Hey Everyone

This is my first post on here, and I just thought that anyone waiting for the The Tales Of The Abyss(and Legendia) title to be released in the UK is going to be disappointed (as am I).

I wrote to PlayStation@namcouk.net asking about the possible release of Tales of the Abyss and Legendia and this was thier response.


Hi,



Thank you for your email.



I am afraid that it is unlikely that Tales of the Abyss will see a European release. With regards to Tales of Legendia, nothing has been announced as yet.



Kind regards,



Namco Bandai Games Europe S.A.S.


On the other hand though gameseek has 'Abyss' being released on the 30 of March 07 so you never know. It looks like I will be getting either an NTSC PS2 or wait and grab myself a PS3 in March which is going to be region free for games.

Perhaps if everyone floods Namcos inbox with a demand to see the unreleased(in Europe) Tales games then maybe they'll pull their finger out lol!

Its annoying though European gamers always get the bad deal, loads of RPGs don't get released here and we still don't have a confirmed release date for FF12.

Mike

Tell me about it... I probably complain more than anyone else. (Especially about the screw up with the Xenosaga Games). However, I can't complain too much because a lot of RPGs eventually get over to this country (Eventually being the key word) and as long as it's not a Dual Layered DVD I can import games from the US... I was thinking about importing FFXII but we will definatly get a release so I don't see the point.

Yeah, true i'll hang on for FF12 I just hate waiting i'm very impatient lol!

It does look like we'll be missing the boat for quite a few rpgs now though, I don't think Grandia 3 or Shadow Hearts 3 will be coming out either

At least Digital Devil Saga 2 has been confirmed though, I would have been annoyed to have completed the original without knowing the conclusion, I actually held out on playing this game just in case they canned the European release even though I have had it since its release.

I wonder why you guys dont get games released for you... mabye they see the market as too small?

Yeah its possible, but the whole of Europe must be a pretty big market surely? It makes no sense to me at all Its traditional that Europeans do get crapped on a lot though, especially with price and delays etc. The PS3 is a perfect example, Europeans don't get any of the promised launch consoles in favour of the US and Japan and the price is far more expensive than both countries, Its going to be around £425 which is about $885.

One of the Sony execs apparently said that "Historically Europeans don't mind waiting" I don't know where the hell he got that from but its an arrogant attitude to have.

From what I heard about the game, Shadow Hearts 3 shouldn't be very missed. I played a bit of it, but I probably won't ever finish it. I'm a fan of the SH series but I heard bad things about 3.

You could probably always get a Swap Magic disc to play imported games. That way you can play TotA.
Though I'm much more annoyed that they never released Tales of Destiny 2 outside of Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__wFt8YLQk

Hiku I just got to ask... do you EVER finish any game you play? x_x;;

And yes Europe indeed has the biggest user base, but unfortunatly it is the most ignored/overlooked. Blame that completely on the format used to develope the games: PAL. Apparently it's 'too expensive' and also all the translating - then some countries wont allow certain types of content in a videogame to be released there(Chrono Cross, Suikoden III, Xenogears to name a few).

Honestly, it's been a while since I did that. Besides Bully, and Resident Evil 4 around a year ago I can't remember the last game I finished from beginning to end.

Recent games:

TotA - 40%
FF 12 - 50%
Grandia 3 - 25%
Suikoden V: 20%
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne: 95%
Xenosaga 2 - 40%

Last rpg I finished must have been Shadow Hearts 2.
I didn't used to play like this, but around last year some things changed, so I didn't have much time or will left to play much games.

Purchase Swap Magic or another product that will allow you to play out of region games. Or, simply just get your PS2 chipped. Then you can import games from the US. That's the only suggestion I have for you. I've imported two Tales games never released in the U.S., but they're in japanese. At least when you import, you'll understand what's being said since you would be importing US verison.

I see.

Well out of those games, Suikoden V is worth playing from start to finish -trust me. Ya might as well pawn Xenosaga Episode II .

Thanks for the responses guys, I guess i've always been a bit cautious of buying a Swap Magic due to some negative reviews i've heard frm some friends with it causing damage, i've been considering getting it chipped but i've had my PS2 since launch(a week before actually) and since its getting on a bit now I suppose i'm afraid of it breaking down on me.

The PS3 is only 3 or 4 months away(hopefully) and that is supposed to be region free so I may wait until then or keep my eye out for an NTSC PS2 on ebay.

Yeah c'mon Athrun, you must as well finish the last 5% of SMT, and Suiko V should definatly be played from beginning to end... I would like to promote XS Episode II, simply because then you can play Episode III

*Back On Topic*
I didn't realise Wild Arms 4 had come out in PAL areas... I swear I didn't see any in the shops. The problem is, all the websites tell you when it comes out in America so if they do come out in PAL they sometimes come nder the radar...

This is off topic... But the PS3 is region free? Does this mean I can import PS2 titles and play them on there without having to use something like Swap Magic?

Well the article I read, said all games will be region free so I am assuming that it includes PS1 and PS2 games too.

Not accurate.
Blu-ray, as a medium, is generally region free. DVD, CD, and all other formats are not.

