XENOGEARS! GIVE ME. NOW.

Alazar

I dont understand WHY Sony do not relase the western versions of many good games from the PS1 era, i mean, i know Japan has RE1 and 2, MGS, The KOF 95-2000 i think, and those games. I understand they never release here games that never got translate and pulished here, since they wpuld have to "re-work" that game, but games that acually was released here and WERE properly translated..... i cant undertand.

Publisher problems? Ther are distribuited via internet, do not requiere a publisher, licensing? the don't requier licensing since thet already have o had it just must renew it.

PowerButton

@108: So if that happens, will they release the goddamn games in the US so that they will make money off them? If everybody (at least all the rabid fans) in Japan is dead, who will buy the game?

BoringJob

@108: Oh, wow, in my fury re: Einhander, I missed the fact that Rakugaki Showtime is mentioned in the story.

Rakugaki Showtime, people! Let's not call it a Square-Enix title (even though it was originally published by Enix) -- let us instead call it a TREASURE game, and one of the RAREST Treasure games EVER. And one of the best Treasure games ever.

Holy shit, six hundred yen for Rakugaki Showtime.

Holy shit.

I expect half of Akihabara to be hit by a meteorite by midnight tonight.

108

Ok then, as everybody knows:

We want FF7 on the PSN

PowerButton

Einhander! I WANT!

Sollus

MOTHER FUCK! Sony needs to restructure their goddamn company so that each department isn't like a whole separate company.

And they need to get their approval process streamlined. Having to get shit approved for each region is super-lame!

BoringJob

Gotta admit that I'm jealous. They have no reason (I'm assuming of course) not to give us these gems, and all the others too far that matter!

mfwahwah

@James in Dupont: wait dude what the FUCK are you saying

are you saying that rakugaki showtime is available in the JP PS Store Game Archives?

oh god

if i go home and turn on my PS3 and it's not in there, i will find you, i will find your xbox live username, and i will leave you belligerent voice messages every five minutes until probably sometime next week

108

einharnder and xenogears are both excellent games.

djricekcn

Man... the Japanese PSN store has so many good PS1 titles... when are they going to share them with other regions? :(

D-Sovereignty

@Arsenicberyllium: Never ever mention Xenosaga in the same sentence as Xenogears!!! Poor Xenogears... *brushes the suck off from Arsenic's comment*

In any case, both those titles are awesome!!! And for 6 bucks!?!? I'm trying to think of some witty comment for this... but honestly words cannot express how seriously bad ass that price is for those two games, especially Xenogears!!

TheGamesta

A friend of mine showed me the Japanese PSN Playstation one games currently available via his JPN profile account over the weekend, and I must say, we North Americans are getting shafted on new titles. They had Metal Gear Solid, The King of Fighters Kyo (and 94-99 by the way), Samurai Shodown, Bloody Roar, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 1-2, Wild Arms 2, Real Bout Fatal Fury, Policenauts, and much more. Now, they're getting Xenogears and Einhander. If it wasn't for the fact that I still own half the games mentioned, I'd be a little jealous.

I'll now end with a cliched "Pick up the damn pace for us yanks, Sony!" response.

KeroseneClimax

Sony loves America don't they?

Murderdolls

I just started playing Xenogears again. Picked up some mint ones on eBay and I'm loving it. I owned it back when it was first released but lost my save files many moons ago and never got to finish it. Getting this game for $6 would be INSANE...here's to hoping it comes to the US PS3 market. Many people NEED to experience this game!

goomba478

@Lezard: Find the head of square-enix, get down on your knees and open wide. Take one for the team, we'll thank you for it later.

Neo-Senku

I still have Xenogears in disc form after all these years. Haven't even beaten it yet (I'm near the end) :D, I've been meaning to these past couple of years, but I'm not into RPG's that much anymore.

Oh shit, Einhander!? Yessssss.

GordieHoweHatTrick

@Arsenicberyllium: Never compare Xenogears to Xenosaga. They are completely different.

archibaldleech

@blurayforever143: nothing since haveinga physical copy of the original release is still worth alot to collectors.

im not so much a collecter, but when i crave to own an older game to play it, i do what ever i can to get a disc copy. I ebayd my copy of psychonauts rather then just downloading it on 360

kommanderk

You have got to be... so lemme get this straight? JPN gets Einhander and we get... jack. Great. If they put FF VII on there, I'm moving. lol

Karisu-Zero

@108:
"Einhander: The Live-Action Role-Playing Game"

I see what you did there ;D

Combichristoffersen

Japan gets Rakugachi Showtime TWICE? FUCK THEM! We haven't seen it released here ONE!

