A number of reports have been flowing in from Xbox 360 players concerning various forms of misplaced data which had been preceded by apparent trouble with the Player Room server. Considering the number of reports and the trustworthiness of several of them, it would be advised to take this into account if you plan on continuing to play for the time being. Once more is known about the situation, we'll be sure to update this posting.

A thread has been started about this in the forum.

Update at 3:00 pm EST: Clumsyorchid has asked that anyone having these kinds of issues respond with their details in this thread.

Update at 5:15 pm EST: The Xbox 360 servers have been taken offline for emergency maintenance.

Update at 6:20 pm EST: The Xbox 360 servers are back online and player data has been rolled back to this morning's save state.

• 33 comments

A word of warning: There is a good chance that this may end up not being a Phantasy Star title.  However, some interesting clues that I will mention have led me to believe this could be of interest.

A teaser page has been posted by Sega of Japan.  It features what appear to be flowers with orchestrated music.  After some credits (listed below), it allows you to click the center flower.  The screen darkens, the music changes into something more 'oldschool', and eventually a silhouette of a dragon appears.  Then there is the message "We're making RPG now!".  After clicking this, it shows a final line of text telling the user to check out Weekly Famitsu on September 26th.

 

I've been able to spot this page on SoJ's Homepage as well as the JP PS2/PC PSU Homepage.

Director: Kazuya Niinou (Director and Planner on Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Center: Under the Knife)

Producer: Kodama Rieko (Various credits on Phantasy Star I, II, III, and IV as well as Producer for Skies of Arcadia)

Sound composer: Yuzo Koshiro (Music credits on Ys series, Beyond Oasis, Shenmue, and Etrian Odyssey)

Character design: Mota

 

You can find many more notable credits for these developers by searching around. I just felt like giving some of their more interesting RPG highlights primarily.

• 23 comments

• Seasonal Lobby: Fireworks on Neudaiz (August 22nd through September 26th, also applies to PSUv1 players)
  • De Ragan's Breath will be available from NPC Vendors.
• Story Mission: Episode 3 Chapter 5 (Titled Ambition's End, Accessible from GUARDIANS HQ)
• Coop Mission: Flowery Pursuit C-S2 (Accessible from the Saguraki C.D. lobby, leads to Ohtoku City)
• Rare Mission: Phantom Fissure C-S (Has a chance of appearing at random at Neudaiz mission counters)
• New S2 Difficulties: Sakura Blast, Sacred Stream, White Beast, Hill of Spores, Dancing Birds
• Neudaiz GUARDIANS Boost Road (August 22nd through September 26th)
  • Features Hill of Spores, Dancing Birds, Flowery Pursuit, Sacred Stream, and White Beast
  • This road begins in the Shikon Tanze route, heads into Ohtoku City, and ends up in Ohtoku: Shitenkaku.
• The event Maximum Attack G comes to a close, however reworked missions will be available.
  • Free Mission: Maximum Attack G' C-A (Accessible from GUARDIANS HQ)
  • Free Mission: Program DF' C-A (Accessible from the transport crystal at the end of MAG')
  • Gifts from Beyond will be staying to allow players to turn in their remaining Weapons Badges.
  • Hit the Counter! will still be accessible to those players that haven't received their milestone prize.
• More weapons (up to 8 star) and boards (up to 9 star) will be available in the NPC shops.
• A new music disc will be available at Casino Voloyal.
• Lots of new items will be obtainable from the new missions and new difficulty levels for older missions.

Going off prior JP updates, there may also be some modifications to the current NPC material boards in this update. As a reminder, GBR points will now be shared across all characters on the same account (as mentioned in a prior system update). I know that many players have been looking forward to the new S2 ranks as they contain 150+ level enemies. Enjoy the new challenges and drops!

 

I'll be sure to update this post if any additional changes are discovered after maintenance.

 

Update: The new music disc is PSU Disc 76.

 

Update: There was also a Casino rotation after this maintenance. 

• 15 comments

As of now, AOTI has dropped from 1600 down to 800 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace.  For anyone on the 360 that hasn't yet experienced the additions the expansion offers, this would be a great time to jump in!

 

Remember that you need a copy of the original Phantasy Star Universe to play the 360 version of the expansion.  Please also note that it does not add any additional content to the offline modes (only Network Mode).

 

Update: The English press release has been posted here. 

• 14 comments

As posted by the GM Edward, Sonic Team has released details on some incoming tweaks.  They will not be starting with tonight's maintenance, however will be implemented soon.

