We always hate having to report this kind of news, but it must be done. Less than four hours before maintenance begins, SonicTeam have reported that tonight's originally scheduled update for the PC/PS2 servers has been delayed due to a critical bug arising which cannot be fixed in time. On the bright side, the content announced for the Xbox 360 servers will still be delivered.

No word yet on when to expect this update, but we'll keep you posted as any information becomes available. Special thanks to Obsidian_Knight for bringing this to our attention.

Update! It seems that part of the update went through, anyway. According to the official site, the Valentine's lobby was released for all servers and the two new S2 missions were added to the PC/PS2 servers. On a side note, multiple reports have come in revealing that the rare free mission "Forest of Illusion" has been released on the PC/PS2 servers. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have made it to the 360 just yet.

SonicTeam have resubmitted their title update for the Xbox 360 servers and are awaiting certification. However, it will not make it in time for this Friday's update, but it may be ready for the following maintenance period on February 15th. In the meantime, the 360 servers will receive part of last week's originally scheduled update along with the Valentine's lobby scheduled for this week. SonicTeam deeply apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to have everything sorted out soon.

PC/PS2 players can expect the following content this Friday:

Seasonal lobby
Love is in the air as cities across Gurhal will be celebrating Valentine's Day. Check out the decorations and be on the lookout for the rare Rappy Amure!

GUARDIANS Boost Road
GBR kicks off on Moatoob! Run through the five assigned missions to earn points toward a ranking which will increase drop rates in these particular missions. This applies to System Defense, Desert Terror, Tunnel Recapture, Caves of Ice and Awoken Serpent.

New S2 missions
Two missions will be receiving the S2 difficulty level: Caves of Ice and Awoken Serpent.

New items, clothes
Tons of new items are being added such as the Casino Voloyal costume for all women and a plethora of new PM evolution devices including two which can transform your partner machine into completely new forms!

Please note that the rare free mission Forest of Illusion was planned to be released this week, however it has been rescheduled for the February 22nd update which should introduce even more new missions. We'll keep you updated as information surfaces.

Maintenance on the English PC/PS2 servers is complete, however the update for the Xbox 360 servers has been delayed due to an unforeseen issue with the scheduled title update. SEGA will announce a new date for the content delivery as soon as possible. In the meantime, here is a rundown of what new content to expect.

New story mission
"Restorations," the second chapter of Episode 3 has been released. Take a trip to Moatoob with Laia as you try to assist the Trade Union in their recovery following the SEED attack.

Item exchange mission
"The Collector" is now available at Melton's Shop in Holtes City. This mission lets you trade various items to Yokus Melton for new room decorations and more. Ms. Melton will also share with you any information she has on where certain items drop across Gurhal.

New items
Five new color combinations have been added to the Waiwad and Hanaura sets of clothing while the Musagante and Valatines parts sets have both received their CV versions. Also check out the offertory box at Shitenkaku, as new items have been added to the lineup of possible gifts for your donations.

System updates
Meseta drop rules have been adjusted making it where party members must be in the mission field to receive Meseta that is picked up mid-mission. Anyone in a lobby will not receive Meseta during that time. Furthermore, numerous adjustments have been made to item drops across the board. All original PSU missions have received adjustments to increase their drop rates to those of the AotI missions. Also, the drop rate for rare materials from containers has been increased in missions with enemies over LV125.

Please stay tuned for further information on the Xbox 360 update.

This Friday, we'll be treated to a large update which will start off a new event, increase the level cap and more! Here's what to expect following our weekly maintenance.

Winter Event begins

• An all-new event begins by introducing a new mission: The Protectors α. This mission will be available for the first week of the Winter Event, but will be replaced by The Protectors ß for the second week. The third and final week will feature both missions. Remember that these event missions will have numerous bonuses attached to them such as increased drop rates, up to 350% more EXP payout and more. (These bonuses apply to The Protectors missions only. They will have no effect on normal missions.)

Super holy light bonus

• In light of December 15's server rollback, all races will be given three weeks of super holy light!

Seasonal lobby

• The winter lobby will begin with this udpate, decorating Clyez and Holtes Cities with snowmen and ice-covered trees.

Level cap raised

• The level cap will be raised to 120!

New clothing, parts and decorations

• The Wai Wadd, Hanaura, Musagante and Valatines sets of clothes and parts will be released.
• Some new room decorations will be added to the Variety Shop.
• Some older prizes will be rotated out of Casino Voloyal's current prize counter selection to be replaced with newer items.

Miscellaneous updates

• Tunnel Recapture will have some adjustments made to it.
• Another universe select cube will be added to Casino Voloyal.
• Shop counters will now have a vision phone access point added to them.

