Be Excellent To Each Other

According to PSN this is out tomorrow, 28 September. Anyone taking the plunge playing two of the greatest games ever made in HD (or 3D for those lucky shits with 3DTV's).

Lord knows how much but I'm guessing, um, £20. Ish.

Ico bored me to be honest but Shadow of the Colossus interests me purely because of the name... should it?

I also have a 3D TV but my PS3 isn't connected to it...

These are definitely on my to-buy list, although probably not tomorrow as I've already got three games on the go right now.

The Vision you owe it to yourself to play Colossus. It really is as good as the universal praise heaped on it.

Then you must invite me round to play it on your 3D telly

I have dem for my PS2, so I'm not overly bothered at the minute.

I've never played either. I've always wanted to but it never seemed to happen. I may well be tempted if the price is right.

I will be getting them. No doubts.

You're more than welcome any time.. but the cheapest I've seen this set is £27. Looks like it'll be a new year game for me as I've got loads on at the mo.

I was ready to ask why wasn't the third Beast game included, because it was also awesome. Nevermind...i have no idea what these games are.

Had a try of SOTC the other day at the Eurogamer Expo. Looks really nice prettied up in HD, and the framerate was hella smooth.

I'm all over this collection.

The cheapest I've seen this is £24.99 on Choices UK.

I'm going to see if I pick it up this afternoon. Do we know if it has any extras or is just both games in HD and no frills?

Gamestation continue with their uselessness when it comes to selling me new games.

I didn't anywhere in town today. Did Gamestation actually have a copy on sale?

Judging by Amazon, PSN lied about the release date.

That's strange. Just had a look around and they've all got the release date as 30 September too, like Amazon. Still, um, out tomorrow (maybe)!

So who's taking the plu...etc

I can confirm that this is indeed out now as I have purchased it. I shall be bumming it later on today no doubt.

They seem to have dne something to the gripping in SotC. Such that it's rather hard to maintain a useful grip.

I may have to get out the PS2 version to check if this is bad memory or actually a change.

I've only had 5 minutes on Colossus so I can't say. I thought I'd do them in order so I'm going through Ico before I start it properly.

I gotta say though, this is the first HD version of a game I've seen where I thought it was well worth buying. Not only are they both fantastic games but they look absolutely gorgeous. The sound seemed to have a bit more umph to it too, although it could be something to do with having a better TV than 10 years ago!

I'm just real pissed off with the exclusive code in the box though. Two behind the scenes videos and two dynamic themes (which PS3 does really well)? Yes please. But the feckin' code doesn't work FFS. I just wonder if they've not been 'turned on' yet. The box was sealed tight so I know there's no foul play at work.

Smacking those shadow demons seems more fiddly than I remember. Having died 4 times in a row has made me switch it off.

Just had a look at Colossus though and the gripping was as I remember it. Perhaps it was just because the bar is so small starting out again. It took me much longer doing the first Collossi than I remember but I'm sure it'll come flooding back after a couple.

It seems much harder to charge up a hit. Getting the lower section of the third was bastardly hard.

It sounds like it could be a challenging game... unlike Gears 3. I'm very tempted to get this. Keep on convincing me people!

Gears is as challenging as you want it to be. If it's not challenging enough for you then you're playing it wrong. Bump it up to Insane with a few co-op chums and see how you get on.

I'm sure Yorda just called the little horned boy "Kevin". And that shall be forever his name.

I'm at the waterfall area and can't remember what I was supposed to be doing...

I'm utterly in love with it again. Although I can't wait to finish it so I can play Colossus again.

That jump onto the waterfall thing was bleedin' infuriating. Hnngh!

I reckon I've found the secret wall to get a different weapon and recall it had something to do with the coconut I knocked out the tree but can't remember what to do. Anyone have any ideas? I think it might only unlock on a second playthrough from memory but.I'm not sure.

No, it works on the first. Yu get a better weapon on the second though.

Well I saw the piston but not the moving target. Sod it, I've gone past that now.

Here's my special tip for fellow BeeXer's:

Press circle to swing on chain. You can't make the jump no matter what you think. Yes, I know you've never pressed circle on a chain for the last three hours since you started and you will probably never need to do so again.

Just phoned up Playstation Customer Support (I'm that bored) who inform me that the PSN voucher codes for the videos and themes won't be activated until 10 October.

...And that is how you make a game. Finished ICO and it was fantastic. It's like playing a studio Gibli (however you spell it) film - it's simple to play (despite two annoying sections), has a simple story and almost feels like a childs game. Yet, there's something magical about it that adults will want to play it through to the bitter end and probably well up a bit like blubbering school girls dumped by their first boyfriend for someone hotter. Well, probably not so much, but you'll get this feeling in your stomach that you know you've been playing something deeper than a mere disposable puzzle platformer.

Unless you've played it before but then you know what to do, roughly, cause I stood around admiring where I'd been and where I wanted to go while the wind howled around Kevin's head and Yorda went off to chase some birds. This actually happened. It took me about 5 hours but I'd imagine you can whip through quicker than that or first timers might take a little longer. It's not the biggest game in the world but it has so much going for it beneath the simple exterior. I particularly enjoyed the last level and what Kevin could have become. Spooky shit.

