Xbox 360 PSU Done

As promised, Sega has shut down the Xbox 360 Phantasy Star Universe servers for good.

The servers went down at approximately 2 AM EDT this morning. Some players were apparently not able to enjoy the final hours due to some sort of miscommunication between Sega and Microsoft (the entire PSU experience in a nutshell, I guess).

Now it's on to Phantasy Star Online 2, which launches in the West sometime in early 2013.

Players hoping to jump ship to the Japanese PC version of Phantasy Star Universe are out of luck: that game is going dark at the end of September. Time to start playing PSO2!

PSO2 Announcement Possible This Week

For the last week, Sega of America has been publishing a Phantasy Star series retrospective of sorts on Facebook, Twitter, and the official Phantasy Star Universe forums.

Today, the trip back in time continued with Phantasy Star Portable. Sega's Twitter posting for this game included a not-so-subtle message and another possible hint:

PSP on the PSP! http://bit.ly/Q6c6lh If you're keeping track that's one PS game every day, in order, starting from the first. Hmmm.....

If Sega sticks to the Phantasy Star games released in the US, then there should be only two left in the retrospective: Phantasy Star Zero (tomorrow) and Phantasy Star Portable 2 (on Wednesday). Players with an interest in an English version of Phantasy Star Online 2 should keep an eye on the official forum thread beginning Thursday afternoon.

Of course, even if PSO2 does get an official English release, there are still some details that will affect whether people actually play it. Will the game have international servers? Will it receive regular, consistent content updates? Will it be given the same level of support as the Japanese game? Many players will probably stay away unless these questions are answered (or unless they're answered correctly). Hopefully Sega will provide the answers later this week.

And for those of you that aren't so sure Sega is building up to a PSO2 announcement... do you really think they would go to all this trouble to promote the shutdown of the PSU servers?

Is This Another Hint?

Last week, PSU GM Edward announced that the Xbox 360 Phantasy Star Universe servers would be shutting down in September. It was hinted at the time that despite this news, there was more in store for Phantasy Star in the near future.

Now, a thread has appeared in the official PSU forums chronicling the history of the series and providing links to Sega's Phantasy Star Facebook and Twitter pages.

There seems to be a purpose behind this. Call me crazy, but I think an English Phantasy Star Online 2 announcement is imminent. I don't see any reason why Sega would do anything like this right now unless the end result was an announcement of some kind. And as I mentioned before, PSO2 is probably the only Phantasy Star game that Sega could announce (or even hint at) that players would even care about at this point.

We'll be watching for developments over the next few days (and probably playing some of the PSO2 open beta too, come Thursday).

More on the PSU Server Shutdown

As mentioned earlier today, Phantasy Star Universe will be done for good in the United States and Europe when the Xbox 360 servers shut down on September 7. This move should not come as a surprise to anybody, given the fact that the online game has basically stagnated despite the introduction of the "supplemental update" two summers ago.

For hardcore Xbox 360 players, this announcement might be difficult to take. However, Phantasy Star Online 2 players should be celebrating.

Out of this shutdown announcement came the strongest indication yet that PSO2 is coming stateside. PSU GM Edward had this to say in his post on the official forums:

There is more news yet to come for Phantasy Star, and there will be much to be excited about in the coming weeks and months.

While players in the PSO2 alpha and beta tests have unearthed some hints of an English release, Sega has not said anything one way or the other. Although Edward's post did not mention PSO2 by name, it's hard to believe that Sega of America would be focusing on anything Phantasy Star-related that's not PSO2 at this point. I think they are well aware of how much the US/EU community is clamoring for the game.

The next few months should be exciting, as there is hopefully some big news on the way for PSO2 players in the United States and Europe. Stay tuned!

Stick a fork in it. It's done.

PSU outside of Japan that is. Yes, that's right the Xbox servers are shutting down. I don't think anyone was really surprised after seeing how the game's updates were handled and that it still continued to fall behind the Japanese version of the game. I guess that the closure of the PC/PS2 server wasn't a "huge opportunity" to catch up after all.

Anyway, the servers are closing September 7th this year. Also there will be no free play like the PC/PS2 version had. I assume it has to do with some sort of rule from Microsoft since Xbox silver users can play the game online. I can't see the servers being to populated with this news; if the PC/PS2 servers required its monthly fee in the months before it closed I know I wouldn't have bothered coming back.

