Videogaming 247 says it's been told by Namco Bandai US that
Eternal Sonata on PS3 won't be leaving Japan. A spokesperson for the publisher tells the site that the game has only been announced for Japan and it has "no plans to release the game on the PS3 in the US at this moment." Of course, in the never-ending battle with PR semantics, "at this moment" could mean the game will eventually be announced for other territories.
Eternal Sonata's official Japan-only PS3 status might explain some of the strange things that happened late last year when the game was
announced for the PS3 on the ESRB site (pictured above) and on
Namco's own US site, only to be removed sometime later.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
browntown @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:03PM
Guess they don't want money. But ive read some comments on other sites and lots of 360 owners who played this say that its not that great of a game, they say it looks great, but has some flaws. Probably wasn't gonna buy this anyway due to money constraints, damn i need a job, lol. Valkyrie Chronicles looks good for those that need a jrpg fix.
Nutchos @ Jun 2nd 2008 6:07PM
This is by far one of the best JRPG's I've ever played.
The characters, story, environments are all done really well. But best of all is that it's not nearly as punishing as some of the other 'hardcore' rpgs out there. Combat is intersting, and the pacing is done well where you don't have to grind senselessly or rip out your hair due to insane boss fights.
I found myself actually enjoying the storyline rather than having to worry about leveling my characters.
McWeen @ Jun 3rd 2008 8:10AM
It had potential. I thought the graphical style and combat were amazing. The rest was very 'meh'. Hopefully they make a sequel with the same engine and it is better.
miyagi @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:04PM
It's a game worth picking up IMO.
Art style is gorgeous
Battle system is fun
Story is a little meh
But a worthy pickup if it comes out at it's discounted price ($40). Hopefully it will come out over here so the PS3 only folks will have a decent JRPG to play. The HD console selection (I have both) is pretty lacking for both systems IMO :(
Eggman @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:11PM
The story's only "meh" if you don't bother to read it into the symbolism that's in every single character in the game. Nearly everything said and done and every named character is a different facet in Chopin's real life and even the little history lesson sections factor into showing exactly why some of the villains and other characters exist.
I absolutely loved the game for that.
mupwangle @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:30PM
I haven't opened it yet, but I just bought it in a Tesco supermarket (UK) for £15. (That's about US$30ish) They had lots.
miyagi @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:40PM
@Eggman
I mainly considered the story "meh" because of the heavyhanded-ness and pseudo psychobabble I've seen so many times before in other JRPG's and anime stories. Trust me I've experienced books/movies/games much more symbolic then this game. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the game. I figured my first post clearly got that point across but maybe not...
Another problem of mine was that the game seemed like it couldn't figure out whether to be "deep and intelligent" or that the intended audience were a bunch of 12 year-olds. Some of the plot points had to be hammered again and again like we didn't get them the first couple times. I've played through the game twice and found myself skipping some of the conversations the second play through because of it.
I do agree about the Chopin segments. They were also some of my favorite parts of the game. Again even those tended to repeat themselves with certain parts of his life.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:04PM
Well this sucks if true. But would US gamers really care about a year late port when Sega's badass RPG is coming out in August?
Nate @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:12PM
Yes, yes they would. Why? because for some bizarre reason, Japan's own top end console has pretty much zero japanese RPGs (or really, any kind of RPG).
They'd be releasing to a market starved for RPGs, so pretty much anyone with a PS3 would probably pick it up, except for the small portion that also own a 360 and already played it.
I played Enchanted Arms, for heaven's sake. I'd certainly take Eternal Sonata.
creid @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:05PM
Rage.
Bellerophon @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:07PM
Well if you're THAT desperate you could import it, but you'd have to deal with the Japanese menus.
Then again... if you're already into importing JRPGs I assume you've already gone to the effort of actually learning some Japanese as well, so no biggie.
Eggman @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:10PM
This is really not surprising at all. Namco never released the PS2 port of Tales of Symphonia in the US either. Although that was probably for the best because it had quite a few technical problems.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:33PM
Tales of Symphonia is available for the Gamecube, and Tales of Symphonia 2 is coming to the Wii in a few months.
Tales is an extremely good series... I just beates Tales of Phantasia for the GBA, and it's amazing.
Tales of Vesperia is coming the 360.
But is not that there are no more jRPG's... they just found a better place: The Nintendo DS, and in a less extent, the PSP. Even the Valkyrie and Disgaea series is heading to the DS
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:42PM
No, the Disgaea series headed to PS3. Disgaea DS is Disgaea 1... all over again.
PojoMofo @ Jun 2nd 2008 6:03PM
Disgaea Hour of Darkness for PSP is another great one.
Nippon Ichi games are some of the best IMO.
Mullinsmcd @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:26PM
This game would probably sell less then 100k in the US, but if you already have it working in Japanese and you have the localization (text and dialogue from the X360 version) done as a sunk cost anyways, I can't imagine what sorts of costs would outweigh the benefit of bringing it here. I sure hope this rumor is false.
Rubix42 @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:27PM
Boo, I've been waiting for this port because it had additional features not in the 360 version.
Guess I'll be picking up that 360 version now though. . .
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:29PM
Same thing happened with Tales of Symphonia, came out on Gamecube and PS2 later but PS2 version was Japan only, Nintendo got the Gamecube version exclusive for North America. : (
Shame, since this game will find a better home on PS3, where it needs more games and especially Japanese RPGs, PS3 owners would love to get this title whereas 360 owners in general are indifferent since they have so many great games, especially Western games.
bry2an @ Jun 2nd 2008 5:52PM
Well considering PS3 games are region free import is an option but being an RGP it would need to have some english subtitles or speak or read Japanese.
rnr @ Jun 2nd 2008 7:37PM
It's the one of the most breathtaking games when it comes to beautiful landscapes.
Please buy this on 360 and support jrpgs on 360.
Josh @ Jun 2nd 2008 7:44PM
Aw man, too bad. Still hoping for it, though. But also hoping it comes out before the other big RPGs on PS3.
GlennFrank @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:02PM
Well - still haven't picked up the 360 version - I keep moving it further down my gamefly queue.
I'd like to play it someday though..
Wii60Warrior @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:28PM
LMAO...the ps3 isn't even worthy of having the game. Glad to hear that it only be in Japan. They'll probably appreciate it more over there anyways.
el serpiente @ Jun 2nd 2008 8:38PM
You must be so lonely...
4MyFriends @ Jun 3rd 2008 12:26AM
Same thing might happen with the new 360 Tales game. Sony really needs to insteel trust with 3rd party developers, because this is only the beginning if things don't shape up for the system in regards to software sales(key words, before people bring up hardware sales).
chez @ Jun 3rd 2008 7:43AM
I already played this game on the 360, if you want to, you can buy a 360 and this game too.
Kaz @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:15AM
I fell asleep twice playing this game as a rental. It was so boring. Really pretty, but sadly boring.
Benny @ Jun 3rd 2008 1:52PM
"We have no plans to update the DS at this time".
"We have no plans to develop Bioshock for the Playstation 3 at this time".
"We have no plans to include force feedback into PS3 controllers at this time".
There are lots of lies from corporate mouths at this time.