PSO v1 versus v2, which is the one to buy?

[krovellium]

So, I want to buy Phantasy Star Online. After some research, it seems there's two versions. Which one do i buy, and in addition, how can i tell if a disc only listing is NTSC-J or NTSC-U (USA)?
Thanks

[beanboy]

Buy the PSO v2, that is the one that is played online nowadays, by the dreamcast community.

[mazonemayu]

Apart from v2 is the one to play online, it also adds Ultimate difficulty with a bunch of extra’s. V1 is really obsolete at this point

[sonikkublue]

v2 is the one most people are playing now considering it's the most updated out of the two (as obvious as that may sound), so i'd say go for that version. i'm unsure if people do in fact play v1 online, but as far as i'm aware v2 is the one mostly used.

in regards to playing 'spot the region'...

NTSC-J games will have a mark similar to this on either side.



NTSC-U games will have this alongside the bottom.


for the sake of being throrough; PAL games will typically have this on the bottom.


it's not always consistent (sometimes the NTSC-U discs just say 'dreamcast'), but regardless i hope this helps a little bit in your search, and doubly so for your experiences playing PSO.

[Ragfish]

If you plan to play online, then definitely get V2. V1 and V2 players can play together, but most online rooms these days only allow V2 players to join, since some features aren't available if V1 players are allowed.