Actually that is news to me. Last I heard the PS3 itself was going to be region free. But it seems you are right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCB1Kr_SOT4

Blu-Ray games are region free though, meaning all PS3 games will be. But PS 1 and PS2 games are still on CD and DVD.

Sony are against region locking of games, so I guess this is another reason to hope that Blu-Ray becomes a format used on not only Sony's consoles.

How can that be if the original formats were region locked?
The way I understand it, it was that blu-ray movies and things like that weren't region locked, or Regions 1 and 2 (eastern asia and the americas) merged.

Can you post a handy link explaining it all?

Vins, I finished posting just after you started typing your reply. I went on what I had read before, but looked it up while I posted, and if you check, I edited my post into something different. lol

You're right about what you said, btw.

However, making the PS3 itself free from region lock should technically work since mod chips for PS2 can do just that. And the debug PS2 units are region free. Bomb has one so he should know.

Ah yeah, go common sense.

Damn ah well I guess that gives me a good enough reason to hang on and wait for a price drop especially as there won't be anything worth buying for at least a year on the PS3, imported games would have been a great go between in the meantime - thats buggered that then

You could buy a Swap Magic, which is quite cheap. It's extremely easy to use as well. Or, you could wait for a year or two until the PS3 price drop. Buy Swap Magic and import NA verison of Tales of the Abyss. You'll be able to play Abyss.

Is it really safe then? I have heard a few negative things about it, I have had my console since its release 6 years ago so its a first generation of PS2's, will it be compatible with my machine?

What exactly is involved don't I have to shove some ruler thing in the disc drive? lol!

Mike

If your PS2 is that old, then I think you'll wear out the lens faster with the swapping of discs. At least be prepared to buy a new PS2 pretty soon, I would say. They're pretty cheap these days though.

I don't know exactly how Swap Magic works though. I guess Eva will have to fill you in on that.

Yeah, thats what i'm concerned about, my PS2 works perfectly at the moment and i've played it ALOT(touch wood) and I don't really want to bring it to an end. All my games consoles last for ever I have still got a 8bit Sega Master System from when I was a kid that still works lol.

Anyway if there is anyone out there (Eva?) that can explain how swap Magic would work that would be great.

Mike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgON_aPWKGw

That's how it's done. The video doesn't show you how to take off to front of the disc tray. Lucky for me mine just popped off, I assume the previous owner unscrew the front of the disc tray. Either way, after you remove the disc tray, you just do what you see in the video.

Yeah, it should be fine. If you had a slim PS2, then you would need to buy a magic key instead of a swap card.

I doubt using this product destroy the lens any faster than any other game. Also, you should have a method of paying for the product online. If you can't use a PayPal or another method, then you likely can't get the product.

Yeah I definitely want to finish Suikoden V. And same for Xenosaga 2 so that I can play part 3 as well.
And I intend to finish Shin Megami Tensei one of these days hopefully. Perhaps after Christmas I'll have time for it.

Well after trawling the internet and gathering as much info as I could i've decided to bite the bullet and buy Swap Magic 3.6 with the 'slide card pro' which acts a replacement cover for the PS2 while still being able to use the slide tool and it keeps the dust off my lens

Thanks everyone you've been a huge help.
Mike

I'm also from the UK and I can vouch for the Swap magic... I try to use mine as little as possible just because it does eventually wear out something (I belive the motor... but that also depends on how gently you pull out the disc tray... obviously if your gonna yank it out then it'll die quicker).

BE WARNED! The swap magic WILL NOT work on games that use a Dual Layered DVD... this means you can not use games like Xenosaga Episode I and Wild Arms Alter Code F... However, it doesn't affect PAL dual layered discs so you won't be losing much.

Ok i'll try and keep an eye out for the dual layered discs although i'm not sure how to tell before buying. I just ordered Tales Of The Abyss, from this site http://www.dvdstars.com for £25 hopefully i'll get it before Christmas.

Just to let you guys know i've finally picked up Tales Of The Abyss and Legendia, and Grandia 3(finally have all three) and i'm well pleased trouble is I don't which game to start first lol!! But what a difference in packaging quality and presentation, the US versions are so much better the the UK's, even the instruction manuals are thicker and better designed.

My only problem is I need to keep an eye out for those dual layer dscs I was very close to pre ordering Rogue Galaxy which will come on Dual Layer and we won't see it here until around June, ah well I have plenty to keep me busy in the meantime lol!

Cool, I'm glad you managed to get your games. I think Tales of the Abyss is the best game out of the three, but start with whichever you want. You could try them all out and see which one you prefer starting with.

I was thinking that too but I may save the best until last lol

Haha, not really a good idea in my experience... by the time you get onto the last game your bound to have bought a new game that you'll want to play... 'tis a vicious circle... I always try them all out at the same time and just carry on with whatever sparks my interest first...

