http://ps2.ign.com/articles/614/614698p1.html

First big news about anything relating the .hack series in some time. Going to pin this topic up to continue the discussion of the next installment of the .hack series. I'm sure this makes plenty of .hack fan happy that this game has been announced.

This.. this is great news. I haven't played the third or forth game yet. I have them, but I'm lazy. Still. The world of .Hack is interesting and i'm sure Bandai knows that fans of the series wnat more. Damn... I'm actually glad now. Seriously nice find, Eva. THIS was something I didn't expect at all.

Yeah this is indeed great news. I wonder what it's about this time? Or if it uses a completely different game engine from the regular games? That would be something to see.

I'll keep my eyes open for this now.
Thanks for the info.

Updating. Hack trailer. =)

Pics from Magic box. =)

Trailer is pretty cool. =) Be sure to check it out. It appears to be a 'good' change from the older stuff we've seen in the original. =)

May 18:


Good to see the next .Hack is in the makings. Not much was reavealed, but I'm excited to see what they do with this one and see if they ever make it an actual MMORPG.

May 16:


So are you guys excited about Kites new look? What are your opinions?

there is info here

Here are two screen shots.




Looks pretty good. I'm going to check out the trailer in a bit.
So that's Kite? I hope Tsukasa and Mimiru are in the game too.

I also found this picture.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/2...20/e3_ban33.htm

G.U. seem to be made up of three games, because three games are in the works. Good thing to hear is unlike the original .hack series, G.U. games won't be completely linear and dependent on one another. . Unique characters and environments will be introduced for each game, and music will change, unlike in the original series, which is good news.

The first G.U. been in the works for some time and should be complete. It's already bigger the all four original games, which isn't saying much for the originals, but saying a lot for the new .hack title.

Interesting news so far about G.U..

I am so happy about the new DotHack//U.G game coming out for the PS2. I had found info on the net that said Bandi did not want to continue the series because it was not popular enough. I could not belive waht that website said because a lot of the students at my high school know what Dot Hack is and a lot have played the original PS2 games. I have had the games for a while and have beat them but I still keep playing them. 3 diffrent games with diffrent characters, levels, and music sounds good because it will provide 3 diffrent stories insted of the story that spanned the 4 games on the PS2. Will they also be making a new TV series? I love Dot Hack and I am happy to see that I was right about them making another game
andrew_johnson4@juno.com

Yah, the new game sounds really nice. Hopefully they will release it sometime soon. I heard rummors that they were goin to release it in the summer or early spring next yr but i think thats japan only. If you watch the movie on the bandi site and pause it at just the right time you will notice different meanings for what G.U. could stand for. Im suprised also that .hack wasnt popular, almost every one of my friends knows about this game. Maybe someday in the next couple years they might make a TV show based off the game to replace Legend of the Twililight(seen it about 9 times already)

I hope they change the battle system if its so 'similar' I might just have to hang myself by the time I get to game two but from what I see so far it looks pretty cool.

It would be cool if it was a real action game with a combat system instead of a RPG that would be sweeter that cherry pie on a sunday in mexico

Wow, I must certainly didn't see this one coming. But, nevertheless, it's amazing.

Does anyone know where this takes place in the series? I know it's after the four games, but would it be before Legend of the Twilight Bracelet, or after? Balmung makes reference to the "incident," in LotTB, saying that the original .hackers (kite and co.) fixed The World four years prior to Shugo finding Aura.

This looks a lot darker than the previous games. It looks like all the series are using that scheme. I just hope it doesn't hit EVERY series, and become something that's popular, and therefore unoriginal.

Perhaps this means that the MMORPG of .hack will come around as well.

EDIT: noticed this:

Skeith: Haseo
Innis: Atoli
Magus: Kuhn
Fidchell: Yata
Gorre: Sakubo
Macha: Endrance
Tarvos: Pai
Corbenik: Ovan

I noticed that 2... plus you actually SEE ovan in the trailer

I'm trying to refresh my memory, but when kite defeated the last phase, did it mention anything about the main villian of everything, morganna, being destroyed?

If not, then it would explain why the 8 phases are back, except now they are in human form (I believe this 'evil' kite has been taken over by morganna, and data drains people, and uses there body to brin back the phases, like what she did to sora in .hack//sign)

This post contains some spoilers from the games, and some theories as to what all of this is. If you don't like spoilers, don't read. =p




Okay, just saw the trailer, and here are some things I noticed.

