Siren: Blood Curse rises today

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Escape from BYOUIN

The first survival horror game available on the PS3 is coming to the PLAYSTATION Store today! We have worked on this for many a month now, and cannot express enough how anxious we are to hear what you think when you finally get to play this game!

Let me give you just a little bit of background information to get you familiar with the story, in case you haven’t seen the trailers or tried the demo yet (there’s one embedded below).

An American TV crew sets out on a journey to Japan in hopes of shooting a documentary piece about a mysterious village that supposedly disappeared under a mud slide 30 years ago. Upon arrival in this village, they immediately stumble across a disturbing ritual taking place. In the midst of the confusion and terror, a siren screams out. It’s a spine chilling sound. Is it a warning to stay away? What is the meaning of it? Why do the inhabitants keep coming back to life? What is going on here? I would love to tell you more, but that’s for you to find out…

As the player, you get to experience the unique sense of fear this game delivers as you control 7 different playable characters, each character witnessing a different part of the horror and the mystery. And of course there is the unique sight jack system, which lets you see things from the perspective of your friends and even of the deadly Shibito undead, which I think really adds to the kind of horror you can experience with this game.

You should definitely play at night, lights out and surround sound on. The shivers you will get are perfect for the summer heat.

And yes… Let’s talk about pricing and how the product will be released.

SHUKYOU KAN

So, how do you pick up Siren: Blood Curse? Very easy. Just head to the PLAYSTATION Store on your PS3 and go to the Siren category page. There should be banners up, and it should also be found in the “new releases” section. Now, the game is split into 12 easily digestible chunks, like episodes of a TV series. You’ll be able to purchase the game in three separate packs, consisting of 4 episodes each. These will run at $14.99 per 4-episode bundle. Or, right off the bat, you can purchase the full game for a nice discount at only $39.99. This is all available only through the PS Store. Remember, this is a full-length game, much larger in scale than most of the downloadable games available on the store. It’s on par with full-scale Blu-ray disc releases, and is all part of our effort to expand our selection of game content on the store.

If you want to try out the game before you buy, be sure to download the demo from the PS Store for a taste of the full game has to offer.

While you’re on the PS Store, be sure to check out the cool wallpapers and PS3 Theme we’ve come up with. There will also be a few more awesome wallpapers available next week as well.

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186 Comments

18 Author Replies

  • i still dont see it on US playstation store

  • lol @ #150 latcarf!

    “I can haz shibito!”

    i should photoshop a kitten into some of Siren’s screenshots..

  • FriroZ, you are not making any sense

  • I just downloaded it. I don’t want to have to deal with shipping the Bluray. I’m downloading all episodes now.

  • no trophy support from a first party game? sounds like this trophy system is dead before its begun.

  • Thanks a lot for the answers Tsubasa, now I’m a lot more interested on Siren. However, with the 9.1gb download I’m not so sure about my purchase for now.
    I guess I’ll wait until I upgrade my HDD before I buy this one. That, or I’ll import the BD version from Japan (it has the English dubs and subs right?)

    • Dark_Vincent,

      As far as I know, the Japanese version of the game does not have any English subtitles or menus.

      Note that the game can be downloaded multiple times with the same user account that made the purchase, even if you switch hard drives.

  • this game does not take 20 hours to complete!!!!!im already on the 3rd episode and ive only been playing for barely one hour!!!! why did they say 1 to 2 hrs per episode average? and im not a really hardcore gamer…. to me this game is really short so far…..

  • So this game will be locked to the user that downloads it like Warhawk is. My son who has an account on the same ps3 won’t be able to use it. Is this the way it’s going to be? If he wants to play he’ll have to use my account and my game save?

    • to the-DVUS-one:

      Not to worry. Your son will be able to use his account on your machine, and have his own separate game save.

      Tsubasa

  • The game looks awesome! I will definitely be downloading it when I get my PS3 back from getting repaired. The atmosphere is great with the style of the graphics.

  • Finally another Siren game. This is great I love this game along with the frist and the second one!

  • Yay! I love this game!

  • Hi Tsubasa! (Almost called you Tsukasa, thinking FS2!)

    I am keen on knowing, will there be any additional media available for download (character images, more concept art etc) for fansites to use?

    Also, would you happen to know if there’s a plan to continue the Siren Maniacs through to Siren 3? I’m still trying to decipher the first two!

    Finally, do you know if the BD-ROM release has English audio support? I’ve always loved the totally naff dubs. The music sounds amazing and I’m glad there’s a soundtrack release available too.

    Here’s to the critical and commercial success that the Forbidden Siren series deserves!

  • Thank you for that wallpaper thing. I’m looking forward to download that particular image.

    I just got Blu-ray disc version of the game on my mail today so I can’t wait to play it tonight.

