To answer your first and, I imagine, most pressing question, no, there will be no Agarest Limited Edition for the PS3. I mentioned in the blog post that we were “examining our options for both platforms”, and we have done just that. Unfortunately, our options for the PS3 have turned out to be nonexistent. We looked into a number of different possibilities—including, as some have suggested, download cards, or even just PSN “gift cards” in retail boxes—but for reasons which I am, unfortunately, not at liberty to disclose, those possibilities have not panned out. There will be a few digital reparations for PS3 users, but there will be no Limited Edition. Please believe me when I say that I am very, very sorry.
I hope you don’t mind if I hijack your thread for a moment, but you’ve taken the time and had the courtesy to open this discussion civilly and intelligently, and given the precedent you’ve set I would like to take this opportunity to address a few other things that have been on the minds of many of the members of our community.
Despite the apparent common sentiment, we have never had an intentional bias toward the Xbox 360. We endeavor to bring as equal of an experience as possible to whatever consoles a game is being released on, but the unfortunate reality of doing business in this industry is that sometimes that cannot happen. Many people have used the content of this post to say that the PS3 version was complete, and was delayed for the 360 version. I had hoped, when writing that "quote", that the exaggerated and clearly fallacious explanation would have made it clear that this was not the case, or that the line “Ed.’s note: That’s a lie.” following the statement of the PSN version’s delay would indicate that the PSN version was not, in fact, finished. At the time the post was made, the script was not finished, and testing had not even begun. It was, in no way, “ready to go”.
Many people have asked for the reasoning behind the choice to go PSN-only for the PS3. This particular issue was covered in a podcast a number of months ago (I believe it was this one), but the explanation is simple enough: That decision is out of our hands. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss the subject any further, which I know is incredibly frustrating, but sadly, that’s how it is. I have seen a number of people ask why we would forgo a physical release, when the target audience for this game so clearly wants one. That is an excellent question. If we could have, we would have.
I apologize to PS3 owners and PS3 fans who feel they are being slighted. There is no denying that, in a certain context, people who buy the 360 version are getting more than you. We did our utmost to bring the best experience to everyone we could, but we're not perfect. We'll keep trying to bring gamers on all consoles games they want. I know it's a bitter pill to swallow, but if you want to see more games like Agarest released on the PS3, and released on physical discs, then buy this game. I realize that seems very self-serving (and let's face it, it is), but "boycotting" the game, as a few have suggested will only insure that games such as this become a poor business decision not only for us, but for other localization companies as well.
Anyway, thank you to anyone who read through this whole thing. I know I almost certainly haven't told you what you wanted to hear, but I hope that by revealing and explaining what facts I can, the air surrounding this game and its release can be cleared, at least a little.
Data, data, data. I cannot make bricks without clay.
Alles andere ist käse.
And in case there is any confusion, yes, I do work for Aksys. If you have a questions, or care to verify my identity, you can e-mail me by putting my username in front of @aksysgames.com.
