It's the day many of you have been waiting for! No, PSO2 isn't out yet, it's the other day you've been waiting for. The Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity demo is now officially available! You can now download the PSP2i demo, which weighs in just under 600MB, from both PSN and the official JP website (red button). It is also available on UMD and at select demo kiosks at participating Sega arcades (for those of you in Japan, of course).
The Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity demo includes some pretty cool features and offers a LOT of content for players to enjoy. In addition to being able to raise your demo character to level 100, you can also raise your types to level 20, experience the new visual lobbies, try the new Infinity Mission system, download missions, participate in collaboration missions, take screenshots, play some battle and challenge missions, customize your room, and enjoy three chapters of the game! In addition, you'll get bonuses for importing your existing characters!
Online play for the demo will be enabled starting January 20th, but only a limited number of trial licenses will be available on PSN. For more information on the demo and what features are currently enabled in it, be sure to check out this thread, posted by our very own Mike in the PSP2 forum!
The official site for Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan was updated today with slew of information, including news that the game will be delayed until 2012 and that a second Alpha Test will take place sometime early next year. The reason given for the delay was that the developers wanted to make Phantasy Star Online 2 a better game. There also appear to be a number of user-submitted changes that will be implemented in PSO2, thanks to feedback from its first Alpha Test. The entire list of user suggestions and dev responses (in bold) can be found below. A big thanks to Mike for compiling the translated information in our PSO2 forum, be sure to drop by and join in on the discussion that is already underway.
Combat Related
I want to be able to perform just attacks with ranged weapons and techs. We'll make it so you can do this.
I want to be hold the attack button to auto attack. Ok, but you won't be able to perform Just Attacks using this method.
The hunter's step and ranger's dodge-roll are too powerful and they ruin the balance of the game. Fix it! We are adjusting the time spent invincible and the time spent unable to move after dodging. We are also slightly quickening the change from walking to running.
There's no reason to use the hunter's guard. We are adjusting the timing so that attacks are cancelled quicker by guarding than dodging. This will allow guarding to be more affective against sudden attacks.
The reduced movement speed while charging techs sucks. Do something. Charging will no longer reduce movement speed but you won't be able to perform the mirage dash.
I want to charge techs in the subpallete too. You will be able to do that.
Uncharged techs are too weak. The power of uncharged techs will be raised and there will be an appropriate difference between charged and uncharged techs.
Resta's range is too short and I can't heal my buddies. Resta's range is now longer.
The screen shakes too much and makes me wanna puke. We have reduced the instances of screen shaking events and even these can be turned off in the options.
It'd be nice if there was a walking animation for when you only push the stick on a controller weakly. Your characters now walk in this situation but only when their weapons are sheathed.
Some enemy's damage-animation cancelling attacks are ridiculous. We'll change it so that all enemies, except large ones, will always complete their damage animation when attack with a just attack.
Make it so we don't accidentally waste mates when our HPs are full. Done
Don't let us lock on to other players. Done
Make the lock-on work like PSU. We'll change it so the defaults are click for the keyboard & mouse users and hold for the game pad users. These can be changed in the options. When there are no targets around, this will recenter the camera
User Interface & Controls
The menus are harder to navigate with a controller than PSU! We've fixed the user interface so it works well with all control methods.
It's hard to tell the difference between all the icons. We've rethought the direction we were taking icons in and have redone them all.
It's hard to tell what items are locked or equipped by looking at the icon. We've made the locked/equipped signifiers more visible.
Buying and selling items is clunky and hard to control. We've gotten rid of the shopping cart system and made it easy to quickly buy and sell items.
I want to be able to deposit more than one item at a time at the storage box. We've made it possible to select and move multiple items at the same time.
I want to buy and sell from storage. Done.
I want to store meseta in storage. We're working to see that happen.
In order to get a sense of when to heal, I want the HPs of other parties displayed in multi-party areas. The HPs of players in other parties will be displayed above their heads.
I don't want the map to change from full display to local display when I change areas. It won't.
The local radar map is too small. Make it bigger. It will be made bigger.
I'd like party members to show up on the map so I know where they are if we get split up. Party members will show up on the map.
I want disks to show their level when they drop so I know whether to pick them up or not. Done.
It's hard to see when you've locked on to an enemy. We'll make it easier to see when you've locked on to an enemy.
Communication
I want to type just by typing on the keyboard. We'll add a mode that let's you do that when using a game pad.
Press "C" to chat feels weird. You can press "C" or "Enter" to chat.
I don't want to have to use the chat key to do lobby actions or cut-in chat. Give them their own key. They'll have there own key.
I want to be able to meet my friends right away. We'll add a function that will allow you to travel to the block your friends are in when you log in.
I don't know if I'm using party chat or public chat! Also, make it easier to switch between the two. We'll add another window that let's you switch between the chats. Party and public chats will also have different balloons.
Character Creation
I want to be able to change clothes at a whim. Lose the clothing defense attributes. Costumes will lose their stats making units the primary source of defense.
