We asked our Japanese studio to create something for [Natal] which we’ll show off at E3. They had a brilliant prototype up and running within six weeks. I mean a genuinely entertaining prototype you could just play."
I would not be suprised to see many things announced from Sega at E3 this year.

[Angelo]

I'm not really expecting them to show the surprise until TGS. But a little hint or taste at E3 would be nice.

One of my most memorable E3 moments was seeing the PSU trailer in 2004. What a good year.

[landman]

The PSU trailer at E3 2004 made me register in psoworld after years of just reading some posts and using the database :P

I really hope they think on the new game as something to be played worldwide, like PSO, and not something closed and marginalized in some regions, like PSU, just the way they announced PSO as a multicultural experience, with the word select and multilanguage options from day one, if they plan on making a new game like this, E3 is their best bet.