I hope we get more news as soon as possible.

I very much enjoyed the original SIREN game, and very much enjoyed playing the Japanese SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION demo released last month. I was desperately hoping we would be receiving a domestic release of the game, and I was thrilled when SIREN: BLOOD CURSE was confirmed for North American distribution.

However, despite the excitement I still hold towards SIREN: BLOOD CURSE, I don’t believe that I will be purchasing your game… at least, not at this point in time, nor in its currently-announced distribution format.

I am confused and somewhat concerned in the manner that SCEA (as well as SCEE) have decided to handle the distribution of SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION in territories outside of Japan. Judging from reports, SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION was not originally conceived as an episodic release by developer SCE Japan Studios — it was always intended to be a complete disc-based gaming experience. As such, SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION will be receiving a standard full BD-ROM retail release in Japan on July 24th for ¥5980 (US$57.90 based as of today’s exchange rates).

Therefore, since SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION consists of one complete disc-based game, why is it instead being chopped up into smaller individual bite-sized segments for American and European consumption as SIREN: BLOOD CURSE?

I’ve never enjoyed playing episodic game releases — I dislike the process of playing a game in tiny 1-2 hour spurts over the course of a year or more, then having to wait several weeks or months for the developer to create and release the next “chapter.” I find that games tend to be more enjoyable, and more fully developed, when they are created as a complete entity. (For example, story changes and/or programming advancements featured in later portions of the game during the development cycle often affect the earlier sections, making for an all-around better gaming experience.) But in this case, SIREN: NEW TRANSLATION WAS developed as a complete entity rather than an episodic one.

Another main concern I have is with the specific method of delivery. I am personally unwilling to spend money for ANY “full” games (i.e., titles which would normally reside on a disc-based medium) which are distributed only via a digital download file… be it on PSN, XBL, or elsewhere. I should mention that this is not a matter of “cost”, but rather one of “permanence”.

Speaking as both a consumer and a game player, I want a tangible package when I make a retail game purchase. I enjoy having that package in my collection; I enjoy being able to hold and read a real game manual; and most importantly, I WANT to have that physical disc (or cart) in my possession.

While there is that certain “satisfaction of ownership” feeling, there’s something more important going on here — the satisfaction of knowing that I have the ability to play that game whenever I choose to… be it next week, next month, or ten years from now. I still regularly pull out and play an older title from my collection — PS1, Genesis/Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, N64, Atari Lynx, NGPC, and a few others — and have yet to have any problems.

On the other hand, digitally-distributed purchases are an entirely different beast — and though fine for some people, it’s certainly not the ideal medium for many game collectors such as myself. You can’t hold or display a mass of electronically- and/or magnetically-stored code, and you’re temporarily renting that file more than actually “owning” anything. Additionally, there’s absolutely no guarantee that you’ll still be able to play that game a couple years down the line, much less a decade or more — should/when your HDD have a mechanical failure, or if the file gets corrupted or accidentally erased, there’s no guarantee that you’ll still be able to redownload it from PSN. The file may have been pulled or the license revoked (the electronic version of “out of print”), or maybe the servers no longer exist. (These problems have already happened to various friends of mine… not PSN, but PC and XBL.)

Judging from the comments here on the blog — plus the many I’ve already read in other internet/news forums — I am obviously not the only consumer who is only interested in a proper, physical BD-ROM retail release of SIREN: BLOOD CURSE here in North America. Hopefully such a full retail disc is also being planned for release concurrently or following the episodic PSN version(s). However, if this is not the case, then I will instead look towards purchasing the Japanese release version… or will simply do without and spend my money elsewhere.

Either way, thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to express my thoughts on the subject here on this blog. Here’s hoping…!

IF the cards are released by then, then I will definately buy it!