Xenogears on PSN!

[Malacite]

Xenogears mechs its way to PSOne Classics this week | Joystiq

Just when we were about to give up on Square Enix, melting all our intricate Final Fantasy figurines in protest of the company's lack of offerings on the North American PSN, we receive a ray of hope. PlayStation Blog has announced that Xenogears -- which has been available on the Japanese PSN since June 2008 -- will arrive on the U.S. PlayStation Store with its next update this coming Tuesday.

We'll still need a few more PSOne RPGs to come our way before we stop being so totally mad at Square Enix -- but if memory serves, Xenogears is something of a lengthy affair. Maybe it'll be enough to distract us from our unbridled rage for a month or two.

Awesome, sweet news if I ever need to download it (I'm fortunate to have a working copy in the original case ^^)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Joystiq could stand to read up on Sony's archaic process for getting these games on PSN, to say nothing of SCEA's absolutely retarded release scheduling philosophy. They literally drip-feed us PSOne RPGs because they want them to release in a time where no other PSOne RPGs will compete with it.

They're fucking decade+ old games and they allot a pittance of a team to the task of sorting out licensing, royalties and testing these emulated versions before even getting them out. It takes like nine months, maybe longer just for one game to get through the paces because Sony puts so few people to the task.

I mean, this shit isn't going to get any easier, they need to set up a better infrastructure for this stuff now because only more games are going to be downloadable in the future - especially considering they seem to like to cut and run on backward compatibility or even cross-platform compatibility. Xperia Play is already dead to the hardcore gamer simply because they have to repurchase PSN games again - and that phone isn't even out yet. They told us this Playstation Suite stuff was going to be platform-agnostic, but Xperia Play already contradicts that.

SE has likely already done their part for their games - submitted the source code. I'm fairly sure Sony just sits on this stuff and does nothing because their teams for it are so undermanned its pathetic and they don't want to make it any kind of priority because if we're buying older games, then we're not buying the newer ones.

Same with Nintendo and VC stuff, really, except I think Sony sort of hopes people aren't that interested in PSOne Classics.

[Kailea]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

the more I see getting a real copy is not going to happen, I think I will bit the bullet and get this, and count it on my collection of SE games.

I have slowly started to acept digital downloads, and have started to allow them to be counted in my collection. The only rule I have for them is that it can be played on one of the systems, no PC downloads count.

[Armando]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Bbq, can you give me some links to back up your claims? I'm interested in reading more.

Never been a fan of giving other companies money to emulate a game for me anyways. I think having to pay for the exact same game twice is silly, but paying for an emulated version is sillier still. If you want my money, make it a legitimate port and slap on some extras (maybe redo the translation.)

That aside, Xenogears is still full of win. Suffered from many of the same pitfalls as RPGs of that era (random battles, stupidly high encounter rates, shallow battle system when not on the Gears) but the plot is amazing.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

PSone Classics: Where We All Stand – PlayStation.Blog.Europe

It essentially proves why Sony should have never abandoned compatibility for PS2 games in the first place. There's just so much that goes on here that even doing HD collections is a sticky proposition for anything that wasn't a huge mainstream franchise.

[Absentia]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

I suppose I'm glad I got my PS3 when it still had PS2 backwards compatibility.

It's cool that they finally are releasing this for PSOne Classics, and I enjoy scrolling through that section to see what's there, but for games that I really want I'll probably still buy hard copies of said games so for me this kind of thing isn't a big concern.

[Malacite]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

I suppose I'm glad I got my PS3 when it still had PS2 backwards compatibility.

Likewise, though I can't even finish my run of Star Ocean 3 because that one particular game, out of all the others I own, overheats the shit out of my PS3 for some reason. This was an issue brought to Sony's attention years ago several times by consumers and was repeatedly ignored. They told us that they had fixed the problem/it never existed or some BS.


Really, really getting sick of Sony's bullshit policies. Love their products, hate their service/policies (they're very lucky PSN is free and relatively lag-free or they'd really be up shit creek)

[Absentia]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Likewise, though I can't even finish my run of Star Ocean 3 because that one particular game, out of all the others I own, overheats the shit out of my PS3 for some reason. This was an issue brought to Sony's attention years ago several times by consumers and was repeatedly ignored. They told us that they had fixed the problem/it never existed or some BS.


