A brand new title in the Phantasy Star series was just announced by SEGA.

 

Entitled Phantasy Star ZERO, this will be the series' first outing on the Nintendo DS. ZERO is said to be a completely new game, though it will borrow heavily from the Phantasy Star Online series. This new title will feature a single-player story mode as well as multi-player online through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and local area networks (both up to four players). Multi modes will allow for communication through visual chat, which allows players to draw their own artwork or write their own text for their teammates to see.

 

Keeping in touch with its apparent predecessor, Phantasy Star ZERO will have the return of many race/job combos from Phantasy Star Online. This includes ones such as RAcast, FOmarl, HUmar and HUcaseal, but a few newcomers have also been revealed like the HUnewm and HUmarl. Furthermore, this new title will feature many new areas and lobbies to explore. Three such areas include the Glacea Ravine, Riou Snowfields and the Ozett Swamp. Information is a bit scarce on this new title, but we can expect to see more details in the coming months, as ZERO is slated for a Japanese release this winter.

 

Stay tuned! We'll be sure to bring you the latest info as it arrives! Special thanks goes out to Toadthroat over at the forum for bringing us this information! Feel free to join in the discussion!

 

Update: Famitsu scans

Update #2: The official Japanese PS0 website has been launched! A few important notes from what the site offers include the confirmation of character creation and that there will be a total of three races (human, newman, android) and 14 race/job combos in the game. Also, the main stage will be the Earth and its moon.

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A very interesting and informative article was published at Famitsu.com Wednesday concerning the history of Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe as well as the tumultuous nature of online games from a business standpoint. Click "Read more" below to keep reading!

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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.

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An interview with Satoshi Sakai, producer of Phantasy Star Universe and now Phantasy Star Zero, was published in the September 20 issue of Nintendo Dream. Fan site Shougai PSO posted a synopsis of the article which you can find translated here. For quick reference, here is a list of new game details Mr. Sakai revealed.

• Phantasy Star Zero is a completely new title set in a brand new world.
• Zero's gameplay mechanics will be based heavily around PSO's. But despite this, the developers hope that the unique style will attract more fans to the series, even those who have never touched a previous Phantasy Star title.
• The Nintendo DS was selected as the platform for this title to help broaden the age range of players.
• Zero was selected as part of the title to invoke thoughts of a new beginning for the series.
• You will be able to play with people you've never met over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. No details were given on if or how Friend Codes will be used, however.
• PS0 will not support voice chat or vibration functions.
• PSO's word select system is a possibility, but has not been confirmed.
• PSO's symbol chat will not return for this game. It is being replaced by visual chat, allowing users to draw their own pictures using the stylus.
• Many common item and technique names will return from PSO.
• The developers hope that, despite this game taking place in a completely new world, it will still bring out feelings of nostalgia and other fond memories.

Stay tuned for more information on Phantasy Star Zero. We expect to see new details rolling in more quickly as we approach the Japanese release of this title in three short months!

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• 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)

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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.

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The most recently announced Mission Spotlight is taking place in the Il Cabo Base lobby on Moatoob.  It of course features the newest mission (Bladed Legacy).  There are in game prizes this time around such as extra Casino Voloyal Coins and rare items.

 

There is another significant difference this time as they will be listing winners on the Mission Spotlight page.  It also appears they are allowing community groups to get involved as well. By participating, they'll get a mention on the page too.

 

As usual, the GMs will be selecting players at random from Universes 1 and 2 on Xbox 360 as well as Universe 2 on PS2/PC. 

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According to a recent announcement, the servers and official forums will be down starting late on October 11th and leading into the 12th.  It's said that the downtime will start at around 9 PM Pacific and last upwards of 15 hours.  It appears they are doing some work on the power system at the Sega of America offices.

Update: The maintenance did not occur as planned. When a new date is scheduled, we'll be sure to post the news. 

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Major Nelson reported earlier today that on Monday, September 29, the Xbox Live service will be going down temporarily in preparation for updates coming later this fall. The planned downtime will begin at 12:01a.m. Pacific and is expected to last for up to 24 hours. During the downtime, the Xbox Live service and "My Xbox" section of Xbox.com will be unavailable.

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