PSO2 has been delayed for North America...not the news I was looking forward to during the end of March. So why was it delayed?. At this point it's a guessing game. Some may argue a possible connection between a malfeasance involving Gearbox's Aliens Colonial Marines that set into motion the falling out between Sega of Japan and Gearbox thereby ruining the relationship SoJ has with America. Personally I doubt this is the case as America is a large market to be tapped into for massive profits. To that end, I doubt they're delaying the game (and by extension the profits from it) because one developer happened to bend them over. The reasoning I find most probable would be a lack of communication and competence between Sega of America and SoJ. It's their tight lipped nature with their advertising (or lack thereof) that's really given the PSO community the cold shoulder these past few months.
Perhaps what I find discouraging given this turn of events is my apathy towards PSO2 altogether. What troubles me further is that I know Sega is capable of publishing fun and interesting IPs. They've done some interesting things with Sonic lately in Sonic generations and Sonic All Stars racing. I dare say they are actually giving Mario a run for his money in terms of quality content that's really trying something different. You can also play Spiral knights or Renegade Ops- no "game of the year" titles by any stretch but quality titles nonetheless. These releases were completely digital so they're definitely familiar with this realm of content distribution. Yet they have all this positive momentum and they're squandering it in the states and Europe.
So what's the tragedy? There are more JRPGs than I can mention that were canceled due to localization issues. While POS2 has not yet been officially canceled in the states the attitude Sega has displayed during its release and subsequent updates for the Japanese version of PSO2 feels as though it's abandoned the western audience entirely. I say this having only gotten word of PSO2's delay last March, which was bittersweet as it was at least some acknowledgement on Sega's behalf that the western audience still existed. Nothing has been posted on their english Facebook page since their outing at PAX back in 2012, not even their most recent announcement to the media regarding PSO2's delayed launch for the western audiences.
The Phantasy Star series never had a huge following so it's important for Sega to get the franchise out there and exposed to as many people as possible. They've made some reasonable dents in the market with various PSP titles but it appears Monster Hunter has pretty much dethroned them from their action RPG high ground. To that end, PSO2 is Sega's last real chance to really penetrate markets outside of Japan and get their brand name out there.
It saddens me because the game's distinct art style and play style set it apart from other games. It's definitely one of those unique and engaging experiences that one doesn't happen across very often. It pains me to think that future generations may be completely oblivious to the Phantasy Star series because of it being mishandled today. Perhaps I'm overreacting and being pessimistic. I will say I've lost all interest in PSO2 and currently looking forward to some other titles- specifically The Elder Scrolls Online. Still, curiosity can manage to fiddle at me so I'll be hard pressed not to at least try PSO2 whenever it is released.
I haven't put together a blog post in a while because I've been waiting for my creative juices to well up. That and I like to have my ladie friend proofread things with me. Next time I'd like to talk about preserving interactive media....or keeping old video games from fading into obscurity.
