• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PS2 on PS4 - how can Sony save this

It seems hard to actually find ps2 games on the console itself unless there is something I'm missing. They are on the last page and not only that, but at the bottom of the last list from what I see.

It's like they actually try to hide them and this store on ps4 is so shit to me.... atleast the online store is better
 

Rival

Gold Member
They feel overpriced and I swear I can never find them on the store. If they made them all 4.99 I'd probably own them all. They are sitting on a gold mine with ps2 games if they just did it right.
 

mindatlarge

Member
It's a shame we don't see more PS2 releases on PS4, the emulation is quite a step up compared to PS2 games on PS3, where the games looked washed out and dull.
 
I'm not buying any ps2 game that doesnt have the online functionality of the original. I dont care what price it is.

I mean I do understand the general feeling here, but you do realize that expecting the same network infrastructure for a game 2 generations removed is kind of preposterous right?

Thay would require a remaster and would of course in most cases increase the cost. Not always though.
 

Fisty

Member
No, they don't. The catalog is beyond embarrassing.

I was speaking on a technical level, because the team that makes these absolutely does great work

Now, I realize you are probably an expert in the legal field of the entertainment and software industries and understand all the delicate intricacies and licensing agreements and IP rights issues as well as how difficult it can be to even track down who owns the right to license the 12-17 year old games, not to mention how HD Remasters might be how a company would rather proceed as opposed to straight emulation... So i won't bother explaining all that.
 

jayu26

Member
1. Forget about trophies or at least make it optional for publishers who don't want to bother with them.

2. Add in PS One classics.

3. Most of games released are way over priced. They have to set the example themselves by offering first party games at lower price so that other publishers will follow suit.

4. Make every PS2 and PS One classics cross buy. Or at least let people upgrade their PS3 version for a nominal fee. This is obviously not the most profitable decision but it's a good will gesture. We have had those work time and time again this very generation.

5. Just release more games dammit. You already have the damn emulator working.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
zMiiChy- said:
Everyone in the Console space excluding Microsoft seems to be fumbling with BC and VC.
Microsoft's progress with XB BC has been really slow while they supported it as well - and the fact they're not bringing it to XB1 is telling - the software licensing from that era was just not conductive for digital distribution, and it clearly creates pain points for everyone that dealt with it.

360 era is a different story - and props to MS for doubling down on supporting it, as they clearly have a much faster path to get THOSE titles on the store.

Agent X said:
I understand that licensing negotiation is a major factor, but I don't think that the requirement to "add trophies" should be dismissed.
Not dismissing it - but we have over a decade of signs pointing to the fact that licensing is the biggest bottleneck across 3 different platform holders (eg. see above).
 

Gestault

Member
I stopped buying back-classics unless I specifically wanted to play them right away when they dropped compatibility for them on PS4. A split marketplace like that isn't worth buying them from, to me. It's hardly even an issue of price. Like if PS1 games on PSP were separate from PS3 or Vita (TV), I doubt I'd have bought anywhere near the number I have. Considering the lack of effort for even the whitelist on Vita/Vita TV, and totally dropping compatibility for the PS4 (when it makes more sense for support, technologically), I have strong feelings about this. That's burned goodwill.
 
It's the prices, people aren't gonna pay that when PS3 had the same games cheaper, especially when cross buy was so big last gen and now it not being continued, expecting people to buy again is dumb.
 

BigEmil

Junior Member
No idea. If it was I'll definitely buy some stuff.
There were reports in places that people said it's 60hz now. I bought most my PS2 games on EU PSN which at first was 50hz and can notice the stuttering, then all three of them got updated and when i played it it was very smooth no stutter like 50hz one, in the update patch notes it mentioned something about performance too
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I'd be satisfied for a while if we got SMT games like Nocturne, and DDS1/2 remastered.

tumblr_myn96t2Bq31sd4mmco1_500.gif

That is a dope-ass title screen.
 

etrain911

Member
They need to support it with their first party titles. How are we still waiting for shit that was approved by the ESRB ages ago like Ape Escape 3?
 
The fact that I have to repurchase PS2 titles when I have PS3-compatible versions is enough to make me avoid the program altogether. The PS3-PSP-Vita were all cross-compatible with PS1 titles, for example -- never had to purchase a separate license to get Ridge Racer Type 4 to run on a Vita. The way they've handled the PS4 'classics' is anti-consumer -- I'd rather play the titles I've already purchased than get trophy support.

They could've at least had the decency of making them lower priced if you had bought a PS3 version.
 

LakeEarth

Member
I thought at least some were selling well. They released PaRappa 2 on the program, and it must've done well because a year later they released the HD remake of PaRappa 1.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Is there a section on the PS Store that actually showed PS2 games on PS4 in Europe yet? There still wasn't the last time I checked. Hint: ability for people to actually see games increases their ability to sell.

And yeah, scrap the trophy requirement.
 

Lucreto

Member
I got the old JRPGs like Dark Cloud, Dark Chronicle and a few others.