But on the bright side there may be a hint of good news. At the end of Edwards post he says:

We look forward to taking our memories and the lessons learned from this game as we prepare to move into the future. There is more news yet to come for Phantasy Star, and there will be much to be excited about in the coming weeks and months. For now, please feel free to share your memories of this game and know we look forward to sharing more adventures with you in the future!

From that statement I guess we can expect some news about PSO2 coming west soon. The sooner it's announced the better (still hoping for global servers).

Don't Panic Just Yet

If you've been following the development of Phantasy Star Online 2 and have been hoping for a Western release (who hasn't been?) then you probably panicked yesterday following a wave of bad news from Sega.

First, news of massive losses prompted the company to announce that it would be canceling some games in the United States and Europe. The list of games was not provided, though Sega did state that profitable franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens would not be canceled.

Second, following this announcement, Sega of America was hit with massive layoffs. According to IGN, the majority of layoffs were QA-related, though other positions also got axed. Obviously, it's never good to see things like this happen and we hope the people affected can get back on their feet quickly.

As you might expect, this news made Phantasy Star Universe players uneasy. On the official PSU forums, GM Edward assured players that near-term events would go on as planned, but couldn't provide any insight as to what the future holds for the remaining regional servers. We'll be watching this situation unfold in the coming weeks to see if Sega considers the Xbox 360 version profitable enough to continue. Stay tuned.

As for PSO2, the game has not been canceled in Japan (and likely won't be). The closed beta test is scheduled to begin at the end of April, with an open beta and final release likely to follow in June or July. The game has not currently been announced for the United States or Europe. However, I don't think this means that the game should be considered "canceled". The four "surviving" franchises that Sega listed in its press release should not be considered an all-inclusive list of titles that have not been canceled.

In fact, no definitive list of canceled titles was even provided (parts bolded for emphasis):

We conducted detailed reviews of earnings projections for titles targeted toward the U.S. and European markets and decided to narrow down sales titles from the following period and after to strong IPs, such as “Sonic the Hedgehog,”, “Football Manager”, “Total War” and “Aliens” which are expected to continue posting solid earnings. In accordance with this, we are canceling the development of some game software titles.

In other words, anything said about specific canceled games right now is pure speculation, so until Sega actually says that the Western markets won't be getting PSO2, there's no reason to panic.

Also consider the fact that Sega appears to be considering mostly digital distribution for PSO2, which could save a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on packaging and pressing discs. Hopefully Sega could recoup the costs of localization and other maintenance expenses through the sale of items in the cash shop.

If all else fails, we'll just have to play PSO2 on the Japanese servers—but right now we just don't know what the fallout will be from this news. All we can do is sit tight and hope for the best!

Some PSU Event Starts Soon

Yeah. That's right. According to the Japanese Xbox 360 PSU Web page, the servers will be seeing an event beginning this Friday. It runs until maintenance on Friday, January 27, 2012. That's six weeks for those of you keeping track at home.

It looks like some seasonal lobbies will also be going up, and Sega will also do whatever it is they usually do during maintenance periods (casino rotations, etc.)

Honestly I don't care anymore. It's been three months since we've posted anything PSU-related on this blog. Just waiting for some significant PSO2 news...

Xbox Live on Windows 8

Microsoft announced today that the next iteration of Windows, currently dubbed "Windows 8", will feature Xbox Live support on the PC:

Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy.

Of course, there isn't a whole lot of information about this feature right now, so nobody knows what Microsoft is really planning for Windows 8. This could just be a re-branding of the failed Games for Windows Live service, but at this point it's hard to tell.

So why do I bring this up here? Last year, Phantasy Star Universe was made available for purchase digitally on Microsoft's Games on Demand service for Xbox Live. You could buy that, download the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion and the "Guardians Advanced Content" expansion, and then play the game.

If Microsoft is intending to bring the entire Xbox Live experience to Windows 8 including Games on Demand, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that PC players would have an opportunity to get back into PSU on Xbox Live. You'd have to start over from scratch (assuming you don't already play the Xbox 360 version), but the option would be there. The Xbox 360 version of PSU should be playable on a PC thanks to DirectX (that's where the X in Xbox came from, after all).

On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether or not Phantasy Star Universe will survive until Windows 8 is officially released, probably no less than one year from now. Nevertheless, it's an interesting scenario to consider. How would the Xbox 360 PSU community (and the Xbox Live community in general) change if PC gamers were added into the mix?

