Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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]."

5 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder... by Etone · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "...saving CDs to create a personal jukebox..."

    I wonder what kind of digital media protection we'll see on this thing.

    I also wonder if Sony might be considering opening up their own iTunes-like pay-per-download service? They seem to have all the requisite hardware in place...

    -etone-

  2. I am looking forward to this by brkello · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not that I am a big fan of MMORPG, but I think I will give them one more shot. Everquest was fine, but really didn't hook me like other people. Star Wars Galaxies was such a huge disappointment to me. I just didn't like the job system and how you increased your skills. I have yet to be disappointed by a Final Fantasy (but there is always a first time). The only real question is: PC or console? I will have to see what the menus are like. They will have to design it very well to work on a console. MMORPG generally are a lot more complex to navigate menus than a single player game, so it makes me nervous to spend all that money to get hardware I probably wouldn't use except for that game and then end up with something that doesn't allow me to experience the world as easy as it would be with my mouse and keyboard. In any case, it will be interesting to see how they do. Even if it ends up to be a mess, I give props to square for trying something new when all the fanboys tell them this is the "worst mistake ever".

    --
    Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
    1. Re:I am looking forward to this by August_zero · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I am/was in the PC beta (I quit playing it a few weeks ago so I am not sure if it is over or not)

      To sum it up quickly:
      The game is pretty easy to get into, most of the commands are on pull out menus, or can be actvated with simple ctrl-letter hot keys. The interface takes a bit of getting used to, but in all honesty the game playes pretty well and isn't going to pose a problem for anyone used to playing games.

      The gameworld is huge, pretty, the music and effects are top-notch, and the game play itself is fast paced (short times to heal, travel distances not all that bad) but leveling is slow to say the least, they may correct this for the actual release but i doubt it.

      Personally I liked PSO a lot more, but they are two completly different games so it isn't really a fair comparison anyway.

      If you don't like multiplayer games and interacting with people, you are not going to like this game. If you have a specific question just ask, I or someone else will do our best to answer it.

      --
      On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
  3. Re:I wonder... by rekkanoryo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Probably something that will take all of 50 seconds to defeat once the trick is learned. Something as stupid as digital media protection will have a bunch of people wanting to take it out, and when you have a bunch of people with a common goal it won't take long to accomplish it.

    I don't think Sony would try something like iTunes, though. One of their business units is part of the RIAA after all, and we know how opposed RIAA is to anything that makes sense.

  4. Re:I have never paid a monthly fee... by szemeredy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You can deactivate your "Content ID" if you don't feel like playing/paying for a period of time, then reactivate it when you feel like playing again and still have all of your character data.

    Square Enix saves all character data regardless if the account is paid for or not - but only active Content ID data is stored on the main database server. All of your old stuff (unless you deleted your character instead of deactivating your ID) is kept around elsewhere so that if you want to play again, you can pick up right where you left off.