I would not have bought them if it wasn't for trophies. I also played the games for far longer than I did back in the PS2 days.

It was worth the price just for the extra time I played them. I highly doubt removing trophies would have made the game cheaper. They would still charge the same price but no trophies.
 
It's not about saving or whatever. Just give us games to buy. Games that people actually want to buy. Stuff like Ico/SOTC, SIlent Hill 2/3, MGS2/3, Okami, etc.

No one cares about trophies.

Pretty much my opinion as well. I just looked at the lineup in the store recently and the selection just isn't exciting. It's all the absolutely most obvious stuff that everyone has probably purchased several times already in some capacity.
 

zMiiChy-

Banned
What are the chances of Sony issuing a statement on backwards compatibility during E3?

There are losing a ton of good will by just staying silent, especially while Microsoft is making strides.
 

Neff

Member
I dunno, but I'd still much rather have PSone Classics on my PS4, if I'm being honest.

Scrap the trophy support and don't require publishers to put in a bunch of unnecessary work to put emulated PS2 games on the store.

Yep. Trophies are not needed, especially if they hold up the potential release of games I want.
 

Joni

Member
If it is so much more profitable without Trophies, we should have seen a lot more support for PS2 on PS3 and a lot less PS2 HD remakes.
We got like 1 game per month in the EU when we were lucky.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
This also got me thinking about the PS2 games that got remastered for PS3. I still need to play some of those which I bought, but now those aren't playable on PS3. Will Sony just get people to pay for Ico, SOTC, Ratchet, Sly, and Jak again? You'd think they'd at least care about "preserving" Ico and SOTC seeing as those are Sony's "art" games.
 

ethomaz

Banned
If it is so much more profitable without Trophies, we should have seen a lot more support for PS2 on PS3 and a lot less PS2 HD remakes.
We got like 1 game per month in the EU when we were lucky.
How it is more profitable without trophies when the lack of this feature will make the game sell less???

Trophies add sales no matter what dumb comment somebody in this thread said.

There are 41 games on EU stores... that means 2.5 games per month... how do you guys get one game per month is crazy because just in March EU received 3 games.
 
A lot of the best games that were on PS2 already got rereleased on PS3. It was always going to be a tough sell to get people to buy those games again on the PS4.

There were still plenty of good games though that never got Remastered and should be part of the #PS2onPS4 but Sony's really dropped the ball in that regard. Katamari, Viewtiful Joe, Prince of Persia, Ace Combat, any of the JRPG's, Half-Life, Deus Ex, anything by Atlus, etc. Sony's effort to get a lot of the more obscure PS2 gems on to PS4 has been severly lacking imo.
 

night814

Member
If we hear nothing about any games or a big picture with like 50 new PS2 games coming soon at e3 I would assume it dead. While there are quite a few games on the PS2 that could be resold, I'm sure Sony has looked at the numbers and have seen them only dwindle. Having no way of transferring digital ps2 games on ps3 too 4 was clearly a major oversight that has resulted in very little interest, thus no new releases.
 

Agent X

Member
I understand that licensing negotiation is a major factor, but I don't think that the requirement to "add trophies" should be dismissed.

Not dismissing it - but we have over a decade of signs pointing to the fact that licensing is the biggest bottleneck across 3 different platform holders (eg. see above).

I know you pointed out Microsoft's efforts to address forward-looking licensing during the Xbox 360's market tenure. Apparently Sony has not learned this lesson, as it is an ongoing problem for them to this very day.

Just a few weeks ago, Suikoden IV was released as a PS2 classic...but only for PS3. It's not available on PS4. There must be some reason why Konami stonewalled on a PS4 version. It wouldn't surprise me if the requirement to add trophies is an unwanted burden here.

Regardless of Sony's prior mistakes in handling PS2 classics for both PS3 and PS4, wouldn't right now be the best time for them to start mending the holes in their policies? Start releasing new PS2 games simultaneously on both systems. Make this a requirement for any new PS2 classic from this point forward. Mandate that publishers are on board with this, and mandate cross-buy for all new PS2 classic games.

Once they've established the new standard, go back to previously released PS2 classics, and start instituting the policies on those games as well. Allow anyone who previously bought a PS2 classic on either PS3 or PS4 to do a cross-buy carryover, and have access to the same game on both systems. That is how you put smiles on your customers' faces, and retain and reinforce their loyalty.
 
It's not about saving or whatever. Just give us games to buy. Games that people actually want to buy. Stuff like Ico/SOTC, SIlent Hill 2/3, MGS2/3, Okami, etc.

No one cares about trophies.

This. I'm more than down to get some PS2 games, but nothing they've released has really been my thing.
 
I was speaking on a technical level, because the team that makes these absolutely does great work

Now, I realize you are probably an expert in the legal field of the entertainment and software industries and understand all the delicate intricacies and licensing agreements and IP rights issues as well as how difficult it can be to even track down who owns the right to license the 12-17 year old games, not to mention how HD Remasters might be how a company would rather proceed as opposed to straight emulation... So i won't bother explaining all that.
That's no excuse for the current lack of games. I don't think anyone is asking for 200 games but geez, it's embarrassing to look to the list.
 

