The same old Episodes I & II that we've seen on SEGA Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox, and even Windows before now. Well guess what, they've upgraded the graphics system, AGAIN!

With the ever growing PC specs, it makes the PC the superior gaming machine, able to support more pixels, at a higher rate, to make for better graphics! But beware, because of course, with the improvement of graphics, comes an improvement in PC specs from you aswell... otherwise you're not gonna be able to play it i'm afraid. Be sure to check our specs guide below.

Shortcut Mania

Up until now, you've only been able to add upto 6 shortcuts in the battle/adventure modes. Now however, you'll be able to add upto 14 shortcuts, as with the PC version, you can assign an item, or spell to your numbers keypad. Now you've no worries about fannying around with menu after menu while an evil rappy wrestles you down to the ground!

Partner Up!

Most likely the biggest new feature in PSO: BB is the team feature which allows you to join groups of people and fight on your and their behalf to bring your team to the top of the leaderboard and really show everyone else who's simply the best!

The Team System simply gets arranged by a 'Master' who sets up the team. A Team can be setup by anyone who feels the need to at the information counter (The counters at the middle of all the lobbies). From there you can invite other people to join your group and either become a 'Leader' or a common member, like a hierarchical system. The master is the man, who can control everything that goes on in that group, be it promoting members to leaders (Or demoting vice-versa!), buy special items on behalf of the group (Using the new points system), etc. while Leaders watch over members, and also have the ability to accept others into the team. All members activities affect their overall ranking!

Events are constantly organised by Sonic Team nowadays, so there's always something for a team to take part in. A Ranking table is organised each month, and will be displayed on the official PSO: Blue Burst website. Points will then be donated to each team depending on how far they ranked!

For more information about the Team System, including a run-down of ALL the features, including Team Flag, Master Controls, and the Points system, see this Ragol.co.uk Article.

New Quests!

The game will also feature brand new quests, never before seen on Episodes I & II or Versions 1 & 2. Quests will be taking place on both Episodes, aswell as new ones added with other new Episodes!

Quests will however be added over time, in traditional Sonic Team fashion. Server renewals happen regularly, which will add to the amount of new activities on the game. To be first with all the server maintenance notices, and see when new quests and other features are being added to the game, be sure to keep checking us here on Ragol.co.uk!

Server Saving

Phantasy Star Online is an Online ONLY game. There is no offline mode, for the main reason that all game saves are made on Sonic Teams servers. Why have they done this?

1. Saving all character and game information means Sonic Team can detect the use of any hacks or cheats on saves, and take action there and then on the save file by erasing all unlegitimate data, or by banning the users account, making the game pratically free of cheats!
2. The Character Information can be accessed from ANY PC in the world with Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst installed on it.
3. Corruptions and 'Double Saves' encountered on previous versions of Episodes I & II will not be present, and any disturbances made will not affect your characters or items, as it will revert to the last time your game was saved.

GM Lobbies

No, this isnt what you hear about in supermarkets concerning GM Foods, this is in fact, a good GM! The In-Game Moderators will be hired by Sonic Team to roam lobbies and games to oversee the actions of all participants.

What they can do is either be on the lookout for any malicious behaviour in the game (Although they cannot actually ban anyones account should they detect it), answer any questions from puzzled members roaming the lobbies, or hold special one of a kind events on lobbies for members! 

Expanding the PSO Universe

Blue Burst is a new PC outing for the series which also allows the use of Expansion Packs to be installed within the main game. This will mean the Phantasy Star Online series can be added to with the use of these packs, by adding on either new quests, features, items, weapons, characters, or adventures, without resulting in you having to start the game from scratch, as you'll be able to combine it with your original game saves.

The most recent Expansion Pack - Episode IV (Coming Soon to EU/US) can be bought into and installed alongside Blue Burst to allow users too continue their characters adventure in the Phantasy Star Online series by playing in an all new 3rd PC Episode. Episode IV contains new weapons, items, quests, challenge mode, etc etc (As i've basically already said). For more information, you'll definately want to check out this Ragol.co.uk Article which details everything you'll be able to play through in the near future! 

