PSU has received an official release date in Japan… February 16, 2006. I’ll be importing, naturally. It is available for PlayStation 2 and PC. Minimum requirements for the PC version is as follows:
Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or better CPU
256 MB RAM
64 MB VRAM video card or better
8 GB of hard drive space (!)
DVD-ROM drive (!)
Broadband connection (!)
Windows 2000/XP with DirectX 9.0c
8 GB of hard drive space is pretty crazy, to me. Final Fantasy XI, after two expansion packs, only manages a little over 6 GB. World of Warcraft is near 4 GB. This is pretty much their big budget title for this generation of games…
All of the official videos from Sonic Team can be downloaded here, since their website is rather uncooperative.
Pre-orders get a mini OST and an artbook. Those that order from Sega Direct get yet another extra bonus, though Sega Direct does not ship internationally, which stinks, since I’m more than happy to give them my greasy, capitalist gaijin currency. Those interested in playing online and importing must register at SegaLink. Firefox doesn’t seem cooperative, so I recommend using Internet Explorer since SegaLink utilizes ActiveX controls. When registering, you must input your name in katakana. Turning on Japanese input support in Windows XP is easy enough, through your regional settings. I input my name as “jason waruton” and it worked well enough.
Done! I guess I’ll be seeing you on there! As for the SegaDirect edition, I’ve been able to get many of them off play-asia - most recently for Sakura Taisen 3 and 5 Episode 0, but I know they’ve also sold the Shining Force NEO/Tears ones too. Maybe we’ll get lucky!
Have they said anything concerning the interconnectivity between PS2 and PC players?
I’m waiting for the reviews to see if this is worth getting.I haven’t played a japanese RPG in a long time and if this turns out to be good I migth get it.But I’m more interested in the offline part.
Same here. I am definitely more interested in the offline aspect. Hopefully some sites such as RPG Fan will have a review of the import version in Febuary which will give us a good sense of how it turned out.
Heh… I’ve been raving about this game at RPGFan for damn near two years. RPGFan’s import media on this game will be coming from yours truly…
Regarding interconnectivity, Sega has yet to officially make a statement about it, but to play Phantasy Star Universe, you are required to have a SegaLink account regardless of which version you buy (and you cannot sign up through PlayStation 2… the official website states such). Since they are using a universal login system much like the PlayOnline service Final Fantasy XI enjoys, and they’re releasing both versions at the same time, I think it’s safe to say that they’re meant to play together.
8GB?! Considering the low resolution of the textures (due to it being primarily a PS2 game) and other low-end specifications (evident by the low minimum requirements), this game must be packing quite a lot of content! I just hope all that space isn’t taken up by Final Fantasy style movies… I’m looking forward to this anyway, I didn’t much like PSO but it sounds like this will improve on every aspect needed to make it a truly great game… The strafing ability alone should make battles much more fluid and perhaps akin to the 3D Zelda games.
Now, what about the english version as I can’t (and don’t want to) really import games…
Considering I’m a Mac user and a GC owner I’m annoyed about it not coming for GC. I heard about it, then saw the videos and got excited, only to be crushed when I discovered it wasn’t coming for GC.
Bah. I’ll just have to survive on Twilight Princess while PSU slowly disappears from my mind.
The 1.5 GB discs are undoubtedly the reason why it’s not coming for GameCube. Lack of an established userbase in Japan is why it’s not coming for Xbox. PlayStation 2 and PC were easily the best choice, given what Sega was aiming to do with this game.
how low are the specs? I was hoping this would show itself on the Gamecube or even the Xbox. Im not a PS2 owner, the PC is my only chance of owning this alrhough my PC hasnt seen an upgrade for years (they would really have to be low spcs).
Edit: Also, it’s confirmed that PlayStation 2 and PC will play on the same servers. Now, we await news on whether regions will be linked as well. I assume this is a yes as well since guild cards list your region as shown in screenshots, but it’s always best to get the official word.
I also saw some footage of the offline mode. The game’s apparent lead villain (though probably not final villain since plot twists are a given for RPGs these days) is pretty badass. I don’t want to reveal anything since it’d spoil the story, but thankfully, he’s not “grrrrrrrr kill rrraaaaarrrr snarl” type material.
I’m interested in seeing how PSU’s story relates to the original series. Is Sega starting from scratch or will PSU pay homage to the older games somehow?
Nice concept art. It’s also really nice to see Sega not rushing a game out for a change.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I can pull myself away from WoW long enough to try PSU out.
Port it to the Gamecube. XD The loyal remaining PSO subscribers will be very grateful! And I quite like that with the Newmen Sonic Team has gone and made sci-fi-ish interpretations of traditional japanese & shinto clothing. Very very stylish.
I’m also loving the cut-in chat, which makes me think the game is double daring me to make a Gai-sensei inspired character. >.>;;
PSU is not touching the original series continuity, as Algo’s story is over and the original creators wanted to move away and start fresh. However, Sonic Team said that players of the old games will see a lot of familiar stuff.
The game will never see a GameCube release. With as much content as they’re packing into this game, it’d never work.
A port to 360 might happen in the future, but probably not until it’s had some time to sell on PS2 first.
So you’re saying that this might be the first Phantasy Star where you don’t fight Dark Force/Falz in one incarnation or the other at the end? That’d be the day. XD
Er… that’s already been done in the past. Phantasy Star Gaiden didn’t have Dark Force in it. Though consider Phantasy Star Online also did not take place in Algo, but it had Dark Force in it.
It’d be surprising if Phantasy Star Universe didn’t have Dark Force, considering the large amount of nostalgia-play that the developers are riding on… three planets, a magic-user named Lutz, a space pirate named Tyler piloting a ship called the Landeel, etc. etc.