Revisiting PSO2 Global Support Yet Again

With the official PSU forums out of commission for awhile, PSU GMs have taken to various fansite forums to connect with the Xbox 360 PSU community. It seems that the purpose of this exercise is to reassure fans that official support for the game hasn't gone away.

However, PSU GM Edward posted a slightly disturbing comment on PSO-World's forums, one that we blogged about and that could cause many members of the community to think twice about how they choose to play PSO2. You can click on the link above to get the full text; I'll post just a small snippet here:

Officially, the XB360 version [of PSU] is a different version of the game. It is not meant as a duplicate of the JP version. You can disagree with that but that is the official stance, and so whatever communication you're going to hear from me or us, that's the ultimate message.

This comment should raise some eyebrows among potential US/EU players of PSO2. If the game doesn't get international servers, what stops Sega from taking this stance again? Does that mean that the Western version of PSO2 will get delayed or different content, and/or different levels of support?

Applied in the context of PSO2, Edward's comment shows exactly why the game absolutely must have international servers. If it doesn't, players will be taking an enormous risk in choosing to play on the US/EU servers. I personally took that risk once already with PSU. I will not make the same mistake again.

The release date for PSO2 hasn't even been announced yet, but if you want to enjoy the game for a long time after it's released, you really have only two options: Play on the international servers or play on the Japanese servers. Hopefully Sega provides the right option.

PSU version disparities

So I saw this interesting post over at PSO-World from Edward@Sega in response to complaints over the new PSPo2 weapons having generic models and the new melee weapons dropping only neutral.

This is the best part here:

2) Officially, the XB360 version is a different version of the game. It is not meant as a duplicate of the JP version. You can disagree with that but that is the official stance, and so whatever communication you're going to hear from me or us, that's the ultimate message. That means that saying "it was like X there but it's like Y here and therefore it is broken" isn't something we can respond to, officially. They are different versions for a reason, and supplying new artwork to the XB360 is not the same as providing new artwork to the PC version. I know there's a fuzzy line there, some things, yes, it's worth raising the issue for sure. I said this on our forums before they went down and if you are unsure of what is "okay" to bring up ... you can always ask!

Err.. what? Wasn't the game supposed to receive the same updates as the Japanese version but with only a few months difference based on the release of the games? To me it sounds like an Xbox360 problem with having to go through getting content/patches certified. Probably doesn't help that they chose a poor method to distribute the "Guardian's Advanced Content" update either. I wonder how things would have been explained if the PC version was never shut down?

I'll be fair: OK we knew that there would be differences in the game from the Japanese version especially after things like the second MAG, the long update drought that followed the second MAG, and the absence of Guardian's Cash. But still that doesn't excuse cutting small details from the game. At least save excuse for something big like explaining why an event or other highly anticipated content won't make it over. It would sound a lot better then, trust me! Although I still wouldn't buy it.

I certainly hope PSO2 can avoid content problem like these. Well at least I do feel a little better knowing that Sega has full control over content since they don't need to go through a third party like Xbox Live.

Slightly Off Topic: See, This Is What I Mean

Today I spent a little time at nVidia's geforce.com Web site getting driver updates for my graphics card. While there, I stumbled upon an interesting interview with Battlefield 3 executive producer Patrick Bach.

In the article, Bach argues that the consoles are holding PC gaming back. Because the majority of developers continue to view the consoles as "the superior platform" for gaming, they start development of new games there instead of on the PC. Bach says that by doing this, the vastly superior processing power of the PC is never harnessed.

Most games are actually still based on the same core idea that the consoles are your focus, the superior platform or something. I don’t know why. That was the truth 5 years ago, but the world has moved on. PCs are way more powerful than the consoles today and there are actually almost zero games out there that actually use the benefits of this.

He then discusses his solution to the problem, one that I wish more developers would use. Sonic Team, are you listening?

So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version. We're do it the other way around, we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles.

I agree with Bach on this subject -- I've even touched briefly on the topic right here on this blog. It would be nice if developers would do a better job of targeting the PC community when creating games. When they port console games to the PC, they usually don't bother adding any additional features or effects that can be handled more easily by a PC graphics card.

