The Xbox has recieved 2 quests from the 28th of January, Sonic Team of Japan stated today.

From then Xbox gamers can enjoy the long awaited finale to the 'In The End of Vision Boundry' quest series with #4. Also added for a limited period was a Valentines Quest! No Information is available at the moment, and no screenshots are available, but this valentines quest, along with lobby decorations, will be available on Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II for the Xbox console, between the dates of January 28th & February 23rd.

Its assumed that the quest is exactly the same as last years 'Chocolate Making' quest, since the quest is only playable for 1 female character. 'In The End of Vision Boundry 4' is playable for 1 - 4 Human Players.

As the Nintendo DS is the primary console Sonic Team will be developing for (Especially PSO-wise if rumours are to be believed), why not bring you the latest news on what you could be playing Phantasy Star on in the future?

Nintendo of Europe today held a HUGE press conference in Paris, France, confirming details of its european release.

The Nintendo DS console will be released across Europe on March 11th 2005, at a price point, equivilent to £99.99! Games will be sold for the console ranging from £19.99 - £29.99.

The Nintendo DS features revolutionary features never before seen on a games console. Most notably is the fact that it has two screens! The bottom screen is a touch screen which is used as the control pad to control what happens on the top screen. The new handheld console also features Wireless Networking ('Wi-Fi') to upto 15 other Nintendo DS consoles for multiplayer gaming, or to connect too the internet and play online over a service currently being developed by Nintendo for the near future. Thats not all, as the console also features an in-built Microphone, headphone socket, and GameBoy Advance games slot so you can play all currently existing games (Such as the Phantasy Star Collection!).

As previously said you will be able to buy the console for £99.99 in most retailers on March 11th, however following the announcement of the release date, a Nintendo of Europe spokesman announced that 3,000 are available NOW in Europe exclusively on Nintendo.co.uk for those who are V.I.P. members and have at least 1,000 Stars!!! And it's true!

For £129.99 ( 1,000 VIP Stars), you can bag yourself a Nintendo DS console, Metroid Prime: Hunters - First Hunt Demo, Super Mario 64 DS game (Pre-European Release Demo), Wario Ware Inc. Touched! Demo, and an exclusive Nintendo DS T-Shirt upto a month before they're released! For all the details, head over to the Nintendo of Europe website. I've got mine on order ^_^

What are you waiting for! They're there right now - Get yourself over to Nintendo.co.uk while there's still some left!!!

Sonic Team have posted on the official Blue Burst website all about the new items and quests available in Episode IV!

35 new weapons will be available exclusively to the game for PC. 25 of these however will only be available for limited times during seasons of the year, which are Hallowe'en, Christmas, and Easter. Also being made available packaged with Episode IV is a brand new exchange quest which allows you to trade in your old crappy weaponry for new shiny stuff using an 'Exchange Ticket'.

All 35 weapons and quest information is available now on Ragol.co.uk in this article! Each weapon is a rough translation from Japanese, so expect a few name changes, but all pictures are correct at time of writing.

Episode IV comes screaming the Japanese way, February 3rd... lucky... people.

Click Here to go to the Article:

Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst - Episode IV Lowdown

The Ragol.co.uk Episode III Battle League is over!

Thank you to all who actively contributed and took part in the competition which spanned over 2 and a half months!! I hope you enjoyed what has been for me quite an experience. Over the course of the League i also hope you were able to maybe gain some new cards, EXP, and of course meet others on the Ragol.co.uk forums, and continue to play Episode III alongside us all!

Congratulations to the winner of the league which was... Risu!

Risu truely had the edge over the League with some real CARD skills. However that didnt kill everyones spirit! Following up in second place was Capricornus, and third place was Mr_Shoe_UK. The final League Table standings can be seen here.

Although the competition is over, you can continue leaving feedback and discussing it all in the forums, by using this thread.

Before we finish though, we've decided to open up none other than our own Hall of Fame. All of our hard earnt winners from competitions we have held, or will be holding, now have their triumph written in the books for all to see. Ragol.co.uk's Hall of Fame is available in the article listings.

Thats all for now. Thanks once again to all ^_^

There will be server maintenance on the Nintendo Gamecube Phantasy Star Online servers during Janurary 25th 2005 between the times of 14:00 & 17:00 (Japanese Time).

