ICO, SOTC Collection due spring 2011

By Ellie Gibson Published 16 September, 2010

US to get ending they missed out on.

Sony has confirmed that a special edition version of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will be released next spring.

The confirmation came during a session with Fumito Ueda at the Tokyo Game Show. It was also announced that both ICO and SOTC will be on the same disc.

The US version will feature the ending American gamers missed out on last time around. And they're looking into providing better box art for the US, too.

The aspect ratio for ICO will be reframed for widescreen, techfans. Check out the first screenshots and reveal trailer of the Collection below.

Don't expect any extra content, though. "There are elements I looked back on and wished I could do this or that, but now I look back and think maybe this is a complete product," said Ueda.

However, there's an awful lot of texture upres and the like going on. "There are areas where we are brushing up the content, so that, you can look forward to."

Not familiar with ICO or Shadow of the Colossus? Check out our ICO review and our Shadow of the Colossus review and you will be.

Earlier this week Eurogamer reported that retailers expect the collection to launch in Europe next March or April for around £24.99.

Digital Foundry recently emulated ICO and SOTC in HD to see how they might turn out.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Kaminari #1 2 years ago

    The Last Guardian news ruined my morning.

    Thankfully, the Team Ico Collection remastering makes my day.

  • riceNpea #2 2 years ago

    this is instant pre-order material

  • KayJay #3 2 years ago

    /Fuck shit fuck shit...
    /Happy sauce...

    Cant bloody wait for this...
    Sounds like they are going to make the required updates for the HD consoles so this should be just amazing.

    Also, Bit of trophy support too? EG - Investgate a little more... :-)

  • Widge #4 2 years ago

    16:9 is what I wanted to hear

  • Ryze #5 2 years ago

    /preorder!


    Also... IT'S GONNA BE IN 3D!

  • Bradach #6 2 years ago

    Having never played the originals I just read the SOTC review. Holy $h1t that got a good review (and very well written). This collection will be a day one it seems!
    Spring 2011's gonna be busy!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #7 2 years ago

    Fantastic. If I just had more time to play all these great games :( I'm afraid I will still be busy working through my ever growing backlog of games from the last two years.

  • Zebula77 #8 2 years ago

    I hope this one actually comes out BEFORE The Last Guardian, unlike the GoW collection. :p

    A definite buy, of course. :)

  • Pinky_Floyd #9 2 years ago

    Genuinely excited. Really. Seriously. Much more than any 38 year old man should.

  • DreadedWalrus #10 2 years ago

    "The US version will feature the ending American gamers missed out on last time around"

    How was the ending different in the US release? Or was it simply omitted entirely?

  • RawNinjaKid #11 2 years ago

    There were lots of things omitted in the US version of ICO!

  • DAN.E.B #12 2 years ago

    Good news I missed out on these last time so its must buy!

    Bad news spring 2011 seems like a long way away!
    Edited by DAN.E.B at 16/09/10 @ 09:33

  • cianchristopher #13 2 years ago

    Cool, so going by Sony Europe's past behaviour - the EU can expect this 6 months or more after the US get it... (Or, not at all).

    :)

  • Meho #14 2 years ago

    The games will have trophys. I guess, that counts as extra content.

    Either way, this is such a must buy it's not even funny. Both games have failed to sell big the last time round (Ico was even republished whenSotC dropped but again in a very small run) but I guess now, if Sony makes all the right noises, they could turn into a moderate hit. I am actively preventing myself from playing them again because I'd like to play them in 30FPS when the collection comes.

  • Trigga_Tybalt #15 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 15:43:01 23-02-2012

  • Retro_ #16 2 years ago

    Id forgotten you'd scored ICO & SOTC both 10/10

    Instant pre-order.

  • jamhead #17 2 years ago

    25 quid for these two most awesome of games - it might just be the best deal ever.

    SOTC with improved frame-rate. Ico with improved textures?

    Both of them on my projector...

    /wees self

  • mkreku #18 2 years ago

    Oh wow, I would really love to play SotC again, but with stable framerates! I actually gave up on it after suffering single digit fps while climbing some giant stone dude.. *shame*

  • Darren #19 2 years ago

    Kind of ironic that I bought Shadow of the Colossus shortly before my launch PS3 went tits up and had to be replaced by a slim model that lacked PS2 emulation! I haven't owned a PS2 since 2005 either. Thanks for that, Sony!

    Despite already owning the PS2 version of Colossus, I'll be more than happy to buy the HD reduxes as the God of War ports were excellent (I even own the PS2 versions of those too).

    How about ports of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 next?

  • JonFE #20 2 years ago

    According to VG247 the updated versions will support 3D as well... Could you investigate if that is a typo or actually the case?
    Edited by JonFE at 16/09/10 @ 12:19

  • owl #21 2 years ago

    those sotc images are making it increasingly difficult to stick to my intention of only playing through the game once (first time was simply too special).

    i will, however, play ico over and over again. can't wait.

