Sony Open Up About PSone Classics
Honesty and transparency. Digg.
Published: 12:45, 31/01/2011 by Staff.
17In a refreshingly open and honest portrayal of the whole ‘PSone Classics’ system on the PlayStation Store, team member and all round friend of TSA Ross McGrath has spoken out about how the service works and why certain games are chosen, published, delayed and pulled.
He talks about the overall process firstly, which involves taking a good copy of an original disk, preparing artwork and running it past legal before the game testers, based down in Liverpool, are let loose on the game itself. “The whole process can sometimes take several months,” he says, “depending on the ease of the emulation, the length of the game and how many issues are found in each round of testing.”
There are two main reasons why a game doesn’t make it onto the Store – the first being for legal issues. “Without naming specific games,” says the blog post, “some contain brand-name products that are no longer under license from the brand owner. In the same way, some games have characters in them that are borrowed from other game series and the publisher no longer has the rights to use them, or music that has been licensed for a game and again, those licenses have expired.”
These games require permission to republish, or necessitate a fresh license, which costs money and can take lots of time, even if the original publisher or license holder still exists.
The second reason that a game can fail to make it out is the ever present issue of bugs. “I have seen a lot of PSone QA reports with some weird and wonderful errors,” says Ross. “Menu screens with upside down text, explosions that kill your character at random after watching a cut scene, games that continue to slow down the longer you play them, or music that sounds like it’s coming from the bottom of a well.”
If a game needs to be fixed, there’s a chance the developer isn’t around or simply doesn’t have the original files in order to get the bugs patched out.
The blog also discusses the reasons a game might make it out in the States but fail the approval process here, which include publishing rights or bugs that only appear in the PAL emulated versions. “In some cases the original publisher of the game in the US is not the same publisher as in Europe,” we’re told, “so publishing rights need to be secured – once again, a lengthy process and one that some publishers choose not to undertake because of the costs and time involved.”
To put this into context, the blog concludes with the news that there are some PSone titles that SCEE have been seeking legal clearance to publish from as far back as 2007. It’s an interesting read.
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31/01/2011 at 12:55
Member since: Sep 2010
Interesting stuff indeed.
31/01/2011 at 13:00
Member since: Oct 2010
What’s more interesting is that people are playing PSone games on a nextgen console…
31/01/2011 at 13:35
Member since: Sep 2010
Some are absolute classics. Get over the pixels man and just have fun!
31/01/2011 at 14:21
Member since: Jan 2010
What’s wrong with that? there are classic games as there are films, but because the graphics look old people instantly say “It’s Shit”
I beg to differ though after all look at modern cinema…looks nice on the surface, a load of bollocks underneath however, same can be said about certain ‘modern’ games
31/01/2011 at 14:29
Member since: Aug 2009
Why miss out on the good Playstation games?
31/01/2011 at 15:13
Member since: Jul 2009
Some types of games never make it to next gen. I would be thrilled by a Classics reissue of the Discworld games and Circuit Breakers (one of the most awesome four player party games ever), because there little hope that someone’ll make similar games for the PS3.
31/01/2011 at 15:55
Member since: Oct 2009
ehh They are great too play on the psp so it’s nothing wrong with that.
31/01/2011 at 17:06
Member since: Jun 2009
Final Fantasy 7, nuff said….
31/01/2011 at 21:54
Member since: Jul 2009
Yea, I mean its 2011 and people in the real world are still playing chess! That outdated old game! We have virtual sudoku for crying out loud. The nerve of these people.
31/01/2011 at 16:08
Member since: Oct 2010
i agree i do want MGS 1 HD
01/02/2011 at 10:16
Member since: Oct 2010
@ FF 7 comment, sure if your idea of gaming is pressing X 50,000 times.
I take the hit about films but for me time vs games is finite so I dont play old games because there are so many new titles to play. Each to their own!