They better ports these…

James in Dupont

Xenosaga was ok. Xenogears is classic and f'ing awesome. If only the US PSN store would bring these in, I'd be one step closer to getting a PS3. >.<

lorbs28

What do I need to do to make these games come out over here? Become the king of Limbo?

Lezard

Hmmm..Xenogears?

I didn't really like the Xenosaga games, so I guess I won't cry myself to sleep like some psychos.

Arsenicberyllium

Isn't that roughly $6 for quite possibly the greatest RPG of all time?

Isn't that $6 for 80 hours of gameplay?

What will this do to the eBay market?

blurayforever143

It would be nice Having Xenogears on the harddrive I could play it whenever and keep Put it on the PSP... I want, oh so very much.

GUNDAM-RX-78-2

Sorry S.E, already played the shit out of those games on my custom firmware ;) I might check it out if they fixed the aspect ratio somehow

robotomasher

Awesome. I already love the fact that they've got all the wacky SNK games on it like Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life, King of Fighters: Kyo, and Fatal Fury: Dominated Mind, and now they go ahead and add two of my favorite Square games.

AlKusanagi

Oh man! I was just playing Einhander: The Live-Action Role-Playing Game last night (bonus points to those of you who took German in high school); being a resident of the country of Japan, I will gladly purchase the video equivalent of it tonight!

I already have Xenogears in disc form, so hmm.

I wonder if the other ten games are just Final Fantasy VII with different limited-edition box-art thumbnails.

108

Why not in US?

WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????

* goes out screaming

HobbaHobba

damn the US PSN store sucks sooooooo much!!!!!!! sorry i cant stop ranting.

resetbutton

Dammit. Dammit to hell and back again.

Maldron

alright, might as well get it out of the way now:
I want FF7 on PSN

QC8472

So are they going to do the same for the US at some point?

ChaosWolf

and why cant they add it to European and USA territories?

licensing?

Vecha

man, the Japanese PSN is so much better

archibaldleech

Parasite Eve please...

Philonious

Headline: "Square Enix Classics Start Hitting Japanese PSN"
Other News: "Insomniac Gamer Starts Hitting Japanese People"

One man's seemingly unstoppable rampage has already claimed 12 lives, and wounded hundreds more in Tokyo's Akihabara district. This tragedy began when a maid cafe in Akihabara suddenly exploded. Witnesses to the event claim the destruction was was caused when a fast moving object fell out of the sky, slamming into the cafe.
According to witnesses, the perpetrator stood up out of the rubble, placed a portable stereo (of the type commonly referred to as a "Ghetto Blaster") on the ground beside him. Upon activating the stereo, the "Godzilla Theme" from the popular series of movies could be heard playing.
"That's when he starting attacking people", says Kenji Irakawa, a student and self describe 'otaku'. "My english isn't very good... but I think he kept asking 'Why?' over and over again. And I think he was crying."

With a combination of drop-kicks, suplexes, and a martial art's technique known as 'Falcon Punch', this unknown assailant quickly overwhelmed the nerds and teenagers in Akihabara, before moving on to the rest of Tokyo. Local police have thus far been unable to stop, or even slow, the man's rampage down.
"Nothing can stop him... he seems to be fueled by pure rage!"

Currently, the JSDF is in the process of luring the man out to see, where an experimental "oxygen destroyer" will be deployed. Scientists hope this devastating weapon will be enough to halt the man's rampage, but the Prime Minister's office is taking no chances, and has called on the international community for military aid and disaster relief.

Insomnia Bob

@Exia: Lol right. Well I'm sure some good soul will put a tutorial online sooner or later.

slomo788

I'm sure the idea is to make all territories equal, but there's no helping legal bureaucracies and cross-company agreements. PS1 Emulation Classics involve third parties and therein lies the complexity.

ChiChi_BBQ

I hope Square-Enix didn't forget their plan to increase their sales over American or EU territories. Xenogears and FFVII would sell like hotcakes on US and EU PSN!

alecpyron

@slomo788: They could if I could read japanese :(

Exia

Well, at least we'll get it before Europe does :P

EsCO823

Can't the (US) PSN cards help us there?

slomo788

omg Einhander I always wanted to play that game. I hope these games see the lite of day on the u.s psn.

Ether02

Xenogears was never released in PAL territory. Sorry fellow Europeans but you will have to skip that one /unless you have a imported copy and a modded PS2 ;)

Garo

......../cries

Alpha85

@Insomnia Bob: im banking on answer number 3

zanzibarlegend

super sigh for me. its like these games never existed in the u.s. um, may sony should be refaxed the memo.......

zanzibarlegend

Xenogears and "classic" in the same breath? Ha, I say!

