Just in time for the holidays, Amazon currently has Phantasy Star Portable 2, for the Sony PSP, on sale for just $19.99 (eligible for free shipping with Prime or orders over $25). It's a great opportunity to pick up this awesome PSP sequel for yourself or someone you know. Better hurry, though, as the last time this game was on sale it didn't last long!

Also, be sure to stayed tuned for Episode 3 of PSO-World's Phantasy Star Podcast, which includes an exclusive interview with Stephanie Komure, the voice of Emilia Percival in the English version of Phantasy Star Portable 2! The episode will be posted here and on iTunes shortly!

Update: The price has gone back up. Congrats to everyone who managed to snag a copy while it was still on sale!

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The regional Phantasy Star Portable 2 servers are in the process of receiving a patch that will fix certain deficiencies in the servers' authentication checking code. It was previously possible to get online without having a valid Little Wing License. This flaw is being corrected. RubyEclipse, a member of the Sega Community Team, posted the following about the update:

"Good news - this update has just gone live!

To clarify again on the specifics:

• All users now need the code granted within the retail copy of the game or which was automatically awarded when purchased digitally to access the online servers. This code has been updated, so you will need to download it once more. (Download history should work.)
• If you've already entered a code and are getting errors logging in, you can redownload the code and this should automatically take care of things.
• New users to the online servers from today forward should automatically download the new code, meaning they won't have to download twice. (I haven't been able to test this yet, but this is the dev team's intention.)

As with any patch or update that affects connectivity, I'm sure there may be some people who have trouble getting online - so if that's you, please also feel free to contact us at http://help.sega.com for customer service if you're having any trouble with your code."

According to RubyEclipse's latest post, this update has gone live in the UK and needs "one final tweak" before it goes live in the United States.

You can comment on this server update in this forum thread.

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Sega of America held a Community Day Event at its San Francisco headquarters on November 12th. Fans were able to participate in a Phantasy Star Portable 2 Battle Mode tournament, Valkyria Chronicles II team tournament, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 feedback session. HUnewearl_Meira, a PSO-World moderator, was at the event and has submitted his report of the proceedings. Be sure to click on the "Read More" link to read his report. Also, check out the image gallery to view pictures from the event.

Credit goes to HUnewearl_Meira and HAYABUSA-FMW- for providing the pictures.

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RubyEclipse, a Sega of America Community Manager, announced earlier today that Sega would be holding a Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Valkyria Chronicles II community event at its San Francisco headquarters. Scheduled to occur on November 12th, the Community Event will include a Valkyria Chronicles II Team Tournament, Phantasy Star Portable II Battle Tournament, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 play session. Prizes will be given out after the final play session. If you are interested in participating in this event, you will need to register by posting a comment on the Sega Blog entry. Be sure to hurry since only 50 seats are available!
 
You can share your feedback on this community event in this forum thread.

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Since the release of PSP2 in the West, there has been much discussion about whether or not the DLC released in Japan would eventually make its way to the US and Europe. The general consensus has been that the chance was likely slim. That is, until now. PSOW member Izuna has posted a very interesting guide in our PSP2 Forum which shows how to play the Japanese-released Phantasy Star Portable 2 DLC with the Western release of the game!

The process is actually quite easy, and simply involves downloading the free DLC from the official Japanese PSP2 site (where a similar guide is posted in Japanese) and storing it on your PSP's memory stick in the designated folders. The catch, as you might have guessed, is that the mission text is all in Japanese. However, it seems that the items you find during these missions will be displayed in English. (Please note: We do not yet know if there are any potential negative side effects from doing this, but none have been reported so far.)

This discovery opens up access to many of the very popular downloadable missions that were released for the Japanese version of the game, such as Gemaga and Maximum Attack Cross. In addition, it raises a very good question: If the Japanese DLC can be used with this method, does that mean that Sega could potentially release localized DLC sometime down the road using a similar method? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, head over to the forums and check out the full guide and discussion! Thanks to Izuna for posting the guide and credit also goes to funkyskunk for letting us know about this trick in an earlier thread!