I want to be able to decided if units are visible are not. You will be able to turn the visibility of units on or off.
I want my character's eyebrows to match their hair color. You'll be able to do that.
I want to be able to make characters bigger and smaller than the current limits. You'll be able to make both bigger and smaller characters, but only slightly.
I want to be able to change my cast character's body using a morphing slider like the fleshies. You'll be able to do that.
I want to change my cast's face like the other races. There will be faces that can be changed like the other race's faces in the character creator.
I want my cast to run instead of hover. Or make it dependent on the type of leg parts. You'll be able to choose between hovering or walking, no matter what the parts.
Quests
I want a input box to allow me to input my party name when I create the party to let other players know what kind of player I am. Done. You'll also be able to select a playstyle along with using party comments and passwords.
There's not much information when selecting a party to join and it makes it hard to pick one. You'll be able to see the party information like playstyle and time elapsed when you go to join a party now.
I want to be able to set a way to only allow certain players in to a multi-party area. You'll be able to set a password for a multi-party area when you create an entirely new party.
I want the camp ship to have the abilities of the quest counter so we don't have to go back to the ship after each quest. The camp ship will now act as a quest counter.
I want to go down to the planet without having to take a quest. You'll be able to accept free quests without going to the quest counter and just going straight to the camp ship.
Shops in the camp ship please. There will be shops in the camp ship.
I want to be able to teleport to areas already visited by party members. You will be able to do that.
It'd be nice if interrupt events happened during free quests too. Interupt events will now occur during free quests.
I want free quests to actually have a clear end point. Free quests will have a boss and defeating that boss will end the quest but the area before the boss will be playable forever. (As in monsters will continue to respawn)
Having to unlock quests by waiting for a random event to happen sucks. Quests will no longer be unlocked by random events.
I want boss areas like PSO and PSU. Certain maps will have these areas. Certain maps will not.
I ran out of item space! There were too many drops at a single point in time so we will be cutting down on unneeded drops.
Not being able to accept and losing a reward after an interrupt event because my inventory was full is ridiculous. When this happens, the reward item will be sent to your storage.
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!
SEGA sent emails out this morning notifying customers that it had identified unauthorized entry into its SEGA Pass database. The database, containing account information for SEGA Pass members, is said to have been compromised and the service was subsequently brought offline to protect from further intrusion and allow for investigation of the breach. Information that may have been obtained by the intruders includes email addresses, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords of SEGA pass members. SEGA emphasized in their email to consumers that no personal payment information was compromised, as an external payment provider is used to handle and store these details. Here is the full email sent to SEGA Pass members:
"Dear _______,
As you may be aware, the SEGA Pass system has been offline since yesterday, Thursday 16 June.
Over the last 24 hours we have identified that unauthorised entry was gained to our SEGA Pass database.
We immediately took the appropriate action to protect our consumers’ data and isolate the location of the breach. We have launched an investigation into the extent of the breach of our public systems.
We have identified that a subset of SEGA Pass members emails addresses, dates of birth and encrypted passwords were obtained. To stress, none of the passwords obtained were stored in plain text.
Please note that no personal payment information was stored by SEGA as we use external payment providers, meaning your payment details were not at risk from this intrusion.
If you use the same login information for other websites and/or services as you do for SEGA Pass, you should change that information immediately.
We have also reset your password and all access to SEGA Pass has been temporarily suspended.
Additionally we recommend you please take extra caution if you should receive suspicious emails that ask for personal or sensitive information.
Therefore please do not attempt to login to SEGA Pass at present, we will communicate when the service becomes available.
We sincerely apologise for this incident and regret any inconvenience caused.
We are contacting all our members with these recommendations.
If you have any further questions please contact SEGA customer support on csescalations@sega.com"
Sega now joins companies like Sony and Codemasters in the list of those targeted by recent security breaches. Feel free to drop by the forums to join in on the ongoing discussions regarding this latest incident, or to place your bets on who's next!
Back in January of 2001, PSO-World was created with the vision that it would not only serve the entire Phantasy Star community, but be run by the community as well. Ten years later, the site is still here doing what it was meant to do from the day its virtual doors were first opened, thanks to the hard work and dedication of many different people who have helped carry the torch over the last decade. A lot of things can happen over ten years. People come and go, web sites appear and disappear, and a TON of games get released. We've been fortunate enough to see many Phantasy Star games over the last ten years, and even more fortunate that PSO-World and its outstanding community have been here for the entire ride.
With this milestone behind us, we enter a new era for PSO-World and its community. We have a lot to look forward to in the future of Phantasy Star and the site. Phantasy Star Online 2 is on the horizon and a steady stream of other titles has given us plenty to work on. It's time for us to take things to the next level once again, to better serve the fans that have continued to support us for all of these years. With that said, 2011 will not only mark the 10th anniversary of PSO-World's existence, but also an evolution of the site as you know it! It is going to be a great year, and we'll be looking for more people who want to be a part of it. For the rest of the details, though, you'll just have wait and see!
