The official English webpage and the official Japanese Xbox 360 webpage were updated recently with details for the content update scheduled for January 29. Here is a breakdown of what will be available:

Maximum Attack G+ (event period runs from 1/29 through 3/11):

• Maximum Attack G+ C-S2 - Based on the original MAG, this event mission features a new difficulty with level 165+ enemies. As usual, you can access this and other MAG-related content from the 5th floor of the GUARDIANS Colony.
• Program DF+ C-S2 - Also returning with a new difficulty level is this boss stage which is accessible from the transport crystal at the end of the initial mission.
• Gifts from Beyond+ - The MAG event item exchange mission returns with new items and a new lottery. It is even possible to trade for other event currency such as Zonspheres or Megispheres.
• Naura Cake Shop - A few new items will be available here within the depths of the main event mission.
• Time Attack Leaderboards - A yet-to-be-posted event site will contain another competition for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. This time, teams will need to run the S2 difficulty to have their times count.
• Event Bonuses - As with the original MAG, there will be EXP and rare drop bonuses in place for the event missions. In addition, there will be an EXP multiplier to Photon Arts during the event period, but which applies everywhere in the game.
• Maximum Attack G' C-A - While MAG+ is available, this permanent version will be removed temporarily.
• Gifts from Beyond - This item exchange mission will be replaced by its + version.

Other updates:

• Desert Arms Shop - Several new items will also be added in to this item exchange mission.
• GUARDIANS Branches - NPCs will be added to each branch to help facilitate travel in-between.
• Valentine's Day - Seasonal lobbies will be posted from 1/29 until 2/18. During this time, you'll find BT Box in the Variety Shop as well as Rappy Amures around the game.
• Casino Voloyal - An item rotation will take place.

There is already an ongoing discussion about this update in the forums.

Update: Check out the official event website here!

The first phase of judging is now complete for The Phantasy Star Thanks Festa Global 2!

For the initial round, the following entries have been chosen to be the best by Arika (contest manager), Ryna (PSOW site administrator), and Edward (PSU game master).

• First Place: Merry Christmas!! by kakamine
• Second Place: Brothers in Arms: Autumn of Friendship by Eidolus_Dyne
• Third Place: Christmas on Gurhal by Carma

Carma also managed to win first place during last year's event.

It's now time for the second phase! Users of the event site can vote for their own favorites directly from the gallery. Winners of this round will be able to choose prizes from the pool provided by various community members. Finally, as a reminder, every participant will be rewarded with a number of casino coins (for those that entered their PSU game ID) as well as be put in a drawing for a chance to win a PSU poster signed by Satoshi Sakai!

Visit the ongoing thread in the forums for more on this contest.

The GGCII (more information here) will be starting in January. Teams that have already registered in the designated platform threads on the official forums can find information about how to schedule their runs in this thread. Competitors can find information on available time slots as well as who to contact for claiming one.

The full set of thirty-two teams has just about come together on the Xbox 360 servers. The PC/PS2 side is still below the limit. The set of brackets will most likely have to be scaled back appropriately, however registration will still be possible for the next week. Any active players on the PC or PS2 platforms are highly encouraged to participate. It's not too late to sign up!

Update: The Xbox 360 matchups have been posted. If you have not scheduled your team yet, please do so as soon as possible!

Players interested in the next major time attack tournament can find details in a new section of the official PSU homepage. Described on the page are the list of rules as well as the in-game prizes which will be given away. While an official start date has not been set, it is planned to begin in January and continue through February.

The GMs are currently taking team entries on the official forums. Discussion about the event can also be found here on the PSOW forums.

Update: A new page has been posted on the official site detailing some additions to the prizes for the event. Players shooting for first and second place are now looking at the possibility of obtaining real-life PSU swag. Also, please note a small change to the rules.

After a successful run last year, The Phantasy Star Thanks Festa Global returns for another round. This year's contest is set to be bigger and better than the last! PSOW user Arika is once again leading the way for the most important fan art contest of the year. Inspired by similar contests held by Sonic Team in Japan, entrants will be aiming for both in-game and real-life items. Contributions to the prize pool have been made by the community as well as Sega. This year's entrants are asked to provide a wallpaper-size piece under the theme of 'seasonal events'. Submissions will be taken from November 28 through December 18. To see the full details (as well as enter), please visit the contest website. There is also a discussion thread in the forums. Check them out and send in your absolute best!

