Board 8 > Older Tales games getting mass delisted on PSN

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1772771603375403016?t=1hYxYhdxdbHEOQ_g7bWWzg&s=19

One would hope this is because they're putting out new SKUs for them or something.

But this is Bandai Namco, so I kind of doubt it.

Also the DLC for some of these games is just gone now because of this.

Graces and both Xillia games still being stuck on PS3 after all this time is so sad - really hope this portends ports but I sincerely doubt it.

they can delist hearts r all they want

I gotta wonder what the path forward is for this franchise.

They put out a second poorly received HD release of a game that's still best played on Dolphin.

They put out a $40 DLC for Arise that nobody cares about (deservedly).

Not even a hint of an actual new game.

I have physical copies of all of these games.

Well, except Symphonia Chronicles, but that's no big loss.

It sounds like Namco doing their rounds of delisting old games. They did that with SoulCalibur V last year.

At least I own these physically, and already bought whatever DLC I was going to buy. That said I didn't even know Hearts R was a thing here lol whoops

Sucks that what used to be one of my favorite series has almost entirely disappeared. I blame Zestiria.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I gotta wonder what the path forward is for this franchise.

Not even a hint of an actual new game.

Supposedly the Scarlet Nexus director is heading up the next game - I feel like this is their last shot before Tales falls into Star Ocean levels of brand decay. (At which point I'd say the move is to do what Star Ocean did and make a sick-nasty remake of Destiny to restore brand faith... but they already did that on PS2!)

I don't think that's fair, Arise had problems but it was a solid game and was their most popular release in a very long time.

Arise was their fastest selling Tales of game and sold 3 million copies, i think they're okay.
but delisting games is always an awful thing to see happen, especially on console exclusive ones. sure they're old but the Xillia duo are just forever stuck on the PS3 for some reason. or now, only in the land of pirates.

The more and more stuff on digital storefronts gradually comes down the less I worry and the more I just accept that [buying games secondhand] will just be the standard policy in the future

Good thing the community is fantastic about preserving games forever because hoo boy are companies absolute shit about it across the board

Physical games are and have always been the way. Customers accepting and encouraging the swap, especially PC gamers, are a major detriment to the medium as a whole.

Physical games are all going to decay eventually and will be lost to time like tears in the rain

I've gone the other way on this and accepted that going digital IS the future - but the future also involves consistently ensuring that games that come out are fully preserved [under the purview of the law] so that we won't lose them

Xiahou_Shake posted...

Physical games are all going to decay eventually and will be lost to time like tears in the rain

This is a myth that physical haters love to share.
Paratroopa1 posted...

I've gone the other way on this and accepted that going digital IS the future - but the future also involves consistently ensuring that games that come out are fully preserved [under the purview of the law] so that we won't lose them

Thankfully, Namco's one of the good companies that doesn't fill their games with DRM, unlike the jerks at Capcom or Sega or Ubisoft.

MacArrowny posted...

This is a myth that physical haters love to share.

Even if it is a myth (it isn't) those games are all going to cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to acquire thanks to price gouging human refuse already completely destroying retro gaming in the name of profit.

Paratroopa1 posted...

I've gone the other way on this and accepted that going digital IS the future - but the future also involves consistently ensuring that games that come out are fully preserved [under the purview of the law] so that we won't lose them

This is the way.

I cannot fathom having such a hardline stance on a passionate hobby that connects us all here that is in opposition of making games more affordable and accessible to everyone, creating lower barriers to entry into the industry, and fostering more competition and innovation.

(I was talking about anti-digital people if that wasn't clear)

KCF0107 posted...

making games more affordable and accessible to everyone, creating lower barriers to entry into the industry,

Emulation does all of this, at least!

To clarify, I'm not opposed to physical games existing - I'm just pointing out that they're not a valid path to preservation due to both physical decay and unfortunate economic realities which have already put a huge portion of games older than the 360 financially out of reach for people who would desperately like to own and play them.

Lots of people don't care about games living longer than they do and for them I hope physical games continue to be an affordable option for as long as possible.

Haha I was overstating things. I love digital games, but it'd be great if they all had physical versions too. That's the best way to have preservation and lower prices, since physical games can get more aggressive discounts, be shared with other people, etc. DRM-free digital games are great for this as well.

Well I have physical copies of it all except for Hearts R but uhhh not good. Never is when a game gets delisted.

Even physical games are not a guarantee of archiving any more thanks to online games and even patches. Thats why there needs to be a concerted effort to maintain all that stuff.

As for Tales, as noted Arise was their most successful game by a lot, I suspect the issue theyre running into is the same issue that everybody is running into, that you cant just pump out a game of the scope of Arise every year or two and costs keep going up. Which is unfortunately not something with an easy solution.

Damn I own Graces on PS3 but never got to it before my system died.

Was hoping that once I have a PS5 I would be able to play it finally.

MacArrowny posted...

This is a myth that physical haters love to share.

Even if the game itself doesn't decay (it will eventually), the game system or controllers will. Especially if you move with any regularity.

Which is why it's great that third party companies are making new versions of old systems, like Analogue.

Digital is trash until I'm able to resell games.

What does this have to do with physical versus digital? They aren't removing the games that people paid for already.

Physical games go out of print all the time.

It does seem strange that this is apparently what people are taking from this.

By all metrics, the actual company putting out these physical releases "pulled them" long, long before they were pulled from digital store shelves. You can still buy physical copies, but the console manufacturers have also stopped you from using those disks on their current hardware, and have discontinued the hardware they work on.

Nobody involved with the actual production of this media gets any credit whatsoever with your ability to buy it used. In terms of actual official retail longevity, digital has much longer and more stable legs than physical.

Yeah the problem of physical as a form of archiving is that out of print games can get WILDLY expensive very quickly. There isnt really a good solution beyond games being available on as many platforms and formats as possible.

So why do these delistings happen anyway? What's the point?

Its usually either a rights issue or gearing up to a rerelease.

Xiahou_Shake posted...

Graces

#BringBackDISCOPrince

Yes, a delisting can be a good or bad thing, even if it's usually bad. An example would be Until Dawn, which delisted suddenly a couple months ago but it was so they could relist it with a version that gives you a copy on multiple platforms.

...At least I think that's what happened, there was some back and forth there for a bit.

But then you get stuff like Digimon Cyber Sleuth 1, which simply does not exist on the PS4 anymore even though you can buy it on Switch. Nobody knows why, and unfortunately this example is the Bamco example.

Bamco bringing back the disney vault?

Dire

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a6b6539b.jpg

I don't get why they delisted these games when BN owns Tales. Is it a licensing issue or something? That's the only reason why that would make sense to me.

In any case, it's a bummer that the games and their DLCs are gone forever with no warning given to us...