It looks a bit lego-ish give its age but the sense of place is immense and its really benefited from a good HD tarting up. I thought it was more noticable than Colossus in fact which is probably better in 3D. Damn you bloody two dimensional telly.

Anyway, ICO: fantastic and having not played it in, like 8 years or something, it felt familiar but new. If you've never played it you're a fool. A fool I tells ya! Or have a 360.

The biggest improvement with SOTC is the framerate. It's a fair bit prettier than I remember (not sure how much of that is just having a much better telly), but having it run at a rock solid framerate is delightful. It really did feel like it was pushing the PS2 a bit too much, but this PS3 version performs fantastically.

I might ask Santa for a PS3.

I've even been toying with the idea of getting one, if only so I've got a 360/Wii/PS3 under the telly. I've even got four games for it.

I'm enjoying it even more now I don't have crippling hand pain for the crime of playing a ps3 game.

Ico is very much an atmosphere game. The gameplay itself is not so great. (Combat blows) but I love the way of actually feels like a place. (I find myself looking around to see where I am in the castle and recognising places is been, or finding myself in places is seen hours ago in the distance.)

Wait, what? Do you have some new pad?

He just types the commands into his phone.

I have one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Comfort-Play-Pa ... B004322VEE

I never really suffered with hand cramps from the PS3 controller (although the convex triggers are the belmingest thing ever) but it does feel much nicer with this on it.

I do. It's frustratingly close to being something I'd recommend. Sticks in sensible places, doesn't need to have dongle, more comfortable. Ability to swap triggers with shoulder buttons on games where no configuration is possible. And ability to upgrade firmware should song try to disable 3rd party stuff over bluetooth.
It's still not as comfortable and the Xbox pad, an has stupidly small start an select buttons. But I can live with that.

The main downside is the lack of motion control. (Wtf!) Which considering how little itsbused would be fine but for the occasional point its needed. (And if usually needed for something pointlessly shit, just to add insult to injury)

Wasnt really interested til this.
I have both the CE on PS2, but my ps2 isnt getting connected up to my TV these days.
When its £10-£15 ill get on this, due to pretties and framerate bonuses.

The nly problem I've had with Colossus are the same as the PS2 version: a bit of texture pop-up, the camera that's too twitchy at the extremes, and the wonky camera angles you sometimes get during a fight.

I'm up to Colossus 4 and can remember why this is in my top ten games of all time. Colossi 3 - the cricket bat guy - was brilliant; with the whole fight taking place on this giant tilted platform. I did feel a bit sorry for number 2 though which was so easy it felt like stabbing a cow in the arse and head till it fell over. When I sort out Dark Souls I swear I'm going to get in that bloody secret garden that I never did first time round. I'd love to see this in 3D too.

The download codes for this have now been activated. 2 dynamic themes and 10 videos available. Downloading now to see what they're like.

Make that 2 videos in 5 languages. Two videos about ICO and none about SOTC...tch.

The two dynamic themes are...nice. But that's it.

Just getting back to SOTC after I got distracted by Dark Souls and It. Is. Glorious.

God knows how many years since it was first released and yetthere's been nothing to touch it in terms of raw emotional involvement. It's the saddest story ever told on a pooter ever. I wish Studio Gibli would pick it up for an abridged movie version. God it'd be awesome.

But still, the graphics: awesome; the music: awesome; the characters: awesome; the Collosi: awesome; the world: awesome; the camera: infuriating. But yet, who gives a shit because this is the greatest game ever made.

I'm utterly amazed that the world is so vast yet they had the strength of spirit not to fill it with useless collectables. A special mention must go out to whoever did the wonderful music. It's beautiful, it's dark, it makes you feel heroic, it does so much to boost the experience, it's deserving of some kind of video game Oscar.

The only problem (apart from the camera, tch) is that hard should been the default difficulty. More hit points on the Collosi make for a much meatier challenge and a fabulous struggle. Normal is so piss easy that you can rock through some of the Collosi in record breaking time. Hard mode makes for a champion challenge.

It really is the best game ever made. Ever. Resi 4 can fuck off.

No invert-Y option can fuck right off. Grumble grumble.

You sure? I'm a 'verty too and can't remember it being a problem. Christ, I only played it last night and can't remember. I'll check tonight when it'll probably be a massive issue suddenly.

Wait, what? I've been really looking forward to playing these remakes as I never had a PS2 back in the day but no invert-Y is a total deal breaker for me. I'll be gutted if that's true.

Is invert-y pushing up to look down, or up to look up?

It's up to jump.

It's definitely true of Ico, and caused much swearing when I discovered this. Looks like SotC has the option though.

@MaliA: inverted-Y is pushing up on the stick to look down (like a plane's control yoke), as opposed to pushing up to look up (like a mouse).

I can only use inverted controls and I played SOTC without thinking about.

Fuxxake, that's totally needless in this day and age. If SotC has the option then the remake package is still worth springing for which is good, I might end up just not being able to play ICO.