What will we do without PSO?

[Link1275]

I might be missing something, but what does that decision have to do with maturity?

Phantasy Star never had a huge US fanbase. The US players hacked PSO (PKs and corrupt characters aplenty), hacked PSU (to the point where PC/PS2 servers met an early death), pirated PS0 and PSPortable/2 (I'm assuming, everyone pirates on those)... and what? You expect them to keep shelling out their limited resources to please a small community that tends to break everything? Hell, the devoted members of the US/international fanbase play on PSUJP anyway, what's stopping them from playing PSO2 in Japanese?

Yes, I agree it sucks that there's no news on a US release afaik, but it's not a maturity issue. It's a business decision. Unless SEGA sees a potential profit worth the costs of localizing it, that decision isn't changing.

That server also caters to PSOPC, Dreamcast, Xbox, and GCN users, not just Blue Burst. Short of playing on a Wii, any version of PSO you own is still playable online in some capacity.

Sega didn't even give the western versions of PSO any good DL missions or events for PSO(from what I've heard anyways), and as far as I've heard PSO didn't suffer heavy piracy. So why didn't sega even advertise PSO in the west? They weren't even mature enough to give it a fighting chance stateside so when it failed they assumed the rest of the series wouldn't do well either(they've probably been screwing the west over on advertising since PS1).

[zoulen]

Sega didn't even give the western versions of PSO any good DL missions or events for PSO(from what I've heard anyways), and as far as I've heard PSO didn't suffer heavy piracy. So why didn't sega even advertise PSO in the west? They weren't even mature enough to give it a fighting chance stateside so when it failed they assumed the rest of the series wouldn't do well either(they've probably been screwing the west over on advertising since PS1).

That has nothing to do with a company being mature, or immature. :l

[Link1275]

That has nothing to do with a company being mature, or immature. :l

Alright then mind answering me this? Why is the only Sega game series that gets even close to major advertising in the US Sonic The Hedgehog? Also doesn't Sonic not sell well in Japan? If I recall correctly every Sega game gets lots of advertising in Japan except for maybe Sonic, while in the west the opposite is true not even the newer series/standalone games get very much if any advertising. Which would of course look like Sega is biased against the west(especially where they are) and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a company is biased against an entire culture/country it's an immature country.

[Serephim]

Alright then mind answering me this? Why is the only Sega game series that gets even close to major advertising in the US Sonic The Hedgehog?

Because Sonic is the only videogame character on this PLANET aside from Mario who can appear on a car insurance commercial without an explanation, and have nobody ask who or what he is.


PSP2i or AotI on the other hand? With those cheesy theme songs, extremely crude collaboration outfits and lolis all over the place? It'd instantly blush anyone interested in the game as soon as the commercial came on. Anyone NOT interested would instantly believe they were on the wrong channel.



Phantasy Star isn't "popular" in the west because Phantasy Star is no longer made for the west. PSO had a great balance of Western and Eastern influence. The art style was detailed, and the soundtrack was pretty much universally praised, the gameplay was somewhat believable. No swimming through the air or anything. Phantasy Star Universe on the other hand...it looked, sounded, and played like a hardcore anime feature.



Just think to yourself...what could they have possibly done to PSP2 Infinity to NOT make it look like an otaku game for fangirls? A pink wearing 10th grade short girl with a skirt, and a lolita fashioned dark haired girl with a big sword? Phantasy Star isn't advertised over here because it wouldn't appeal to anybody who would actually buy the game.





Long story short, you advertise to get NEW PEOPLE to buy your product. Everyone who would buy PSU or PSP2 is going to already know about it AND buy it when it becomes available. Paying tons of money for an on-air commercial would be a massive waste of money. Sega's best bet would be to net advertise to gamers directly, and hopefully let word of mouth carry it into the media itself.

[zoulen]

Ask your friends if they've ever played a Sonic game.
Now ask them if they've ever played a Phantasy Star game.

I don't know about your friends, but none of my friends ever heard of Phantasy Star Online aside from 3-4 people I introduced to the game. All of my friends know of Sonic.

[NegaTsukasa]

What would I do? probably what I'm doing now. just play solo offline or multi-play on the 1&2 P. for GC when I feel like it. Otherwise, I got a lot of other things on my plate of life I got to get taken care of.

I doubt this game will be thrown into oblivion. especially with the new PSO 2 coming out. things just keep leveling up (no pun intended) in the gaming industry when it comes to online play. I hope to see PSO be like .Hack// with the VR goggles, etc. considering it has very very similar elements and was even influenced from the show/game just a tad.

[Necha54]

Haha i love the idea of .hack\\
and have always dreamed of Pso becoming a virtual reality, but then i fear of the social compatibility with reality and how i would change ones social standards and views. Though not for all but for some.

[Slidikins]

I hope to see PSO be like .Hack// with the VR goggles, etc. considering it has very very similar elements and was even influenced from the show/game just a tad.

It might be the other way around, PSO came out a full 2 years before .hack//SIGN and .hack//Infection showed up. A more immersive experience would be awesome, though, so long as it didn't involve falling into a coma.

[Necha54]

Yeah that'd be a good thing

[chibiLegolas]

What would I do without PSO? Play offline and feel very lonely. But I will have the memories....
PSO is so specail to me. The prefect genre & time in my life to have such a new concept online game.
Without PSO, I still have my new army of RAcaseal action figures to play with.
So many options and swappable parts. Eventually, I'd love to build the other classes, whenever I have the time.