I WANNA PLAY - ME PLAY NOW!

Hold on cowboy, before you get all excited, you'll have to make sure your PC is compatible with Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst. Check your specifications with the American & English European version here:

	Minimum Requirement	Recommended Requirements
Operating System	Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP	Windows XP
CPU	Pentium III - 700MHz	Pentium 4 - 1.4GHz
Memory	128Mb RAM	256Mb RAM
Graphics	3D Graphics Board - Min. 32Mb VRAM NVIDIA GeForce 3/ATI Radeon 8500	3D Graphics Board - 64Mb VRAM See Supported Graphics Cards Below
Sound	DirectSound Compatible Sound Card	DirectSound Compatible Sound Card
Direct X	Direct X 9.0b	Direct X 9.0b
Internet Connection	256Kbps	256Kbps

Supported Graphics Cards:

• NVIDIA GeForce 3
• NVIDIA GeForce 3Ti200
• NVIDIA GeForce3Ti500
• NVIDIA GeForce4Ti4200
• NVIDIA FX 5200
• NVIDIA FX 5600
• NVIDIA FX 5900
• ATI RADEON 8500
• ATI RADEON 8500LE
• ATI RADEON 9600PRO
• ATI RADEON 9800PRO

What else do i need to know?

<<<IMPORTANT INFORMATION>>>

This next part to the Hunters Gazette may guide you in the right direction should you have any problems in the near future trying to play the game aswell. 

Important Information

1. Firstly, the BETA test starts on May 10th 2005.
2. The BETA test will continue until June 9th 2005, where it is expected that the game will see its official full release about a week or two after (Late June).
3. The game will only be available to those who meet the specifications noted above. Also the game is only available in the English language from the American official website. This download is available to anyone in the world, mainly those who are interested in playing in America & Europe as guided from SEGA of Europe and SEGA of America, however, being in the english language, players from other continents will also be able to get in on the BETA action, for example, Austrailia. The game is not region encoded (Being a PC game), so as long as your PC meets the requirements, you'll be able to enjoy at least the BETA test. SEGA of Europe have not mentioned the further release of a European version of the game available in other languages such as French, German, Italian, and Spanish, as the existing EU PAL versions of Episodes I & II are available in.
4. The BETA test will be free to play, and will include almost all features of the full version of the game. There will not be level or time limits implemented onto the game.
5. To play, you will need at least a connection of 256Kb/s. There is also no offline mode to the game. This is mandatory because of the games server-side saving features, aswell as the fact its only initially available through download from official SEGA servers.
6. SEGA of America have not announced how big the English Blue Burst BETA game will be, although bare in mind the Japanese BETA test file was 386MB.
7. Once you have downloaded the game, you will be prompted to register for a Game ID, Profile, and Password. Make sure you register with a valid E-Mail address, as you'll need to verify this after registration to activate your account, most likely by either clicking a link from a validation E-Mail, or by entering a password included in the verification E-Mail. It is therefore recommended you use an ISP E-Mail address instead of a Hotmail or Yahoo! E-Mail address incase it encounters any sending problems.
8. If you are playing the game through a Router or Firewall, you may not be able to access your account and logon successfully when signing into your Blue Burst account. This is what the BETA test is for, although if it doesnt work, and you're in dire need of a PSO: Blue Burst fix, make sure you have another method of connection (I.e. Direct Connection or Firewall disabling abilities).
9. If you are playing the game on a Laptop instead of a PC, it is highly noted that you should especially meet the 'Recommended Specifications' instead of the 'Minimum Specifications' of the game as noted above.
10. You will not be able to play alongside people playing other Windows versions, or SEGA Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, or Xbox players of Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II (Versions 1 & 2) because of the server-side saving feature.

How to be a part of it!

To take part and become a Blue Burst BETA tester, simply travel to the official Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst website or SEGA of Europe/SEGA of America website, and find their download pages. If you cant find them, don't worry yourself, i'm sure we'll provide more then enough of them on the day!

