Hasta La Gadget!

We all knew that eventually Sony would have to kill the PS2 despite the fact that it still had a decent sales numbers. The original Sony PlayStation 2 launched in March of 2000 and quickly became one of the most popular game consoles ever built. It looks like the PS2 is ready to head into the sunset.

Sony’s PlayStation 2 sold 150 million units globally making it incredibly successful since it launched. The PS2 is reportedly no longer shipping in Japan, marking the end of an era for many gamers who grew up with the console. It’s unlikely that the Sony PS3 will be a viable and popular console for over a decade as its predecessor was.

Sony is promising to support the PS3 only through 2015. The PS3 launched in Japan in November of 2006. If Sony phases out the PS3 in 2015, that console would have only been supported for nine years. A few years back Sony replaced the original “fat” PS2 with the new slim design.

Despite how old the PS2 is, many developers were still creating games for the console due to the wide user base. Sony may not be shipping any more new PS2s, but it will be a long time yet before gamers toss that console into the closet.

[via Kotaku]

Sony stops shipping the PS2 in Japan is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Square Enix has pulled the veil off the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box, a massive collection spanning most of the main series. Sadly, spin-off titles such as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy Tactics seem to be missing from this compilation, but all of the main series games to Final Fantasy XIII are present. It sounds like the perfect collection for die-hard Final Fantasy fans, but it’s going to cost quite a bit of money if you want to take one home with you.

Andriasang says that the Final Fantasy Ultimate Box will cost ¥35,000 in Japan, which works out to right around $447. That’s assuming that it even makes it to the United States, as at the moment, the Final Fantasy Ultimate Box is only confirmed for Japan. There’s no word on if it will launch in other regions yet, but it wouldn’t surprise us to hear that Squeenix wants to keep this Japan-only.

The first nine Final Fantasy titles will be offered on PS1 discs (with Final Fantasy VII through IX spanning four discs each) except for Final Fantasy III, which is included as a PSP game. Final Fantasy X, XI (Vana’diel Collection 2 to be specific) and XII are on PS2, and finally, we’ve got Final Fantasy XIII on PS3. It wouldn’t be much of an “Ultimate Box” if it only included games though, so Square Enix has added a number of extras, including an anniversary video, an art collection dubbed “Crystal ArtWorks,” a two-disc anniversary soundtrack, and a “mini replica of Amano FF 25th Anniversary visual.”

It definitely isn’t a bad collection, and it’ll be hitting Japan on December 18. It will only be available on the Square Enix e-Shop, which reinforces the idea that this is a very limited release. If that’s the case, then it isn’t looking good for a US or European release, but Square Enix might just surprise us – it is Final Fantasy‘s 25th Anniversary, after all. Keep it tuned to SlashGear, as we’ll have more information for you once there are new details to share.

Final Fantasy Ultimate Box collection heading to Japan is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve been aching to wile away hundreds more hours replaying Final Fantasy classics on the go, then Sony Japan’s got some good news for you. It’s finally revealed that the ability to play those charming, if a little dated, PSOne titles will arrive on the PS Vita‘s next software update, version 1.80, later this summer. This little nugget was tucked away behind the news that a handful of PS2 titles, playable on all versions of the PS3, will launch in the Japanese PlayStation Store on July 25th. The first wave of titles include Biohazard Code: Veronica, Siren and Dragon Force, all priced between 800 and 1,200 yen. No news yet, however, on when (or if) a similar retro-gaming bounty will arrive outside of Japan.

Sony Japan: PSOne classics coming to Vita in summer update, PlayStation 3 to get downloadable PS2 catalog later this month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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