Let’s talk about Xenosaga. Xenosaga is an RPG series developed by Monolith Soft and originally released for the PlayStation 2. Although six games were planned, the series was cut off after Episode III. I’ve never played any of them, but if you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me Tweet about it in the past.
Last September, Bandai Namco producer Katsuhiro Harada drew the attention of Xenosaga fans when he expressed his interest in creating a Xenosaga HD collection. According to Harada, Bandai Namco needs to see a large enough market for Xenosaga to justify the costs of development. He said it might be possible if “tens of thousands” of fans gathered to show their interest.
With the #OperationKOSMOS hashtag as a rallying point, enthusiastic fans started a petition to ask Harada for Xenosaga HD.
The petition crossed 10,000 signatures recently, but it still isn’t the “tens of thousands” Harada needs. While this is disappointing, fans of the series shouldn’t lose hope yet. Xenosaga HD is still possible, as Harada intends to “find another way.”
Most of the people hoping for Xenosaga HD are fans of the series, but there are others like me–people who never got a chance to play the original games. Xenosaga isn’t available on PSN, so my only chance is to track down PS2 copies or hope for some sort of re-release, HD or otherwise.
Remasters have become controversial, but I fully support remasters, remakes, and re-releases of old games otherwise difficult to find. It’s thanks to an HD remaster that I found my new favorite game, after all.
The petition may have failed to gather enough support, but it’s great news that Harada hasn’t given up on Xenosaga HD. Not only is he aware of what fans want, but he’s actively trying to help (which is far more support than other video game movements have from the developers). This E3 included many surprise games fans never expected to see. Maybe Xenosaga HD will be the next big announcement.
In the meantime, I still need to play Xenogears, as I mentioned earlier this year. What is your experience with the “Xeno” games? Do you think Xenosaga HD has a chance?
KOS-MOS is hawt.
…that’s all I got.
Thank you, Ludwig, for that insightful commentary on Xenosaga. 😛
😉
You’re welcome. ^.^
[…] petition was started, and although it didn’t get as much support as it needed, Harada said it was still possible and that he would look for another […]