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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

UK Release date: 

7 March 2003

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In May, Sega announced an expanded GameCube port of Phantasy Star Online, which became Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II. Sega chose the GameCube because it had similar architecture to the Dreamcast and supported dial-up, which Sega believed was important despite the approach of broadband internet. Sonic Team created a GameCube demo of Phantasy Star Online within a month. To make the game more viable for Nintendo's family-oriented consumers, Sonic Team added a split-screen multiplayer mode. Since the GameCube had no out-of-the-box network capabilities, Nintendo developed a modem and broadband adapter and sold them separately. The servers were maintained by Sega. GameCube players could not play with Dreamcast players. Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II comprises two "episodes": Episode I is a port of Ver 2 with improved graphics, whereas Episode II comprises entirely new content, which Naka described as a true sequel. The game adds characters, environments, quests, a split-screen mode, and updated graphics and interfaces. Some quests reward players with minigames based on Sonic Team games Puyo Pop and Nights into Dreams, which can be played on a Game Boy Advance connected to the GameCube. A Chao resembling Tails, a character from the Sonic games, can be imported into Sonic Advance and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Sonic Team ran a beta trial for some players who had pre-ordered Episode I & II, starting on May 31, 2002. The game sold 70,000 copies within the first month in Japan, and by October had sold over 100,000.[83][84] It was released in North America in October, and in Europe on March 7, 2003. Like Ver. 2, Episode I & II required a paid monthly subscription. ASCII Corporation developed a keyboard controller for the game, released only in Japan, though plans were announced for a keyboard controller to be released in America. Some players resorted to importing the controller from Japan. An enhanced version of the game, Episode I & II Plus, was released for the GameCube later. This version included many quests originally distributed exclusively online, a new challenge mode, and new items. Episode I & II was ported to Xbox on April 15, 2003. Servers were hosted through Xbox Live and did not interface with the GameCube or Dreamcast servers. Because of its Xbox Live foundation, the Xbox version supports voice chat but did not connect players across regions. The game required an Xbox Live account to play online or offline; as the game was packaged with Xbox Live in Japan, to localize the game quickly, Microsoft did not remove the limitation. In addition to Xbox Live fees, Sega charged players an extra subscription fee to play online.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

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