On June 26, SEGA will be releasing the Phantasy Star Universe Special Edition Texter. (PS2 ver. will retail for $34.95US while the Xbox 360 ver. will go for $39.95US.) This device introduces a new way of typing in-game to get rid of the necessity of the on-screen keyboard. (Of course, if you already have a USB keyboard, then there's no need.) Check out the link above for a short video of how this device works. Basically, it seems you use the analogue sticks on your controller (wired Xbox 360 or PS2 controllers only) to select a bracket of letters displayed by a sticker that you put on the game pad, and then you use the other stick to select one of the letters in the specified bracket.

For those who order, the Texter will come in a special hard metal case with Phantasy Star Universe stickers and a poster. Also to be included is a special code which will get you a PSU shirt for free!

Special thanks to AzureBlaze for pointing this out at the forums.

Operation Firebreak is now underway, and will be running until June 29. Unite with your fellow Guardians to rid Gurhal of the recent fire SEED outbreak! Five purification missions are currently available between the three planets of the Gurhal System. By completing these missions, you will earn points to go toward a cumulative total which will determine a number of special bonuses and prizes awarded to all Guardians at the close of the event. Also, during the event, you will be able to trade in Ban-photons for numerous special items such as the BR Burning Poster and Garment Aura. So, come on; let's get to it! We've got a lot of work to do!

For those interested in SonicTeam's progress with the upcoming PSU expansion, Ambition of the Illuminus, Lyrise has brought us an update. This information comes direct from the official JP PSU site in a report which details a number of suggestions that were made by Illuminus trial players during the beta period. Please note that the following information does not detail everything planned for the expansion. A number of other suggestions have been made by the player base, but these suggestions and their progress have not been made public by SonicTeam. Click the "read more" link for a synopsis of some of the bigger changes and suggestions possibly showing up in the expansion. For the full list and details, see Lyrise's post.

• It was expected anyway, but this makes it official: your current character(s) and items will carry over to the expansion.
• The developers are looking into reworking the battle system as many people find it a little on the monotonous side. A timing system similar to PSO's is being considered, where you could inflict more damage with well-timed attacks as opposed to a series of cursory slashes.
• Monster attack patterns and ranges will be tweaked.
• PA limits will not be raised above 36, however it is being considered that overwriting a PA will not reduce its level to 1 if you relearn it in the future.
• The ability to send simple mail from a Partner Card is being worked on.
• When grinding a weapon, if the grind fails, your weapon will not be destroyed; however the weapon will be reduced to its base stats. That particular weapon will also no longer be able to reach a maximum grind of 10. For each failure, the maximum grind will be reduced by 1.
• NPC incapacitation will no longer affect your mission grade.
• All mission rewards are slated to be rebalanced.
• A "population tracker" is being considered for the official site. Basically, it would allow you to see where the current "hot spots" (missions and lobbies) are located.

Stay tuned for future updates, as we may see occasional additions to this list as progress on the expansion steadily moves forward.

In the coming weeks, the Japanese PC/PS2 servers will see the start of a new event, the Famitsu Cup! A solid date has not been announced just yet, but the event is scheduled to begin around the end of May. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment, but it seems that the Famitsu Cup will work on a points system. By completing missions across Gurhal, players will earn points to go toward a rating (with 10 points totaling a perfect score) which can gain them entry into something known as the Platinum Palace where a "special event" is bound to take place. (Could we finally see the grand opening of the Commune Club in Clyez City?) It should be noted that the missions available in this event will all center around different themes including luck, friendship, perseverance and intuition. Also, a number of special items will become available during the Famitsu Cup. Some can be obtained by completing certain missions while others are gotten through currently unknown methods. These items include:

• Bukra Famitsu - a Kubara-made wand which resembles an issue of the magazine Famitsu
• Rappy Suit - an extremely rare set of clothing
• Rappy Mode - a line shield unit which generates a photon Rappy feather effect
• Song for Death - a rare grenade launcher produced by Kubara

Special thanks to Lyrise for reporting this.