I see all your wows, RPG games have one big setback when it come to it's eruopean release, that is it has to be made in mulitpute languages. To release a game in just the uk is too small a territory for some publishers and if the game doesn't do too well in the US, the big game corps don't bother doing a european release, but if they do it will be in a very small limited shipment. Ie nintendo gamecube's Naruto clash of ninja, released in november is virtually impossible to find in the UK, and it was released in November. The tales games i love, and i have TOA at the moment, i have a soft modded PS2 with swap magic. But with a game with 60+ hours of gameplay it is a logistical nightmare to redo the game in about 4 different languages. And it's gonna have to sell well aswell. With final fantasy, it's such a recognised brand that it will sell out everywhere, but the reason it takes so long for games like final fantasy to come over is to get all the lanuages right and convert the game from ntsc to pal. This takes ages to do oddly enough. But some games may never be released and we just have to hope it comes to us in the future in some format, like tales of phantasia. Never released outside of Japan , now on the advanced, but was released in japan with full audio dialouge which is annoying. If the ps3 is fully opened to all games for importing then we can definetly get all the rpg games we dont' get from the us with no wows about modding. But then again i am still waiting for the Bleach games to come over there .....

Although the PS3 will region free, there is still a region lock on playing PS2 and PS1 games... I was hoping that when the PS3 came out I could finally play xenosaga Episode I but apparently not...

As for the bleach games... I saw a video of one of them (The rpg) and it looks slow and a bit mundane... considering bleach would make an awesome RPG I was a bit dissapointed. Anyway, the game isn't even out in japan yet is it? Even if it is, it has to do well in america first and even if it does that I doubt it will get to england...

This is why I'm going to move out to japan... I won't have to worry about this kind of thing anymore (sadly that won't be for quite a few years yet hahaha)

Well I don't think any game has ever been released in the UK only. Europe consists of a lot more contries than just in the UK area.


You know, I just got a Bleach game for PS2 two days ago, and it was awesome. It's called Bleach Blade Battlers. I thought it was fun to play alone (unlocking Aizen was my first priority) but playing 2P with a friend was even more fun. Me and my friend tried to get A and S ranks on all missions together yesterday, and played the game for hours. I think we're going to play some more tomorrow. Kenpachi kept owning us pretty badly in one of the missions to the point where we bursted out laughing when he did his insane air combos.

Right just after some comfirmation here people. Does TOA run fine with Swap Magic? It's been driving me mad not being able to play this game and i've even been looking into modding my PS2 even though i'm not keen on opening the thing up being only 3 months old!

Please tell me it works!

P.S. if you know anything about Suikoden III or Valkyrie Silmeria with swap magic and could point me in the right direction i'd be greatful

Yes, TOA runs perfectly with Swap Magic I was just as worried you, but yeah its all good

The only games that don't work with Swap Magic are games on Dual Layer DVD and Suikoden 3 and Valkrie definitely don't fall under that catergory.

This is a list of Dual Layer games that don't work with Swap Magic I hope its helpful to you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayS...n_2_DVD-9_games

As you can see its only a small list and considering the amount of games that don't make it to Europe(especially RPG's) the Swap Magic has 'breathed new life' into my PS2.

Cheers, i owe you one, i've been doing my nut in trying to work out how i was gonna get to play this one since it came out, gameseek got my hopes up a few times - but they just kept on changing the release dates. I'd like to go into a random rant about how we get screwed over with game releases on this side of the atlantic, but i'll spare your sanity for today.

Off to order Swap Magic!

Thanks again

No problem mate

I definitely hear you about the game releases I had a bit of a rant myslef lol!! Still at least there's some good games coming out like Final Fantasy 12, Digital Devil Saga 2(same day I think), Okami and on the 360 Crackdown which isn't an RPG its a super hero "sandbox" type of game which sounds good to me

Crap, just found out that the place i ordered my swap magic from is outta stock, gonna have to wait till they got more shipped over, ahh well suppose i've got the end of Star Ocean to play through before i can do anything else, just hope it comes before FFXII comes out cos then it's gonna be a while before i get round to TOA!

Still not played the first Digital devil saga, nearly got it a few weeks back, it was down to £20 but didn't get it as i was still a 30 odd stars away from finishing Suikoden V, worth the money?

Suppose we're getting hold of Roge Galaxy as well, even if it is gonna be June, so it's not all bad - just wished Suikoden I/II had come out for the PSP, even in america would have been good enough - maybe they'll release it online for the PS3 who knows?

You could always try these this is where I got mine from [linkremoved]

I would probably pick Digital Devl Saga while you still can it'll probably be the sort of game that will be like gold to get a hold of in the UK and with two being a direct sequal it will be like a having one massive two disc RPG lol!

Roll on June I can't wait for Rogue Galaxy and you're right at least we are getting it.

Modding is illegal so please don't post links to mod stores here. It's not that I really care, but it is possible that RPGDreamers may get in trouble for having those links on his board with his sponsors or whatever. If you want to PM the dude the link, then whatever.

Ok sorry mate, I wasn't encouraging modding just a place to buy the Swap Magic discs but point taken.

Isn't Swap Magic legal? or did I just miss something and Swap Magic was illegal all along?

I think it is legal, yeah.

I think Swap magic hits a bit of a Grey area... You don't have to break the warranty or fiddle about with the inside of the machine so I don't it's illegal in that respect. However, I'm not entirely sure so best play it safe and not link. Either way, it's defiantly the safest option for PAL gamers.