Latest News and Updates

According to the latest issue of Famitsu, a Phantasy Star Zero mini game will be making an appearance on Nintendo's DSiWare download service. The game, appropriately titled "Phantasy Star Zero Mini", will feature a score attack mission in which players will run through Gurhacia Valley and ultimately face off against the Rayburn.

The DSiWare title will have the same online functionality as the full game, including chat and wireless play. However, it currently looks like there is not a way to play the game with your Phantasy Star Zero character. Instead, players will take on the mission using one of three pre-selected characters. At a mere 200 DSi Points ($2 US), though, "Mini" will hopefully be a fun treat and a great way to lure new players into the full Zero experience! Phantasy Star Zero Mini is slated to arrive on DSiWare in Japan sometime this March, while a US release date is currently unknown. A big thanks to our tipsters for the story! For more of the latest Phantasy Star Zero news and discussion, be sure to stop by our Phantasy Star Zero forums!

Update: Thanks to Japanese fan site Shougai PSO, some details concerning this mini-game have been cleared up. The three selectable characters are Ogi, Kai and Sarisa, and Gurhacia Valley serves as the field for this adventure. As players make their way through the area, they will face other enemies such as Gawls and Galapythons, until they reach the boss, a large dragon known as Rayburn.

The newest Mission Spotlight has been recently announced. The featured quest this time around is Duel in the Ruins (accessed from the Foran Waterfall lobby on Parum). Players running on Leo (Guide) or Caelum servers have a chance to win a variety of items during this time. Prizes include Casino Voloyal coins, rare items, and more.

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Best of luck to everyone!*

GM Edward just posted a notice that the PSU servers will be undergoing a period of maintenance tonight starting at approximately 11:00p.m. PDT. Though no further details are given on the English site, the official Japanese 360 site was updated with a similar notice, citing a bug fix as the reason for the downtime. You can join in our discussion of this news at the forum.

Update: As of 2:00a.m. PDT, all servers are back online. With this maintenance, the Winter Mission Carnival missions were completely removed from the game.

The official Japanese Xbox 360 PSU site was updated with details on what to expect with this week's maintenance.

• The Valentine's lobbies will be taken down and replaced with White Day lobbies. The new lobbies will be in place for three weeks, from March 13 through April 2. And with this change also comes the return of the rare Jaggo Amure!
• For the duration of White Day, the seasonal room decoration WD Box will be on sale at Clyez City's Variety Shop.
• Casino Voloyal's exchange counter will be updated with the rotation of room decorations from the Sweet/Berry set to the Goth set.

Feel free to join in the discussion of this update over at the forum.

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Update:*The official English PSU site has now also posted the update details.

Today marks the official release of Phantasy Star Portable to the U.S. market. This latest addition to the Phantasy Star line-up lands on the Playstation Portable (PSP) and offers players the complete Phantasy Star Universe experience on the go! In addition to original content from Phantasy Star Universe and its expansion, Ambition of the Illuminus, Portable boasts a whole new storyline, new characters, and over 150 new items to find!

Phantasy Star Portable is shipping to many stores now and our resident deal hunters tell us that Amazon is currently offering up the best bargain at $36.99 shipped! (see "More Buying Options" if the correct price isn't showing). Note: There are reports of stores still waiting to receive their initial shipments, so hang in there and good luck!



As many of you have noticed, PSO-World's item database is currently being updated to offer stats, screenshots, and information for items available in Phantasy Star Portable, and we'll be continuing to work on this. For any information we don't currently have listed, feel free to drop by the Phantasy Star Portable Forum. In addition, keep checking the home page this week for an announcement about our latest contest and prize giveaway. We have some copies of the game and some great Phantasy Star memorabilia to give out, you won't want to miss it!!

The official Japanese Xbox 360 PSU site has been updated with details on what we can expect to see on Friday, March 6, following maintenance. The Winter Mission Carnival will have come to a close with this update, but it won't be entirely gone, as two readjusted event missions will be released for players to enjoy.

