Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

[Feba]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

I never said digital downloads are the best way for us. I said they're what's going to happen because they're the best for the people that are making money off it.

People will not rebel against digital downloads. Plenty of people like them, plenty dislike them, but that is not the point. The point is that video game releases are not a democratic process.

It's rather clear that I'm not supporting or opposing digital downloads. If you want to use a forum, you have to read what other people post.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

I don't believe its GOING to happen. If the majority of people don't buy the Go because they don't like digital d/l's then it will go absolutely nowhere. A lot of what is going to happen hinges on how well the PSP Go sells. If it sells well then people are accepting digital d/l's and you'll see even more companies jumping on the bandwagon. If it doesn't sell well because people would rather have a physical copy then you'll see discs around for a while yet. Years from now though, who knows.

[Feba]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

actually, I think the Go is pretty irrelevant. PSP digital downloads in general, sure, but there are plenty of reasons to be opposed to the Go other than the digital distribution stuff. For a lot of people, buying a cheap PSP-3000 and a memory stick is going to be a much better use of their money, but with all of the same digital download benefits.

And I think digital distribution is pretty inevitably going to be a major method of release, with UMD being considered the 'mass market' medium, and downloads generally released. Possibly, UMDs will be distributed like digital content through PSN, but with kiosks to burn them on to a disk. This might be an easy way to make up for the cost of UMD distribution (maybe add a surcharge, definitely don't wind up with tons of dead stock), as well as potentially stopping the resale market.

But look at iTunes. Largest music seller in the US, and the iPhone's app store is very successful. Enough people are definitely ready for digital distribution, it's just a matter of time until that happens in gaming like it has happened in music. Of course, music has advantages -- much smaller file size, digital content is less likely to become damaged and unplayable (plenty of people listen to music while jogging, where CDs are nigh unacceptable compared to the small size of an mp3 player. Nobody runs while playing PSP.), and generally being smaller, individual purchases instead of long, large, expensive things; but the general principle of people not requiring physical media is well cemented.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

I think right now digital distribution of games is walking a fine line. They offer mostly older games that people might already own but don't want to haul out another system or don't own the system for. People are buying for nostalgia. I really don't know the numbers but I don't see digital downloads taking off as fast as I thought they would. I really thought it would have put a huge dent in retail sales by now. I do think that the Go is going to be a huge indication of how the digital distribution market is going to go. If it sells well (baring people hacking it for homebrew), they will have to d/l the games thus accepting digital downloads. The more people that are accepting of this distribution means the more we'll see of it. Possibly having Nintendo jumping on the bandwagon by offering full d/ls of games. (I don't think they would release a system that only accepts digital d/l's because they are a lot more cautious.)

It's all speculation and we'll see what happens in the next few years. I don't like digital d/l's and I will definately shy away from them for full price games. I have bought several little games on my 360 and PS3 but spending $60 on a d/l really makes me cringe.

[Feba]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

Yes, that's probably another reason iTunes does so well. The iPod is a fashion product, and if you want music on your ipod, there's either the painful process of buying a CD and slowly ripping it, or the option of spending 99 cents online and practically INSTANTLY having more music. If music came on, say, SD cards, which the iPod accepted, iTunes might have failed. Still, to most consumers, it's probably a matter of which is the biggest hassle. If UMD disks annoy you more, you'll probably go for DD; if you have a slow connection, or you like having physical manuals, or the ability to return and resell games, you'll probably stick with UMD.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

Good point about the slow connection. I know I take for granted my stable fairly quick connection so for people that don't have the luxury it would really be a pain. It could be a big reason that digital d/l's aren't quite taking off as fast as I thought.

[Firewind]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

I don't see digital distribution taking off in the immediate future largely due to these three reasons:

1) The download market is still really a niche market. Sure it creates a bigger profit margit but that it redundant really when the majority of digital media sales are still from those who buy from a storefront.

2) There still is a stigma attached to downloading and people who do so largely due to the witch hunt level of paranoia over digital piracy. There are also very few countries that have the connection speeds and infrastructure to deliver it. Japan, France and the USA (and maybe Canada)are really the only counrties that currently have the ability to support this.

3) DRM causes more tharm to digital distribution than it solves/ Nobody is going to want to pay for multiple copies of say a movie just so it can be played on multiple movie players. Untill DRM has gone for good I can't see people willing to do this.

Really Bethesda have the right idea with DRM. They don't even bother with CD Keys because of how useless it all is in the big picture. Thier official DLC can also be used on as many PCs as you want (though the DLC for the 360 version of the game is as restrictive as Steam's DRM but I don't know why you would ever buy a Bethesda game on a console anyway)

[Feba]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

1) The download market is still really a niche market.

I really don't see this at all. iTunes is the number one music store in America. XBLA, PSN, and Wii Shop have all been highly successful; as has the iPhone's App Store, and download services that cell phone companies provide. Again, these are dealing in smaller units, and not full retail games, but that can probably be aptly compared to books and movies-- NetFlix does a significant portion of their business through streaming video, I believe, and I'm not sure if Amazon has managed yet to meet Kindle demand.

2) There still is a stigma attached to downloading and people who do so largely due to the witch hunt level of paranoia over digital piracy.

Wait, wait, what? Are you saying that people are afraid of legal, paid for, and reputable download services, like iTunes or PSN, because people also download files illegally through completely different channels? Where in the world did you get that idea?

And I don't know what you've heard about the US' internet service, but quite a bit of the rural areas have little choice but dial up still, and even in towns and cities you're lucky to find a decent provider.