A# - the musical note. If I remember correctly, in Liminality, one of the girls( Mai Minase) heard that sound before Seigfried (her boyfriend, Tomonari Kasumi) went into a coma, and before she entered that coma-like state. She heard it again, when she and the older man(Junichiro Tokuoka, oddly enough, a former member of the CCCorp) were fighting against Skeith, I think it was. So, I guess it's safe to say that when the AIDAs data-drain, it can be heard then, as well. Which means that perhaps they really are from Morganna.

Some things that GU stood for in the trailer. They went by quickly, but I managed to find a site with them written down. "Graceless Universe", "Graceless Union", "Guilty Universe", "Geeks Utopia", "Guide to an Uprising", "Gateway Utopia", "Genesis of Ultima", "Gate of Urobosos", and "Guardian Ubiquitos."

Note the "Geeks Utopia." I think that's a shot at the players.

Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground makes a return, with a Kite/virus/thing. It wouldn't be the first time this evil Kite has appeared, he was also in the last volume of the Legend of the Twilight manga. Even if it was for just a page, actually it looks like two, and just a side-story thing, he's there, and it looks like he data-drains Balmung.

Here's a picture. Viral Kite

I think it was Haseo, but he went from being a twinblade one moment, during his fight with the Kite look-alike, to being a blademaster the next. Maybe that means that other people can dual-class this time around? It certainly looks like it, seeing as Haseo looks like he's the main character.

Something else. Player Killing is back, and it looks huge. In Fragment (the game before The World) PKing was do-able, and it was the same in .hack//sign. But, in the four games, it was taken out. This could lead to some very interesting things in the storyline. It basically allows for rivals...which would be dissapointing, because what RPG doesn't have rivals these days?

I know I said it before, but I have a feeling that this will be HUGE.

The Terror of Death- Skeith: Haseo
The Mirage of Deceit- Innis: Atoli
The Propagation- Magus: Kuhn
The Prophet- Fidchell: Yata
The Machinator- Gorre: Sakubo
The Temptress- Macha: Endrance
The Avenger- Tarvos: Pai
The Rebirth- Corbenik: Ovan

It looks like those aren't the AIDAs, but perhaps AIDA takes place of Aura? If they're playable characters (as it looks from the trailer, Haseo goes through a rebirth, thanks to Ovan, perhaps it's like Kite's rebirth when he gets the bracelet from Aura?) then it would give a few answers.

With all of these recurring things, does this mean that a third Pluto's Kiss could happen? A second one was stopped, if I remember correctly, but Leos still had decided to classify it as the second Pluto's Kiss. A third one seems likely.

Bah, now I'm all anxious about this game... I'll have more when I can think of some about a few more things, or when I re-watch sign, re-play the games, and re-read LotTB again.

EDIT: added the names from Liminality, and a Pluto's Kiss idea.

And the statue of aura is gone, so that means that kite might have taken her place (Aura was part of the morgana system, it was the first thing that morganna created to 'feel' things, she then felt that aura had to much power, and had done her purpose, hence she created the phases, and hence why we see skeith attack aura)

Well, think game should be good, they should have brought it for X-Box as well, then fans of .Hack would have been satisfied with X-Box live features, I mean they really could have done alot on the x-box.

Meh, I don't care, I have the PS2 (thank god they are briniging it to the PS2, I wont be able to get the PS3 for awhile )

Thanks for the deep insight and details, Verner!

Stuff from RPGLand.com and Gamespot.com:

*Source*

Now, with that said, I want to know more about these OTHER projects rather than GU. Like, what's the one coming out before it? And what are the anime things? Will they be just the GU story, or something taking place in the real world like //Liminality?

GAH there are too many questions now >_<

Has seen the new manga comin out before GU called //AI Buster(i think)

http://www.hack.channel.or.jp/flash.html

.Hack//GU Site launched. I'm pretty sure this is late since I catch the opening of this site on another forum I visit every so often. The site is a flash, has two screen, a trailer and very nice tune playing the entire time you're viewing the flash.

is this site complete sure seeems empty ive areayd seen it before tho

HEY EVERYONE!!! this is sooo cool but i have something if you didnt look at it already! i just skimmed over the rest but read ,ost o fthe good stuff...