• Explosive Arena (Holtes City GUARDIANS Branch) is a rebalanced version of Thunderburst Duel.
• Airboard Rally (Dagora City GUARDIANS Branch) is a rebalanced version of Panther Blitz.

The official English site has been updated with information on these missions. Feel free to join in the discussion of this update over at the forum!

The North American release of Phantasy Star Portable is less than a week away. In celebration, a special launch event will be held in Phantasy Star Universe on March 6! Vivienne, a new lead story character of PSP, will be making appearances in Clyez City throughout the day. She needs your help to track down Helga Neumann, a suspected terrorist! Team up with your friends, locate Vivienne, and track down Helga using the clues given to you by your new partner. This event will run multiple times throughout the day, and after the event has been completed successfully, all participants will be given a unique phrase to say which will reward them with a special weapon! Below is a list of the times the event will be occurring on each server. Remember! The times listed are all PST, Friday, March 6! (If you need assistance converting from PST to your time zone, please reference this site.)

• 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m. PST (PC/PS2)
• 11:00a.m. - 12:00p.m. PST (Xbox 360)
• 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m. PST (PC/PS2)
• 2:00p.m. - 3:00p.m. PST (Xbox 360)
• 4:00p.m. - 5:00p.m. PST (PC/PS2)
• 5:00p.m. - 6:00p.m. PST (Xbox 360)
• 6:15p.m. - 7:00p.m. PST (PC/PS2)
• 7:00p.m. - 7:45p.m. PST (Xbox 360)

For complete details, please see the official announcement. Thanks to RubyEclipse for the heads up!

Update: A few modifications have been made to this event. First, one more time slot has been added to each server to help accommodate more players. Second, anyone who says the phrase "Phantasy Star Portable Day" (just as it is typed here, but without the quotes) at any point on March 6 (12:00a.m. - 11:59p.m. PST) will receive a Moatoob Collectible room decoration at a later date. And finally, anyone who participates in at least one successful run of the event (i.e. Vivienne is successful in catching up to Helga), all participants of that run will be given a unique phrase to say which will reward them with a Real Hand Gun+ at a later date.

In anticipation of next week's Phantasy Star Portable release, Sega of America was nice enough to provide PSO-World.com with exclusive screenshots of some of the awesome new weapons that will be appearing in the game! This collection includes three weapons from the Phantasy Star Online series, along with two brand new weapon designs! Scroll down to check out pictures and information for these weapons. Be sure to click on the thumbnails to see larger versions!

Demolition Comet	Elec Distortion
Type: Double Saber Description: A double blade that slashes enemies with countless photon blades. No one can escape its death blow.	Type: Saber Description: A single-handed blade used by a certain Guardian who loved music. Old fogeys don't appreciate a raging electric guitar.
Lavis Cannon	Skull Sorcerer
Type: Saber Description: A single-handed blade so rarely seen, it is shrouded in mystery. Its abilities are equally unknown.	Type: Rifle Description: A wicked rifle said to be possessed by the dead. Death will visit all who stand before it.
Twinkle Star
Type: Wand Description: A wand with star-shaped amplifiers at both ends. Its cute design makes it a popular accessory, too.

Many thanks goes to Sega of America and RubyEclipse for providing these screenshots. Remember to visit PSO-World.com for all the latest Phantasy Star Portable news! Feel free to discuss the new pics over in our Phantasy Star Portable forum.

With the end of the Winter Mission Carnival fast approaching, talk of the next major event has been increasing steadily. To help get the ball rolling on this, SonicTeam are giving the Phantasy Star Universe community the opportunity to name this upcoming event! These are the four options:

• Dark Erosion
• Shred the Darkness
• Shadows of Gurhal
• Guardians of the Light

You can cast your vote over at the official forum. The winner will be announced on Monday, February 23!

Update: It's official. The name of the next major event will be Shred the Darkness!