3) DRM causes more tharm to digital distribution than it solves/ Nobody is going to want to pay for multiple copies of say a movie just so it can be played on multiple movie players.

Sure, but this isn't really a problem in the context of the PSP, at least. You can have up to five consoles playing the same game at any one time (and plenty of people set up shared accounts to disperse the costs of buying games for exactly this reason), AND you can unlink a console from the account if you ever give it away, sell it, replace it, retire it, and so on. So it's very easy to transfer yourself and your games over to your new system.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

I don't really have an attachment to buying physical copies of games unless there's a bonus involved. I have lots of DSiWare stuff already and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. if I lose the data, Nintendo will let me have it again.

Music is pretty much the only case where I can see an attachment to a format. People still love vinyl, its warm sound and its ability to be manipulated and you can't get those qualities from MP3 and CD. No one on earth wants to willingly go back to cassette tapes, either.

And OK, eBooks. Very few people like them. Sure, its sounds nice on paper, saves the trees and all that. But reading books off a screen isn't exactly easy on the eyes. I like the real book. Just replant some trees after you chop 'em down.

But games and movies? I don't have an attachment to discs. My life would be better without them, this way my family can't guilt me about how many games I buy when they come to visit because they can't see those games on my shelves.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

And OK, eBooks. Very few people like them. Sure, its sounds nice on paper, saves the trees and all that. But reading books off a screen isn't exactly easy on the eyes. I like the real book. Just replant some trees after you chop 'em down.

Untrue. I am prone to migraines so I'm very sensitive to eye strain. I mostly read eBooks. I love my Sony eBook and prefer it over a standard book. The convenience is phenomenal, its easy to read, no eye strain, and the only issues I have with mine is no light (which in the newer version they have one built in) and it only supports very crude graphics. I think if more people had the cash to spend on a decent eBook and the knowledge of how to use it, it would be much more popular.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

[ame="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa8kd8_persona-3-opening-psp_videogames"]Dailymotion - Persona 3 - Opening - PSP - une vidéo Jeux vidéo@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xa8kd8_persona@@AMEPARAM@@xa8kd8_persona[/ame]

Here's the current trailer of the new intro to Persona 3. Apparently there is going to be some new music by Meguro in this game, but so far, its only this intro and the female protagonist's battle theme that have new music. I always enjoy more Meguro music, though.

Some other changes in the female path are that Igor appears with a male assistant that replaces Elizabeth. That and the aformentioned alterations to the Social Links and now the combat system from Persona 4, though hopefully they retain the weapon system from P3.

It was shown on PSPGo at Gamescon, so there's confirmation there will be both versions upon release.

The trailer was kinda James Bond-esque, but it needed more Mitsuru in it

EDIT: Another little tidbit - Apparently there's even more new event music to accompany the female protagonist's path on top of the usual battle theme.

Kinda makes me sad to think there's a version of the game without "Mass Destruction," though, apparently its only on the male path now. "Burn my Dread" seems to stay where it's supposed to, though.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

Few new updates on the game:

They appear to have cut many of the 3D areas used for social links, possibly even the classroom sequences as well. They've been replaced with 2D stills. I suppose this was done to keep as much audio and anime cutscenes as they could. Its not really a huge loss, but it did add some atmosphere to the previous versions. Since the fatigue system is gone, you wouldn't get to enjoy the effect of sleeping through class anyway.

The Female Protagonist's story appears to be going in a different direction than the male character's. While the social links were obviously going to get a rearrange, I suppose this is to preserve the integrity of the Male Protagonist's story and endings. The core adventure will most likely be fairly similar, but a new direction for the Female Character should make that path interesting to returning players.

Of the tracks unveiled so far, the female's tracks are a bit lighter and more poppy than the male character's, which are more hip-hop/rock.

New Social link characters appear to have been added as well. You can pick Igor's assistant from the start on either character. They're both creepy at the end of the day, but I suppose that's nice. Elizabeth is cute in an alien kind of way.

Amidst all the Persona 4 renovations, Persona 3 will retain its weapons system, meaning piercing, slashing and blunt-type damage will still matter in combat.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

TGS came and went, Atlus' presence was rather minimal. P3P was there and a couple new social links for the female were revealed, one of them the Female Protagonist's replacements for the Hermit social link and the other for the Chariot social links.

I doubt anything could match the awesome of the Male Protagonist's Hermit Social Link, though.

Otherwise, the demo there seemed to only prove what we've already come to learn - Altus listens to its customers.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

P3P PERSONA3 PORTABLE

This is the trailer from TGS, its similar to the previous trailer, but with a lot of the actual PSP content cut into it. You can see a lot of the 3D maps have indeed been cut from the game, replaced by 2D overhead maps. There appears to be a new double team attack in addition to All-Out Attacks, which I'm going to assume has something to do with Social Links. Character busts also seem to be larger and more prominant in dialogs (no, I'm not talking about breasts).

The male protagonist doesn't seem to be left out in additions, either there's evidence of it in the beach scene for those that have played. There appear to be new characters along his path as well.

New costumes have been revealed for female characters (like a Ms. Santa Claus suit), along with new weapons, though they seem sort of silly. Then again, I did start out Persona 4 swing a golf club instead of a sword, so I guess a pool cue isn't a stretch.

They also seem to have made a point in making some connections to Persona 4, mostly for the fun of it, it seems. They already had a wink and a nod to Persona 2 originally, so this comes as no surprise.

[Tickmeoff]

Re: Persona 3 coming to PSP - Now with female protagonist

Derp

Game was leaked today.