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/622/622135p1.html

That trailer was awesome all the fighting and such. I have not beat Outbreak and Quarantine yet, but im definetly excited for this new series. I wonder what season will come with the games this time. The .hack series always seem to be so different from all the other games I have played. The simulation that your actually playing an mmorpg is definely part of it. The bosses all are unique and usually challenging.

The trailer's all buggy on my computer... I think it's trying to tell me that it's outdated.

From what I saw in the trailer, looks interesting... just wish they'd allow you to create the main character, rather than being forced to play what they want you to....

For some reason the good version of the trailer just sucks, i had to watch the smaller one, even though my computer should certainly run any trailer.

You're missing the best parts of the story

Also, stock up on all kinds of Virus cores when playing part 3...especially G, C, and D. Part 4 asks for a ton of those >_<

when i first saw the trailor i asumed that kites character data had become an a.i ...and it would be able to last i think scince the charcter data cand be deledted because of the braclet...(asuming that the person that played kite dosent play "the world" any more and that the braclet stayed with the character data) if im right i guess that has somthing to do with morganna too.

Does nobody back read?

That isn't Kite, read .hack//Legend of the Twilight, at the end of the third book, you see the SAME Kite look-alike, about to Data Drain Balmung, Balmung also makes note that that isn't Kite, and he sends an e-mail to Orca, warning him about it (or at least, I assume he does, since he shouts his name). Anyway, I posted the picture in this thread some time back.

For some reason, I don't think the players are the same as the Wave anymore. I mean, I do, but I don't think they have the same drive to destroy The World. Perhaps they're acting as a Wave does, and are just "cleansing" The World. Cleaning it out or something to that effect. I'm still not sure, but I'm getting tired of waiting for this game. =\

Yes, I remember that, it does say that is not Kite, and I would type what they said if I wasn't so lazy..XD But this game sounds so awesome! I am soo sick of waiting too, must be all of what we who are sick of waiting, (which is almost every .Hack// fan ), heard, but anyway, this game sounds awesome, can't wait >.<

Yeah really its not kite, go to the G.U. website, it says all new characters, theres nothing much there but heres the site not sure if anyone posted it already or not but o well. http://www.dothack.com/flash.html. Not much now but im sure if you check on it every now and then they will update it. And also guys keep in mind its not just kite, if your going to say that you can at least leave the idea of shugo, he after all did have the same character model.

This is truly interesting. What I don't understand is how the phases are now players, considering players log off the world and have a real life...Well..are suppose to, but somethin tells me only Haseo could..and Kite was sure to take care of that, and the new villian is probably ether a spin off of Morganna that has virus forms of players around...or..Kite has lost it XD, ether way works. I am really lookin forward to this one, good to know that Bandai is still doin .hack.

I tried to find out what the katikana, kanji, and hinigana (I think that's how they're spelled) said, but I had little or no luck.

The one with the person on the floor was uwaaaatsu, I couldn't find anything, but the second and third parts under Kite had something to do with trying to steal or something, it didn't convert all the katikana and hinigana, but it also might have said someting about Tiger (that could be the person's name??).

I hope this helped you out, but I spent 1 and 1/2 hours on it. (Don't buy the Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary from Random House, It didn't have most of the words from the .hack//SIGN ending theme.)

This is something I found at

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/622/622135p1.html

I hope you will find this VERY helpful. I think the cause might be a descendant of the lady from .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT anime

June 3, 2005 - Bandai officially unveiled the next entry in the .hack series at E3, but failed to share solid details on the game. Today, thanks to the latest issue of Famitsu, we have the details that fans of the successful anime/game cross production have been demanding.


.hack//G.U. continues last year's debut mini series with a brand new set of characters and a storyline set in 2017, seven years after the first .hack incident. The game's setting remains the same -- the mysterious "The World" (also known as the "Net") virtual reality world. However, everything in The World, from its monsters to its stages and jobs, has been wiped clean. The player population of The World has also dropped to 12 million from the 20 million who played when the original story took place.
The main character in G.U. is Haseo. Joining him is TriAge, who resembles the original's main character somewhat. Specifics on the game's storyline haven't been revealed, but it is known that something big happens in the seven year gap between the end of the original .hack series and the start of G.U..