On behalf of PSO-World, thank you to all of the visitors, contributors, members, staffers, and everyone else who has supported the site in one way or another over the last ten years. Your patronage is what kept this site alive for this long and what will keep it going into the foreseeable future. We'll be celebrating this momentous occasion all year, so stay tuned for some announcements regarding contests, prizes, and more!
Viewers of Sega's live video stream from the Tokyo Game Show were the first to catch a glimpse of Sega's upcoming Phantasy Star game for 2011, Phantasy Star Online 2! The surprising reveal took place at the end of a montage which showcased every Phantasy Star game from the past 10 years and also included a peak at Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity, which was recently revealed as well. While no actual game footage was shown, a logo for Phantasy Star Online 2 did appear at the end of the video, along with some basic information indicating that the game would be released sometime in 2011 (presumably in Japan) for the PC.
It looks like this is indeed PSO's 10th Anniversary surprise that many were hoping for and we'll likely be finding out more once Sega releases an official statement. We're obviously very excited about this news and will post further details about PSO2 as we get them. In the meantime, check out the the full video HERE (Posted at SegaBits) and feel free to drop by the PSO-World Forums where an active discussion is already taking place about this awesome news!
Update: a new, high-quality version of the video is available at Sega's new Phantasy Star Portal web site. Check it out here!
An update regarding the recent PSN downtime has been posted today on the official Playstation blog, indicating that the reason for the downtime is due to an unauthorized intrusion into Sony's network. Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media, has released an official statement to notify PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that the intrusion occurred sometime between April 17th and April 19th and it is believed that user account information was compromised. Here is an excerpt from the statement that details what information they believe has been stolen:
"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."
The full statement can be found here. Oh, and for those who don't care about their personal information being stolen and just want back online, Sony also indicated that they intend to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity services restored within a week. Unfortunately, this also seems to be the first opportunity users will have to update their PSN passwords. In the meantime, it might be a good idea for PSN customers to update passwords on any sites that share the same email and/or username as their PSN accounts.
Episode 3 of PSO-World's Phantasy Star Podcast is here, with your hosts Dragwind, HUnewearl_Meira, and EspioKaos. In this special episode, we get an exclusive interview with Stephanie Komure, the voice behind Emilia Percival in the English version Phantasy Star Portable 2 (which is on sale today, so you have no excuse not to own it). Ms. Komure, a registered PSOW member, tells us about her career in design and voice acting, as well as her experiences working on Phantasy Star Portable 2 while voicing Emilia. PSO-World's Phantasy Star Podcast Episode 3 can be downloaded here, or streamed below using the flash player!
Please use the following feeds to subscribe:
We hope everyone enjoys! A big thanks goes out to Stephanie Komure from all of us at PSO-World for taking the time to chat with us! Episode 4 is on the horizon, so stay tuned! You can share your feedback on the podcast or make requests in this forum thread.
MCVUK has posted a recent interview with Sega America's newly appointed VP of Sales and Marketing, Alan Pritchard. In the interview, Pritchard talks about Sega's western re-structuring, as well as their new push toward digital distribution.
When asked if Sonic 4, an episodic Sonic sequel scheduled to hit XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare this summer, was representative of Sega's new digital direction, Pritchard said the following:
"As you can imagine, we’ve got a locker full of great IP from old Sega formats that we can potentially bring to market.
Strangely, the packaged goods side of the business are screaming out for a packaged version of Sonic 4. So it is interesting to see that some of the titles we plan to release on digital, will have great appeal to the other side of the business.
There are a number of digital releases that we have slated for the next 12 to 18 months, most of which haven’t been announced yet. As you can imagine, there’s a world of old Sega IP that we can bring to market."
Hopefully, this means we are in for some interesting news at E3 this year. While it would be great to see another Phantasy Star title coming down the pipeline, there are also a number of great Dreamcast titles and other IP that have been long overdue for a comeback. Have any predictions of your own? Hit the comments and let us know.
Thursday night's live video stream from Sega included a look at Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity, showcasing some features and in-game footage from the upcoming title. The live presentation, hosted by producer Satoshi Sakai, was packed full of information about the game. Unfortunately, this was all in Japanese, so we understood about 10 words throughout the entire stream. Keep an eye out for a follow-up story including details from the presentation as we get translations!
Hidden, juicy PSP2i details aside, the highlight of the presentation had to be around 18:32, where a promotional tie-in with fast food chain KFC was revealed. Following the announcement, in-game footage showed Colonel Sanders performing combat moves with his cane, using fire TECHNICs, battling enemies, and just chilling out. Shortly afterward, the PSO: 10th Anniversary video was shown and there was some brief discussion about PSO2 (we'll try to get these details up as well, if there was anything new mentioned).
Colonel Sanders in MY PSP2i? It's more likely than you think!
A full recording of the stream has been made available on UStream for anyone wanting to feel like the French and Spanish lessons they took in school were a complete waste. Go check it out!
"As you can imagine, we’ve got a locker full of great IP from old Sega formats that we can potentially bring to market.
