And now news that everyone has suspected for some time: ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are making a grand return to Sony’s consoles. In HD, naturally. These are two of the best games from the PS2’s back catalog. They are also frequently held up as ammunition in the interminable “are games art?” debate. Whether or not that is a good thing is up to the individual.
But the fact that these games are getting a re-release is wonderful news. The lack of backward compatibility on recent PS3 systems has meant newer generations of gamers may have missed out on these classics. In some regions, they are quite difficult to find a copy of, too. So a re-release is nothing but good news.
Especially the HD part. For all the glory of these two wonderful games, their graphics look distinctly muddy on modern HDTVs. But the art style, design of the beautiful worlds and wonderful animation have always been impressive. To have the resolution and frame rate finally match up to the artists’ ambitions? Well, that can only be a good thing.
Famitsu posted a few screenshots of the remakes of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. They look good. But besides these pictures, and the fact that the remakes exist, details are thin on the ground. Further information is due to follow at a media briefing tomorrow morning.
Notably, though, a representative from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan used the singular word “version” to refer to both games in conversation with VG247. Barring translation issues, this hopefully means that both games will be released in a single pack rather than separately. However, Famitsu does list both titles separately. But then Walmart went and listed a collection of the two games as available for pre-order.
So it’s fair to say all is confusion regarding this right now. But the important news—that the remakes exist—has been confirmed. Further details, including dates, pricing and whether the games will be available separately or together, will appear tomorrow. Watch this space for the latest.
Alongside this news, Team ICO also slipped in the announcement that they’d be showing off some further footage of The Last Guardian at TGS. Screenshots also published by Famitsu show the protagonist interacting with the Torico creature. It certainly looks like there will be extensive options for working together with the beast. The main character is seen feeding the creature, being picked up by it, pulling spears out of it and climbing it.
It’s probably still going to die at the end of the game, though. Calling it now.
