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According to this article (which I got by way of PSO-World.com), Dreamcast and GameCube PSO players only have until April 1, 2007 to finish up whatever affairs they have online in order before they both are given the permanent axe.

From PSO-World:

On April 1st, 2007, Sonic Team will officially be shutting down the Gamecube and Dreamcast servers as seen in this announcment. The servers will become free-to-play on March 1st, 2007 for a one month period. Also, the 90 payment option will be discontinued on December 8th and the 30 day option on January 29th. Listed below is the versions of the game that will be affected by this anouncement:

Dreamcast

• Version 1
  Version 2

Gamecube

• Episode 1&2
  Episode 1&2 Plus
  Episode 3

The XBox and Blue Burst servers will remain in operation for the forseeable future.

If someone with proper understanding of Japanese can scan over that article, it would be appreciated.

I really need to learn Japanese.[/url]

The DC servers are still up? Wow.

Yeah, I was also surprized! to think the Dreamcast was somewhat alive all this time?

The US ships have been gone for almost four years for DC. Maybe they meant Xbox and GCN?

OK, here's the rough translation (NOT A QUOTE):

~~~~~

[To those who utilize the network service for "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE", thank you very much.

As of Saturday, March 31, 2007, we have decided that, regarding the Dreamcast editions of "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE" and "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE ver.2" and GameCube editions of "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE EPISODE I & II (Ver1.1), "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE EPISODE I & II Plus" and "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE EPISODE III: C.A.R.D. Revolution", the network service will be ending.

When "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE" premiered on the Dreamcast in December 2000, with approximately six years, four platforms (the Dreamcast, the GameCube, XBox and Windows), all in the United States, Europe, Korea, China and Taiwan, not to mention the many customers in Japan, we have continued service. In the future, the network services for the Windows and XBox edition will continue to be in effect.

For a ong time, we have continued the network service for the Dreamcast and GameCube editions of "PHANTASY STAR ONLINE" because of the great support and amazing staff, for whom we have nothing but the utmost gratitude.

Presently, it is much too inconvenient for everyone to continue utilization at this time, but we hope you can understand.

Network service will end at 11:59 PM on March 31, 2007 for the following:

--Phantasy Star Online for the Sega Dreamcast
--Phantasy Star Online, ver. 2 for the Sega Dreamcast
--Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II for the Nintendo GameCube
--Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II Plus for the Nintendo GameCube
--Phantasy Star Online, Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution for the Nintendo GameCube

*It will be impossible to play in online mode as of midnight on April 1 in the above-mentioned titles, but you can still enjoy all the benefits of offline mode.

In terms of paying for a Hunter's License, the 90-day subscription option will be discontinued as of December 8, 2006, and the 30-day subscription option will be discontinued as of January 29, 2007.

To thank everybody for their appreciation and support, we will be giving all Hunters a free 3-day network service period from Thursday, March 1, 2007, to Saturday, March 31, 2007.

(((The next paragraph is pretty scrambled, so I won't even bother.)))

Schedule of Events
December 8, 2006: 90-day Hunter's License subscriptions for GameCube games discontinued.
January 29, 2007: 30-day Hunter's License subscriptions for GameCube games discontinued.
March 1, 2007: From noon to 2:00 PM, GameCube server temporary maintenance.
March 1, 2007: Starting at 2:01 PM, 30-day free period begins.
March 31, 2007: As of 11:59 PM, Dreamcast and GameCube online servers permanently shut down.]

~~~~~

I think I got just about everything.

Here's a question I've got: what about the Wii? Will the GameCube games be playable online?

No.

And given this announcement, it's not like you'd be able to play online, even if it <i>could</i>.

Unless it's possible to set up unofficial servers... doubt it, though.

Shadow Hog wrote:non-official

Unofficial.

Crazy Penguin wrote:

Shadow Hog wrote:non-official

Unofficial.

Noted.

Shadow Hog wrote:And given this announcement, it's not like you'd be able to play online, even if it <i>could</i>.

Unless it's possible to set up unofficial servers... doubt it, though.

http://www.consolevision.com/members/schtserv/

Granted, that's probably the only one out there. Also, it's prone to rampant hacking.

The Doc wrote:According to this article (which I got by way of PSO-World.com), Dreamcast and GameCube PSO players only have until April 1, 2007 to finish up whatever affairs they have online in order before they both are given the permanent axe.

From PSO-World:

On April 1st, 2007, Sonic Team will officially be shutting down the Gamecube and Dreamcast servers as seen in this announcment. The servers will become free-to-play on March 1st, 2007 for a one month period. Also, the 90 payment option will be discontinued on December 8th and the 30 day option on January 29th. Listed below is the versions of the game that will be affected by this anouncement:

Dreamcast

• Version 1
  Version 2

Gamecube

• Episode 1&2
  Episode 1&2 Plus
  Episode 3

The XBox and Blue Burst servers will remain in operation for the forseeable future.

If someone with proper understanding of Japanese can scan over that article, it would be appreciated.

I really need to learn Japanese.[/url]

Imp amazed Dreamcast servers have lasted that long...wow!

I haven't been able to get online PSO on my DC since...shit, man. Like, 2002 or something. Was that a fault on my part, or did the EU servers go down back in the day? I remember screwing with my Dream Passport (or whatever the English one was called) settings so that I didn't have to sign in as my brother all the time.

I'm pretty sure this news announcement only applies to the Japanese servers, as the US and EU servers have been down for years.

Well, it WAS in Japanese, but really, only one way to find out.

Oh yeah, shit. That makes sense.

Does anything I say ever make sense, ever?

...Oh, Christ, I am such an IDIOT.

Midnight on APRIL 1. It's probably an April Fools' joke.

It's probably to coincide with the changeover of the financial year. Or something. I'd think it would be a joke to even have the servers running this long, let alone 'til next Spring.

The Doc wrote:...Oh, Christ, I am such an IDIOT.

Midnight on APRIL 1. It's probably an April Fools' joke.

...Using that logic, i could get away with a lot. For example, say i were to murder someone on April 1st, would i get away with saying "But i thought the law was an April Fools' joke."?

Plus announcing that you're shutting down servers on April 1st, 4 months in advance, simply must be a joke.

Seriously man, are you that paranoid about being caught out by a joke?

...Maybe it's the running fever or the fact that I am clinically insane, but I have no idea what the fuck you just said.

Probably a combination of all three. Including my inability to write proper like innit that is.

Phantasy Star Online Ver. 1??? Is there anybody but me who still plays that relic?

And its servers are down for a long long time.

Just because I’m Mad, I got a Dreamcast for 90 Euros alter reading this…