It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on the remastered ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, but we did want to remind you about its upcoming launch on September 28th! As a special treat, we’re proud to unveil the final box art and inside packaging for the collection, depicting stylised artwork from both titles. In addition to full 1080p HD, stereoscopic 3D support, and 7.1 surround sound, we are also including some exclusive video content featuring gaming visionary Fumito Ueda available via an in-pack voucher to enable you to download from the PlayStation Store. Full details are available here.

Additionally, we wanted to confirm that The Last Guardian is not on the schedule for this year’s Tokyo Game Show. However we can assure you that Ueda-san and the rest of the development team are hard at work to bring his lofty vision to life and deliver the very best gaming experience possible.

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SCEE can confirm that we are officially delaying the release of ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection and The Last Guardian from their respective launch timeframes of Spring 2011 and Holiday/Winter 2011. We will provide more information regarding release timing at a later date.

Here are a few words from The Last Guardian Director/Game Designer, Fumito Ueda:

I announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show that the release timing of The Last Guardian which is currently being developed would be holiday 2011.

However, to provide more challenging and better quality of content to users and to fulfill First Party Studio’s obligations, I decided to postpone its release timing.

All the members of my production team are working together at a fast pace to develop and release the game in First Party Studio quality.

I sincerely apologize to all the customers who have been waiting for “The Last Guardian” for so long, but I beg for your patience. I will also announce the new release timing at a later time.

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I know. Reading is hard. This interview wasn’t able to be captured on camera (as it was standing in front of Team ICO’s Fumito Ueda at the time — more on that next week), but I’m sure Valkyria Chronicles fans will be very interested in reading it, nonetheless. I snuck down to the show floor during a rare quiet period — more of those next year, please! — and got my hands on the TGS playable demo. You guys are going to love it.

What made you decide to develop the official sequel for Valkyria Chronicles on the PSP? (Submitted by user: Trollkotte)

For the original PS3 version of the game there were two key features: The Canvas graphics system and the BLiTZ combat system. So when we were discussing the sequel we obviously wanted to bring these two features over, but we wanted to upgrade it somehow. When we looked at the BLiTZ battle system specifically — especially in the Japanese market — co-op play and wireless play is becoming more and more popular and we felt that would expand the gameplay for the title in a great way. When we went further in that direction we discovered that the PSP is the perfect platform to take advantage of that.

Are you adding new unit classes, weapon types or vehicles? Will there be any returning characters from Valkyria Chronicles 1? (Submitted by user: BigBoss712)

Yes. In terms of new weapons and units, not only will there be more of each, but there will be expanded customisation options for both. We have Scouts and Stormtroopers, as we did in the first game, but Scouts may branch into Scouts who run faster or are more meant for battle. In that way, each of the units will branch into new units. In terms of weapons, in the first game a rifle might branch into three different rifles as you progress in the game. The amount of variation is even greater in the sequel. In terms of returning characters, you’ll definitely see Alicia and Welkin come back and you might see other members of Squad 7, too.

We can also customise tanks this time around. You can equip different weapons and change the colour, which will affect how the tank moves. There are many ways for you to customise your own troops, just based on all the different character, tank and weapon options.

(more…)

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I know a lot of you wanted to hear more information on The Last Guardian coming out of TGS, so no doubt you’ll be pleased to see the video we have for you below. It’s a Q&A with Team ICO’s Director and lead Game Designer, Fumito Ueda. After the interview, there’s also a little bit of new footage from the game. We’ll have a full interview with Ueda for you later on. Enjoy the video!

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