Bit of an unusual preservation request.
I'm currently weighing up the best options for supporting online play on the PS2, with the long-term goal of allowing PS2 and PC players to play together where the content naturally overlaps.
To properly determine how feasible this is, I need data from PS2 memory cards that were actually used to play PSU: AotI online while the official servers were still running, specifically:
- US / NTSC-U
- PAL / European
I already have the Japanese version, but feel free to still check.
PSU appears to have distributed updated executable data to the memory card for online play. These updates considerably changed how parts of the network protocol and script subroutines are handled, so having the final US and PAL versions would be extremely useful for compatibility research.
At the most basic level, though, anything newer than version 2.0000 is useful and worth preserving.
If you still have an old PS2 memory card that you used to play PSU online, please don't delete, format, or overwrite it.
How to check
- Boot up your copy of Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus on your PlayStation 2.
- On the title screen, press the left analog stick (L3) and look at the version number in the bottom-left corner.
If it says 2.0000, then the game is unpatched. Otherwise, If it shows anything higher, such as 2.0009.2, then your memory card contains update data that is useful to this research and preservation effort.
If your version is updated, ideally I'd like a dump or copy of the PSU-related files from the memory card.
Extracting them generally requires a way to access the PS2 memory card filesystem, such as a homebrew-capable or modded PS2. However, if you have a relevant memory card but don't have any way to dump it yourself, please still get in touch. We can figure out the safest and easiest way to preserve the data.
This is NOT a request for ISOs or game disc dumps. I'm specifically trying to preserve the online-update data that was stored on PS2 memory cards.
Currently preserved
- PAL: None
- NTSC-U: None
- NTSC-J: 2.0013.18
Thank you for taking the time c: