This is for the PS3 but its a decent read as publishers are likely to have similar issues with releasing games on the Virtual Console too.
Hello everyone. Today I’m here to talk to you a little bit about PSone Classics – what it takes to get a PSone game from disc to the Store, the problems we face in doing so and what we’re doing to get more games to you guys.
The Process
The journey from PSone disc to PSone emulation can be a long one – here’s the short version.
We make sure we’ve got a good copy of the original disc (or discs if there are localised versions), then the game is cleared for publish by our legal department. They check there are no issues with any of the content in the game being under an expired license, or any confusion over ownership of the publishing rights. Then we make a record for the game as it will appear on the Store, including the image and all the description text in the eight Store languages. Next, the game disc is sent to SCEI (Sony Computer Entertainment International) to be turned into a digital version, where they run some initial bug tests before the package is sent to our software testing house in Liverpool. The game is played extensively to make sure that there are no serious issues and that the game works from start to finish. At that point, if no problems are found either on PS3 or PSP, we can publish it.
The whole process can sometimes take several months, depending on the ease of the emulation, the length of the game and how many issues are found in each round of testing.
The Problems
There are two major stumbling blocks between submitting a game for emulation and us being able to publish it: not getting legal clearance and failing quality assurance (QA).
First, the legal – without naming specific games, some contain brand-name products (such as character clothing) that are no longer under license from the brand owner. In the same way, some games have characters in them that are borrowed from other game series and the publisher no longer has the rights to use them, or music that has been licensed for a game and again, those licenses have expired. In cases like these, permission has to be sought to publish the game or a license has to be renewed and this can take large amounts of time and/or money, or might simply just not be possible. Sadly, when these licenses were originally secured, they were for the life of the original product and plans were not put in place for these games to be launched again on another platform, years later. In some cases, the publisher of a game may no longer exist, so it must be determined who holds the permissions to republish a game before it can be emulated for the Store.
The other problem is failing QA because of serious bugs, and when I say bugs, I mean giant cockroach sized uber-bugs. I have seen a lot of PSone QA reports with some weird and wonderful errors – menu screens with upside down text, explosions that kill your character at random after watching a cut scene, games that continue to slow down the longer you play them, or music that sounds like it’s coming from the bottom of a well… the list goes on.
If a bug makes the game completely unplayable or otherwise ruins your experience then that’s a fail and the game cannot be published.
If a game fails QA, there are some things that can be done to fix them but, unlike with a PSN title, they can’t simply go back to the developer for another round of fixes, so it can get complicated.
SCE are also constantly improving the emulator that powers the PSone Classics both on PS3 and PSP, so often serious bugs that prevent games from loading at all are fixed with new versions of the emulator.
Why are some games available on the US Store but not available on the EU Stores?
The million dollar question…
This usually comes down to either publishing rights or bugs that occur within the emulated PAL version that did not occur within the NTSC emulated version. There are several PAL titles that don’t play well with the emulator because of a PAL-only copy protection system that was used in several key releases, and sometimes other bugs occur at random.
In some cases the original publisher of the game in the US is not the same publisher as in Europe, so publishing rights need to be secured – once again, a lengthy process and one that some publishers choose not to undertake because of the costs and time involved.
And in the case of specifically licensed content, such as music, when it’s renewed for use in the US, it doesn’t automatically mean it can also be renewed for all the territories we publish in across Europe and the rest of the world.
What are we doing about it?
We are still dedicated to bringing you as many PSone games as we possibly can. How dedicated? There are some PSone titles that we have been seeking legal clearance to publish from as far back as 2007, some of which are still on going and some (such as the six mystery titles I mentioned recently… here’s a freebie… one of them is Wild Arms) have only just been legally cleared.
There are titles which previously failed QA that are bug tested again with every new version of the emulator and they come your way as soon as we can release them.
We’ve just sent another round of first-party titles for clearance and emulation to fill in the gaps in the catalogue (yes, one of them is Tombi so stop asking!) and with the list of games you’ve been asking for, we will be going back to publishers and specifically pushing for the most requested and popular titles.
That’s all for now, I hope you’ve learned some things about the PSone process. We’re not finished on this subject though – I’ll be back next week with more, including your list of requests on the blog, where we’ll take steps to find your most ‘must-have’, missing PSone Classics and see what we can do to make them happen. In the meantime, please keep making your requests in the comments.
Edgey, Gumshoe, Godot, Sissel, Larry, then Mia, Franziska, Maggie, Kay and Lynne.
I'm throwing my money at the screen but nothing happens!
Hey Bass I see you're just as busy here as you are on gamefaqs wow i did'nt know how difficult it is to get emulated games on to home consoles 0_0 sounds like hard work :/
Really, though, I think these companies who put their brands into games should be paying the games companies - not the other way around! How did it work on Crazy Taxi? Did Sega go and say "hey, Pizza Hut, we want to put an advert for you in this game and also pay you thousands to do so - oh and we want nothing in return"? These brands were all changed for the release on the PlayStation store - did Pizza Hut tell Sega they have to pay them again for a free advert? It's messed up - I'm pretty sure these companies pay to get their brands in films, so why the other way around for games?
lol I'm not sure but you've gotta love some of the games that have had advertising altered XD I mean seriously Old Macdonalds burger was on some banners on a game I had on PSN before my PS3 died & we obviously know who the original Advertisement was for
@Mickeymac Well, SEGA changed the car in the Shenmue 2 version with the original only reappearing in Outrun 2 on X-box, which had an official Ferrari license...
