• General

    SOE Will Resume All Publishing In Europe 

    by
    Saladwood
    Published on Mar 30, 2003 12:54 AM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    psosaladwood writes, "According to The Magic Box, Sega of Europe announced they will resume the software publishing business in Europe, previous all Sega titles were published by Infogrames and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Sega of Europe will publish the following titles in the next 3 months:

    Phantasy Star Online (Xbox) - May
    Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut (GameCube) - June
    Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution (PlayStation 2) - June

    Lets hope that May will stick so all our European users can soon be playing Xbox PSO!    "

    1 Comment

    News All about Xbox PSO! 

    by
    LollipopLolita
    Published on Mar 29, 2003 06:56 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    Kalbelgarion writes, "Electronics Boutique has put up the back-side cover of the US version of XBOX PSO. While it looks very appealing and classy, it oddly enough seems to fail to inform players about the Hunter's License. Also, the game does not support System Link play."



    We also have all the game covers including the JP Xbox front and back cover here. Which do you think looks better?

    staticlive writes: "Posted at Teamxbox was 3 new screenshots to add to their collection here and they clearly stated in there post that it is set for release in May, they said and I quote: "Here are a trio of screens from Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, set for May release.

    According to Gameplay PSOX is to be released in UK on the 30th May you can visit the page here just what date to believe? May 16th or May 30th?"

    Looks like even the UK Xbox PSO doesn't have a confirmed release date like the US Xbox PSO. For sure, no one knows what is happening! We also have our very own Xbox PSO screenshots here. More are on its way.

    Getintothegame writes: "In reply to this news post about the mail-in voucher, I have scanned the page and the voucher. Click here to view the full page (at half size), or click here to view the voucher. You can print the voucher and use it.

    Also, if you have the magazine, the ad is on page 125."

    Remember to print the coupon using the landscape orientation on your printer and not portrait. Thanks guys for the awesome news submissions!

    4 Comments

    New Lobby Decorations and Free First Month Campaign Extended For JP HL. 

    by
    LollipopLolita
    Published on Mar 28, 2003 04:08 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    lollipoplolita writes, "ST posts that new lobby decoration with cherry blossom trees will go up to commemorate the arrival of the spring season. The new decorations will go up on Tuesday, April 1st and will last for 2 weeks til Tuesday, April 15th.

    Good news regarding HL's: although ST mentioned before that the "first month free" offer was only for a limited time, according to this ST news post, if you are purchasing a JP HL for the first time between March 31st and April 30th, you will still get 30 days free on your HL. Meaning the limited time to get free month when you purchase a HL campaign has been extended until April 30th. Please note that this is only if you're purchasing a JP HL for the very first time. The US free first month campaign however has never been said to be available on a limited time basis only.

    The US PSO website also has this news to post:

    "If you have recently (within the last week) sent a PSO character password email request, I apologize for not replying. They will all be processed tomorrow.
    Thanks for your patience."    "

    6 Comments

    EB Games Coupon to Show PSO Coming Out in April 

    by
    eRUPT
    Published on Mar 27, 2003 03:53 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    Anonymous writes, "The latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly featured a coupon for Phantasy Star Online and Xbox Live! The Coupon was for $10 off when you buy both. The thing is, the expiration date on the coupon is for APRIL 30TH, so PSO for Xbox has to come out before May."



    Folks, I guess this is another rumor? All I can say is no one knows when it will be coming out except Sega themselves.

    6 Comments

    EU PSO Xbox May 16th? 

    by
    eRUPT
    Published on Mar 27, 2003 02:09 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    According to computerandvideogames.com, Eu PSO Xbox is going to be released on May 16th. But as the sotry says and we quote:

    "We contacted Sega Europe for confirmation, but a spokesperson would only tell us: "This is a rumour and we don't comment on rumours." But sources are already insisting upon the verity of several of these titles."

    Ah well, we don't even have a confirmed release date for US Xbox PSO! Thanks to RedFox for the news submission.

    1 Comment

    2 New Quests Coming To PSO PC 

    by
    LollipopLolita
    Published on Mar 24, 2003 08:52 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    lollipoplolita writes, "Two new quests, "Today's Rate" and "The Retired Hunter" will be going up for PSO PC on Friday, March 28th.

