PS2 Games? On MY PSN?

Sony is
really kicking up the promotion for their exclusive titles on Playstation
Network with the
announcement of the “Only on PSN” branding for their upcoming games this
October. This is following in the footsteps of their “PSN Play,” which
featured four games and lasted from late-August to mid-September. Unlike that
one, which felt like a haphazard response to Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade
program, this program seems more focused. Sony realizes they need to do a
better job promoting their exclusive, digitally-distributed titles, and the
games available this month will show where that
$20 million investment into exclusive titles went.

 

Oh, and in
addition to this, PS2 games will be available when PSN updates today. Wait, WHAT!?

 

That’s
precisely how Sony announced one of the most wanted features from fans for PS3.
When backwards compatibility was removed from future PS3 models, fans thought
it would open the door for PS2 games being sold digitally despite certifiable
proof that the current models can’t run PS2 games via their internal hardware
— the oldest systems had the Emotion Engine embedded in the hardware, while
the first 80GB models (and European 60GB models) relied partially on emulation.
When the 40GB models rolled around in mid-2008, backwards compatibility was
removed. Now PS2 games will finally be available from the store through
modified emulation (in the sense that you can’t pop your PS2 disc in and expect
it to play), so you can play everything you missed.

 

The initial
offerings will consist of Odin Sphere,
GrimGrimoire, Ring of Red, Maximo: Ghosts
to Glory, and God Hand. It’s
peculiar that none of the respective publishers of these titles have commented
on them, aside from Capcom on God Hand — they
mentioned via their Twitter account that the game will be $9.99. No word on
whether that will be the price for every game (we’ll find out soon!), or why
Capcom apparently forgot they published Maximo too. There’s also no word on
whether these will be playable on Vita as well. They should, unless Sony really
has no clue.

 

You might
have noticed a commonality between those five games: they’re all niche
offerings. As mentioned on the update on the Playstation Blog, this program
will be for the smaller, exclusive games released on PS2. The high profile games
from last gen will continue to receive the HD remaster treatment similar to The
God of War Collection, The Ico
& Shadow of the Colossus Collection, and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, for
instance. Despite that, though, Sony is still downplaying this a little too hard.

 

So now is
the time to cross your fingers and hope this won’t become a useless cause for a
while a la PSOne Classics outside of Japan. There’s a good chance that won’t
happen considering the choices they’re starting with — especially an “out
there” one like Ring of Red. Hopefully your favorite niche games from last gen
are rereleased through this program so other gamers get the chance to
experience what they missed! Or so you can buy them again because you want to
play them upscaled and lack a backwards compatible PS3 model.

Edit: The games are now available for the swell price of $9.99 each.