SwimOdin

Being in Australia, Xenogears has always been a game I have wanted so badly to play... but never could. So I can't see the title getting a Euro/Aussie release (too much effort for the poor game publishers). Hopefully it will at least get a US release!

Y2Jason

Oh my god, Einhander. Oh my god, so not fair. Not fair at all. Someone get me some yen.

VixDiesel

@Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic: Dammit! Forgot to close my italics. Rage is impeding my thought...

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

Damn it! We get no love!

DeathBeforeDishonor

(I tried posting this a little while ago, but Kotaku was acting funny...again. So here goes.)

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

EINHANDER?!?!?!

God damnit, I don't have a PS3. And I don't live in Japan!!!

Kenninator

@Insomnia Bob: It's gotta be #3. I say we start sending letter bombs until they finally agree to put good PSX games on the U.S. PlayStation Store.

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

That's pretty neat!
And Games like Xenogears, for only $5, is a dream.
Hopefully they spread the joy around to other places.

.em.

There are three legitimate reasons why these games wouldn't be released on the US PSN store.

1. Some kind of legal issues with the titles themself. Party A owns the rights to the game itself, Party B owns the distribution rights, whatever. Which is stupid, but possible.
2. Some kind of technical issue... but that doesn't seem very likely.
3. Sony US is fucking retarded.

I can't say for certain which. Kotaku, wanna use your journalistic cred to ask a Sony rep for an answer?

Insomnia Bob

This better come stateside. I would love to play Xenogears and FFVII again (one of the only ff games I no longer have.)

DigitalHero

I remember Square Electronic Arts being the publisher for this title. I wonder if that has anything to do with publishing rights in the United States.

Pal

Look at all this anger. See what you've caused, Square-Enix?

Wolfers

Einhander is so damn awesome,my second favorite shooter only behind Axelay (another gem)

Well,let me see:

1.-FF7
2.-FF8
3.-FF9
4.-Chrono Cross
5.-Parasite Eve
6.-Brave Fencer Musashi
7.-Vagrant History
8.-Parasite Eve 2
9.- HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL SQUARE-ENIX IS THINKING? already 12??? (;_;) Nooooo!!!!
And Valkyrie profile,FF Tactics,Front Mission 3,Saga Frontier,Legend of Mana,Star Ocean,Dragon Quest 7

And the worst,crying thing is that perhaps the twelve chosen by them would not come to these lands >:(

OT79

I want Einhander in my pants.

OMG I just realized it can go on my PSP...my pants are now saturated. O_O

Nisori

@SwimOdin:

Die in a fire.

theflux

BLAH. I still have my Xenogears disk...but to have it on my PSP would be pure awesome.

theflux

Xenogears on the go with my PSP although I still have the disc, I want it now.

I know its a stretch but please send these to the US Playstation store and Europe, we would all love it.

WolfGod

Now my friend has no more reason not to play Xenogears. I shall make him play it asap.

Jilkon

Those are some nice looking downloads. :) I'm just glad I don't have to worry since I own both of them (and trust me, Einhander was hard as hell to find). Einhander is just such an awesome game, I wish Squeenix would come up with a new one. Great music, too. Makes me want to dig in my PSX pile to play it. :)

angelus-errare

@OT79: Considering that Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean 1 and 2, and Final Fantasy Tactics are all available as PSP titles already, it's unlikely they'll choose those to appear on the PSN Store...possibly ever.

And if Final Fantasy 7 doesn't appear then I think that's a pretty good giveaway that they're either planning some sort of grander (i.e.: more expensive) port for either the PSP or DS (unlikely though it may be on Nintendo's handheld) or a full-fledged remake.

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

I've actually never played either of these games. I've been trying to buy a copy of Einhander on ebay for the past however many years, but I always get outbid. Same with Intelligent Qube.

cio

Ranting aside and in all seriousness, it speaks volumes to how much SCEA and SCEE have fucked up regarding PSX content (a feature which was touted as a PlayStation 3 selling point no less) that fans' gut reaction upon the announcement of additional PSX titles for the Japanese PSN Store is to become angry.

I hate to keep bringing it up, but how ass backwards of a selection process does there need to be for Metal Gear Solid, one of the most iconic PlayStation 1 games ever made, to not appear in any PSN Store outside of Japan's?

Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic

@maraxusofk:

Agreed. It's quite possibly one of the deepest games I have ever played. The storyline itself is worth the money, not including the brilliantly implemented combo system for attacks.