Really, really getting sick of Sony's bullshit policies. Love their products, hate their service/policies (they're very lucky PSN is free and relatively lag-free or they'd really be up shit creek)

Is that an issue with the PS3s that have the PS2 engine in them, or the PS3s with the PS2 emulator?

[Malacite]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Mine's an original 60 GB model.

[Tickmeoff]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Eh.

Already own 2 copies that both work fine and have 3 consoles I could play them in.

Also herp a derp paying for games that you could emulate easily.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Also herp a derp paying for games that you could emulate easily.

Let's see here, $10 to just download and play it or hours of my life flushed down the fucking toilet just to get an emulator to play one game right.

I'll just pay the $10, thanks.

While I might not like the time Sony takes with getting PSOne classics out, it just so happens that the code to each game is a unique and special snowflake that interacts with a hardware standard differently. With different PC architectures merely emulating the real hardware, all the unique and special quirks that code have come out to play in ways I could not have fathomed when I was just sticking a game in the PSOne's tray. So I'm rather happy to have someone else endure that nonsense for me.

Also, LOL @ pirate morality. Herp a derp indeed.

[Armando]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Let's see here, $10 to just download and play it or hours of my life flushed down the fucking toilet just to get an emulator to play one game right.

It takes at most 15 minutes to set up a PSX emulator and maybe an extra 15 to find the BIOS. It's definitely not going to take more than 1 hour, let alone multiple hours, and you only need to do it once. You flush much more time down the toilet losing those $10 per game, since you're probably like the rest of us and have to work for your money. All so you can get an emulator from Sony (which they may not have made themselves) that won't let you change its options and a ROM that'll only work on PS3/PSP.

If you wanna play the morality card go ahead, but the time argument is ridiculous.

[Malacite]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

Eh, $5~10 is a small price to pay. Anymore than that and they can stick up their ass.

Which is why I'm curious about PS2 games showing up on PSN eventually - if they ever do. Lord knows I ain't forking out $15 a title.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

If you wanna play the morality card go ahead, but the time argument is ridiculous.

A person can't make the time = money argument when they're helping themselves to someone else's work, though.

However, in Tickmeoff's mind, it seems SE doesn't have the right to any money because the game is old. Why pay for something you can "emulate easily?" Though Tick seems a tad confused, he owns two copies of the game but seems to suggest people should just emulate rather than pay.

I pay because I want to see the industry have a stronger infrastructure for digital distribution of older games. Its in its growing pains now, lumbering behemoths like Sony did not prepare adequately for this possibility. But if I and everyone else just go out and pirate a copy, how does that help Sony improve their process, much less continue it?

I paid for a copy of Zelda:LTTP today, downloaded it to Wii Virtual Console. However, the fact that someone wants to make a problem out of that kind of thing boggles my mind, quite frankly. They want to argue that its old and somehow not worth eight dollars or because they own an SNES copy they should get it for free.

I don't buy the age/technology argument. Star Wars is old, it doesn't change the fact I still have to pay like $20 to watch it on DVD and that no Blu Ray version is available. I know the movies by heart but if I want to see them legally I'm going to have to pay a premium.

Owning a physical copy of an old game doesn't entitle me to a digital version, The internet was hardly even a thing people had when the SNES was out, how could one expect Nintendo to accommodate you? Scout's honor? Pinky swear?

People made that game, they still work at Nintendo and I think they deserve money for that work, even if it was years ago. Most of you wouldn't think twice in expecting compensation for your work if it sold, even if that creation was old.

Additionally I am paying for a convenience here. I don't have to tinker with my PC or dust off and hook up my SNES, then blow out the cartridge again to play Zelda. I paid, downloaded and started playing. That's a pretty seamless process. And I can store it with a dozen other games on a nifty little SD card.

[Kailea]

Re: Xenogears on PSN!

On the other side of that argument, why is it such a problem for people that have the know how or want to take the few mins it takes to set up an emulator.

I love that I can play any GB/GBC or Game Gear game on my PsP with a push of a button, or that I have access to any 8/16-bit era system on my PC. Now I draw the line with people pirating current Gen stuff, that I think is wrong, but sorry when stores stop selling the games and the systems, its up for grabs. (and no places like Play&Trade do not count, that is second hand crap)

Now that said, I will be buying Xenogears and other games like it that come out, for my collection. I will support digital download, but paying for Super Mario Bros. again, when I have bought it about 3 times before?... Nope not happeneing