  • razzastuta #22 2 years ago

    If I were in power, I'd force every household to purchase this or face some kind of evil punishment.

    Good job I'm not in power then, obviously. However, I am getting this without fail.

  • alcides #23 2 years ago

    No slowdowns on Shadow of the colossus anymore and a GOOD framerate, I should hope?

    EDIT : AYTS AYN 3DAYYY!!! yeeeeehooo!!
    Edited by alcides at 16/09/10 @ 13:01

  • axman303 #24 2 years ago

    Am I right in thinking that these are HD updates in so much as they have higher quality textures, better frame-rates and, perhaps better effects - but no actual increase in the number of polygons used to render the objects? At least that's how it looks from the screenshots.

  • Darren #25 2 years ago

    @axman303 - If the God of War Collection is any indication these games will re-use the exact same assets as the original games (textures, audio and modelling) but just rendered at a higher resolution with anti-aliasing and a smoother framerate. Oh and reformatted to widescreen for ICO.

    I'd also imagine any pre-rendered FMV will also be standard definition too as it was honestly the only thing that let the God of War remakes down as they looked quite jarring alongside the sharp, clean looking in-game visuals (kind of ironic really when it was the other way round on the actual PS2!).

  • Miths #26 2 years ago

    An IGN article the other day mentioned they will only be running at 30 fps. Surely running these two games at 60 fps on the PS3 shouldn't be a problem even with the higher resolution?

  • Lee_Morris #27 2 years ago

    Hopefully we're going to get some fancy collection like Sony did for God of War. Either way I'm all over this, as I've been toing and froing about buying a PS2 to specifically play these order.

    To be honest though and this really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, I wish the games came separately because this isn't ICO 1 and 2. They are 2 unique games. Also it would look better in my collection that way

  • axman303 #28 2 years ago

    I was kind of hoping the frame-rate would be around 18 FPS with motion blurring. Similar to what it was in SOTC on the PS2. Not a joke. Has anyone considered that one of the things that contributed towards the emotional quality of SOTC was that the frame-rate was similar to that of 8mm Cine Film and movies from the early 20th century? So perhaps 60 FPS would make it seem more computer-gamey, more 'realistic' and thus less emotionally engaging?

    Frame-rate seems to have an effect of the way we feel about what we're watching and lower frame rates seem to move us more than higher ones. I'm sure there's a study somewhere to back this up. Ie. pro video makers pusing for 24FPS on 5D Mk II DSLRs, rather than the original 30FPS as released, because it gives a more 'film like' quality.

    Edited by axman303 at 16/09/10 @ 15:21

  • Bigglesworth #29 2 years ago

    @axman303
    A very interesting idea, although personally I think I have to disagree. While I do agree that 8mm Cine film has a very distinctive look and feel, through its now-unusual 16fps frame rate and reletively long inter-frame blanking period (which leads to the classic 'flickery' appearance), I think it's more the content of those films than the specifications that creates an emotional response in viewers. If the latter did contribute, wouldn't today's filmmakers be emulating the same conditions in modern films?

    I don't think 60fps necessarily leads to 'unrealistic' graphics, providing other visual effects are being employed to fake up the appearance of filming real events on a conventional camera (which is the main reason games employ lens flare and motion blur, for example).

    Again, I think its the content that matters most, as its that which is drawing out emotion in the viewer, whether its in a flickery 16fps Cine film, a jerky, low-res PS2 game or a 60fps reinterpretation on PS3.

  • Bigglesworth #30 2 years ago

    @Darren
    I think I'm right in recalling that all the cut scenes in Ico and SotC were rendered by the realtime engine... Remember being able to move the camera throughout the intro sequence? =)

  • GreatBlackthorn #31 2 years ago

    @axman303: It's an interesting point, but I doubt the developers saw the framerate as an artistic choice given how variable it was. In less complex scenes, the FPS jumped right up and the controls in turn felt far more responsive.If it was intentional, to mimic movie reels, the framerate would've been locked at the 18-or-so it dips to in the Colossi fights in order to make to effect consistent.

    So it seems more likely that as the games are now unrestrained by the hardware limitations of the PS2, this is truly the way the developers wish the games could have always been presented.

    On another note, when I recently played SotC I noticed that the environment textures are actually incredibly impressive (when you look at them from straight above) for the time, but the lack of texture filtering meant you could barely notice this since they became a pixellated mess more than a few feet from the character. Being able see detail of the textures is the aspect that perhaps excites me most, as that was the visual weakness that was most jarring.

  • Svalbaard #32 2 years ago

    This is great news. Finally something worth playing on my PS3.

  • Ryze #33 2 years ago

    ^
    ^
    ^

    I'm sure that turning on 3D support will reduce the frame rate enough for those purists who want an authentic SoTC experience.

  • feardust #34 2 years ago

    Noticed that Andriasang has mention of a Famitsu article which details 3D on the collection as well.

    http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/09...