Is this the last PSP release?

[onmode-ky]

Knowing Vic, the UMD release of Summon Night 5 will probably be after even that one you list.

Hehe, it was close, but Vic managed to beat it to release.

 

Today is April 21st. Kamigami no Asobi InFinite released in Japan today (well, it's already been the 22nd in Japan for a good while now, so really yesterday), leaving the PSP preorder listings empty at Amazon.co.jp and CDJapan. No more UMD releases on the land of the rising sun's horizon (as far as my searching goes, anyway). As for the West, Gaijinworks is probably going to get their campaign going for Class of Heroes 3 once all the Summon Night 5 fulfillment is done and put away. That's the last PSP project on their plate.

 

As for "new" games in the PSP's download realm, there were apparently two Minis released in 2015, not just Angus hates Aliens alone. AvengeXX, an Italian-developed Mini, was released in December exclusively in Europe. None of us at PSPMinis.com knew about it until this week! I guess that shows how good its developer's marketing was. As for how good the game itself is, well, I don't know, but its screenshots do not inspire confidence. The gameplay sample video I found on YouTube . . . looked like an unfinished game. There's some irony in the fact that the only Mini released after the closure of PlayStation Mobile looks like it could have been one of the lesser games released in that program.

 

Speaking of PSP downloads, the PSP's PS Store in all regions now has empty tiles and a "use the Web Store instead" message when you load it up, but the Search button in the upper right corner still returns results. At least, it does in the North American Store; I got only weird, very limited results trying to do it in the Japanese Store, and the European Store reportedly does the same. But from my US account, I can search for a game and put it in my cart, just like when the PSP Store was still open. Presumably, I can still complete checkout, too, though I didn't try to.

 

As it stands now:

 

- Last UMD release: Kamigami no Asobi InFinite (prospective last UMD release: Class of Heroes 3 (North American localization))

- Last Western UMD release: Summon Night 5

- Last download-only PSP release: Breath of Fire III (North American release)

- Last download-only PSP release that wasn't already released in another region: AvengeXX

 

onmode-ky

Edited April 22, 2016 by onmode-ky

[onmode-ky]

It looks like the end is at last really, definitely near for PSP game releases. As Vic Ireland wrote in this post at his Gaijinworks forum:

 

UMD production has definitely stopped for the West. The last factory was in Austria (where SN5 was made), and that UMD line closed at the end of March. There's one factory running Japanese UMDs, but that will close soon, too. We're trying to slip CoH3 in there, but it's not been done before, so it's complicated. Worst case, CoH3 will be digital only, but I'm doing everything I can to get it out physically, too.

"CoH3" in the above is Class of Heroes 3. As discussed in this general Gaijinworks status update thread, they will indeed be publishing Class of Heroes 3, at the least as a PS Store download; it has not been dropped. When it releases, it most likely will be the last PSP game to be published even as a download. As Ireland noted on the second page of that thread, "all product codes go through [sony's Global Product Proposal process] now, but GPP was discontinued for PSP." If the submission framework for PSP publishing no longer exists, then I suppose that's a door closed for good.

 

onmode-ky

[onmode-ky]

Of COURSE it would happen that the day right after I write a post about the end of PSP game releases being in sight, a new PSP game is released. Retro City Rampage DX just had a PSP port show up in the PS Store (North America) today. And, at least based on this blog comment from a buyer, it seems it's cross-buy, too--that is, buying it should also get you the PSV, PS3, and PS4 versions. Who would have thought there would ever be a four-way cross-buy? Those of you who already own the game on the other PlayStation platforms, can you report on whether the PSP port has spontaneously shown up in your download lists?

 

So far, there's no actual mention of this PSP port from the Twitter accounts for the game, Vblank Entertainment, or Brian Provinciano. However, there was a "Big news is coming!" tweet yesterday. I honestly wonder if the big news is that there will be a UMD release. . . .

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

I don't know if it was in my downloads, but it shows up as free in the PSN store because I bought another version in the past. So yeah, 4-way cross buy!

[cimerians]

Thanks for the heads up about Retro City and Breath of Fire. May be the last game I download for it. I was able to get a copy of Class of Heroes 3 UMD a while back through their website.

 

Was playing some Tactics Ogre the other day, the system strangely just doesn't feel old.

[Tempest]

I am pleasantly surprised at the support the PSP has received over the years. Lots of great RPGs and it's hackable so I can play stuff that never came out in the US. It's too bad they didn't make a PSP TV box, but the TV out it has is good enough.

[onmode-ky]

I don't know if it was in my downloads, but it shows up as free in the PSN store because I bought another version in the past. So yeah, 4-way cross buy!

