A few announcements have been made which should be of interest to North American fans eagerly awaiting Phantasy Star Online. The game, which has been out in Japan for nearly two weeks now, has managed to attract a fair-sized following after server troubles initially wreaked havoc upon thousands of gamers attempting to log on simultaneously. All indications are that Phantasy Star Online will meet with similar success upon its North American release, which has been confirmed for a scheduled release date of February 6th. Also announced was the news that the game's online server will be open on the same date, and finally, it has been confirmed that there would be no charge for the online battle services.

The announcement of the server launch is the most significant of these announcements; after the chaotic Japanese release, Sonic Team, Phantasy Star Online's developers, are sure to be wary of repeating the same mistakes. With the experience of the trouble in Japan, hopefully, the same thing will not happen on February 6th.