A little over a week from now, Sega will be performing maintenance tasks on the PSU servers related to billing and authentication. While it is occuring, it will not be possible to log into the game or access the billing site. Updates on server availability and their progress will be available on the official homepage and forums.

The official English and Japanese 360 PSU homepages have been updated with the releases for this week. There will be a second GUARDIANS Boost Road on Neudaiz which will run from November 20 until December 10. The following missions have been upgraded to S3 for AOTI players and will be on the path of this GBR:

• Forest Infiltration (Agata Islands: Egam)
• Rainbow Beast (Shikon Tanze route)
• The Eastern Peril (Agata Islands: Egam)
• Moonlight Beast (Kego Clearing)

Also being added this week is a permanent version of The Magashi Plan (previously featured in Shred the Darkness). This version features an all-new section as well as the ability to once again obtain Megispheres. Instead of costing Megispheres to run, they will instead be dropping in the mission. Finally, there are a few other limited-run tidbits (also running from November 20 to December 10):

• Autumn seasonal lobby (Clyez and Ohtoku Cities)
• Native Creature Festival (Dagora City)
• Autumn Leaves room decoration (Variety Shop)
• Casino Voloyal rotation from the Modern set to the Berry/Sweet set

As a reminder, the Halloween lobbies as well as the Rappy Latans will be going back into hiding until next year after this Thursday. Those still hunting seasonal items should focus on getting what they need before it ends! Check out the forums for discussion of this update.

Tonight will be the official premiere of a new set of applications for the Xbox 360. Many of these were featured prominently at this year's E3:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• Zune Marketplace
• News and More

Upcoming this weekend is another available timespan for those with Silver accounts to try out the features normally only allowed to Gold subscribers. This is scheduled to begin November 20 (12 pm ET / 9 am PT) and last until November 23 (12 pm ET / 9 am PT). Update: The European regions of Live will be holding an alternative free Gold timespan. This will run starting November 25th from 17:00 GMT until November 30th at 17:00 GMT. Hit "Read more" for impressions of this update. There are details you may not be aware of. As an aside, I myself had been fortunate enough to get into the preview program which had been running the last few weeks. As usual, there is a bit more and a bit less than expected with this update. First (and possibly most importantly), Microsoft will be disallowing unauthorized storage devices to be used with the console. Supposedly this pretty much applies to a number of large Datel memory units. I've heard that Datel won't necessarily be backing off so easily, so if you own one of these cards you may wish to look into this. Second, many of the additions can only be used with a Gold membership and are also only currently available to those over the age of 18 (although they are currently working on controls to allow younger users in). This is more focused towards the social apps. Third, Last.fm unfortunately cannot be used as a general music stream. You can't use it in games or even around the dashboard. The app itself is pretty nice though. Hopefully they will adapt it to be used as another stream in the future. Fourth, Facebook and Twitter have somewhat limited capabilities. They are not bad for features on a set top box, but they are limited in functionality without more ties to the internet. In the future, some games will be able to make use of integration with "Facebook Connect". This will allow players to show off their achievements in a game...even going so far as to be able to post in-game screenshots right to their Facebook page. This functionality is limited to those games which either ship with it or (potentially) have it patched in. The other stuff works about as well as they've said. The rebranded Zune Marketplace does work as intended with its claim of having instant-on 1080p with 5.1 surround sound on a decent connection. It definitely seems to be less integrated though than the old video marketplace was, so it may be somewhat jarring at first. News and More is simply news segments as well as some animated Dilbert and The New Yorker comics. All in all, it's not your standard set of technical updates, but it does provide functionality that some people will find convenient. I myself hope that it all becomes more integrated in the future. It used to be necessary to queue instant Netflix material from a computer and they did come up with somewhat of a solution for that...so we'll have to see. I'm sure it would at least make quite a few people happy if Last.fm were usable as a music stream.

 

Seen on this page are a few recently posted commercials that will be running in Japan for the upcoming game. Navigate down to "TVCM" to check them out.