The game will most likely be available on the official SEGA of Europe and SEGA of America websites, aswell as several other websites in partnership with SEGA holding the game for download, as no doubt the queues will be building up on May 10th and beyond, causing some heavy server traffic and looooong download times. All the websites the game will be available from are to be announced, and you can be sure to find them on either the official PSO: BB websites, or on Ragol.co.uk again!

You simply, sign-up, and download! Once you've downloaded, you install, and then you login (Most likely after a PC reset), and play! 

Teams you say? How about a Ragol.co.uk one?

What a great question! Sure we'll start a team.

If you'd like to be a part of the Ragol.co.uk Blue Burst Team, then you'll have to get an invite! If you'd like an invite, simply post your character details in our Forums after you've successfully installed Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst and tested it yourself.

The exact Ragol.co.uk Forum Thread will be available from the Tuesday (May 10th) that the BETA test starts from Ragol.co.uk (Watch out for a news post), and from there on, you can be a working part of Ragol, without any of the hard work (And work hard is what we do!). Before committing yourself beforehand though, please remember you can only be a member of ONE team throughout Blue Bursts lifespan. Once you have joined one team, you cannot join another until you have been withdrawn from the original team. Just a quick note there incase you're maybe playing as part of a clan or something!

Conclusions

All in all, this Hunters Gazette was just an preparation kinda thing, to get you in the modd for Blue Bursts final BETA release this Tuesday on the 10th of May, yes thats the 10th May, next Tuesday (10th), in May... But i'm sure you all, beings the PSO go'ers you all are, already knew this, and are making yourselves comfortable next
to your PC as you await the release (10th May), maybe by setting up a mini fridge under your desk, with one of those microwaves thingymabobs, wow, then you'd never have to move... as long as you're also sitting near to a window i guess!

Anyways, we hope you are now prepared, because once we start, we wont be stopped! Ragol.co.uk... Away!

Got something to say?

If you'd like to comment on this editions main article, then do it in our forums, in this particular Ragol.co.uk Forum Thread!

Share your point of view with the world! Do you agree, dont you agree, DO post on our forums!

eBay Beat Tracker

In this new Feature, we've sent our very own Chao down to eBay Track all the latest beats just for you! Here's what Phantasy Star Online merchandise you could be bidding into over on eBay around about now! Its the wierd and wonderful world of eBay!

• eBay.co.uk
  • EDGE Magazine, Issue 92: PSO Edition - 29p
  • PSO with Sonic Adv. 2 Demo (SEGA Dreamcast) - £8.99
  • Episodes I & II & Broadband Adapter (Nintendo Gamecube) - £25
• eBay.com
  • Episodes I & II Anime CD - $5
  • Episode III Prima Strategy Guide - $7
  • HUmar Statue Figure (1/8) - $147.95
  • 64Mb (1018 Block) PC USB Memory Card/Link Cable (Nintendo Gamecube) - $44.95

Some neato items there, so if you're interested - click on the item! All prices were correct as of 5th May 2005 (Evening GMT)

Chao, for now!

On This Day...

• Episode II Tunes to enjoy with NiGHTs in Episode III! (2004)
• EGM Magazine goes global, in the EGM Episode III Quest! Save the Journalists! (2004)
• English Minhiro Opens (2003)
• 2 Japanese Ships to go??? (2003)
• Episode II, Challenge Stage 3 for Xbox (2004)
• Gallon Fans and Holiday Hunters recieve the ideal Dreamcast Quests (2002)
• Sonic Team gets tough - Illegitimate users to be instantly BANNED (2002)
• All new Quests for Dreamy SEGA Dreamcasters! (2001)

Links

• Ragol.co.uk
• Ragol.co.uk Forums
• SEGA of Europe Help on Blue Burst
• PSO: Blue Burst Rules & Regulations of Online Play
• Ragol.co.uk Article: Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst - All the BETA!
• Ragol.co.uk Article: Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst - Episode IV Lowdown
• European PSO: Blue Burst website
• American PSO: Blue Burst website
• eBay.co.uk
• eBay.com

The Ragol.co.uk Hunters Gazette Credits May 6th 2005   Hunters Gazette Edition by: Lee-yoshi Images: Lee-yoshi © Ragol .co.uk