Latest News and Updates

kalbelgarion writes, "In the July 2003 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (issue #16, Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II for the XBOX received the "Game of the Month" award, as well as the "EGM Gold" award for having scores that averaged 9.0 or greater. (The three reviewers each gave the game a score of 9.0). Congratulation, Sonic Team! "

Sonic Team put up more East Tower quest information details:

"The door of Control Tower has been opened at last. Now the full-scale investigation by Hunters will be started. This time, you mission is to wipe out the ferocious enemy dwelling in Control Tower, together with reliable friends.


"I would like you to mop up monsters in Control Tower and to turn it into a place for research teams to enter safely." Now the new mop-up operation has started !


Advancing in Central Control District, "Control Tower" will come into view. This time, you will rumble into there along with your friends !!


The enemy in Control Tower is simply powerful ! Let's cooperate with your companions and annihilate the enemy !


"I'm currently looking for a Hunter who is going to Control Tower... " It seems this is that character who you know very well. It says it is looking for a Hunter who is heading for Control Tower.... Why on earth ?? "

Sounds like it'll be a mass Control Tower Mop Up. And hello Hopkins!!! As mentioned before, the quest will be online and playable for up to 4 players. Maintenance time for the quest is still unknown.

English Minhinro was also updated with new illustrations and screenshots. Be sure to check them out!



Contributor: Mio
Comment:I love chatting on Lobby! As I am laying back too much, a RAcaseal may sometimes make a cup of tea for me or not... (Not !)

Due to increasing member interest, PSOW has decided to restart our weekly C-Mode Friday Nights. The C-Mode nights will take place on Deneb 4 (The US & UK C-Mode Ship) every Friday, from 8:00 p.m. Pacific (11:00 p.m. Eastern). Our C-Mode nights are hosted by members: FluxGryphon and VulpesMundi.

This Friday's re-inaugural event however will start at 6:00 pm PST so that the people on the East Coast can join us. If we get enough people to show up this early, VulpesMundi might consider starting it early every Friday night.

We invite everyone to come join C-Mode Night, both people who are new to C-Mode and C-Mode veterans. Come online and meet fellow C-Mode players. Exchange tips and try to improve your time. Or be kind and teach someone new the ropes! Our first C-Mode night will start tomorrow. Hope to see you guys there!

We would also like to invite any other PSO forum, website or community to have C-Mode nights or gatherings on the same server and preferably also the same night so that we can get a big exchange of C-Mode players going on. If anyone is interested, please contact admin: LollipopLolita.

You can find C-Mode Info here and C-Mode maps here. Remember, we also have printable C-Mode Maps that you can access here.

You can read more info and participate in the discussion here.

Our JP affiliate Cotan reports that: "East Tower," a new GC quest will be available on Tuesday, May 27, JP time. News of this new quest was published in the current 5/23 Famitsu magazine.

East Tower will have you journeying in the Control Tower. This quest will introduce you to the eastern portion of the Control Tower. The western portion of the Control Tower was introduced in the last GC online quest: Seat of the Heart. East Tower will be an online quest and will be playable for up to 4 people. 2 NPC's, Paganini and Hopkins, will reappear in this quest. It is speculated that you might need to beat Seat of the Heart to play this quest.

There will be a server maintenance on Tuesday, May 27 to load the quest onto the servers. Please end all games before the scheduled maintenance and do not log onto the servers during the scheduled maintenance. The time of the maintenance is currently unknown.

Since all information right now is in Japanese, we'll post more info when and as we get them.

Join in the discussion on this upcoming quest in our forums here. You can find rare item drops for new enemies in Seat of the Heart here. 3 new items that you can get from the Seat of the Heart quest are: Flame Garment, Demonic Fork and the Il Gill's drop Nei's Claw.

ShadowDragon28 reported this news also and links www.ktplan.ne.jp/~Gheaven1 as his source. Thanks ShadowDragon28!

On an unrelated note: JP Xbox Live servers will be undergoing a server maintenance on Friday May 23rd, between 4:30 pm and 6:30pm JP time. You can read that news report here.

lollipoplolita writes, "ST posted today that Isao.net will under go a server maintenance on Thursday, May 22nd between 10 am and 12 noon JP time. During this time, you might have some difficulty accessing the Isao.net website and/or purchasing a Hunter's License for PSO JP."

lollipoplolita writes, "ST would like everyone to be aware that on May 30th, all snapshots taken in the month of December 2002 that are on the Visual BBS will be deleted. All November snapshots were deleted as of May 14th. Entries on the Visual BBS will be deleted monthly by the month following May 30th. If you have snapshots you wish to save, please do so as the deletion is permanent. This is because the Visual BBS server is at full capacity and ST is running out of room to store new uploaded pictures."

psosaladwood writes, "Sega's PSO EP 3 website is up and available in both Japanese and English versions here. The Japanese version has a little bit more information compared to the English one.

Release dates for the game are as follows for Nintendo Gamecube:
JP: 4th Quarter 2003
North America: 1st Quarter 2004
Europe: 1st Quarter 2004

You can read more at the website.

Update:
Sega also released their own PSO E3 EP 3 webpage. They reiterate that GC EP 1 & 2 will have access to the same visual lobbies of GC Ep 3 because Ep 3 will have similar Ep 1 & 2 visual lobby setup. Meaning: players of the two different games will be able to idle, converse and meet in the same visual lobby. Players on Ep 3 will still be able to hang out and chat with their old buddies on Ep 1 & 2.

There is also the E3 2003 exhibition promotion movie on the site."

Atax writes, "A video of PSO Episode 3, is now avalible for download at GameSpot: here."

Please be aware that you need to be a Gamespot member to view the movie.

Rolf_Landale writes, "Sega revealed new screenshots of PSO Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution that will be in showcase at E3 this week. Here are the screenshots courtesy of newtechnix.com. "

cube-europe.com reports:

"Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution" expands the Phantasy Star Online (PSO) universe, offering a new style of strategic combat. Combining the excitement of card collection and deck settings with team-based battle tactics, PSO Episode III allows users to chat in the lobby about status upgrades and tactics, and then journey to the planet surface to engage in strategic combat using a turn-based Card system. The game continues the story arc of the previous PSO games, as players once again become Hunters and explore the mysteries of the planet Ragol. Featuring both online and offline play, as well as multiplayer modes, PSO Episode III adds new content and players to the ever-growing PSO community.

Features:

Play online and interact with Hunters from PSO Episode I & II in the lobby Engage in offline team battles for up to four people, where players are divided into friends and enemies

Choose from either the Item Deck or the Enemy Deck, depending upon whether you will fight as a member of the Hunters or the Arks (enemies)

Collect an enormous number of weapons, gear, and items to create an original deck with your character

Use Action and Assist cards to compose a powerful deck, supported by Hunters and Items or Bosses and Enemies

Position your characters on the battle field and move them as the battle unfolds to take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses

The next chapter in the PSO universe continues the story of PSO Episodes I & II."

Fennec Fox of Gamepro.com writes:

"From a plot standpoint, PSO Episode III works just like the last game?the planet Ragol is full of mystery and monsters, and groups of Hunters are still busy exploring it to unravel the secrets it holds within. It's just the method of this exploration that's different. The combat system is turn-based and uses decks of cards, which are won in battles and traded with fellow players in the game's online lobbies. Team-based battle strategies are a must here, and cooperation is key as you and the rest of your party deal damage to oncoming enemies. As before, Episode III will be fully playable offline and on via the GameCube's Modem or Broadband Adapter."

By the way, if you are looking for the Nintendo E3 website, here it is.