I remembered after I wrote my post yesterday that with my retro-active cross-play titles, like flOw, Flower, The Unfinished Swan, and Söldner-X 2, I had to manually add them to my download list by "buying" them for free from the Store. Somehow, I'd forgotten about that. It's worth noting that it's a 4-way cross-buy but 3-way cross-save, because the PSP's save file doesn't participate.

 

Anyway, about a half hour ago, a new page went up at Vblank's website, detailing the big news hinted at yesterday: a second PS4 retail edition, unlimited this time, but where the first 3000 copies have bonuses, including a PSP game case and manual (for display, with no UMD; he goes into detail on the page about how he tried to get a UMD edition going but ran out of time, and he also writes about how a UMD release would have meant a lot to him, PSP programming being one of his first industry experiences).

 

Incidentally, a PEGI rating for the RCR DX PSP port has shown up, so it's going to release in Europe as well (next week, according to that Vblank update). The game isn't available on any platform in the Japanese or Asian PS Stores at all, though, so I assume the PSP port won't be heading East.

 

Thanks for the heads up about Retro City and Breath of Fire. May be the last game I download for it. I was able to get a copy of Class of Heroes 3 UMD a while back through their website.

 

Was playing some Tactics Ogre the other day, the system strangely just doesn't feel old.

It's pretty nifty that a PSP bought in early 2005 (or late 2004, for the first Japanese PSPs) can still buy and play this brand new release. This puts the PSP at nearly the Game Boy's level, in terms of length of time commercially supported; as far as I've been able to find, the last Game Boy (non-Color) game was released in Japan at the end of March 2001, just shy of the system's 12th birthday there. RCR DX is coming at around the PSP's 11 years, 4 months mark in North America.

 

By the way, I assume you meant Class of Heroes 2 UMD, since 3 is the one Gaijinworks is still working on--so perhaps 3 will eventually turn into the last PSP game you download.

 

I am pleasantly surprised at the support the PSP has received over the years. Lots of great RPGs and it's hackable so I can play stuff that never came out in the US. It's too bad they didn't make a PSP TV box, but the TV out it has is good enough.

Actually, the PSP is region-free for games, so there's no need to hack it to play non-US games. In fact, a fairly large portion of my UMD library is from other regions.

 

onmode-ky

Edited July 20, 2016 by onmode-ky

[cimerians]

By the way, I assume you meant Class of Heroes 2 UMD, since 3 is the one Gaijinworks is still working on--so perhaps 3 will eventually turn into the last PSP game you download.

 

Yep that's what I meant, I've lost track. I think they did two of them, working on a third and then another game called Summon Night or something but not a PSP game.

 

I've actually been on a PSP thrift hunt as of late. Finding gems for as little at 2 bucks sealed. A lot of common RPG's like Dungeon Seige, Untold Legends etc.

 

I also own a handful of UK only releases, Tenchu and Shinobido to name a few. Interesting to see country exclusives.

[MrVideoGames]

Wow. It's crazy to have confirmation that the UMD plants are finally shutting down. I can finally put a bow on my complete US UMD Game set now it seems, unless GW can squeeze out CoH3 out of Japan somehow with an NTSC release.

[onmode-ky]

If anyone wants one of the 3000 PSP physical copies of Retro City Rampage DX (i.e., the game case, manual, but no UMD), the ordering page is up--for now, anyway. Looks like the initial 1000 copies (included PSN voucher code for the game) are already sold out. You can also order one if you're interested in the limited-edition PS4 retail copy that *ahem* comes with it.

 

Yep that's what I meant, I've lost track. I think they did two of them, working on a third and then another game called Summon Night or something but not a PSP game.

Sounds like you're on track to me. As you said, they've done two PSP physical releases (Class of Heroes 2 and Summon Night 5), are working on Class of Heroes 3, and they're also doing the retail release of Summon Night 6 (PS4 and PSV). They'll be unveiling SN6's PS4 "Wonderful Edition" on Monday, which Vic Ireland is hyping as one of the best collector's edition releases of the past decade. It'll be like their PSP physical copies, a pre-sale item exclusive to the Gaijinworks website, with a set ordering window, from which only the amount pre-sold will be manufactured. Between CoH2 and SN5, Gaijinworks also did Class of Heroes 2G, the PS3 update of the PSP game, also as a limited pre-sold physical release.

 

If anyone here has Gaijinworks' Summon Night 5 physical release, what variant(s) do you have? The game has variants A through G, identified by the letter that's at the end of the "ULUS-10656" printed on the spine (there are actually two sub-variants of G, one being particularly rare, with a tiny visual tell on the back cover illustration). I have an A and a C variant, the latter of which was apparently one of the first 50 copies ordered. Not planning at all to go for a full A-G2 set, though some people seem to already have one. . . .