    "Today's Rate" will be an online quest and is playable for up to 4 people. In this quest, you will be helping a research worker. You will travel through the Caves and Mines area to find a chip and destroy a computer. Take the chip to Dr. Montague on Pioneer 2. He will also be able to convert monster parts with %. You will also be able to "shrink" yourself in this quest and get a fresh view point of Ragol! There will be a pair of machines in the Caves are that will alter your size. Once small, you can then fit in gaps under barriers or between rocks. I'll have a guide up for it as soon as I can.

    "The Retired Hunter" is a downloadable quest that is playable for only one person. An old Hunter, Donop is about to die. Defeat 99 monsters with him to fufill his dreams. The guide from the quest can be found here.

    There will be a server maintenance on Friday March 28th from 2 - 3pm JP time. Please do not connect to the servers at this time, and end all games before the scheduled maintenance time. You can read the full news post here

    Please note that these are PSO PC quests. The Retired Hunter is already available on PSO GC as an offline quest.    "

    5 Comments

    Useful Programs In Downloads 

    by
    LollipopLolita
    Published on Mar 20, 2003 04:23 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    lollipoplolita writes, "You might have noticed that we put up 4 new useful tools/programs in our Download section. They are also featured under Useful Tools in our left navigation block. Just for your information, the programs are:

    MagTimer : A program to track when to feed your mag.
    MatTracker: A program to track the amount of materials your character has used.
    SecIDX: Section ID Calculator
    BeatX Mac & Windows: A program to convert time to beats.

    A big thanks goes to the authors of these programs.    "

    2 Comments

    JP Xbox Ship Names 

    by
    LollipopLolita
    Published on Mar 15, 2003 02:45 PM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    lollipoplolita writes, "This might come as old news to some of you but here are the current JP Xbox ship names:

    1:Aquamarine
    2:Beryl
    3:Crystal
    4evilline
    5:Emerald
    6:Flourite
    7:Garnet
    8:Hauyne
    9:Illite
    10:Jasper

    Interestingly, this time ST ditched using star names as ship names and went with names of gems or stones. The amount of users online for one day usually totals to around 1000 users on JP Xbox.

    This is a breakdown of the average number of users and teams per ship at a random time:

    Ship
    Users
    Teams
    01:Aquamarine
    415
    121
    02:Beryl
    57
    21
    03:Crystal
    47
    15
    04evilline
    34
    14
    05:Emerald
    40
    14
    06:Flourite
    42
    15
    07:Garnet
    99
    30
    08:Hauyne
    25
    15
    09:Illite
    25
    11
    10:Jasper
    33
    11


    For graphical comparison:
    Gamecube
    Xbox


    There are more Xbox screenshots in the Screenshots section for you to enjoy.    "

    19 Comments

    Gamecube Goes Online In Uk. No One Notices 

    by
    eRUPT
    Published on Mar 14, 2003 07:20 AM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    This funny article was featured on gamesradar just a few short days ago:

    "Despite, in theory, being a landmark moment in console gaming, the launch of Nintendo's modem and broadband adaptors was marked by a distinct lack of excitement.

    Anecdotal evidence from retail sources points to the lack of stock available - apparently due to games shops having had to pre-order the adaptors as long as six months ago - as being one factor in the launch being so low-key.

    Of course, things aren't really helped by there currently being only one online-compatible game available at present - Phantasy Star Online - and Nintendo's apparently blase attitude to developing first-party online games.

    Nintendo's take on the matter is that they're not, at present, launching an online service as such but are simply supporting a third-party release by facilitating the online play aspect of Phantasy Star."

    And yet another funny mention of PSO in article about Dixons dumping GC here:

    "Meanwhile, following the incredibly low-key launch of Gamecube's modem and broadband adaptors last Friday, GAME has confirmed that it will not be selling either item, apparently citing the instability of Sega's network for Phantasy Star Online (currently the only online Cube title) as the reason. "

    Oh boy, haven't we all shared our share of "the instability of Sega's network for Phantasy Star Online."

    8 Comments

    Official PSO Delayed Date by MS while EBGames Lists Date At March 15th. 

    by
    eRUPT
    Published on Mar 14, 2003 12:42 AM
    1. Categories:
    2. General

    MiNdPuZzLa writes, "EBGame's date for PSO XBOX has been changed again for the better. Now it's 4/15/03. Check the EBGames PSO page here."



    Shops seem to be moving the date up and down. But today on the official XBox PSO page, the street date now says April 2003 instead of March 2003. The publisher is still listed as Sega Corporation. Now we can at least know for certain that we would have to wait until April for the game.