Phantasy Universe Update: Miyoshi Speaks

Sega's finest RPG series is stepping up to the next generation, as Phantasy Star Universe approaches Xbox 360 alongside the PS2 and PC versions. We caught up with Sega's Takao Miyoshi to see how things are progressing.

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Characters in the game can operate now two weapons and there's even a sweet little FPS style view for a few seconds before the shooting action commences. You'll be able to spend hours customizing characters online and searching for rare items, leveling up, and joining friends for new quests, while the addition of player-controlled vehicles offers another new twist to the Phantasy Star mix.

But that's not all: "We decided to include additional tasks for the player, so maybe you can call them side missions, and I think people will enjoy these." And not only will extra content and game updates will be forthcoming, but the team will be aiming to introduce new content simultaneously to the Japanese and western audiences, despite the full Japanese game launching ahead of the western editions, and regardless of the isolated online servers and lobbies which the different territories will need to tolerate.

While all versions will be playable in the game's fundamental online world, what will Xbox 360 owners benefit from in their version of the game? "The display looks very beautiful on Xbox 360," observes Miyoshi, "and in addition the 360 will be the only version with things such as voice chat. There is still no definitive answer, however, on the likelihood of Xbox 360 players being able to play cross-platform with users of the other versions - in any territory.

Of course it would be a nice bonus for users to be able to play PSU in this way, particularly after such a long wait. "We took a little time to test and countermeasure the network's stability, which has been one reason for the wait," explains Miyoshi. "The server has to be sustainable and we've spent a lot of time, trying our hardest to address this."

Miyoshi's team does seem to be taking the issue of online stability very seriously, particularly in light of the three versions that will co-exist - even f they won't necessarily interoperate. "Up to 13,000 users were playing before the beta closed," he reveals. "We need to continue analyzing the feedback from that and build. We are projecting 80,000 users on the final version and basing our testing on this."

Phantasy Star Online came in several installments, so can fans expect a similar slew of sequels and updates for Universe? The evidence is bright. "We have not finalized any plans for this yet but I think we will entirely be bringing something more after the release of PSU. I see PSU as a massive project so we will look to into developing it with follow-ups in the future but I can't be more specific about the plans yet."

Phantasy Star Universe is scheduled to release at the end of August in Japan for PC and PlayStation 2, with North American and European releases expected in October and November respectively. The Xbox 360 version, meanwhile, is a little more on the TBC side, with fourth quarter being the best estimate anyone seems to have for all territories right now.

Thanks to Miyoshi-san for his time - and stay tuned for further updates at Kikizo. If you missed our detailed interview with Takao Miyoshi from last year, check that out here.

Kikizo Staff

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