Phantasy star Portable 2 WE WANT FREE ONLINE PLAY

[bitmaster]

I just read this, I honestly hope this isn't a way 4 Sega to sucker us in.

"To play online you need to register for a Little Wing License with the product code on the game instruction manual."

"little wing license" I don't think marketing understand, things like this can make or break a game. I bet if PSU was free online, like many other online games, it would have sold more copy's and made more on the copy's sold VS how many saps(like I once was) pay for monthly subscription.

last I played PSU only two universes were in use, that says a lot about my beloved franchise.

[bitmaster]

I wish this series the best and the most.

[ADR3NALINE xi]

I just read this, I honestly hope this isn't a way 4 Sega to sucker us in.

"To play online you need to register for a Little Wing License with the product code on the game instruction manual."

"little wing license" I don't think marketing understand, things like this can make or break a game. I bet if PSU was free online, like many other online games, it would have sold more copy's and made more on the copy's sold VS how many saps(like I once was) pay for monthly subscription.

last I played PSU only two universes were in use, that says a lot about my beloved franchise.

And because its free, thats why there is so many people selling porn and act like complete idiots.

This is why most online games are p2p. because it keeps spammers, advertisers and peole who are really into or want to play the game how its supposed to be without people ruining it with there stupid ways.

Demo is always packed because yes its free, but compare it to the real game. Less people but much more mature community (to a certain extent)

[suketodara]

Wherever you got your information, it is wrong.

Phantasy Star Portable 2, for Japan, is free to play online, you only need to register the code included in your package, this code allows you to freely play online through Playstation Network connection, this code can only be attached to ONE playstation network account, if you download the game for the PSN it will be already playable from your account without the need of a code.

There will be downloadable content in the PSN Store, some content will be free, some other will not be free.

This, again, has been announced for the Japanese market, this game has yet to be announced outside of Japan.

[Silverslug]

I'm assuming the code is for SEGA to have some control over the online aspect. So lets say you get online with the game, you get banned, you have to get a new game. Also should lower 'piracy' .

[suketodara]

Yes, it should specially be impossible to piracy an account, can PSN Store be hacked? I think not, so the identification code or the downloaded game have to be legit in order to work. I don't know about cheats, it will be provably still possible to play the original game with a cfw and use cheats...

[Clumsyorchid]

I bet if PSU was free online, like many other online games, it would have sold more copy's and made more on the copy's sold VS how many saps(like I once was) pay for monthly subscription.

last I played PSU only two universes were in use, that says a lot about my beloved franchise.

Just challenging you on this point in particular because I think you are jumping to conclusions based on poorly translated text... Should there be an online fee in Japan (which I don't think there will be), we can revisit this at a later date.

What if we didn't sell the units if the online was free? What happens years later when we want to continue to produce content, but no one is buying the game at the frequency we need them to so that we can support the content creation teams? Do you think that game missions and updates appear out of thin air? These are valid questions that you might not have considered.

Online fees cover teams to create and release content, so you can look at PSU's online fees and know that it means you'll be paying for an online persistent service with new mission updates, etc. If you want to drop the fees, the game will be free, but it wouldn't have nearly as much updates as it currently does.

It's very easy to say that a game would instantly do better just because it's free, and if that was the case, you can bet the teams here at Sega would have done it. You mention other online games that were free, how many do you currently play? How many have updates that come out regularly? Again, not trying to say PSU is the best game available for you, but making such a broad statement without clarifying the games in particular that 1. Sold a ton and 2. are still around with ginormous communities 3+ years later makes the statement seem sort of inflated.

Someone brought up the demo, it's a good example, it's popular, sure, but it's also the same content as the original launch. It's stale by this point, though populated, it is probably not the same experience you think of when you remember your time on PSU. The reality is that in order to continue to pump out content and continue to be a successful service, we need to charge an online fee.

[AngelusInsomnus]

The reality is that in order to continue to pump out content and continue to be a successful service, we need to charge an online fee.

There are other models, aside from a recurring subscription payment, that are worth exploring, though: sponsorships (essentially, someone else paying the fee for the consumer) or microtransactioning, for example.

[AutoSaver]

Isn't this sorta bad if you rent games? Or buy used ones?

[ShadiWulf]

People who buy the game used or rent it don't deserve to play it online.