During this time please do not attempt to connect to the servers as if maintenance is happening on your corresponding servers at that time then you will be automatically disconnected after connecting. If you happen to be playing during these times please disconnect otherwise at the time when maintenance starts you will be disconnected from your game no matter what! You are given 10 minutes warning via. constant on-screen messages counting down until the time the upgrades start. This affects all players of the following Nintendo Gamecube games:

• Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II
• Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II Plus
• Phantasy Star Online, Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution

Please reconnect after these times where service continues as normal. Being added are 2 new maps to Episode III!

Lupus Silva (Altered) and Molae Venti 2 will both be making a permanent home in Episode III online games everywhere from this time.

"Breadth is larger then height" are what Sonic Team call the re-arranged Forest stage, whereby you and your partner stand side-by-side in doubles facing the opposition. You may be used to the forest level aside the Central Dome where the map is thin and long, well not anymore!

Also being added is Molae Venti 2 which see's you return to the top of Episode II's Mountains platform, battling on a map, smaller then the Tower of Caelum stage!

Just to make things a bit more complicated, there's also 2 Warps in the middle! This will no doubt make Arkz battles cramped with even less room, aswell as confusion over how to take one-another on. Re-think those strategies...

Both stages will be available from the moment Server Maintenance has ended. There is no change to Episodes I & II.

The Ragol.co.uk Episode III Battle League is almost over, so why not start planning ahead for another competition eh?

To narrow down what will be done in the next league, you can look at the poll above and vote now! On this subject, the previous polls results were as follows:

Would you like another league after the current Ep 3 one? 

• Yes, another Episode 3 one!
   7.2% (15)
• Episode 3 again, but maybe doubles
   14% (29)
• Yes, but I'd prefer Episodes 1&2
   65.7% (136)
• No thanks!
   13% (27)
• 207 Total Votes

Looking at this, its easy to judge that the next Ragol.co.uk competition will be held on the more then popular Episodes I & II. But with so much demand, what kind of competition should we hold? The choices are as follows:

In what format would you like an Episodes I & II Battle Competition?

• Knockout Tournament

Here, players are assembled into entries and matches straight away! After each match is played, the winner goes through to the next round, and the other is out of the competition. This continues on until we have ourselves a winner! If you've competed in previous Episodes I & II competitions here, the style is the same.

• Battle League - Teams of Doubles (Or More)

This is held in the style the Episode III Competition was held. All entrants are assembled into a table. Matches are assigned weekly, with results sorted into points, and the peeps with the most points, stand proud at the top! After all matches are played, the player with the most points, wins.

Because of the huge numbers previously seen in polls, interested in entering an Episodes I & II league, this will mean organising it into a Team League table. This means each team is added instead of a single entrant into the league table, and matches are assigned weekly, team Vs. team. However, because each fixture remains 1v1, and the fact that a team will consist of more then one player, it can be decided by the each team who shall play each 1v1 fixtured match, making it so much more interesting. Team sizes will depend on the amount of entries at the time.

To vote for the style of competiton you want - use the poll above right now! If you're a Ragol.co.uk Forumer however, you may wish to use a polling thread to vote, already made, in which you can also have your comment at the sametime! Click Here to go to the Ragol.co.uk Forum Thread. All votes between the frontpage poll and the forum poll will be added together, with the results appearing soon.

SHOW YOUR INTEREST!

The next long awaited Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II competition is coming soon!

Last weekend was the Episode III Battle League Weekend, and while Sunday wasn't a very busy day, Saturday evening proved very popular, getting several matches out of the way before the league finishes ^_^

A video highlighting the activities and matches played during that evening has been made in honour of the Battle League. To view it, click here, or visit the Ragol.co.uk Downloads page.

This video is a .wmv file, requiring Windows Media Player to view, and is approx. 5.8Mb (1min 30secs long).

A game everyone is surely eagerly waiting release for outside of Japan maybe coming sooner then we all expected, me for one!

Ragol.co.uk Forum Member Mirinee has noticed SEGA of America have posted on their website that Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst for PC has been given a release date of 'Spring 2005'!

This information is only available on the one page in their Shop on the 'Coming Soon' list and NOTHING else has been said so far. The exact page can be found here.

Hopefully the release of Blue Burst in America may also mean an Episode IV Expansion release either alongside or shortly following.