Case in point: think back to version 3 of Phantasy Star Online for the GameCube and Xbox. There were parts of Episode 2 in the GameCube version that featured great water effects. (Yes, at 256x192 the effects are a little difficult to see -- to better see what's going on, try browsing YouTube for some videos, or play the game!)


However, when PSO: Blue Burst was released, those effects were surprisingly absent. PCs at the time were more than capable of displaying them, so what happened?


It turns out that the Blue Burst PC code was ported from the Xbox version of the game, which lacked the water effects. Similar effects in the Seabed level were either missing or badly ported. (Also see: telepipes).

Of course, Phantasy Star Universe and its expansions suffer from a similar problem. Since that game was originally developed on (and ported from) the PS2, it lacks the ability to take advantage of features on modern-day graphics cards.

Thanks to these two examples, I generally try to steer clear of games that have been ported to the PC from a console, whether it be the PS3 or Xbox 360. There are some instances where the developer writes the game for consoles and later releases a texture patch to make the game look prettier on PCs; such was the case for the PC version of Dragon Age II, which got a DirectX 11 patch shortly after release. However, most developers don't do this and such games are few and far between.

This, among other things, is why I fear a console version of Phantasy Star Online 2. I've been fairly optimistic so far because neither Sega nor Sonic Team have indicated that a console version of the game is coming. Hopefully that doesn't change.

Sources:
DICE to Focus on the PC with Battlefield 3 (GeForce.com)
Hi-Res Texture Pack for Dragon Age 2 Available (TomsHardware.com)

The Catch-All News Post of the Week

PSU GM Edward has announced that there will be server maintenance this week to fix a previously reported bug involving the Ares Espada SUV. The Spring Event is still going on, and it continues until maintenance on Friday, May 13, as previously reported.

In other news, players are reporting intermittent service outages and disconnections on the Xbox 360 servers. There's been no word on whether or not this is an ISP issue or just bad connections to the servers. These kinds of problems always seem to surface during events -- hopefully things will be sorted out before too long!

It's PC/PS2 Shutdown Day Again

One year ago today, Sega pulled the plug on the PC/PS2 PSU servers in the United States and Europe. Affected players were reflecting on their time in the game, moving to the Xbox 360 servers, or just moving on.

At the time of the shutdown, PSU GMs had argued that the closure of the servers would clear the way for faster content updates and the potential to catch up with the Japanese version of the game. Since the PC/PS2 servers were shut down, the Xbox 360 servers have received the supplemental update, a handful of missions, and the Absolute Zero event. Last week, the "Spring Event", aka the Third Anniversary Thanks Festa, appeared on the regional servers.

That might seem like a fair amount of new content. However, in the same time frame, the Japanese game has received even more events, and a third expansion for the game has been announced. Therefore I would argue that the pace of updates has not really changed at all; in fact, I think we might be further behind now than we were at this time last year.

Perhaps the PC/PS2 servers were not profitable; I suppose that would be sufficient justification to pull the plug for any major company. However, I don't think that the server shutdown has provided any long-term benefit to the Xbox 360 servers, aside from a population increase due to the migration of PC/PS2 players. So while those servers may stay around for at least the next year or so, players shouldn't get their hopes up when it comes to playing catch-up with the Japanese.

PSU Demo Shutting Down

Sega today announced that the Phantasy Star Universe demo servers for Xbox 360 would be shutting down on Monday. In this post on the official PSU forums, GM Edward stated that maintaining the demo servers is no longer feasible, a statement that I'm sure most of us agree with.

Somewhere, in a remote corner of the Internet, the porn-spammers and phishers are complaining about this, but I don't think anybody else will mind. For many months now the demo servers have been a waste of processing power, occasionally bringing players to the full version of PSU but not doing much else.

This is probably a good reason why the full Xbox 360 PSU servers should never be free, although I do often wonder if the Japanese PC/PS2 "free course" draws a crowd similar to the demo server here...

PSO2 Alpha Test Eligibility Details Announced for PSU Players

The eligibility requirements have been announced for Phantasy Star Universe players wishing to get in on the Phantasy Star Online 2 alpha test later this year.

Drawing chances will be distributed in three waves. To receive a chance to "win", players must have an account on the Japanese PC/PS2 servers (obviously) and meet the following criteria during the eligibility period:

• The player must be subscribed to the Premium Course option, or
• The player must have purchased at least ¥3,000 (roughly $36.45 USD) in Guardians Cash
  

The first wave of chances will be distributed on Thursday, February 24, and will be given out to all players who meet the eligibility criteria between January 1 and Sunday, February 20.

