February 6^th, 2003 (12:00am) - Microsoft has announced that when SEGA’s Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II come out later this month, there will be a monthly fee. Much like the GameCube and Dreamcast versions, every month you’ll have to go to SEGA.com and purchase what’s called a Hunter’s License. They will cost $8.95. And unfortunately for some, you must have an XBOX Live account to even play the game. But there are a few good things to come out of this. First, the game is being published by Microsoft, and it’ll retail $10 bucks cheaper for $39.99, and you get 2 months of free online play, just to kinda test out the waters. Plus, us XBOX owners will be getting downloadable content, thanks to the hard-drive and broadband. And let’s not forget about voice-communication. Just in case you were wondering how the lobby-communication will work, you’ll be able to hear and talk to the nearest 7 people. Sounds fun. PSO is scheduled to ship on February 25th.