 

I've actually been on a PSP thrift hunt as of late. Finding gems for as little at 2 bucks sealed. A lot of common RPG's like Dungeon Seige, Untold Legends etc.

Geez, the cheapest UMD game I ever bought was a $5 + tax copy of Beaterator, which I still haven't opened. I also have some cheap UMD anime purchases, $3 each at RightStuf.com (they still have some, FYI). But $2? No.

 

I also own a handful of UK only releases, Tenchu and Shinobido to name a few. Interesting to see country exclusives.

You're not one of those people who snagged one of the only 300 copies of UK Elminage Original, are you?

 

onmode-ky

[Flojomojo]

I guess I'm glad someone likes the UMD format. I always found it bulky, slow, otherwise annoying ... The PSP Go, hated by so many, couldn't arrive soon enough for me and it's the only PSP I really like.

[cimerians]

If anyone here has Gaijinworks' Summon Night 5 physical release, what variant(s) do you have? The game has variants A through G, identified by the letter that's at the end of the "ULUS-10656" printed on the spine (there are actually two sub-variants of G, one being particularly rare, with a tiny visual tell on the back cover illustration). I have an A and a C variant, the latter of which was apparently one of the first 50 copies ordered. Not planning at all to go for a full A-G2 set, though some people seem to already have one. . . .

 

 

Geez, the cheapest UMD game I ever bought was a $5 + tax copy of Beaterator, which I still haven't opened. I also have some cheap UMD anime purchases, $3 each at RightStuf.com (they still have some, FYI). But $2? No.

 

 

You're not one of those people who snagged one of the only 300 copies of UK Elminage Original, are you?

 

onmode-ky

 

 

I have the B variant of Summon Night 5 and no I don't have Elminage, kicking myself because I had the chance to get it at the time. I picked up the download, not the greatest dungeon crawler........but right now I wish I had the physical copy. :-/

[Flojomojo]

Nice write up of retro city rampage on PSP

http://tinycartridge.com/post/147857462222/retro-city-rampage-is-on-psp-now-based-on-an

This is one of my favorite blogs/podcasts.

[MrVideoGames]

If anyone here has Gaijinworks' Summon Night 5 physical release, what variant(s) do you have?

 

 

I have 2 "G" copies. I'm not sure if either of those are the G2 or not, but I honestly don't care enough to dig around and check. I personally was rather annoyed by the ~8 variants for a single PSP game that's around $60 a pop to get. I just wanted to complete my physical UMD set, not go on another search for a year for a mediocre game. No offense to Vic, but he's pushing the line on creating fan collectibles that the market is asking for versus taking advantage of people who like to collect games. CoH2 had just the two versions and that was fine. SN5 wasn't a good enough game to deserve 8+ variations IMO.

[Mord]

They'll be unveiling SN6's PS4 "Wonderful Edition" on Monday, which Vic Ireland is hyping as one of the best collector's edition releases of the past decade.

 

Apparently due to fan feedback, they've also announced a "Wonderful Edition" for the Vita. Basically the same contents as the PS4 Wonderful Edition but with the vita version, naturally.

[onmode-ky]

CoH2 had just the two versions and that was fine. SN5 wasn't a good enough game to deserve 8+ variations IMO.

Eight is a lot, true, but I wasn't really surprised, since multiple variants is something Vic already had a long history with--even going as far as Working Designs variants that collectors to this day still don't even know about, apparently.

 

Speaking of variants, for Summon Night 6, in addition to 3 variants for each of the Wonderful Editions (i.e., 3 different plushes in the assortment), there will also be variants for the regular retail editions. From this Gaijinworks forum post from a few days ago, "There will be at least three PS4 variants. Nothings decided for sure on the PS Vita variant situation."

 

Apparently due to fan feedback, they've also announced a "Wonderful Edition" for the Vita. Basically the same contents as the PS4 Wonderful Edition but with the vita version, naturally.

Mostly the same contents, but the PSV WE will actually have a different image on the poster than the PS4 WE, and it'll also have a different (and independently numbered, presumably) hologram.

 

Back on the topic of UMDs, as I wrote in the main SN6 thread, one of the reasons I think it would be neat if Class of Heroes 3 got that Western UMD release is the irony of having the final UMD be for a region who had a 2.5-year UMD drought, rather than Japan, who had UMDs released throughout 2014, 2015 (Japan did have a 6-month dry spell in 2015, though), and early 2016, including the current final UMD release in the world.

 

onmode-ky