SNK Talks Sony Approval, Xbox Exclusives

Thanks to Insert Credit for its interview with SNK USA's Ben Herman, conducted at E3 last week, in which he "addressed the rumor that Sony had forced the company into making [multiple games in one compilation] pack-ins for their 2D [PlayStation 2] titles." Herman noted that, apparently, "pack-ins were indeed his plan all along... but acknowledged that Sony was definitely more receptive to the pack-in idea than the single package. SvC Chaos and Metal Slug 3 stand alone discs were not approved, for instance." Thus, "The Xbox exclusives in the US market (the aforementioned SvC Chaos and Metal Slug 3) only came about because of Sony's rejection", and Xbox exclusivity won't be repeated in the near future. There's also a longer interview with Ben Herman posted at the MMCafe forums in which he confirms that "Samurai Shodown V and Samurai Shodown V: Special... [are] approved for the PS2."

Comments

Logical Solution?

[RoderickMcDougall]

Why not just offer standalone at cheaper price? Thats probably what the XBOX versions will be marketed as.

Yes! They just won't die!

[The-Bus]

I, for one, am jubilant that SNK will just not die. Most of their games are based on, what?, 15-year old technology? Simple "boring" 2D games? No 3D, no fancy graphics, no first person shooters-- just awesome gameplay. And they still survive because of that. It just gives me a nice warm feeling inside.

Re:Suicide For The Niche Market

[Babbster]

Why is Sony insane? You said yourself that this is a "niche" market that SNK is appealing to, and the PS2 is about as mainstream as one can get. I'm sure Metal Slug 3 is a super 2D side-scrolling shooter, but this is not a genre that's going to win over millions (or even A million) of PS2 owners. It seems to me that, as game consumers, we should be pleased when Sony encourages, or pressures, developers to give gamers more bang for the buck (or yen). The fact that the games are rehashes (as you yourself point out) makes it even more reasonable for Sony to ask for multi-game proposals. Then again, SNK a few years back was selling individual games for hundreds of dollars to their best (worst?) fans - it's therefore not surprising that they'd want to milk $40-50 a pop for their old games.

I do like, however, that you refer to the people who want the game as a "drove" (singular) of fans. There certainly aren't enough to make up more than one "drove."

Re:Suicide For The Niche Market

[h0mer]

Good lord, my eyes may explode from too much misinformation.

For one thing, the PS2 is not "mainstream", there are just lots out there. I'm sure the kid who plays Disgaea and La Pucelle Tactics has a PS2 just like the guy who just plays Madden all the time.

It doesn't matter that the game won't be a million-seller, I seriously doubt SNK created the title with that in mind. I don't want Sony to scare off new blood for their system, and they're nuts to do that at this point of the cycle. In case you haven't noticed, the PS2 is losing momentum because it's starting to look weak compared to the other systems.

The games are not rehashes, both of these games have been awaited for a long time. I love how SNK was "milking" $250 per game for their system, I also love how people can't remember the outrageous memory costs during the 90's.

Finally, there are plenty of people who support SNK and this type of gaming in general. They've been doing this for 15 years, they might know a little more about the target audience than you, eh?