The second wave of chances will be distributed in April, and will be given out to all players who meet the eligibility criteria between February 21 and March 31.

The final shot at a drawing entry will occur in May, and is open to all players who meet the eligibility criteria between April 1 and May 30. This eligibility period will be open to PC PSU players only (though it wasn't really mentioned whether PS2 players would be eligible at all).

Former Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst players are also eligible. Players who purchased a Hunters License at any point during 2010 will receive a chance to "win" at some point in the future. Obviously this is also for players of the Japanese game only.

The official Phantasy Star Online 2 Web site has been updated with all of the necessary information. It's nice to see the slow trickle of information increasing ever so slightly! Now, if only we could get some screenshots...

Rewards as Content

I don't typically post about content updates anymore. Maybe that's because I don't play the game anymore (if you think I play on the Xbox 360 you obviously don't read this blog enough). Maybe it's because I just don't care anymore. However, I spotted the update news for this week on the official forums and I felt obligated to write something about it.

The update itself is pretty minimal. In addition to a GAS update and Valentine's Day lobbies, GM Edward announced that the rewards from Absolute Zero would be arriving this week.

...That is, some of the rewards would be arriving this week. Specifically, the item rewards, PA experience boost, shop discounts, and casino bonus are slated to be added. The other rewards -- 3* Luck, synthesis boost, and grind boost -- will be coming at an as yet unannounced date.

Apparently the reward distribution news did not sit well with players, because within 20 posts Edward was right back in the forums trying to justify the decision. I can understand how Sega could spin this as a decision to "benefit the players" -- split up the rewards and the players have more time to enjoy them. That makes sense, and I don't think it's such a bad thing to do. If all the rewards were given together I bet you'd see somebody complain on the forums about having too many rewards to take advantage of in only a 2- or 3- week period.

However, if the next maintenance period comes and the remaining rewards are listed as the only content update, you can bet that the community will not be happy. Edward claims that this won't happen; whether it does anyway remains to be seen. I just don't think anybody (myself included) would put it past Sega to do such a thing to extend the life of the game another month.

In any event, the players in the forum thread raged for awhile before settling down and talking about the upcoming content. Hopefully Sega won't release the rest of the Absolute Zero rewards as a standalone update, because if that happens the player reaction will be quite different next time.

JP PSU Gets a Third Expansion; PS2 Support to be Removed

Sega of Japan announced on Thursday that Phantasy Star Universe would be receiving a third expansion update that includes new environments and missions for the game. Images of some new areas were posted with the announcement on the JP PSU Web site.

In related news, Sega also announced that PS2 support for PSU will be dropped after March 31, 2011, one year to the day after the US/EU PC/PS2 servers shut down. PS2 players are being encouraged to upgrade to the PC version of the game, which is a free download.

These announcements are great news for PC players of PSU in Japan, and in my opinion, even better news for potential future players of Phantasy Star Online 2. With this news, Sega seems to be indicating the direction they are interested in taking for the next iteration of the series, and this is a great start.

Once PS2 support for Japanese PSU has been removed, players will only be able to play the game online on a PC. It's no coincidence that Sega then decided to give players some real new content for the PC version. Clearly the game developers have realized that the consoles are holding back the development and expansion of the PSU world. This causes the game to become dull and boring, and as a result, players leave.

If this is in fact the case, a console release of PSO2 looks very much in doubt, which would be fantastic. For several months, I've been arguing the potential consequences of putting PSO2 on the consoles. The only way to create a truly immersive, expandable game world is to release the game only on the PC.

Recently, it was also discovered that Phantasy Star Online 2 is further along in development than many people may think. Hopefully, this means that a release in 2011 is not out of the question (at least not for Japan, anyway). And as we all know, the game is still only slated to be released on the PC, so perhaps that's more validation that Sega is interested in keeping the game alive with new content for a long time like it is now apparently doing with PSU.

As a side note, the odds of seeing the new PC content arrive on Xbox 360 someday are very, very slim. Yes, the Xbox 360 has a hard drive, but it sounds like this content is being developed for the PC specifically and I would be very surprised if Sega of Japan ever made the decision to port it to the Xbox 360. Of course, you never know...

