3 August 2012 | |
Pherephassa
I must apologize to anyone who likes to read these, life seems to be conspiring to prevent me from writing on Fridays. I thought it’d be the easiest day to write, but no! Anything than can possibly go wrong – goes wrong on Fridays. Isn’t that supposed to be limited to Friday the 13th? but I’m here today with a ton of news and information for anyone who missed the week’s happenings.
It’s been a decently busy week here at LoreHound, preparations for Gamescon have begun. So there will be videos to watch in a few weeks, once iTZKooPA has gone and returned, and everything is compiled for viewing. I’m excited, I wish I could go, too! Grab some swag, chat with devs, pop advil like candy to combat the noise … actually the gel coated variety does taste like candy. I used to go to 3 or 4 a year when I lived in NYC, but haven’t since I moved to an area that is dead on the convention front. I just love conventions! Failing being able to go myself, I love watching the interviews. We’ve got some goodies this week, giveaways, rumors, launch date confirmations and the new date for Planetside 2‘s beta. And don’t forget The Secret World is open for anyone to play this weekend! Drop on in and give it a whirl!
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13 July 2012 | |
Pherephassa
It’s been a busy week! The Secret World continues to keep me entertained, as can no doubt be seen in all the blurbs I put up about it. Next week I’ll be putting up the second and final section of my review, as well as starting a weekly TSW-related article. I’ve flopped around on it so much, but I think I’ve finally decided what I’ll be focusing on! Huzzah! So stay tuned for that, if you like reading what I have to say or The Secret World. Or both. I’m good if you like both of these things. I may even do two, if there’s enough interest.
This week brought more SMITE divine lore, tons of interesting things for The Secret World, musings on stocks and CEOs, as well as a contest, a giveaway, and some interesting opinions! Click the button below to check it all out!
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2 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
It’s not everyday that a game is launched on a Wednesday, but that’s exactly what Sega plans to do with Phantasy Star Online 2. Odd tidbit, that’ll make the sci-fi hack-n-slash MMORPG the first MMOG to share its birthday with Amer’ca. The currently running and final beta test will end tomorrow, July 3 at 11:00 AM to make way for the final build to launch on July 4 at 2:00 PM.
The beta-to-launch swap isn’t the only activity on July 3. Starting at 3:00 PM, players will be able to begin purchasing items from the cash shop using the free-to-play game’s in-game currency, Arcs Cash. Sega will be launching a boxed edition in September that will include the installer, download codes for five original weapons and a “Mag Evolution Device.”
Tooting its own horn, Sega wrapped the announcements by disclosing that PSO2 crossed half a million registered players on June 21 and maxed out at 80,000 simultaneous connections. According to Sega, that makes PSO2 the largest beta test in Japanese history.
Sadly, an international release was not discussed for any of the four platforms – PC, iOS, Android and PSVita.
Catch the all-new trailer celebrating the announcement and shots of the package after the break. Continue Reading
19 June 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Sega decided to give LoreHound a taste of its own medicine in the most recent beta test for Phantasy Star Online 2. The latest round focuses on story elements in the sci-fi hack-n-slash MMORPG, allowing players to rub shoulders with the main NPCs of the first four chapters.
Our Japanese remains rusty, so information on the newly unveiled story elements is…elusive. That being said, expect an update to this post once a credible translation is located.
In other, likely more exciting, news Sega recently announced that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be heading to its open beta phase June 21. That’s just a few days away. To guarantee an invite players are required to sign up on the Japanese PSO2 page. This can be quite difficult, but one of our readers dug up a guide that’s still relevant. If you’re starving for a scifi MMOG like this gamer, then be sure to sign up and I’ll see you this weekend.
Hit the jump for access to the latest batch of screenshots from the latest closed beta session.
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13 June 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Phantasy Star Online 2 beta was back in action recently, this time taking players to snowy environments of the planet Naberius with beasts to match. The latest screenshots dumps showcases the icy environments, beasts of legend and designer creation, group dynamics and combat, the standard UI, chat, targeting and tech.
Be sure to hit the jump for our full selection of must see screens from the latest beta.
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5 June 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Phantasy Star Online 2 has been under beta testing and while normally LoreHound is all over such activities, the game remains locked in Japanese. Being an avid player of the original title, I’ve been keeping as close an eye on the details as possible. During my Internet sleuthing, I came across a collection of screenshots from the most recent beta session.
Hit the jump below for a smorgasbord of environments, monsters, battles and, of course, customized characters.
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25 April 2011 | |
iTZKooPA
Sega is largely attributed with tethering consoles to the Internet way, way back in 2000. The company’s final hardware platform, Dreamcast, came with a built in modem, the first to do so, allowing companies to put titles online. Sega spun-off its turn-based dungeon crawling series, Phantasy Star, in to an MMORPG known as Phantasy Star Online. The spin-off traded the slow turn-based battle mechanics for real-time hack-and-slash mayhem. The science fiction setting, loot collecting and dungeon crawling all remained integrated with a strong focal point on exploration (for more loot!).
I forgot to mention it in my “Know Thy Blogger (updated)” post, but the seminal console MMOG hooked me. I didn’t just play the two Dreamcast versions (it was how the harddrive-less console MMOG did a content patch). Nope, that wasn’t enough. I had to re-play the game when it was relaunched on the GameCube in 2002. I went to such lengths as to find not one, but two of the fabled and ultra rare GameCube broadband adapters (what if it broke?!). By the time the final content patch came out as a PC digital exclusive, Blue Burst, I had had my fill of the sci-fi Diablo. Even if I didn’t, I can still play my online character in Offline Mode (which lead to all sorts of hacks and cheats, ultimately ruining the game for many).
And now Sega, without much competition in the sci-fi MMOG section, is attempting to drag me back in. Full details and media after the jump. Continue Reading
15 September 2010 | |
Amatera
Capture courtesy of Sega Bits.
Sorry for the late-night update, but this is a bit of breaking news. As you may or may not know, the Tokyo Game Show is taking place this week in Japan, but since the country doesn’t produce a whole lot of MMOs (or, really, online RPGs in general), it wasn’t something we were planning to report on here at Lore Hound.
But that has quickly changed, after Sharky over at Sega Bits caught a familiar tune playing over the company’s live convention feed: the main theme for Phantasy Star Online. According to the blog, the teaser went on to highlight every other iteration of the series — including Universe and the portable versions — ending with the suprising (if muted) reveal of Phantasy Star Online 2.
If you’re unfamiliar, the Dreamcast-borne series took the action-oriented, loot-grabbing formula of Diablo, plopped it in the middle of a sci-fi narrative inspired by one of Sega’s classic franchises, and gave it a distinctive, console-minded twist. It was one of the best ways to spend time with three of your best online buddies in the year 2000.
No game in the series has ever quite captured the magic of the original (in fact Universe was mostly rejected by fans), which is why the implication that this next release is a direct sequel to the first inspires a bit of confidence and a lot more hope. But we’ve all seen what happens when Sega tries to continually reinvent a familiar franchise…
According to the feed, Phantasy Star Online 2 is slated for a 2011 release on the PC only. As of this writing, those are about the only details we have to you. The teaser has been the only hint so far, and though it shows no actual in-game footage, we imagine that we’ll hear more about it out of TGS over the next couple of days.