Special thanks to FireFox276 for pointing out this information at the official English site. Thanks also to Yusaku_Kudou for giving us a sneak peak at what was to come by posting information from the Japanese Xbox360 site. Please feel free to discuss this update at the forum.

Prelude to Destruction, the final chapter of SonicTeam's moving comic, Shadow of the Arkguard, has just been released. Don't miss the exciting conclusion!

The official Japanese Xbox 360 site has been updated with a preview of what to expect in this Friday's maintenance of the US PC/PS2 and Xbox 360 servers.

• Seasonal lobbies: Though it won't begin with this update, the New Year's lobby will become active in Clyez and Ohtoku Cities starting January 01, 2008. It will run until January 11.
• New field: AMF Central Command will be added.
• New mission: With the new field, a new mission, Electronic Brain, will be added. Guardians will go up against Motherbrain, the AMF's main computer which has gone out of control. This mission is accessed from the AMF Central Command lobby which follows the mission Military Subway.
• New photon arts: Many new skills be added to the Skill License mission available at the Dagora City GUARDIANS Branch. A few of these include Vivi Danga and Ikk Hikk.
• New items: Numerous new weapons, line shields, units and more will be added. Also look for new room decorations at Clyez City's Variety Shop.
• Casino Voloyal prize counter update: Many new decorations and music discs will be added to the exchange counter at Casino Voloyal.

There is also an unconfirmed report that the Photon Gacha will have its description updated, making it safe to use again. Special thanks goes to beatrixkiddo for the tip. Feel free to discuss this update in the forums!

Update! Information on this update has been posted at the official English site.

During last night's update, a debug mission was inadvertently released on to the live servers. This debug mission allowed users to fight dozens of rare enemies. Sega is responding to the problem by taking all regional PC/PS2 and XBox 360 servers offline. An attempt will be made to remove all of the items that were acquired by players from the mission. If this is not feasible, a rollback will be enacted.

Update:
Both the XBox 360 and PC/Playstation 2 servers are now back online. All player data has been rolled back to the point before last night's maintenance.

Courtesy of the Japanese Xbox 360 website, we have a sneak peek at what we'll be seeing on the English PSU servers at the end of this week.

Seasonal lobbies

• Christmas lobbies will open in Clyez, Holtes and Dagora Cities. Remember to be on the lookout for the rare Rappy Noel while on missions!

New field

• Habirao F.D will open on Neudaiz.

New missions

• Hill of Spores will have Guardians running through the Habriao Forbidden District, an area of Neudaiz that had to be closed off to the rest of the public due to the high concentrations of photons in the air.
• Dancing Birds will introduce a few new subspecies of Rappy, brought forth by a mix between SEED influence and the high photon levels of Habirao. Take down the leader Rappy Gugg!

New field lobby

• Habirao F.D: Old Village will open on Neudaiz.

New items

• The new missions will introduce numerous new weapons and other items.
• New clothing and parts color variations will be released.
• Shitenkaku's offertory box will be updated.
• Many new room goods will be added to the Variety Shop.
• Casino Voloyal's prize counter will receive an update to rotate in some new items, including decorations and music discs.

System update

• TECHNIC casting times will be adjusted. Some low level TECHNICs will cast slightly slower while higher level versions will cast a little faster.
• The Ra-series of TECHNICs (at LV31+) will be able to hit up to four targets instead of only three.
• Rods will receive an adjustment which will make TECHNICs 20% more powerful when used in conjunction with the weapon type.

Feel free to join in our discussion of this update at the forum!

Update! The official English website has been updated, revealing even more information on Friday's upgrade including confirmation of the extension of the Platinum Cup rewards for all servers, not just Xbox 360. Check it out!

SonicTeam unveiled their new site for the upcoming Japanese PC/PS2 event Maximum Attack G earlier today!

Here's a brief synopsis of how the event will play out.

• The event is set to begin mid-December.
• The PSO fields will be released.
• Certain lead PSO characters such as Ash, Rupika and Jean Carlo Montague will make appearances, and even join you in battle.
• The event missions will feature enemies with low HP, 250% EXP payout and a 250% increase to their chance of dropping a rare item.
• Earn points by killing enemies to go toward the total server-wide point tally which will uncover event prizes. 100,000,000 is the mentioned goal, but the prizes don't stop there!
• Collect "Weapons Badges" to use as currency in a special trading mission where you can receive PSO weapons and other prizes such as SEGA merchandise.
• Even more special items will be given out to high-ranking individuals at the close of the event. (A leader board will be kept to track individual top scores.)
• The first mission for this event will take place in a VR simulation of PSO's caves.

Stay tuned, as we'll have more information on this event as it arises. Also, feel free to join in the discussion of Max Attack G over at the forums.