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Sega Nerds

Phantasy Star Portable’s box art revealed

by Chris on May 10th, 2008

While it still doesn’t have a Western release date (and it probably never will) Phantasy Star Portable has finally found its box art.

Oh, don’t remember what Phantasy Star Portable is? Well, it’s the new Phantasy Star Universe-based PSP title that has absolutely no online play. The only way to team up with your friends is through local multiplayer, which cuts the likelihood of having actually having fun close to zero.

However, this title could still be a success in Japan - Lord knows they’ve been receptive to a lot stranger things in the past. But like I hinted before, don’t get your hopes up on PSP making its way to North America or Europe - it ain’t happening.

[Thanks for the forum post Shadiwulf!/Via PSPHyper]

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Angelo
May 10, 2008 at 5:39 am

One, it’s Phantasy Star Universe based. And two, ad hoc play or system link or any of those “have friends nearby” can still be fun!

Heck, splitscreen on Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II was fun. (Not to mention, with ad hoc/split screen, you can actually funnel it into an Internet connection using various means…)

The game itself is pretty much following on the coattails of the likes of Monster Hunter Portable–which, if I’m not mistaken, is the best selling game on the platform (maybe ousted by Crisis Core, I don’t know), so…

I can see something like this being picked up by a third-party like Agetec or Atlus if Sega themselves doesn’t pick it up.
Chris
May 10, 2008 at 6:09 am

There’s a big difference between what makes a game successful in Japan and in America and Europe.

Everyone knows the Phantasy Star Online/Universe games aren’t strong single player games, and having to try to get three or four of your friends together to play the game isn’t something that will happen on a large scale.

That may not be the case in Japan, but it’s no secret, Americans and Europeans prefer their games to support online play.

Really, there’s no reason why this game couldn’t be online enabled. Sega could have cut out the lobbies, which is really the only part that makes PSO/PSU an MMO.
James
May 10, 2008 at 7:26 am

I enjoyed the PSU single player. I’d buy this and play ad-hoc, and I know two friends who would as well.
Angelo
May 11, 2008 at 12:53 am

Chris: You’d be surprised by the seemingly disproportionate number of people I’ve run into (not just on the Internet, but actually face-to-face) who’ve only played Phantasy Star Online in offline splitscreen.

I found it utterly perplexing at first, but, after some thought, I chalked that up to the general lack of any significant online support on the GameCube by Nintendo.

Anyway, admittedly the market in the west is much smaller for something like this, but I believe it’s still large enough for some release of some sort, even low-key.
STORM!
May 11, 2008 at 6:31 am

I like this cover.

Very nice art!! And the characters are on the left side and the enemy on the right. I can’t explain why, but I don’t like to play some games that the characters are on the right side of the screen… lol…

T+