Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 32: Phantasy Star Complete Collection

[P_HAT]

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-43- ... -2giu.html

I pray for ENG version...

[Erinu]

Keep praying.

[Specineff]

Yeah. Not going to happen.

[BulletMagnet]

Does it say which PSes are on this? 2, 3, and 4 were already on the Genesis collection...are they including the original and/or the DC-era stuff as well?

[Koa Zo]

I pray for ENG version...

Well, if it is similar to other recent Sega Ages releases (Treasure Box & Monster World Collection in particular), Sega will likely include the English versions right along with the Japanese (along with an image gallery of all the different region packaging etc.).

[Koa Zo]

Does it say which PSes are on this? 2, 3, and 4 were already on the Genesis collection...are they including the original and/or the DC-era stuff as well?

The actual Phantasy Star games. I - IV
And probably the 2 Game Gear games and maybe the modem text adventures (though of course we won't be seeing those in English).
None of that bastardized online universe crap.

here's the coming soon page:
http://ages.sega.jp/lineup.html

I'm more interested in the Fantasy Zone collection, really.

[it290]

Are these the original SMS/Genesis games, or are they the updated, remade versions?

[Koa Zo]

Are these the original SMS/Genesis games, or are they the updated, remade versions?

Just like all the recent Sega Ages releases they will be the original games.

Though I wonder about Phantasy Star Fukkokuban - was this just the SMS game emulated on Mega Drive? Or where there sound and graphic improvements made?

[BrianC]

Though I wonder about Phantasy Star Fukkokuban - was this just the SMS game emulated on Mega Drive? Or where there sound and graphic improvements made?

I heard that the MD Phantasy Star is just the SMS game in a cart designed to fit into the Mega Drive. I heard that it not only has no graphic or sound improvements, but it lacks the FM sound as well.

[Ganelon]

Spot on, among the remakes, only the SS PSC contains (and only has) the superior FM tunes.

If they add in the GG games as unlockable extras and include the US versions as per their other recent collections, I'll be floored. Sound will still likely not be perfect but anything is better than that jumbled streamed music in SGC.

[BIL]

Oh, man. US versions included would be killer.

[Turrican]

Soo... Necro-threading this about the sweetest PS2 disc ever released.

I suppose thirteen years after the last post, everyone know by now that this collection is deemed the ultimate way to play these titles, even moreso if you like me happen to still have lovely CRTs around for non-interlaced 240p goodness.

Which brings me to the point. A decade ago I wanted to save my lens the pain to go through the blue CD-rom reading, and install the whole package to the supremely sweet HD Loader 8c. But for whatever reason, the disc was not compatible with it. (I have my Gunstar Treasure Box disc installed though, watched the flawless superplays in 240p yesterday: sublime).

Now that we're all older, and reached the bitter conclusion that PS2 can't really be put to a best use, I'd really like to resurrect this pet project of mine, to have this PSCC compilation installed on HD.

Has the HD Loader technology evolved enough to do that? Or are there better methods altogether (sideloading through USB ports maybe?)

[it290]

I use OpenPS2Loader to boot games off a SMB share mounted via Ethernet on my Slim PS2. I haven't tested extensively but it works quite well for all the stuff I've thrown at it, including PS1 games.

[Turrican]

Thanks for the advice, this is something I definitely have to try. Is the ethernet cable solution fast enough to equate the data transfer from CDs and DVDs? No issues with out of synch audio or stuttering fmvs?

[it290]

For me it's been fast enough—I have the PS2 connected directly to a Raspberry Pi that acts as the file server via crossover cable, so there's no other Ethernet traffic or routing to be concerned about and very little overhead in terms of other processes running on the server. If you're running the share via a regular PC over a regular network, there are more variables involved and stuttering is probably more likely, though a cursory google search reveals that OPS2L also has some options to mitigate this.

Note that OpenPS2Loader also supports normal loading via HD, so I'd definitely try that before messing around with the Ethernet stuff. The only reason I went with the SMB share is because I have a Slim and the only real option otherwise is using a USB 1.1 drive, which definitely has stuttering and loading time issues.