Square Enix to release PS1 classics, begins with Xenogears

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 25th 2008 at 12:45AM }

According to a NeoGAF posting, this month's Dengeki PlayStation reveals the very first PS1 games Square Enix will revive on the Japanese PSN. The titles will be available for 600 yen each, and will begin releasing in Japan today. There are twelve titles planned, starting with Xenogears. However, there are a number of other titles to be released today, such as Einhander, Astronoka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters Impact. While none of these titles feature the words "Final" or "Fantasy" in them, many are considered classics of the PS1 era. Titles like Xenogears can be pretty rare, so these re-releases are of great convenience to those that missed them at first. At only 600 yen each, this is an incredible bargain, especially when one considers the ability to play these downloadables on both the PS3 and on the go with the PSP.

Unfortunately, SCEA and Square Enix USA haven't announced any similar plans to release English language versions of these classics. We hope that they follow suit soon.

[Thanks, Noshino!]

Tags: astronoka, einhander, fighters-impact, japan, ps1, psn, rakugaki-showtime, raystorm, square-enix, xenogears

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Todd @ Jun 25th 2008 12:50AM

Einhander and Xenogears are good enough for me. That would make me cream.

Ty @ Jun 25th 2008 12:57AM

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

Bdub? @ Jun 25th 2008 12:58AM

*goes to send a bag of crushed moogles to Square Enix USA*

GENTLEMEN @ Jun 25th 2008 1:04AM

Great. More sand in that gaping wound Sony.

bizdady @ Jun 25th 2008 1:05AM

Must learn japanese!!

Kspraydad @ Jun 25th 2008 1:12AM

Thanks Todd...now every time I think of Xenogears I'll have to have THAT image in my head.

Omen_20 @ Jun 25th 2008 1:14AM

Give me my favorite game.. Chrono Cross. I want it on the go for my PSP. I had fun playing it over Remote Play but I want the real thing.

Ebel3003 @ Jun 25th 2008 1:15AM

I hope to see games like FF7 on the PSN in the near future. Being out of print and all, the prices are ridiculous for even a used copy.

Eric E @ Jun 25th 2008 9:55AM

Id like 9 better, good thing i still have copies of both.

RazielDune @ Jun 25th 2008 1:23AM

I WANT XENOGEARS NOW

Polkster @ Jun 25th 2008 1:34AM

This whole Japanese store thing has got to be the result of licensing laws or something. I know intellectual property laws are different in Japan, which may explain why the PSN over there has so many more games.

Christian @ Jun 25th 2008 7:18AM

I read an interview with a Sony guy somewhere where he stated that the problem with releasing PS1 games was that for many of the games licensing rights to songs etc., had lapsed in a lot of territories.

Could be that in Japan there is general mandatory music licensing for instance, meaning they do not need to negotiate to use the music as long as they pay the licensing fee to a royalty collection agency.

Simstim @ Jun 25th 2008 2:09AM

SCEA needs to get a clue. SquareEnix USA please please release Tactics Ogre on PSN

SuperGayParade @ Jun 25th 2008 2:58AM

I bet this will increase the value of unopened black version Xenogears (last I checked around $180). Cool stuff :)

Brodie-san @ Jun 25th 2008 3:17AM

Xenogears is an epic game. If you like FF games and missed it when it was released I strongly recommend getting it from the PSN (if you can).

Though I may not be in their numbers I have a lot of friends who preferred Xenogears over Final Fantasy VII.

I think they're different enough not be totally comparable and appreciate both equally.

dxr @ Jun 25th 2008 3:33AM

Einhander is one of my favorite games of all time!

Could I DL this if I happened to have a Japanese account? :o

Dan Davis @ Jun 25th 2008 3:28PM

Sure, if you have a Japanese account with some $$$ in it...

I'm going to have one of my co-workers (I work for a Japanese company here in Seattle) come over this weekend and set me up with some funds for my Japanese account.

dxr @ Jun 25th 2008 3:52PM

Ah that makes sense. You can't add funds from an american credit card, right?

Is it possible to buy J-PSN cards online and do it that way?

kentuckyfried @ Jun 25th 2008 4:51AM

Bring MGS1 to the PSN store!

oldmike @ Jun 25th 2008 5:14AM

man they NEED to bring this to the US PSN
sony needs to get a clue

-Jad- @ Jun 25th 2008 6:23AM

Hopefully that batch may comes to the US store.

William @ Jun 25th 2008 6:53AM

Oh wow. I loved Xenogears. Hopefully my pitiful Japanese is up to the task of playing it. I can't wait.

Brodie-san @ Jun 25th 2008 8:38AM

Well, as you know from when you played it in English, there is a strong theme of theology and existentialism in Xenogears.