I'm pretty sure the 'prancing horse' device would be an issue for re-releasing other versions of the original, Japanese Saturn version is best.
I'm not sure it is, I think the license in the X-box version of Outrun 2 would likely cover the usage of the logo in the unlocked version of the original game.
Otherwise why would the Shenmue 2 version swap the 'Ferrari' style car for a more generic sprite which removed the logo? I cant think why else there is no Outrun on VC...
Just a guess anyway, I mean they removed the iconic portraits of Marilyn Munroe from the VC version of Shinobi arcade, but not from the version unlocked in the PS3 / X-box 360 Ultimate Megadrive collection, so who knows!
Well...I've only heard that SEGA never licensed the Ferrari license of the original OutRun...but maybe they changed the source code when they could use it (idiots if they have).
Mortal Kombat isn't on the VC either, and Midway weren't bankrupt at the time and could have made money.
We’re not finished on this subject though – I’ll be back next week with more, including your list of requests on the blog, where we’ll take steps to find your most ‘must-have’, missing PSone Classics and see what we can do to make them happen. In the meantime, please keep making your requests in the comments.
@Starlight I think you're right - the original doesnt have an official license, which is why I think they needed to subsequently alter the car's graphics for the Shenmue 2 and the Gameworks versions available on Dreamcast. Much like SEGA had to alter the Megadrive and arcade versions of Shinobi.
Outrun could come to VC, but it would most likely be this version. Hey, its still just as fun anyway and I just want more SEGA arcade action on VC!
Man, man, man ... This is what happens when brands can not only make money off their products but the brand itself as well. To me this is just a way to show off the force they have. Nothing more than that. And it's especially sad that a videogame just is no Coca Cola, you cannot drink it. So it's not ripping off a brand name. No matter how often that brand is in the game, its cover etc. So the brand is not endangered by it at all and should therefore not get money for usage in the game. I mean even if somebody pissed on a tin of Coca Cola i'd still see it as an act of free speech, not anti-advertising.
It would just be nice if Nintendo, Sony, Apple, Microsoft and so on would let us know which games they're working on and have to deal with these issues.
Yeah, I've always wondered about brand names being used in videogames. It seems to me that it should be Pizza Hut paying Sega to use their name in the game. Does anyone know the actual details? Unless Sega just wanted to make the game more realistic by using actual places, why would they want to pay someone else to advertise for that company? It really would be free advertisement for Pizza Hut if Sega could keep the names in, but sadly that's not how the law works. As for why the Monroe pictures were removed from the VCA version of Shinobi and not the PS3 version, I have no idea why they did that but I wish they kept them in the VCA version.
I understand the concept of licensing issues arising for digitally distributed content.
Here's what I would like to see that has already been shown not to be an issue to implement.
PS3 can play PS1 disc games. I'd like to be able to pop a legit physical PS1 game that I already own into a PS3, connect a PSP to my PS3 via USB and have the PS3 encode a digital copy of my PS1 game exclusively for use on only my PSP and transfer it to my PSP.
I'd also like the same thing applied to the PSP UMDs for the NGP. PSP to PS3 to NGP. Its do-able and it should be done.
What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.
They wont let you do that though, sykotek, because they want you to pay for that game more than once. They want you to pay for it for your PS1, then again on your PS3 and another version for your PSP. I hate to say it, but that's why piracy works best since you have much more freedom - not that I pirate anything since I have an extensive legitimate collection, but I wonder why I bother sometimes when they **** us like this.
Anyway, that's beside the point - if we did have that freedom it'd mean plenty of old titles that probably will never see a release again could be played on modern systems. Backwards compatibility is a start but it'd be nice to be able to store these games digitally too in a way that's not considered piracy.
I've been thinking about my comment yesterday. Since i don't know for sure it could be that these brands invested in the games and of course want their part of the profit now too. Which doesn't make it less frustrating though.
I understand the concept of licensing issues arising for digitally distributed content.
Here's what I would like to see that has already been shown not to be an issue to implement.
PS3 can play PS1 disc games. I'd like to be able to pop a legit physical PS1 game that I already own into a PS3, connect a PSP to my PS3 via USB and have the PS3 encode a digital copy of my PS1 game exclusively for use on only my PSP and transfer it to my PSP.
I'd also like the same thing applied to the PSP UMDs for the NGP. PSP to PS3 to NGP. Its do-able and it should be done.
I really like your idea. I'd want the same to happen for games on the Wii. (especially for VC games and classic Wii(Ware) games that don't need Wii control methods. Examples would be Mega Man 9 and 10, Contra and Castlevania ReBirth, A Boy and his Blob, ... Of course i know it will never happen, but one can dream though.
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