TGS 2008: Phantasy Star Portable Set for Ad-hoc Party

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is going to be launching with the beta of Sony's new free Ad-hoc Party service in Japan on October 30. Given the 2.5 million sales of the Capcom party-based online title, that's not too much of a surprise.

But the big question is, what will you do once you're tired of hunting monsters?

Sony gave a big hint at the answer today. In an official statement announcing the Ad-hoc Party service, Sony said that future titles would follow, lead off by Phantasy Star Portable.

We're not fully sure if this guarantees that Phantasy Star Portable is on the way, but it sounds like a good bet!

In case you weren't keeping up with Sony's Japanese announcements last month, Ad-Hoc Party lets PSP users play select ad-hoc-based network games against distant players using the PS3 as a proxy. The console provides a lobby interface, complete with voice and text-based chat.

Coinciding with today's announcement of the final starting point for the service, Sony also shared a few screens of the beta version of the PS3 client software.

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