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Sony Announces FFXI-Bundled PS2 Hard Drive

Posted by simoniker on from the finally-fantastic-squeenix-sony-hookup dept.

Thanks to Yahoo! for hosting Sony's press release announcing the PlayStation 2 hard drive add-on's March 2004 US release. According to the release, the 40gb drive requires the PS2 Network Adaptor to work, will "...come pre-installed with Square Enix's highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Final Fantasy XI", and will cost $99. Also promised are features such as "...saving CDs to create a personal jukebox, and the ability to download... levels, missions, characters, and much more", and forthcoming Sony-published titles SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs and Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (the latter now due in February 2004) are confirmed as having downloadable content. A GameSpot report from the Sony Editor's Day confirms the subscription pricing for FFXI: "...the first 30 days will be free and a $12.95 per month fee [from then on]."

7 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. i wonder... by justforaday · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it'll be interesting to see what other possibilities there will be with this kit...a linux install that doesn't require the official kit maybe? qcast that can transfer files to and then read from the local drive?

    --
    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
    1. Re:I wonder... by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sony Music actually had a contest not too long back where the prizes were Xbox systems and copies of Brute Force.

      That's because Sony's music branch isn't too bright. They're losing money hand over fist on income that's extremely high.

      Don't believe for a minute, though, that Sony corporate doesn't get involved in the development of the game platforms, otherwise we probably never would have seen CD and DVD playback in the 2 PlayStation consoles.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  2. Beta Withdrawals? by snarlydwarf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The only bad thing about this is what it means for Beta Testers.

    March.. -sucks-.

    Those of us in Beta have no idea when Beta will end, but there is a feeling that it will end in another month or so when the Windows release comes out. At which point, they may very well kick all the PS2 users off the server as well.

    That would mean six months without FFXI, which, well, sucks. :(

    I hope that Square-Enix considers that the Beta testers are already hopelessly addicted, and like a good pusher, lets us move to Retail as soon as possible, perhaps letting us be 'prerelease' customers, or even just upgrading us to retail as soon as we provide billing information (ie, don't even bother sending back the HD.. they'll flip a switch and upgrade us).

    I guess it is possible, since from the wording of the announcement, the HD is no longer going to be sold seperately 'soon', but FFXI is being used to push the HD. So at least some of Sony and Square-Enix's marketing has changed since the Japan release. Maybe they already know how addictive FFXI is, and how bad it would be for the beta testers to go through withdrawals.

    (Oh, did I mention Dragoon in FFXI is amazingly cool? The 2-hour skill summons a pet wyvern, which you get to name... the wyvern lasts until it dies.. if you rest properly it can last forever.)

    1. Re:Beta Withdrawals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The beta tester probably has a better idea of what the game is like than you there, chief.

  3. I have never paid a monthly fee... by stylerm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and I wont start with ffx1. A cost of $99 to pay $13 a month for a game that never ends? I believe Blizzard games are so popular because battle.net does not have monthly subscription fees. The games themselves are not that great, in my opinion....But I have gone 2 or 3 months w/o playing diablo2 or wc3, and its nice to just install, patch, and play again.

  4. A Little Late... by bottlerocket · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wow, sounds like what the Xbox has been offering for almost two years now...

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    where the comment ends and sig begins
  5. What about existing HD's? by Oinos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What I want to know is can we use the drive we got with our Linux kits? I spent all of about 5 hours with Sony's version of RedHat 6.2 before getting bored with it and putting the drive in the closet. It'd be great to be able to use it for something other than a dodgy version of Linux.