Plus playing old games ruins the memory for me mainly because they’re not as great as you remember from 10 years ago ;)
31/01/2011 at 12:57
Member since: Aug 2009
Thanks Nofi, that give’s a pretty insightful look into the PS1 classics, never knew they would face these types of issues!
31/01/2011 at 12:57
Member since: Apr 2010
Brilliant, Tombi has been sent of for testing. I played the demo on the Demo 1 disk you got with your PSone but could never find the actual game. It’s a nice read and nice to see them being open about these things. Hope certain games get to see sales on PSN in all territories. I’m still holding on for Silent Hill, Resident Evil(s) and Tomb Raider 2 and 3 for my PSP.
31/01/2011 at 13:03
Member since: Aug 2009
Sounds like a lot of hard work. How many people buy ps one games from store. Maybe im missing something here but I’ve moved on to newer HD games. Being part of PS+ I see a few of the oldies come thru but I don’t really put much gaming into them if at all. I don’t even insert an old original ps1 game into my original 60gb PS3. Would be far easier and quicker to bring back the backward compatible emulation chip or software that was in the original 60gb PS3 and also make those gamers that like there oldies happy?
Then again maybe your talking a remastered version in HD?
DR-DAVROS
31/01/2011 at 13:25
Member since: Mar 2009
Oops, I’ve recently been re-playing the first Tomb Raider on disc. It may not be HD or have trophies but it’s still a cracking game nonetheless.
31/01/2011 at 13:45
Member since: Apr 2010
personally my PSP has become a ps1 in my pocket, i’m a sucker for the old PS1 games.
31/01/2011 at 13:22
Member since: Apr 2010
Interesting stuff, its nice to have a bit of the behind the scenes explained so that people can understand these delays or missing titles without jumping on the OMG (insert conspiracy here) bandwagon. There was news of some big titles incoming, have we learnt anymore about what they are?
31/01/2011 at 13:55
Member since: Jan 2011
Wild Arms was confirmed in Ross’ post, but the other 5 remain a mystery.
31/01/2011 at 13:30
Member since: Jan 2009
I remember not long after the PS3 launch, Spyro 2 was up on the PSN store, however was broken. I got my money back, they pulled it from the store, and it sadly never came back… The US got a fixed version in 2009.
31/01/2011 at 13:36
Member since: May 2010
I quite like revisiting PSOne games, but I think there could be more money in re-releasing HD verions of both PSone and PS2 games. MGS HD compilation anyone?
31/01/2011 at 14:24
Member since: Jan 2010
No, leave classics as they are meant to be…it’s a sinful as colourising a B+W film.
If everything becomes a HD remake then the ‘classics’ will dissapear and we should remember that these games are ‘classics’ because they shaped gaming for the current generation…
31/01/2011 at 13:37
Member since: Jul 2009
Cheers, Al. Shows how being open and honest about things makes us happy (or at the very least, helps us to understand even when it’s not the best of news).
31/01/2011 at 15:13
Member since: Aug 2009
Which Sony should do so much more. 9 times out of 10 people would be happier with an honest explanation about most things, especially when it comes to stuff about our beloved consoles….*does my little PS3 want another polish… there we go darling…* :)
31/01/2011 at 13:53
Member since: Jan 2011
Really hope Tombi gets approved, while my hope for Klonoa lives on.
PSone classics is great, especially for the games I never got round to buying and as such vanished from the world.
31/01/2011 at 15:11
Member since: Jan 2010
Klonoa is Namco’s – I’ve asked them for it. They sounded keen.
31/01/2011 at 19:33
Member since: Aug 2009
That would be fantastic. Klonoa is really underrated.
31/01/2011 at 14:27
Member since: Mar 2010
Over one the blog, there’s a very interesting last line which mentions them finally re-releasing Crash 2 this coming wednesday :D Super duper excitement!
31/01/2011 at 14:33
Member since: Aug 2009
I haven’t got the first yet but I have the 3rd… :O great news, hope they’re planning on releasing Spyro.