Absolute Zero is Live

Absolute Zero officially began today, and an event site listing the kill count and unlockable rewards is now available. This event differs from recent ones in that much of the reward information is already displayed, but the kill counts required to earn the rewards is unknown.

In a move that I found to be surprising, Sega of Japan has decided that Absolute Zero will run for a ridiculous seven weeks, until January 21, 2011. That's just enough time to get bored with the event missions about five times over. Whatever happened to the short (i.e. month-long) events, anyway? Is Sega just trying to get players to hang around as long as possible?

Oh, and one last thing -- it seems the Xbox 360 is incapable of handling some of the Absolute Zero missions, as evidenced in this warning by PSU GM Edward. Apparently you might (read: will) experience massive slowdown in the first block of Frozen Flowers. According to Edward, the mission is "much better" by Block 2 (though I'm not really sure what that means).

Of course, to fix the slowdown problem, simply play the mission with the camera pointed at the ground the entire time. That's a lot of fun! Or, you could play the PC vers- oh, I'm sorry, I forgot -- you can't. What a shame.

For more information on Absolute Zero, check out the event page linked at the top of this post.

PSU Network Lag, Now and Forever

After several weeks of no updates, things might be temporarily looking up again on the US/EU PSU servers. Friday's maintenance period kicked off another GBR -- this time on the Guardians' Colony -- and added the autumn lobbies. Plus, with the Absolute Zero event looming on the horizon, there's some hope that players might be able to stay occupied through the holiday season.

However, it's not Sega's style to hold events without some kind of huge server issue, and it looks like we have the potential for another one here. For the last month, players have been reporting irritating lag spikes that have dropped whole universes in some cases.

Things were so bad last weekend that there were actually prolonged server outages. Compensation is planned but so far nothing has been announced.

Call me crazy, but I don't think it's too much to ask to be able to play a cooperative online game without fear of being randomly disconnected or dropped from the server "just because". PSU GMs have apparently been making an effort to pinpoint the problem by surveying users, but it's been almost a month now and very little has changed.

Periodic network outages and connection drops are nothing new, either. PSO: Blue Burst players will remember the infamous 906 errors that occurred for months leading up to the shutdown of those servers.

The bottom line is that Sega should be doing more to ensure that players don't leave the game because of annoying network problems. The upcoming event will bring idle players back, but only if Sega can get things in order before then.

PSO2 Console Versions Possible? Let's Hope Not

Yeah, I realize that I've been posting a lot of PSO2 news/comments on this blog lately. Any new PSO2 news is a lot more interesting than another PSU maintenance period skipped and another week of no new content.

So, on to the PSO2 news. Sega of Japan has posted job listings for software engineers looking to help develop Phantasy Star Online 2. (As a side note, this does not give me great confidence for a release anytime next year.)

Of particular interest are the qualifications required for the positions. According to the job listings, posted on Sega of Japan's corporate site and translated in a post on fansite PSO World, successful candidates will (among other things) have "experience in network game development for PC, PS3 and/or Xbox 360".

I found this to be a little troubling, since it indicates that Sega is at least considering console versions of PSO2. Such a decision could have disastrous effects on the success of the game in the West, primarily in regards to the international servers that many potential players (including this one) are hoping for.

So far, PSO2 has only been announced for the PC. Any console versions of the game that are announced could ruin the dream of international servers. A PS3 version of PSO2 does not necessarily mean certain doom, since PC and PS3 servers would probably be combined (as they were with PSU). However, if an Xbox 360 version of the game is announced, all bets are off. Microsoft's refusal to allow combined Xbox/PC/PS2/PS3 servers means that the server population would have to be split somehow. Of course, if that were to happen, Sega could break the population up into international PC/PS3 and international Xbox 360 servers. However, I think this scenario would be unlikely. Instead, I would expect regional servers and a return to the drama and infighting that made the PSU community so great.

Bottom line: Pray that Sega stays away from the consoles, especially Xbox 360, if you are hoping for worldwide servers.

There's also the issue of actual development. If Sega chose to release console versions of the game, which console would they use to develop the game? I won't care as long as Sega chooses the PC or the PS3. The Xbox 360 is the weakest link of the three platforms, and I think Sega would have a hard time making a really good-looking, expansive, next-generation game there.

Of course, this is all speculation. Sega may choose not to develop any console versions of the game at all. This is the smartest choice, but with Sega it's not a foregone conclusion. We can only wait, watch, and hope they get things right.