So what does the G.U. part of the title mean? The theme of .hack//G.U. is "Grow Up." The game's characters and the drama will "Grow Up," meaning they will advance as the game progresses -- the characters rising in statistics and the drama unfolding. In addition to this, there are 12 hidden meanings of "Grow Up," which players will encounter as they work through the game.

Developer CyberConnect2 is once again taking helm on the development of this .hack successor. The game's director, Hiroshi Matsuyama, continues his work from the original. He comments to Famitsu that care is being taken to add more drama each individual release in the new series. Matsuyama also points out that the development staff has been working hard to on the game's graphics engine, which they hope will provide a new form of visualization that's not quite comic and not quite anime.

The original series was noted for its cross promotions, with a .hack anime DVD included with each of its four releases. Similar cross-media promotions will be announced for G.U. at the game's proper Japanese unveiling in the near future. Matsuyama reveals that, as part of that effort, CyberConnect2 is working on another .hack game whose release will precede G.U.. Details will be revealed shortly.

Bandai has opened up a website for .hack//G.U.. Check out the site for screens and the E3 trailer.

We'll have to wait a bit for this next .hack title. Development is currently at 60% with a Japanese release not planned until 2006.

Kite's new look? No, that isn't Kite...

The game is actually called Gates of Uroboros...

Good bits of info from the right source. All of this is true



Known GU facts.

It's a sequel to the games which takes place 7 years after the games

There are 3 "G.U." games(unlikes INFECTIONS-QuARANTINE), all 3 are suppose to be full-length games.

The original ALTIMIT OS has upgraded to the new "ALTIMIT MINE OS"

The Phases' Names appear(They're players we don't know why yet):
The Terror of Death - Haseo"Main Character"
The Mirage of Deceit - Atoli"Related to Haseo"
The Propagation - Kuhn
The Prophet - Yata
The Machinator - Sakubo
The Temptress - Endrance"Cat character again"
The Avenger - Pai
The Rebirth - Ovan"Supposely invites Haseo to "The World" after he was DD'ed

Player Killing is back. (Supposely banned during the time of the Games.)

Main Character is obviously a PK(Player Killer). As shown in the teaser trailer.

ADIA(Artificially Intelligent Data Anomaly) is some new weird unknown force in the game.

The Evil Looking Kite's Name is Tri-Edge.

The many meanings of GU(shown in the trailer):
Graceless Union
Guilty Universe
Geek's Utopia
Guide to an Uprising
Gate of Uroboros
Great Inquisition
Gate of Ultima
Generation of Unison
Guardian Ubiquitos
Genesis of Ultima
Gateway Utopia
Grow Up

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/651/651083p1.html

So, you can use the save files from the original four games in GU. No information when you can use the save files, but you will not be able to use them right away, meaning the start of the game, but at some point during the game.

http://www.dothackers.net/

You can download the trailer of GU that was shown during Tokyo Game Show from that site.

Looks pretty damn impressive.

New pictures and info here here.

And here as well. (a bit older though)

- Bandai announced the PS2 RPG .hack // G.U. will be released in 3 separate volumes in 2006. In the game the protagonist Haseo is a Player Killer in The World, he kills other players in the game for fun, but one day he encountered the Player Killer Killer, who is coming take him out of The World.

.hack // G.U. Vol. 1 Saitan (Resurrection)
.hack // G.U. Vol. 2 Kimisou Fu Koe
.hack // G.U. Vol. 3 Aruku Youna Hayasa de

It's looking pretty good so far. And I'll check out the TGS trailer in a bit.
I think this might be the player killer they were talking about?



-Edit-
Actually, after watching the trailer, it's probably Kite who is the player killer out to remove him from the game.
But why does he use Data Drain? That seems quite extreme.

Weird, why are the characters have the name like 'Terror of Death' and others? Are they reincarnations? Doubt it, but why though?

And what's with evil Kite? I know his mission was to delete all the phases, so is it now that they are called 'The Rebirth' and etc, that Evil Kite wants to delete them?
(Haha, I'm just saying what I think, actually I haven't read the second page)

Oh, yeah, in one of the pics, I noticed in battle, there would be 'Tension'?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After viewing the trailer, I was mesmerized~

Especially the last part when Haseo seems unable to control the power within him, or whatever is in him, and transform into Skeith.