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According to a recent post on the Sega of Europe blog, Phantasy Star Portable 2 will be released to the PlayStation Network on October 6. The delay of the digital version is attributed to the necessity for extra testing time.

For further discussion, check out the recent forum thread.

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It's Phantasy Star Portable 2 item code giveaway time! Our friends over at Sega were kind enough to pass along this PSOW-exclusive code which, when used, will unlock the Alis Landale poster from their recent PSP2 fan art contest.

The poster, shown below, was one of two entries selected from the contest to appear in the Western release of Phantasty Star Portable 2 and, coincidentally, was also submitted by PSOW member Immovable One (we're so proud).

Alis Landale was the lead character from the first Phantasy Star, have you played it?

To redeem the code and get your poster, simply enter the numbers 4132 5468 into the Visiphone located in-game in your player room. The Visiphone can be accessed via the console beside your MySynth and the code can be entered by choosing the "Password Entry" option.

A big thanks goes out to RubyEclipse and Sega! We hope everyone enjoys their poster! For more PSP2 item codes and tips as they become available, be sure to hit up the PSP2 Forum!

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Those of you lucky enough to have already secured your copy of Phantasy Star Portable 2 may have noticed that the online servers are not yet up. RubyEclipse, of the Sega Community Team, was nice enough to drop by the forums to give us an update on the server status.

The team at Sega hope to have the servers online Tuesday night, sometime between 7:00PM and 9:00PM PDT (that's 10:00PM and 12:00AM for those of us on the East coast). If all else fails, there's talk of bribing us with free item codes, so you may want to keep an eye on the PSP2 forum!

In addition, Ruby confirmed in another thread that the PSP2 servers WILL be linked between the US and Europe, allowing players from both regions to team up and enjoy the game together. This is great news and we'll look forward to seeing our European friends online in a few days when the game officially releases there!

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It's the day we've all been waiting for, Phantasy Star Portable 2 is officially here! Well, in the US anyway. Sorry Europe, you have a few days left to endure. Ever since we first found out that PSP2 was going to be gracing US and European gamers with its presence, the title has been highly anticipated by Phantasy Star fans on this site, and pretty much everywhere else.

The recently released demo calmed the cravings for a brief period, while reinforcing the already-high expectations we had for this sequel. With so many new features and improvements over the original Phantasy Star Portable, including free online play with lobby support, loads of new content, and an enhanced combat system, it's no wonder that you've all been chomping at the bit to get your hands on it.

Your agonizing wait is nearly over and many of you will hopefully be online playing with fellow PSOWorlders very soon. The official release date is today and there are a few different options for securing your copy of the game (for those of you who didn't join the club and pre-order):

First, you can go the old-fashioned route and hit up your local games retailer to see if they have their copies in stock yet. Keep in mind that some (if not all) retailers may still be waiting for their shipments to arrive, so it might not hurt to call and check first. Feel free to post your findings in the comments section.

Second, a digital version of the game is available in the Playstation Store. This 942 MB download costs $39.99.

Last, but not least, the game is available at a wide variety of online retailers, most notably Amazon and Gamestop (which does also have the option of in-store pickup).

There will inevitably be many new discussions sprouting up throughout the day in our Phantasy Star Portable 2 Forum (where there is already a flurry of activity), so feel free to drop by, introduce yourself, and join in on the release day festivities!

In addition, PSO-World is currently looking for a few good PSP2 enthusiasts to be a part of the team working on our upcoming Phantasy Star Portable 2 content sections. If you're interested, please let us know via the contact form, or by dropping a message to Ryna. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you all online!

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RubyEclipse, a member of the Sega Community Team, posted a picture today showcasing the in-game versions of the posters from June's Fan Art contest. The in-game posters feature Alis Landale from Phantasy Star - created by PSOW member Immovable One - and a Barack Obama-inspired Rappy portrait. These posters will replace the gravure idol posters from the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Portable 2.

My personal preference is for the Alis Landale picture

Which poster is your favorite? Will either of these posters appear in your player room? You can share your reactions in this forum thread.

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