As compensation for the brief server outage on August 28th, a "Casino Vol Coins x2" bonus will be enabled for Phantasy Star Universe Xbox players on September 9th. There is no mention of how long this bonus will last, but it is expected the bonus duration will be at least two weeks. There are no other game updates scheduled for this week's maintenance.

Credit goes to XbikXBd for sharing this news. You can post your opinions of this compensation in this forum thread.

Update: According to the JP 360 PSU homepage, this bonus will last for two weeks (until September 23rd).

A large update has been scheduled for release on August 27th for the Xbox 360 servers! Here are some of the details:

• Unsafe Passage /R, a Guardians Advanced Mission, will be available. Restrictions for this mission include:
  • Level 20 cap for players
  • Healing items may not be used
  • Limits on slot items
• A new AMP Exchange Mission with new items.
• New SUV items and TECHNICs including Blitz Burst, Grom Burst, and Dizas
• Several new item and type customizations. A full list is provided on the Japanese update page.
• Casino Item Rotation

Credit goes to Max_B for bringing us this news. You can discuss this update in this forum thread.

Update: The English update page has been published.

Update: Additionally, there has been a balance change which adjusts the number of targets for Limit Break Diga and Foie to now hit four targets at LV41+ instead of the standard three.

Details for this week's content update have just been announced at the official PSU website!

• The Holy Ground/R, a brand new advanced mission will be added to the Resident Security Department. This is a 2nd stage GAM, so you must have at least 500 AMP to access it. Restrictions for this mission include:
  • All players capped at LV20.
  • Cannot use Photon Charges or PhotonChargeCosmos.
  • Cannot use EX traps.
  • Cannot use body units.
• The annual fireworks festival begins on Neudaiz!
• The usual Casino Voloyal decoration rotation will occur.
• For the duration of the fireworks lobby, the traps Fireworks and De Ragan's Breath will be on sale at NPC vendors.
• A brand new RCSM, Shag Hodogg, will be released in the new mission.

Feel free to head over to the forum and jump in the ongoing discussion of this update. Update: The official Japanese Xbox 360 site has been updated with information regarding this content. There are two new details to note:

• The fireworks lobbies will be active until September 17.
• Individual player AMP caps will be increased from 500 to 1500.

Details have been posted about tonight's maintenance on the official PSU homepage.

There will be some modifications to clear up a few item-related issues discovered since the posting of GUARDIANS Advanced Content last week. These are as follows:

• The RCSM Darkness Preta had its element changed from dark to lightning in the update. This will be corrected and they will return to their original state.
• Many of the new weapons have only dropped with a neutral attribute. These will be corrected to drop with a random element and percentage.
• Beef striking weapons have only dropped with a 33% fire attribute. These will be corrected to drop with a random element and percentage.

Any additional changes will be listed after maintenance ends.

The Xbox 360 servers went offline at approximately 7:00 pm PST last night so the Guardians Advanced Content update could be implemented. When the servers come back online, all players will be required to delete Ambition of the Illuminus and download a new version of it. Here are more details instructions from the Phantasy Star Universe website:

1. Following successful implementation of the GUARDIANS Advanced Content, servers will go back online and notices will be posted on www.phantasystaruniverse.com.
2. At this time all users can delete their current copy of Ambition of the Illuminus from their Xbox 360 HDD.
3. Under your PSU Gamer Tag, go to the "Game Add-Ons" section of Xbox Live and re-download the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion (listed under "P", for "Phantasy Star Universe").
4. Download the AOTI expansion!

In addition, the following new missions will be made available to players:

• Plains Overlord /R
• Demons Above /R
• Desert Terror /R
• Security Department Exhcange (exchange/upgrade mission)
• Security Department Standby (exchange/upgrade mission)
• Security Department Drop-off (exchange/upgrade mission)

This update has been a long time coming, but it looks very promising. Hopefully it will be implemented without any problems. After the servers come back online, be sure to share your feedback in our Phantasy Star Universe forum.