As soon as a release date is found, you'll be sure to find it here! Hopefully this may also be a step closer to a European launch? ^_^

Janurary comes hitting on Blue Burst with 2 new quests! There will be server maintenance on the PC Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst servers during Janurary 11th 2005.

During this time please do not attempt to connect to the servers as if maintenance is happening on your corresponding servers at that time then you will be automatically disconnected after connecting. If you happen to be playing during these times please disconnect otherwise at the time when maintenance starts you will be disconnected from your game no matter what! You are given 10 minutes warning via. constant on-screen messages counting down until the time the upgrades start. This affects all players of the following PC games:

• Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst

Please reconnect after these times where service continues as normal. Being added this month:

• In The End of Vision Boundry 2

Make your way back to Gal De Val because, as ever, trouble is about!

The lab is in serious trouble after losing all their research. Its upto you and your team to make the paths from the mountains to the CCA clear.

This quest is playable for 1 - 4 human players.

• The West Tower Heaven (Rough translation of JP title)

Now although i havent heard of a quest that goes by this exact title, its still sure to be a great quest, set once again in Episode II.

Battle through the East Control Tower and reach the entry point to the West Tower. What could be easier? Oh, except for the millions of monsters that stand in the way, floor by floor!

This quest is playable for 1 - 4 human players. For more images on both of these 2 quests - visit this Ragol.co.uk Forum Thread.

Finally, EX attack is being added to all S-Rank weapons gained from completing Challenge Mode, added via. the 'ES Weapon Processing Menu'. Happy Hunting!

A little extra for those wanting to see exactly what Phantasy Star Online, Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution plays like, maybe before those Janurary Sales end!

Fresh to Ragol.co.uk is a Video free for download, recording a pretty long doubles match which saw the team of Ria (apple-kitty) and Lee-yoshi (me!) take down two very annoying COM players!

20 minutes long in total, 16.5Mb in size, and pretty good quality aswell, so worth the time if you're on a faster connection, or a dedicated dial-up fan. Click Here to Download the video or see the Ragol.co.uk Download/Files page.

There will be server maintenance on the Nintendo Gamecube Phantasy Star Online servers during Janurary 11th 2005 between the times of 14:00 & 17:00 (Japanese Time).

During this time please do not attempt to connect to the servers as if maintenance is happening on your corresponding servers at that time then you will be automatically disconnected after connecting. If you happen to be playing during these times please disconnect otherwise at the time when maintenance starts you will be disconnected from your game no matter what! You are given 10 minutes warning via. constant on-screen messages counting down until the time the upgrades start. This affects all players of the following Nintendo Gamecube games:

• Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II
• Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II Plus
• Phantasy Star Online, Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution

Please reconnect after these times where service continues as normal. Being added is a new quest!

Set in the Caves, 'Maximum Attack, Version 2' see's you battling with upto 3 partners in crime in order to try and gain 10,000 points! A lot of points? You Betcha!

Of course, as always, theres a time limit, so slay as many enemies as possible within the time to grab the maximum amount of points.

This quest includes parts not previously seen on the SEGA Dreamcast version of Phantasy Star Online, so you're all in for a treat! However, this doesnt mean fannying around trying to work out whats different, as you should be spending as much time as possible, getting oh so valuable points! What you recieve after completion remains to be seen...

The quest is available straight after the end of server maintenance at the Hunters Guild in the VR menu, and is playable for 1 - 4 Human players, so prepare teams now! You could even organise such an expedition in this Ragol.co.uk Forum thread, included with even more piccies of this new quest ^_^ There is no addition to Episode III at this time.

Happy Hunting!

For all who are currently entered in the Ragol.co.uk Episode III Battle League, continue reading...

Due to the amount of matches & fixtures still being required to play, its been decided that this weekend will be dedicated to those matches still needed to be played.

During Saturday 8th Janurary (19:00 - 22:00 GMT) and Sunday 9th Janurary (Most Day, Midday - Evening GMT) as many entrants as possible are asked to come online to EU:Alphard06:01 and meet up to hopefully get some more matches played and results up before the League ends.

On that note, the Episode III Battle League will be ending Friday 21st Janurary 2005. All matches MUST be played by this date otherwise leftover fixtures unplayed will not be recorded and left unplayed. The winner will be announced on Saturday 22nd 2005.

Top positions are still up for grabs, so make the most of it!