PSN: Leaked Document Reveals Dreamcast, PS2 Games To PSN?
Oh Sega, I thought you would have learned your lesson from the last time this happened.
An internal document that discusses a meeting between SCEA and Sega back in August, have been leaked onto Sega's FTP server. It details several upcoming Sega titles, but also discusses the possibility of PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast titles coming to the PlayStation Network.
Sega seems quite keen on bringing more Dreamcast titles to the digital realm. The document reveals that Sega are looking at the PlayStation 3 to bring Dreamcast titles to the PlayStation Network. It also cites that if they made games exclusive on the platform their games would get more marketing support on the PlayStation Store.
While we've seen some games make a trip from Dreamcast onto digital platforms (Soul Calibur, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Virtual On) there are plenty more that could make their way over. Sony have not been very interested in Sega's previous digital titles at all, only releasing GunStar Heroes and, in Europe only, Outrun Online Arcade, so this sounds a little bizarre in contrast.
The big reveal however is that SCEA are interested in selling all PS2 titles through the PlayStation Network - Grand Theft Autos, Sonic games, everything. It's seems odd that they're going this route since they plan to release the God Of War collection on disc later this year.
I'd wager that the PlayStation Network would do Dreamcast and PS2 games much like PSOne Classics and TurboGrafx Classics - with no additional features. Unlike the Xbox Live Arcade, which requires Leaderboards and Achievements, the PlayStation 3 has a much simpler system already in place for older games.
Finally, the document claims that Sony may be interested in creating a imports section to the PlayStation Store, and uses Yakuza 3 as an example. While it seems like Yakuza 3 is an odd option, as it is a full PlayStation 3 title, it could be the best way for Yakuza to live on despite poor sales in the US, as well as get around SCEA rules of requiring English voice overs in its retail games. It could also work for bringing Japanese only PSOne titles to the US, similarly to how Nintendo has the Hanbai festival for Virtual Console titles.
It's all very exciting. What would you like to see make its return to the PlayStation Network? Crazy Taxi and Shadow of the Colossus for me.
Source: objectif-sega via NeoGAF - Sega accidentally leaks minutes of meeting with SCEA - PS2 emulation & more discussed
Comments
I still can't wrap my head around how such massive corporations manage to leave such precious information within public grasp.
Anyway, if it does happen, I'm with you on Crazy Taxi. I've felt it the perfect arcade title for quite some time. It needs to be shared with later gaming generations.
Posted by: Johnny Fowle | September 22, 2009 6:44 PM
Fuck you sony. DC games on XBLA !!!
Posted by: Carlouch | September 23, 2009 10:27 AM
It is awesome if you will be able to get Dreamcast games on PSN no doubt! But what aggravates me is Sony stripping the new PS3 models of its backward capabilities.
If you don't have a PS2 anymore or it's broken you can't play the games you already HAVE on the PS3. Will people actually buy games they already own AGAIN? I mean, I'm going to guess the PS2 games would be around $15-$20 on PSN.
Now for me, if it were still backward compatible, I would still buy a PS2 game that I always wanted, but never played before. I wouldn't doubt a lot of people would do the same. So is it really THAT necessary to strip the console of its backward capabilities and make people buy the game again because their console won't play the disc version? I discussed this too on my blog today…
MY BLOG: http://play-station-world.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Justin | October 28, 2009 9:51 PM