Phantasy Star Universe hits Xbox 360 in '06

score for MS. This is good news for the 360. Even if it is available on PS2 and PC. This would be like if the XBOX got FFXI when it first released on PC and PS2.

will this be pay to play or free with xbox live subscription?

I think its like a MMO so pay to play but you dont have to be a gold xbox live member

Um, I'm sure they sent out a nice press release and everything, but isn't this old news? I'm pretty sure they talked about this in EGM like two months ago. They even talked about how all the accounts would be stored server side, so that someone could buy the PS2 version and then transfer their character over to the 360 version when it came out.

That was FF11

When asked about other systems, Yuji Naka said that they were considering 360. That might be what you heard a few months ago.

I'm am incredibly excited by this announcement. I can't wait to play this game. Phantasy Star Online is one of my favorite games of all time. I hate how involved some MMORPG games get. I don't want to schedule my life around a game. I like my MMO games to be more like Diablo, where you can play for an hour or two if you have time, and you won't miss out on anything.

This game can come out fast enough.

Cant wait. I loved the Dreamcast and xbox remake version. The only drawback was the glitching and hacked weapons. Server side saves should eliminate alot of that.

er...*can't* come out fast enough

yet another port and not next gen developed and designed for

"The only drawback was the glitching and hacked weapons."

Word on that. I quit the DC version before 2.0 and before the hacking became too widespread. The Xbox version seemed fine for a bit, but once I got up to the Very Hard levels, daaaamn.

I totally don't get the point, either. With ridiculously high stats and damage, the challenge disappears. Essentially, that means you are content in running through the same six levels that contain the same 20-something enemies over and over again with no benefit.

Blaaaah.

As with all previous Phantasy Star Online games, there will be a $5/mo "Hunter's License" fee that you will have to pay in order to play online. This is seperate from the Xbox Live fee and I doubt that the XBL gold would include this.

I'd assume this gives you full access to Phantasy Star Online Episode 1, 2, and 3 as well as Phantasy Star Universe.

Phantasy Star Online for the Xbox was a horrible experience due to the hackers that flooded the market with money and rare items. Luckly the Gamecube version was on a seperate network, so it did not affect everybody.

I'm hoping that the xbox, PC, and PS2 versions are kept seperate in regards to online play. I'm also hoping that they have good anti-hacking measures in place to prevent the online game from becoming an absolute disaster.

I'll pick up the PC version, definately! I put in over 100 hours on the Gamecube version in offline mode.

Can Sega please make Nights into Dreams 2?

I am completely unwilling to pay another fee on top of Xbox Live.

"I am completely unwilling to pay another fee on top of Xbox Live."

It must suck being broke...$5? Damn..I should take a second morgtage out on the house...

"I am completely unwilling to pay another fee on top of Xbox Live."

These games are geared with XBL Silver accounts in mind since they use their own servers for almost everything. That way you are only paying for the game's fees.

I'll admit though, that I don't think paying monthly for ANY MMORPG is worth it. Thankfully, PSO also has a single player mode.

I don't know why they bother with the PS2. It's a horrible console for games like this (the GC doesn't work either). FFXI was a good example (that you can't even play on a slim PS2 without some serious unofficial modification). I bought PSO for the GC and played it for a while. The $50 broadband adapter kept me away (because I always already burned by the $30 Sony one). They should just save it for the 360 and the PS3.

# 12, he's not saying he doesn't have the money, he's saying he's unwilling to pay. And unless there are major changes to PSU over previous version of PSO I don't see how they can still justify that cost seperate from Live, due to the fact most 360 games interface w/ Live in similiar respects w/o incurring a $5 a month premium fee. I mean why are we paying for Live? I already get my internet connection through an ISP, get messaging services through google. What does Live bring to the pot? Get it?

It was, and still is $8 a month for PSO EP 1, 2, and 3. Where did the $5 come from?

To play the XBox version of EP 1 & 2 offline you still needed XBox Live, or a friend's Live save thingy on your system. Also, the XBox version is rarely updated, aren't they still stuck with the Christmas lobby? And you can't blame Sega for it, the people in charge of updating the XBox version are the ones who maintain the Live servers.

Unless PSU is comming out on the Rev, I'll be getting the PC version. There is really no reason for it not to be on the Revolution, PSO should still work online with it too.

Hey, her ears are longer than her skirt. Where is the feminist police?

This makes me so excited. I love PSO for Xbox, and have recently started playing PSO: Blue Burst for PC. I havent decided what version I am getting yet though. Its between 360 and PS2.

yay! I had always preferred Phantasy star to the other big j-rpg. I havent played a real phantasy star since the genesis. hooray for SEGA!

I LOVE PSO!

I'm an older school PSO fan. The Dreamcast was my version. I played it to death online. Proper loved it!! Playing online with PSO on my Dreamcast was free. So after I buy Gold Membership for Xbox Live why should I have to pay anymore? I understand they have to pay for servers (which SEGA provided for free) so if they asked for a one off online server fee to play PSO for 5 years then I wouldn't mind that as much. But constantly paying for access every month is just something no body wants to be doing. Actually people on PC's do it all the time. But console people are a different breed. They just won't like paying every month for playing a game that they have already shelled out a stack of cash on.
And further more who runs Xbox live? Microsoft... Who just happens to be the biggest company under the banner "Computers". So why can't Microsoft offer to provide the servers and SEGA run them? It would be a huge puller for Microsoft if the 360 PSO version would be was playable online for just the one off Xbox Gold Membership fee. It would also no doubt inject a large dose of brand loyalty into the Xbox 360 and the big M.

I can't wait for PSO360!!!!!