 

Until January 16th, the following will be active:

• +10% grind bonus for weapons
• Super Holy Light photon fortune bonus for all races
• 50% discount for clothes and parts
• +10% synth bonus for weapons and armor
• Free makeovers at Lumilass

The first three are claimed to be compensation for the recent server rollbacks.  The last two are a special holiday treat.

 

Further discussion is taking place in our forums.

 

Update: Edward has posted on the official forums mentioning that these changes will be delivered during the December 25th maintenance period.

• 12 comments

Here we see a number of clips from the in-game animated sequences done by Gonzo. Notably, they've also created segments for the Lunar series. Most recently, they have been known as the studio behind Afro Samurai. Later on in the trailer, they mix in some more footage of the game itself.

This video can also be viewed on the official website located here. Discussion of this video has already started in our forums.

EDIT: If you are having problems viewing the movie, you can download it here.

• 12 comments

• MAG2 Rewards:
  • 10% Grinding Boost (Also applies to PSUv1 players)
  • Sange
  • Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals
  • Spread Needle/G
• Free Mission: Bladed Legacy C-S2 (Accessible from Il Cabo Base, leads to Granigs Mine)
• Exchange Mission: Clothes 'n' Parts (Accessible from GUARDIANS HQ)

• 12 comments

Phantasy Star Portable saw incredible first day sales of 217,000 units, a sellthrough rate of over 90% of the game's initial shipment. It currently holds the top sellthrough of an initial shipment of any game this year in Japan. As a result of this amazing success, Sega quickly upped their shipments to a whopping 400,000 units.

Media Create has now released weekly sales data for Japan for Phantasy Star Portable's premiere week, revealing an impressive 342,000 units sold and launching PSP straight to the #1 spot on the chart. Courtesy of Kotaku, here is a sampling of the other top contenders (where you may recognize yet another Dreamcast favorite franchise):

01. Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) - 342,000 / NEW
02. Rhythm Heaven Gold (DS) - 213,000 / NEW
03. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu No Hanayome (DS) 112,000 / 946,000
04. Soulcalibur IV (PS3) - 75,000 / NEW
05. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (PS2) - 37,000 / 121,000
06. Soulcalibur IV (360) - 35,000 / NEW
07. Fatal Frame IV (Wii) - 33,000 / NEW
08. Wii Fit (Wii) - 32,000 / 2,442,000
09. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 23,000 / 1,633,000
10. Gundam Battle Universe (PSP) - 21,000 / 201,000

Let's also compare first week sales for many of the Phantasy Star titles that have come out in Japan in the past decade (care of VGChartz):

Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - 84,689
Phantasy Star Online V2 (Dreamcast) - 119,159
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Gamecube) - 74,801
Phantasy Star Universe (Playstation 2) - 124,059
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (Playstation 2) - 23,665

It would appear that Phantasy Star Portable has sold over double what Phantasy Star Universe and Ambition of the Illuminus did in their first weeks on the Playstation 2... combined! Now lets compare Famitsu scores (care of the Famitsu Scores Archive, highest being 40 as a total of 4 scores):

Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - 37
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Gamecube) - 35
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Xbox) - 35
Phantasy Star Universe (Playstation 2) - 35
Phantasy Star Portable (Playstation Portable) - 33

From the feedback of many importers, it is clear that this handheld version is an installment worthy of the high levels of interest that it's been garnering. I'm sure it will only become better as balance tweaks and further content updates are already in the works.

With all the developments that I've been seeing as far as this title is concerned, it is clearly only a matter of time before Sega announces an English release of the game. Let's all hope they don't keep us waiting too much longer.

Update: Phantasy Star Portable now has the fourth best launch of a Playstation Portable game in Japan. Here's the other three (numbers care of VGChartz):

Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G - 857,429
Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd - 741,780
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 489,085

• 11 comments

The newest Mission Spotlight has been recently announced.  The featured quest this time around is Her Secret Mission (accessed from the GUARDIANS Branch in Ohtoku City on Neudaiz).  Players running on Leo (Guide) or Caelum servers have a chance to win a variety of items during this time.  In fact, entire parties now have the chance at receiving prizes instead of just individuals.  This is mentioned to be a part of all future spotlights as well.

Discussion has already started in our forums.  Best of luck to everyone!

• 10 comments

According to a recent homepage update, Sega will be releasing Phantasy Star Zero to Japan on December 25th of this year.  That's only three months away! Compared with PSP, the announcement and ship dates for this title are quite close.

• 8 comments