Fdkn

Member
Thats probably why i didnt think they had it. Didnt know there was a difference, thats on Sony for not making that clear. Or me for not paying attention.

they really highlighted trophies on every PR regarding ps2 games so I'd say it is the later.

I don't think the service needs saving, just more publishers on board. And there is a sizable audience that definitely care about trophies, no matter how much some people want to ignore them.
 

poodaddy

Member
Trophies be damned, I just want good ports of Silent Hill 2 through 4, no; for the sake of preservation those ports are necessary, not just desired. I like the your idea OP, but it sounds like you want to mandate more support and work for the devs and pubs who just want to release emulated titles on the PS4 without having to worry about any more engineering work just to ensure trophy and rewards compatibility. To be honest I think that there should be a QA process to certify that PS2 titles on PS4 run at least as well as the original ps2 release as a requirement and that running better and at a higher resolution is recommended but not required, and I think that should be the only stipulations that Sony make in regards to the program. I think that by loosening the standards a bit as far as trophy and PS4 OS feature support goes they could make the program much more enticing,
read: cheaper and faster to develop for
, for some of the publishers with great catalogs of IP's but who aren't interested in spending much development budget on a product with a limited return,
*Cough Konami cough
.
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
They could start by putting up the great Dragon Quest game...
 

nOoblet16

Member
It's not like for like. 360 games are up to the modern standards in terms of 1080p, achievements etc. Also its a direct emulator so its easy to get things working.

The PS2 Classics are upscaled and with trophy support. So you may say, why not just emulate straight? Because they look awful on HDTVs. One game bought will put people off buying any more.

It's slow, but 2.5 a month is better than I'd assumed it was. Plus we do have Jak and Daxter and Star Ocean 3 coming soon. That was a nice surprise. Plus Star Ocean uses an Ultimate Hits HD branding, which makes it sound like the first of a few, so Square Enix support looks promising.
Emulating at same resolution vs emulating at higher resolution should merely be a matter of power. It should not really require extra man hours on a game by game basis to emulate at a higher resolution compared to doing it at original (provided the emulator itself supports running at higher resolution which it seemingly does). So if a game can be "directly emulated" as you put it, then running it at a higher resolution should merely be a matter of fulfilling the processing power requirement, which is a non issue here since the power gap between PS2 and PS4 is astronomical.

I mean that's how PCSC2 works, i.e. as long as the emulator supports a game then the rendering resolution and the speed at which it runs at is just dependant on the hardware emulating it.
 

Van Bur3n

Member
If something as meager as trophies are truly affecting this, then someone needs to slap Sony in the face for being obsessed with something so pointless. Downright dumb as fuck if this is what is holding the games back.

I used to obsess over these dumb achievements but they should just go away forever if its really that much of a nuisance.
 
I'd be curious to see some of the financials behind launching PS2 games on the store. What is the cost they need to recoup to start being profitable? How many sales does that equal at x price?

I have to think if they sold well enough they would have kept making them available.

But there's opportunity cost to consider as well.
 

Weiss

Banned
I played Okage and it only displays in 4:3. Really annoyed because I thought every game had their aspect ratio matched for HD.
 
I think the trophies are important for games I already own, but not important for games I don't. Games I already own I can play with PCSX2 straight from the disc drive and it works well.
 
Wrong.

I would only buy old games I'm interested in again for the trophies, as I already have the games.

Though some people want to just play the game and I understand that, I also stand by your sentiments. I feel that the trophies and shareplay and online streaming for PS2 games make it worth far more than just playing the game. The trophies are an absolute minimum to get people to play again. Shareplay and streaming goes well above what the original games were meant to do.
 

Ravidrath

Member
Posted this in another thread, but figured it was worth reiterating here.

Note that I have never released a PS2 Classic on PS4, but here is how I understand the process works:

1. Sony does the port, testing and QA
2. Proceeds from the game's sales all go to Sony until it recoups Sony's costs
3. After that it follows the standard 70/30 split all PSN sales do​

I would argue that it would be impossible to make it any easier than this for the publishers involved, since it actually costs them nothing up front and has zero risk.

The system was designed to get as many out as possible, but publishers aren't taking them up on it.

I suspect it's because most of the PS2 games people care about are Japanese, and Japanese publishers would rather try for a rerelease themselves, or want to charge an unrealistically high price.
 
They should definitely look at thier stubborn ways, same as early ps3 launch and fix this


I hope it isn't like the games on ps3 that didn't sell well where they just forget about it. If they actually put effort in this and for third parties involved with more consumer practices I'm confident that it can work out.

Subscription works in thier favor as they can continue it forever practically with an option to buy.

Adding features and making new games to some of the games can also create new fans where they can then continue to get new fans where they can then keep selling the old games.

I don't think Sony is being smart here nor Nintendo.
 
Top Bottom