Plus... come on. You can fight in giant Gundam-like robots.
Thats a major selling point.

dantemustdie

people who have played xenogears as adults mostly swear by it and recognize it as one of the greatest (and underappreciated for its calibur) games of all time. to re-release it will create many more fans could not experience it firsthand and levels of win beyond comprehension

maraxusofk

Gods I need Xenogears...

Shadowmist

Learn2BuyOldGamesOnDisc?

Seriously, I'd rather own it on disc than some PSN wannabe version.

Terance!

No.

Now, MGS1 and Xenogears on the US PS Store nauplz.

Murrytmds

I will gladly pay $400 for a PS3 so I can get Xenogears for $6. /irrational spending justification

greatslack

I can't believe the US gamers still complain about their offerings. Yeah it's not as good as what Japan gets but it's a hell of a lot better than what Australia and Europe get.
So stop your whining.

NickyJ

Why is Xenogears rated for 17 and up? I know it has a lot of deep philosophical and theological themes, but for Japanese audiences that's no big deal, usually.

And yeah, Xenogears makes FF7 look like crap.

Jesse in Japan

All I can think is: Japan is punishing America for liking the 360 better.

Why punish Europe? They've been faithful! Oh, yeah. the Wii.

Snokie

@Terance!:

seriously i'd rather download the game rather then having to search on ebay and pay a lot for it.

chaoticblue

XENOGEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh fuck yeah, the best game of all time and finnaly maybe a chance to get it legal. If only this will come to the european PS store. Which would be needed since it never came out here in europe.

Captain_Duck

Damnit. There goes 1200 yen.

Although this works out perfectly with my plan of
a) Getting my wife to play ChronoCross
and
b) Having yet ANOTHER reason to buy a PSP

ハリセンボン

I think I would be fuming mad if I didn't already own those two Square games.

WarlordPayne

Two of my alltime favorite PSX games and neither of them made it to offical PAL release at the time... tragic. Hope they make it to our PSN. So, Square(Enix), you support PSN, but not Wii VC... how come?

Shiryu

@Nightshift Nurse: Mile High Colonic:
Well it's because the reigon that made the game always gets it first before anyone else.

enewtabie

Ok whos legs do I have to break so we can get those games on the US PSN?

Fermbiz

Nothing like seeing a bunch of doofuses get their panties in a wad because they can't re-purchase a game they've likely played before... and not even a glossy remake, but a simple rerelease. I know whining is a way of life on the internet, guys, but a little patience. Or if not that, how about just sending a (well-written) email to SCEA, expressing your wishes? Preaching to the choir on some gaming blog isn't going to accomplish anything.

Now, Einhander and Rakugaki Showtime? Those are rare gems (metaphorically speaking), and well worth purchasing... assuming one doesn't already own a copy. ;P

Deuce

Yeah, I can understand being upset over this to a certain degree, but it isn't saying we won't get them, just that Japan has them at the moment. Of course our selection of PS1 games have really sucked for the most part, but maybe, and hopefully it'll get better. Also including these titles.

Dullshimmer

My favorite game of all time...and being my favorite game of all time i probably know all the menus so i can buy it in japanese and not read anything and still play...

but still i'd want my g/f to be able to read xenogears because it's such a mind F

Zaos

$5.50 for these? Just more proof to me that Nintendo needs to rethink its pricing for VC games. Sure, the games sell now, and I enjoy the two I've bought so far, but they'd probably sell better if priced at a lower point.

Hmm.. $5 for an NES/Master System game, or $5.50 for Xenogears? That's a tough choice. /sarcasm

StupidDufus

Just got home and DLed Einhander. Damn it is just as good as I remember it being.
Theres something about the soundtrack, the lighting, the feel of the weapons - it all comes together in a really nice way. This, along with Bushido Blade and Tobal are franchises that Square really shouldnt have put out to pasture.

Oh, I grabbed Policenauts while I was at it. Finally get to play it! Yay!

Gwynna

GEEZ! If they started releasing those in the US, do you know how fast I'd be buying a PS3?!

Rebochan

I wish they would release them over here so I could sell my OG games.

@StupidDufusAs it's been stated time and time and time again, each publisher picks it's own pricing for it's titles. None of these games are any less then eight years old and they were -not- big sellers in Japan. Isn't that a shocker? So SE has priced them at what they feel they will sell as. If they are released over here in the USA, do NOT look for them to cost the price of a fast food value meal.

Foxstar Sixtail

Only in Japan,eh?Figures...

Once again,well done Sony!!!
Congrats on shooting your own foot...

badmoogle

@108:

LARPs are a group activity though. If you were playing *ahem* "Einhander" with your friends...

Well, that's just TMI.