Ok, if he can, doesn't that mean others can too? But I noticed that this version of Skeith has been modified. His appearances, I mean. Maybe I was wrong, but he seems to be lot better in looks. '

So, that Evil Kite, is it a virus, or is it a player?



Oh yeah, I noticed that..

It is Graceless Unison, not Union.

And The Gathering of the Unwilling is not in the list.

Anyway, what do they mean actually?

On September 16th, Ban-Dai announced at the Tokyo Game Show more information about .hack//G.U. although nothing more is on the www.dothack.com website.

There is also a new and cooler video clip at www.dothack.com so if anyone is reading this, yeah.

This is what was said on www.dothack.com:

The story of growth and determination of 8 players as they progress through 2 worlds, the actual world (Reality) and the game world (The World).
In 2017 AD, the number of people participating in the MMORPG "The World" reaches 12 million people.

People have come to this world seeking prosperity; however what they found was not the utopian world they were seeking.

Roaming PK's (Player-Killers) and disputes among countless numbers of guilds occur; along with the appearance of puzzling phenomenon that should not exist.

In here, the system managers have no control over the events that are occurring...

Hardware: PS2
Genre: RPG
Release Date: TBD
MSRP: TBD

Once I find out more I will post more on this board.

http://www.hack.channel.or.jp/gu/main.html

I 'think' it might have been updated, so if someone can read jap, can someone translate the character's bio for me?

Well, now there's gun, and we can change weapon, what more can I ask? Even the Haseo is black and red, my favorit colours.

And is it me, or did a character in the trailer said something like 'Haseo, PKK'? Well, anything related to that. But what's Player Killer Killer? Does it means a player which kills another player killer? Can someone tell me if this 'Player killing is allowed? I'm confused.... @__@; And how come 'The Temptress' is male? I was thinking of, probably a female.



I thought Haseo was the PKK? I mean, someone said PKK when that Evil Kite was not around.

No, I think Haseo would be the PK (Player Killer), while someone else appears and decides to kill the Player Killer. Hence PKK (Player Killer Killer)

I'm now watching the trailers again and again, or, 'hearing' what they said, is a better word.

Anyway, another thing crossed my mind. Is it me, or did Haseo said 'Skeith' at the end of the trailer? (The trailer with the Evil Kite, and the one where he transformed) Or was Haseo merely shouting?

Sorry for posting short messages, they just keep coming, one after another.

Yeah I noticed that too. He seems to be screaming:

"Skeith, I'm right here!!"

And then he transforms into Skeith.

Watching the trailer again, and then I noticed one simple thing:-

What does the marks on Haseo's face mean? You'll noticed that the marks on his face changed when he's not equipping his full black armour, or maybe is just that the Evil Kite destroyed the armour with Data Drain.

And I need someone to translate the part, where Haseo met the Evil Kite? Evil Kite draws his weapon, then there were scenes like flashbacks, and I saw Haseo without his armor, and Atori along with him. Then Haseo got mad because of some reasons. That part!

(Oh yeah, is the cat on Endrance's shoulder connected to Mia somehow? I mean. Endrance is the Temptress...)

(Is it confirm that the Evil Kite' name is Tri-Edge? Of course, that symbol on Evil Kite's hate / cap is different too.)

Haven't either of you seen the subbed trailer? I kinda helps.
It helps point out Who is the PK and who is the PKK (Haseo).

No. Is there? Can you list the link?

(Ha, I was right, Haseo is the PKK. )

there indeed is a translated version, I'll tell you where it is as soon as I find where I got it.

Edit: I got it at IGN during TGS, but it seems that they don't have it anymore.

Kites so awesome ^.^ I mean really though when he started walking toward Haseo I was ''OOOO your gonna get your ass kicked'' His suit is kinda torn though??

It's not Kite! It's Tri-edge. There's probably is a connection, but they definitly aren't one and the same. Also, Haseo is a good guy. He's the PKK.

Tri-edge? interesting, where did you read that?
And how come this person has the Twilight Bracelet?

http://www.dothackers.net/triedge.jpg

At www.dothackers.net, you'll find something new, mainly pics. There are 3 pics that interest me most, and that are those with characters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The links I posted earlier, don't work, so no use posting them. Just go to www.dothackers.net )