Katsuhiro Harada Gives An Update On Xenosaga HD Collection

Katsuhiro Harada is a producer and game director at Bandai Namco, who is widely recognized for his work on the Tekken series. Last year, he reached out to fans regarding a potential Xenosaga HD Collection for the current generation consoles and asked them to create a petition for it.

As it turned out, the petition wasn’t exactly a success as it has only managed to reach 10 thousand signatures so far and Harada recently replied to a fan request demanding an update on his comment.

[G3n3raL86]

I really wanna play them:)

[_-EDMIX-_]

Played the first 3 on PS2, then REPLAYED THEM AGAIN! lol, I rarely replay many RPGs, let alone a whole 3 part, but Xenosaga was THAT GOOD!

Xenosaga 1 is just amazing

Xenosaga 2 is not so much, but still great

Xenosaga 3 is as good as one and really ends the series off in huge epic fashion!

The series needs a collection in HD! I would very much play all 3 for a third time in HD!

[Hoffmann]

Kickstart it with a relative small budget goal and you might reach a lot more potentially interested people and get the remaster halfway funded already.

What are the costs to remaster these games anyway?

[OldDude]

I have no desire for major studios to Kickstart their games. I hope this isn't becoming the normal way of thinking. I'm glad to help fund the little guys, but not major studios.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed. Its a series that Namco won't go back to and a HD collection would be pretty cheap to port over in HD on PS4, XONE etc.

He must seek the kickstarter, that is where folks really voice with their wallets.

@Old-dude- The whole game doesn't really need to be funded, just to show that its wanted and those that helped start it off get a discount copy.

Everyone wins. Please stop with the whole "major studios" bs. The reality is, even major studios still need to gauge what fans may or may not want. If it helps get a old IP off the ground in a situation that otherwise would have never happened, then so be it.

Its not like Namco, or EA etc are asking for Mass Effect or Tekken 7 to be on Kickstarter.

Mind you, who are you to tell any fan where they can spend their money? If I feel like giving Namco my money for Xenosaga HD collection, I'm 100% free to do that. Doesn't mean I don't help out the um "little guys".

We as gamers can do both.

[Hoffmann]

^^ Bingo

[KryptoniteTail]

I never got to play them, hope it happens and on Vita.

[TM333]

I've wanted this for years. Such a shame. What I wouldn't do to be able to play these games on my Vita...

[stuna1]

I can't wait!!! I still have my PS2 versions. No PS2 lol, I just find it hard to part with any of my games.

[Fullmetalevolust]

It might've been unsuccessful petition if it wasn't spread around the internet to gather interest from around the globe. Some people can't bother to sign something, doesn't mean they won't buy it.
Kickstarter it, that's probably the best way to gather real financial interest, you'll see some gamer back it up more than others and it could be plenty enough to have it re-released and I want it on my ps4/vita :)

[Kamikaze135]

Even though I know it isn't the case, I can't help but imagine him saying "Oh did I say 10,000? No, I meant to say TENS OF THOUSANDS!"

[Ratty]

The Xenosaga fan community isn't huge and not very organized. I'm sure it could prove profitable to remaster it if they don't spend an obscene amount of money on it. Now it may not have a lot of fans but they're very dedicated.

Not sure Kickstarter is the way to go however. It wouldn't look good for a big name like Namco to resort to crowdfunding. Not sure how I'd feel about it either. I mean it's not like they need the money. Then again, it is a good way to gauge interest. Much better than an online petition anyway.

[Spotie]

I think people are forgetting that gaming is- or should be- fan-driven. I'm perfectly fine with certain remasters or reboots resorting to crowdfunding provided that larger publishers like this ensure a copy of the game for supporters when it succeeds, or refunds the money if the funding required isn't met.

I would fund this and a .hack collection so long as I knew I'd either get the games, or get my money back.

[rainslacker]

I would love a hd collection, but would love for the series to be completed as intended. Unfortunately, since Monolith Soft is now a Nintendo studio, I doubt it will ever happen as namco owns the IP.

I think the series could actually do well since Xenoblade has been a critical success, so people are more aware of the series now. Even Xenogears has become a well recognized cult classic.

It would require some miracle for the series to actually get completed.

[Ratty]

Well they did take most of what was planned for episodes 3-6 (and some stuff that was originally planned to happen in episode 2) and put it in episode 3 so it is complete in thar sense.

Xenogears does have a cult following (that game is just legendary) but again not a big one in terms of numbers. I'd say it's probably similar to Xenosaga (though a lot of poeple find it hard to like both for some reason. Don't know why. I love both.)

And honestly at this point I wouldn't mind where it ends up. Wii U, PS4, X1 or even PC I'd definitely get it in a heartbeat. What I'd like is for them to port the games with the extras they added from the re-released japanese versions of the games. I know they did one for the first game. Don't remember about the latter two.

[rainslacker]

Yeah, it was highly condensed into 3. I think they left a lot out, and tried to resole the main plotlines that they had already established, but they left some of the stories out. To the person that didn't follow the series closely, and read a lot of information outside the game, a lot of the characters didn't really amount to much in the end.

They never actually found Lost Jerusalem, or what finding it would have actually acomplished. At best we got Kos-mos floating towards earth at the end.

They left it open for it to continue, but I don't think they would try, especially given how they don't even want to do the remaster, and Monolith now belonging to Nintendo. It would probably take some fancy negotiations to make it happen, and I'm not even sure if Takahashi wants to now that he's been developing the Xenoblade stuff.

Otherwise, I agree with you. I would buy any system to play it if Takashashi actually continued it, or at least consulted heavily on it. It's a shame the game didn't sell well, it was a extremely deep JRPG.

[SegaSaturn669]

Xenosaga has aged pretty well. It looks and plays great on ps2. He should focus on new content.

[eddieistheillest]

Give it to me !

[PygmelionHunter]

This is one of those collections that would actually make sense to release.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

who will develop it though?

Monolith Soft won't.

[Ratty]

Probably not indeed. They'd likely outsource it to a smaller studio and only publish it themselves.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Only way Monolith Soft will if it a Wii U exclusive but that would have to be done in-house for Nintendo and not main building of Monolith Soft since they are already stating their planning for their next game.

A game like Xenosaga 1-3 getting a HD collection will be to taxing for a small studio.

A moderate studio with a some very talented devs should take it.

[Ratty]

It wouldn't be that taxing with Namco backing them. A lot of HD remasters were outsourced to smaller studios with a bigger studio backing them.