The previously reported issue of synthesized Deva-zashis disappearing from character inventories upon removing the completed item from your PM is scheduled to be resolved in the next maintenance period, occurring the night of May 17. Clumsyorchid reported the upcoming fix earlier today at the official PSU message board. The admin also states that items lost in this manner will be rewarded to individuals affected by this bug. Originally, it was planned to have the Deva-zashis appear in their owner's common box, however due to time constraints, the lost items will now be hand-delivered by GMs. If you were one of the few affected by this bug, expect to be contacted by a GM soon so that a time can be set up to receive your lost weapon.

SEGA held an unveiling of five new PC titles currently in the making at the Tokyo Design Center earlier today. One of the titles on show was PSU: Ambition of Illuminus. And courtesy of Impress Watch, you can now download the game's opening movie! (Left-click on the link to begin the download; right-clicking and choosing "Save As" will not work properly.) Of course, let it be stated that this video does contain spoilers, so view it at your own risk. Otherwise, enjoy!

Enterbrain Publishing will be releasing a two volume art and data collection entitled Phantasy Star Universe Data Collection on April 28 in Japan. This collection will retail for 3,150 yen (about US$30). Click the jump below to see full details on what each volume of this set will feature. Volume 1 of PSU Data Collection will feature artwork and information from Phantasy Star Universe. Here is the full table of contents.

Chapter 1: Characters

Story Mode

Main Characters

Sub Characters

Network Mode

Fashion

Partner Machinery Stage 1

Partner Machinery Stage 2

Partner Machinery Stage 3

Partner Machinery Stage 4

Chapter 2: World

GUARDIANS Colony

Parum

Neudaiz

Moatoob

Dungeons of the Three Planets

Chapter 3: Enemies

Parum (small, medium and large enemies)

Neudaiz (small, medium and large enemies)

Moatoob (small, medium and large enemies)

Gurhal (small, medium and large enemies)

RELICS (large enemies)

Chapter 4: Weapons

Swords

Knuckles

Spears

Double Sabers

Axes

Sabers

Rifles

Longbows

Handguns and Twin Handguns

Grenade Launchers

Laser Cannons

Machineguns

Cards

Wands

Rods

Daggers and Twin Daggers

Part two of this set features artwork from PSO ep.III and PSO Blue Burst. The table of contents is as follows.

Phantasy Star Online ep.III C.A.R.D. Revolution

The Story of PSO ep.III

Card Gallery

Attack Cards

Technique Cards

Defense Cards

Other and Unreleased Cards

PSO World Background

Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst Ep.IV

Commemorative Manga

Item Gallery

Enemy Gallery

Characters

Scenery of Ragol

The Story of PSO BB Ep.IV

The publisher's page on this collection can be seen here. Discussion can be found here.

Next week marks the final days of the Japanese network trial for PSU: Ambition of Illuminus. In commemoration of this final run, SonicTeam will be offering a number of gifts and events to participants of the trial. These offerings include:

1. 1,000,000 meseta given to each account. Players will find this gift in their room's common box.
2. The daily allowance of Vol Coins at Casino Volyale will be multiplied by 10! Now you'll be able to get 1,000 bronze coins (10 silver) as opposed to the normal 100 bronze.
3. Following the maintenance for this update, for each full hour of game time trial participants log, they will receive two PA Fragments for use in the current version of PSU with a maximum of 99 Fragments per account. Keep in mind, however, that Fragments will not be immediately available following the close of the trial. SonicTeam estimate them being available between May 10 and June 30.
4. And finally, the Ambition of Illuminus trial will be going out with one last party: Minna de Dance Dance Fever!. Scheduled for April 21 and 22, the dance party will be hosted by Gurhal Channel 5's newscaster Hal, and will feature special guest appearances by Sonic and Tails.

Special thanks to Lyrise for reporting this news. Further discussion can be found here.