Update: It is strongly advised that you wait until maintenance is over to download the new version of Ambition of the Illuminus. Edward, a Sega GM, posted the following on the Sega forums:

"Some of you may already be able to download the new version of AOTI from the Xbox Live Marketplace. You are free to do so, however please note that until the update process is complete and servers are live, we can't guarantee that the version of AOTI you are downloading is the newest version, which will be compatible with online mode and GUARDIANS Advanced Content. It takes time for all regions to be populated with the current download so please be advised that even if the Marketplace description of AOTI is updated, the download itself may not yet be."

Update: The servers are now online!

Edward, a Sega GM, announced today there will be two maintenance periods for the Xbox 360 Phantasy Star Universe servers over the next week. On July 15th, the servers will experience regular maintenance. In addition, the Holy Light Festa lobbies and rewards for the Sonic Birthday Event will be enabled. The Sonic Birthday Event rewards include 3 star luck and a 10% grinding boost for three weeks.

Holy Light Festa

The servers will be going offline for an extended maintenance on July 19th so the Supplemental Update, now known as GUARDIANS Advanced Content, can be implemented. The maintenance period will begin much earlier than usual. Details for downloading and applying the update will be made available soon.

Credit goes to Max_B for bringing us this news. You can discuss this update in this forum thread.

Update: According to the JP 360 homepage, the Holy Light Festa lobbies will also last for three weeks. Light Festival Décor will be available at the Variety Shop during this time.

Update: The details of this week's maintenance have been posted to the English homepage. Additionally, instructions have been posted for acquiring next week's major game update.

Update: The JP 360 homepage has noted the new AOTI requirement date as well as posted a notice of the update early next week.

Update: The scheduled maintenance is estimated to last from 7 PM PDT to 7 AM PDT according to the JP 360 homepage.

This week's maintenance details have just been posted on the official JP 360 PSU homepage.

Due to a recent server issue which resulted in players being unable to access the game, Sonic Team will be implementing compensation starting this Friday. This compensation includes 20x the normally allotted amount of Vol Coins for a two week period following the maintenance.

Additionally, there will be a Casino item rotation from the Sweet/Berry set to the Goth set.

The rewards for Sonic's birthday event are not listed as a part of this update and have yet to be dated.

Update: This has also been announced on the English homepage.

Starting on June 30th, Ambition of the Illuminus will be a free download on the Xbox Live service! Previously, this Phantasy Star Universe expansion cost 800 points ($10 USD). This download is 2 GB in size and requires Phantasy Star Universe to utilize it. Considering that Ambition of the Illuminus has been made a requirement for PSU's online play, this move will be welcomed by new players. You can discuss this update in this on-going forum thread.

The third (and in a sense final) preview has been posted for this summer's supplemental update on Xbox 360! At the English PSU homepage, you can see details on many of the incoming interface changes coming to the game including a wide range of new chat commands. Here's a summary of what is mentioned in this preview:

• New items - This summer there will be many new weapons introduced, some of which were previously featured in Phantasy Star Portable.
• Online status - Instead of having to select from predefined messages, players can now choose their own! Not only will this appear above your name, but it will also show up on partner cards given to other players.
• Chat commands - It will soon be possible to switch weapons and armor using shortcuts. Using this, a player could essentially put a palette on the left side of their controller too. Additionally, there are some interesting new functions for use in Your Room as well as expansions of previously available features.
• Your Room - New options are available such as easily storing multiple stacks of items, a common box size increase, and even the ability to directly use the storage of other characters on the same account by heading to the appropriate room.
• Item lock - This new feature allows you to put a safeguard on many of your most valued items. A light blue name will indicate that you won't inadvertently sell, trade, or drop an item.

This may be the last of the preview notes, but there are more details still to come. As announced prior, Sega will be providing a list of changes for the incoming Title Update. Additionally, be on the lookout for the proper content update page which will note the initial availability of new missions, etc. A thread has already been created to discuss the news here.