Koztah

@StupidDufus: You´re right, for me that´s the main problem with the VC store, it´s content is too expensive and they lack of real blockbusters, which is awkward since Nintendo is an expert in blockbusters, but, who knows!; The only thing for sure is that Lost Winds is the first and last thing i´ll buy from VC in a long time...

Daisuash

Einhander_!!!!!!!!!! I want it!!!!!
Man, it´s so sad that Sony has had the key to success all this time in Japan, and they don´t know, i´m afraid to even try to imagine how much people would buy a PS3 just for the PS Classics...

Daisuash

Well, if they ever release it in the US, then I'll feel stupid, given I coughed up $50 for a copy of Xenogears off of EBay just last week.

bloodzombie77

Dang they're lucky! I wish we had Xenogears in the US PSN Store. I did convert my discs to play on POPS/PSP.

vfxraven19

Meh, I've been playing games like Xenogears, Parasite Eve and Einhander on my PSP since last year. Thank you PSP homebrew.

Bricked

I heard Xenogears was really fun, to bad i wont be able to download it on the Playstation Store.

darkstar5555

11 clams is way too awesome for two of the better PS1 titles. I remember loving Einhander untill it broke on 'accident,' and Xenogears STILL gets regular rotation into my yearly gaming.

Human Bomb

@Bricked: yeah, that's true too. thanks for that!

TheIrishNinja

so uh, biohazard, MGS, half of SNK's catalog, now 2 of square's finest. man, this is killing me - its not like they gotta re-translate!

TheIrishNinja

This is kind of a double kick in the pants to those living State-side. The Japanese don't even really NEED (I use this in the smallest sense of the word) these games as you can get pretty much any rare (in North America) PS game at almost every game store over here. Even the small game shop where I live out in the coutryside of Shiga has an entire section for all of Square Enix's Ultimate Hits games back to PS1. Good prices too. Brand new FF7 and Valkyrie profile at 1500 yen for example. Obviously 600 yen is a much better deal, and the PSP compatibility is prime (and probably one of the main selling points for those who will purchase), but it's not like 1500 yen is a bank breaker.

T-Mac

What would be the point of releasing FFVII via the PSN? Who hasn't played that game many times over already? Its not like its difficult to find a PSX copy.

Xenogears and Einheinder are both much more difficult to find, and have a larger group of gamers who haven't played the yet.

holmcross

To add a conspiracy theory of my own, it's like they're mocking the PlayStation collectors who actually ponied up a couple of Ben Franklins for a copy of Rakugaki Showtime by releasing it for ¥600. I know I wouldn't be particularly happy if I knew such a game was brought back from obscurity for nearly nothing compared to the market value.

allmybase

While I'm sure games like FF7, Vagrant Story will make the 12, I'm hoping Bushido Blade is in there as well.

T-Mac

Good God is Xenogears is still my favorite game!
Good thing I still have it mint.
Otherwise, I would be ordering Japanese PSN Cards from Play-Asia and cramming with my Japanese-English dictionary.
That would be crazy right, just so I wouldn't risk the chance of ruining my only copy. Right?

...

Excuse me, I have gotta go, ummm, NOT do anything I have just said; yeah, that doesn't sound like a lie.

But in all fairness, does this not seem somewhat redundant. I thought Square Enix still produced a Ultimate Hits series and that their PS1 game were still available for purchase in Japan.
Hell, I know they do that here. My Xenogears has a Square Enix logo, not Squaresoft, and Gamebuzz (in Montreal) keeps getting stock of new copies.

Meh, convenience is for convenience's sake, I guess.

DJGhostmare

@Arsenicberyllium: Disliking Xenosaga really has no bearing whatsoever on whether you'll like Xenogears. I personally like both, but Xenogears is like a billion times better.

Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect at all. The budget constraints are visible both in the dry (though still easily understandable, unlike Final Fantasy Tactics) dialogue and the sparse second disk. The battle system, though extremely inventive and cool, can get very tiring (personally, I didn't really get bored by the gameplay until my second playthrough, but most people tire a lot earlier), and the platforming (again, cool) is annoying at times. However, the music is Mitsuda's finest work, IMHO, and the storyline, however poorly delivered, is still one of the greatest I've ever seen (not just in games).

I really can't say whether you'll like it or not, but if it's not too much money I'd definitely recommend it. Worst case scenario is you're not too fond of it and you're out a few bucks. Best-case scenario is that it's you're favorite game ever.

OH, it's only 6 bucks (good thing I read some more comments before posting)! Definitely get it; it's only one fast-food meal.

Spiffyness

Xenogears.... Cheap and affordable! now more people who are cheap ass wont have any excuse not to play this game, and see for themselves why it is considered one of a cult favorite among RPG fans.

YinYangDX