(This is a somewhat cut-and-pasted letter that I just sent to PS Magazine.)
I've been enjoying my new PS3 Slim and all its wonderful bells and whistles. But as a gamer who has grown up on everything from E.T. for the Atari all the way to waiting impatiently for Dead Rising 2, there's a nostalgic part of me that wants to revisit games that I loved. Fortunately, Sony has begun implementing ways for my inner gamer child to revel in. The first was the Playstatation Network, with its assortment of classic PS One games, many of which I will happily put down money for. The second is the recent God of War collection to herald the now-released God of War III. With both of these, however, I can't help wondering if there's a missed opportunity for other ways for nostalgic gamers to get spend their money. Here are two short lists that I've come up with for things that I'd love to see; one for PS One classic releases on the PSN, the other for PS3 collections of some PS2 games. I'm sure there are others that I'm blanking on, but I think it's a good start.
PS One:
This list is much shorter since I've been incredibly happy with the games released thus far.
1) Final Fantasy - Not just the inevitable Final Fantasy IX, but how about those anthologies for the PS1. The ones that collected FF IV, V, VI and Chrono Trigger.
2) Chrono Cross - Because really, if Chrono Trigger is relesed...
3) Spider-Man - You know, the Stan Lee-narrated one that convinced everyone that a great Spider-Man game was doable.
PS2 Collections:
1) Final Fantasy: Collecting FF X and FF XII. Possibly, if there's room for others, Dirge of Cerebus and FF X-2 could be on there, as well.
2) Ratchet & Clank: There's no question of the popularity of this series. It would be nice to see a collection of all its games. (perhaps including the PSP's Size Matters)
3) Silent Hill: Silent Hill 2 is unquestionably the best of the series, but that's not to take away from 3 and 4.
4) Ico/Shadow of Colosus: With The Last Guardian coming out soon, and given the amount of critical praise both of these games garnered, I'm surprised that this collection hasn't been announced.
5) Katamari: Granted, Katamari and I Heart Katamari are very similar games. Many of their levels are, in fact, found in Katamari Forever. But they're still fantastic games on their own and surely easy to port.
6) Spider-Man: Call me a bias comic book fan, but I'd love to see a collection of, say, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man.
7) Devil May Cry: With DMC 4 on the PS3, I'm surprised this collection hasn't been made.
8) Metal Gear: Granted, Metal Gear Solid is already on PSN, but I'd love to see a collection that includes MGS2 and 3, along with (if legally possible, given it was released on the GameCube) Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.
9) Jak & Daxter: These games were released almost side-by-side with Ratchet & Clank. I'm surprised there hasn't been a new one for the PS3, yet.
10) Onimusha: These were kind of a samurai Resident Evil and I thought they were fun as all heck.
11) X-Men Legends: Given the popularity of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, why not?
12) Kingdom Hearts: Who hasn't loved this series? Heck, throw in Chain Memories and you got yourself an even better collection!
13) Grand Theft Auto: Nuff said, especially including some of the PSP ports like Vice City Stories.
What do you guys think? Is there anything there I'm missing?
I've been enjoying my new PS3 Slim and all its wonderful bells and whistles. But as a gamer who has grown up on everything from E.T. for the Atari all the way to waiting impatiently for Dead Rising 2, there's a nostalgic part of me that wants to revisit games that I loved. Fortunately, Sony has begun implementing ways for my inner gamer child to revel in. The first was the Playstatation Network, with its assortment of classic PS One games, many of which I will happily put down money for. The second is the recent God of War collection to herald the now-released God of War III. With both of these, however, I can't help wondering if there's a missed opportunity for other ways for nostalgic gamers to get spend their money. Here are two short lists that I've come up with for things that I'd love to see; one for PS One classic releases on the PSN, the other for PS3 collections of some PS2 games. I'm sure there are others that I'm blanking on, but I think it's a good start.
PS One:
This list is much shorter since I've been incredibly happy with the games released thus far.
1) Final Fantasy - Not just the inevitable Final Fantasy IX, but how about those anthologies for the PS1. The ones that collected FF IV, V, VI and Chrono Trigger.
2) Chrono Cross - Because really, if Chrono Trigger is relesed...
3) Spider-Man - You know, the Stan Lee-narrated one that convinced everyone that a great Spider-Man game was doable.
PS2 Collections:
1) Final Fantasy: Collecting FF X and FF XII. Possibly, if there's room for others, Dirge of Cerebus and FF X-2 could be on there, as well.
2) Ratchet & Clank: There's no question of the popularity of this series. It would be nice to see a collection of all its games. (perhaps including the PSP's Size Matters)
3) Silent Hill: Silent Hill 2 is unquestionably the best of the series, but that's not to take away from 3 and 4.
4) Ico/Shadow of Colosus: With The Last Guardian coming out soon, and given the amount of critical praise both of these games garnered, I'm surprised that this collection hasn't been announced.
5) Katamari: Granted, Katamari and I Heart Katamari are very similar games. Many of their levels are, in fact, found in Katamari Forever. But they're still fantastic games on their own and surely easy to port.
6) Spider-Man: Call me a bias comic book fan, but I'd love to see a collection of, say, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man.
7) Devil May Cry: With DMC 4 on the PS3, I'm surprised this collection hasn't been made.
8) Metal Gear: Granted, Metal Gear Solid is already on PSN, but I'd love to see a collection that includes MGS2 and 3, along with (if legally possible, given it was released on the GameCube) Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.
9) Jak & Daxter: These games were released almost side-by-side with Ratchet & Clank. I'm surprised there hasn't been a new one for the PS3, yet.
10) Onimusha: These were kind of a samurai Resident Evil and I thought they were fun as all heck.
11) X-Men Legends: Given the popularity of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, why not?
12) Kingdom Hearts: Who hasn't loved this series? Heck, throw in Chain Memories and you got yourself an even better collection!
13) Grand Theft Auto: Nuff said, especially including some of the PSP ports like Vice City Stories.
What do you guys think? Is there anything there I'm missing?
