Why PlayStation 2

[RAIST]

think you're missing the point.....PS2 is likely using lower quality textures to begin with...just like they were having to pare them down for the PS3 version of FFXIV compared to what they originally generated in the initial PC release.

[Lisotte]

Wait... it's coming out on ps2 in Japan? Wasn't that half the point, dropping ps2 so that we could have a real expansion with actual new, non-recycled content? It's going to be WotG and Aby all over again (which were awesome, but not new areas).

[Gilraen]

What is it about 'home market' that's failing here? The user poll they did last year clearly revealed that alot of players in Japan play on the PS2 whereas in the US PC dominates. Who do you think Square is going to cater to more? I already know the answer here, and it's not going to change anytime soon as far as I can see. It's the same old discrimination PSO players got used to a decade ago, myself included.

[Llana_Virren]

Wait... it's coming out on ps2 in Japan? Wasn't that half the point, dropping ps2 so that we could have a real expansion with actual new, non-recycled content? It's going to be WotG and Aby all over again (which were awesome, but not new areas).

No, the point was Economics 101. The player-base assumed PS2 drop was to facilitate the end of the "PS2 limitations" argument.

[bungiefanNA]

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to inquire of they will make the Japanese PS2 disk region-free.

Not possible. PS2 doesn't have a designation for a disc to be region free. It must have a region code on it, and it must match the console's region code for it to boot the disc. Xbox 360 allows multiple region codes on the same disc, and has a region free designation. PS3 simply doesn't bother with region lock on PS3 software, as long as it has a code, but it enforces PS1 and PS2 region locks on physical discs.

[bungiefanNA]

Partly, PC dominates here because the game released about 18 months earlier here on PC than PS2, and partly because SCEA only made and sold the hardware required to run the game for about 9 months (March 2004 - November 2004). In Japan the game launched on PS2 6 months before PC, and the hardware was much more widely available and for a much longer time span (2001-2009 or 2010). There simply aren't as many HDD units in North America, so there's a smaller player base because SCEA created that scarcity.

Meant to edit this into the previous post, whoops.

[Gilraen]

They also offered two versions of the HDD (an internal and an external) in Japan as well as a Lin-station HDD (which turned the PS2 into a pure computer). Again, another example of the home market getting preferential treatment.

[Gingerhurricane]

They also offered two versions of the HDD (an internal and an external) in Japan as well as a Lin-station HDD (which turned the PS2 into a pure computer). Again, another example of the home market getting preferential treatment.

Perhaps there was no market for those items here? Just saying not everything needs to be released and distributed equally. It's like honda making their integra in japan while the acura discontinued the rsx model. There it is a popular car to drive. Here it is a popular car with high school kids, and teenagers who think it'll be fast and sweet to trick out. People in their 20's would rather have a nicer "sports" car than that, such as a VW GTI or something that's more luxury. Would I spend 20k on a rsx that they say is luxury, or would i spend it on something that doesnt feel like youre driving down a dirt road on the highway. This crap needs to stop. I played ps2 for years, the graphics suck. plugging my ps2 into my 1080i 32" samsung hurts my eyes and im not joking.

[Teraniku]

Please understand Teraniku, that given that the expansion is coming out on PS2 in Japan, there will be no increase in performance of the game even though (at the moment) the PS2 expansion isn't coming out in the US.

The PS2 is still going in Japan.

Oh don't get me wrong, I know that Japan is getting the game on PS2 Discs. Since Fat PS2's were manufactured in Japan til at least 2009. I still think SE is making the right move. (By the way I have all 3 versions of the game. So I'd probably get the PS2 version if it was available, just to be a completest )

[Llana_Virren]

They also offered two versions of the HDD (an internal and an external) in Japan as well as a Lin-station HDD (which turned the PS2 into a pure computer). Again, another example of the home market getting preferential treatment.

Do some research on Sony's control over HDDs in the U.S. for a more educated assessment on why SE can make devices for PS2 in Japan but not in the U.S.