So ... osoraku chigau deshou
;)

koehler83 @ Jun 25th 2008 8:39AM

More games we'll inexplicably never see........

Nate @ Jun 25th 2008 9:03AM

Gah! I raced into this post with such high hopes. I've been wanting to play Xenogears on my PSP ever since I got it... but don't want to pirate it. Please, Sony, let me give you money for this game.

RolexDPracer @ Jun 25th 2008 9:39AM

Xenogears is one of my all-time favorite JRPGs. I still own my copy, but it should be released on the US PS Store. I think it would sale well.

Cullen @ Jun 25th 2008 10:18AM

Im so sick of us americans getting the fucking shaft with PSN titles. I mean we are one of the biggest markets in the world and sony won't throw us a goddamn bone. It's total bullshit and sony is missing out on a ton of money making opportunities...there are tons of square enix fanboys in the states. I grew up on those early square titles. C'mon PS3Fanboy, you've really go to push this on some executives the next time you get some sort of interview.

Erwos @ Jun 25th 2008 10:19AM

Even if they avoid their main franchises, getting such classics as Vagrant Story, Einhander, Xenogears, and so forth on PSN (or anywhere, honestly) would be AMAZING.

XenoSilvano @ Jun 25th 2008 10:19AM

ahh for fucks sake where is our xenogears! JP PSN got MGS and Xenogears what the fuckkkkkkk!

Nick @ Jun 25th 2008 11:08AM

Please, for the love of all that is awesome, release Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring. Please do it.

Herobotic @ Jun 25th 2008 12:42PM

GIVE ME XENOGEARS.

NOW.

Tim Parsons @ Jun 25th 2008 1:26PM

Damn SWEET I Loved XenoGears and never did finish it. I was at like the last section and the disc was bad.

if this hit NA store for 4.99 like the PSone games usually are i'll get it right away

lobotomies4free @ Jun 25th 2008 1:41PM

chrono cross!

dancingtosirens @ Jun 25th 2008 2:47AM

Chrono Cross would be amazing if they would release that.
I still haven't played it, and I've been meaning to.
Just too lazy to get it off of ebay...

Xoviet chiK @ Jun 25th 2008 4:25AM

You can buy it brand new for 15 - 20 USD most everywhere...

koehler83 @ Jun 25th 2008 8:59AM

Dont count on Chrono Cross and DO NOT buy it for your PS3. The game doesnt run on the PS1 emulator for either PSP or PS3. Well it runs, but it freezes in many places. So does FF8. It would have to be specifically debugged by SE and that aint never gonna happen.

Elisha Adeagbo @ Jun 25th 2008 2:13PM

man i miss Xenogears so much

MJ @ Jun 25th 2008 2:15PM

I feel worse knowing the possibility of it being released in the US is greater than Europe as we didn't even get Einhander/Gears/Chrono Cross at all in the PS1 days (I imported them all (which was hard in 98), and Xeno became my 2nd fav game of all time (MGS being the 1st lol).

If (big if) this came out on the US PSN, I would be one of the first to create a US account and buy it, being able to stick it on the PSP would be amazing!

browntown @ Jun 25th 2008 2:31PM

If they ever come to NA, i might check some out, i missed alot of games on the ps1. I really want ff8 (had it but never beat it, i was young) and ff9.

Justin @ Jun 25th 2008 3:57PM

Quote: koehler83 said...
"Dont count on Chrono Cross and DO NOT buy it for your PS3. The game doesnt run on the PS1 emulator for either PSP or PS3. Well it runs, but it freezes in many places. So does FF8. It would have to be specifically debugged by SE and that aint never gonna happen."

That's why some of us were smart enough to buy 60Gb PS3s when they dropped in price. Full Hardware Emulation FTW!!!

Phantom @ Jun 25th 2008 4:08PM

They should just release Chrono Cross on PSN then launch FF13 and FF13 Versus , and then get the FF13 teams to get together and make a Chrono TRIGGER remake for PS3 .

=

EPIC SALES

boltu222 @ Jun 25th 2008 7:31PM

I hope these make it to the American store at least, none of them were ever released in the UK >_>

I'll find some way of getting it from the US store.

boxmyth @ Jun 26th 2008 12:28PM

I'll be the first here to say that Rakugaki Showtime was an awesomely fun game that would probably sell really poorly in the USA, but would be greatly appreciated by yours truly.

And I'll hop on the bandwagon to bitch at SCEA. WTF? There's at least three games that the Japanese PSN store got today that I would give my left nut for. The PS1 days were when Square was at the top of its game, yet us Americans will still have to resort to Ebay to ever play them again?!
Come on, Sony!

LtIronwolf @ Jun 26th 2008 12:30PM

Sony should bring PS1 games like Driver, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid 1, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Doom, and some other top classic games as well like Chrono Cross!