  • I was interested in this game as soon as it was first announced. I love horror games. I see that a lot of people are complaining about the fact that it takes 10GB to download the entire game. I have a 80GB PS3 and I dont see why anyone with 80GB is complaining about 10 measley gigs. People with 40GB, thats a different story. The price is great (we’re paying $60 a pop for PS3 games anyway so a downloaded one for $40 isnt bad at all). The only thing I want to know is how long it take to download all 12 scenes? lol I be complaining when I have to update my PS3 or when I’m downloading songs for Rock Band. If any of yall know about how long it takes to download this on average, please let me know. Thanks

  • Question Tsubasa?
    I see through out the blog questions about if there will be a “Hard Copy” of the game at retailers in the USA, but you are kind of side stepping the questions by offering different ways to download.

    I understand that you don’t want to say anything now, because if may impact sales of those downloading the game.

    Just like Warhawk, many people wanted a “Hard Copy” of the game, and went out and bought it at retail.

    Are you not able to say(under contract) if there will be a “Hard” release of this game at retailers?

    I will be getting this game because I loved the demo, but there is something about having a “Hard Copy” in your display case.

    THANKS SO MUCH!
    PSN:frostquake

    • to frostquake:

      Sorry about that. Didn\’t mean to side step.

      To clarify, there are currently no plans to release Siren Blood Curse on Blu-ray Disc in North America.

      Tsubasa

  • I would also like to know if there will be a Blu-Ray release in Europe. I have no incentive to buy siren from the swiss PSN-store because it costs around $50.
    That is almost the price I would pay if I would import the japanese Blu-Ray (which I will do if english subtitles are confirmed; play asia and yes asia are somewhat contradictory in that aspect).

  • I have a 60 GB, I’m not willing to spend 1/6 of its space on one single game. There’s just no way it’s gonna happen. Actually, even if I did have a bigger hard drive I would still want the game on Blu-Ray.

    So can you at least confirm that there wont be a Blu-Ray outside Japan? So I can order this game from play.asia. I have a friend that want it as well.

  • Thanks for answering my question Tsubasa but i am not sure if you gave me the answer i was lookin for so i shall ask in a diffrent way.
    if i download this game to 2 PS3’s can both copies be played at the same time or is this USER SPECIFIC in other words do i have to use the master account that made the purchase to play this game???

  • ive downloaded the game and ive got to say it is very good. i played the original..and i loved it. the combat kinda sucked cuz it was too stiff and slow. but the horror and feel of the original made me continue to play.
    now with this ps3 version i still get the same feeling i had with the original but this time the characters move smoother the combat is way way better, and the graphics are excellent. i really dont have a problem with the download space because i have the 80gb ps3..but im upgrading it to 200 sometime next week. but anyway great game i look forward to more sirens in the future because i love survival horror games.
    i really want a long hardcore horror game next thats takes about 30 hours to beat..has the scariest of scariest moments. bloody and gruesome scenes and jump outta my seat moments.
    again great job on this new siren. id give it a 9/10

  • Please make Trophies support happen! The episodic design and horror theme should not be an excuse for lack of support for the feature.

    I really loved the demo for Siren and I’m DYING to buy and play the full game. However I’m holding off on doing so because of the lack of Trophy Support.

  • How long does it take do download the whole file?

  • About how long did it take to download the full game? Does anybody know?

  • i use the wirelesss internet in my house. and it is verrry slow..and it took id say maybe 2 hours.
    so if u have good internet it should take no more than 30 minutes to an hour

  • Tsubasa, Siren rocks! Really pleased with purchase – Europe store had it on time compared to US, presentation excellent, episodic format really seems to work, didnt have to pre order on a disc from Game or Amazon to get a copy at a decent price – I hope more PS3 releases follow your example.

  • to milox:

    Thank you for your kind words, and more important, we are very happy to hear you are enjoying Siren: Blood Curse. Stay away from the Shibito’s!

    Tsubasa

  • I haven’t wholeheartedly played a scary game since Silent Hill 2, I know, I know… it’s now ‘old school’, but that game’s situation, and characters bared too many significant similarities to me and my life, For this fact, and this fact alone, including the main character’s likeness, and even name, and life prior(backstory). It is the only game to have reached beyond the bounds of the screen, and affect me as a person, I tried the demo of SH3, and SH4 for a bit, but they had no effect whatsoever so it’s not the horror, or gameplay that did it, It was the eerie real life similarities of SH2.

    So on a personal level I fear no game will truly scare me, ever again.

    I will try Siren, and get back to you, maybe I might even buy it, seeing as it’s so much game, for so little $money. Nonetheless you’ll hear my verdict, as a self-proclaimed unscareable gamer.

    Maybe if there was some hidden Eyetoy/PS3Eye functionality, I could see it giving me a fright or two. , but that’s something I would have done years ago If I was making a horror game in the PlayStation Universe, get that face-recognition software workin’ with some creepy on screen background creatures etc. Could you imagine playing a game and then it cuts to a real feed of your ps3eye, and there are Nurses from Silent hill creeping up behind you, or some demonic entity drooling with it’s razor teeth ready to take a chunk out of your neck, I bet if that happened to someone and it wasn’t expected, they’d triple take In the Real World.

  • dude tsubasa omg this game is awesome it delivers solid gameplay,intense graphics,and excellent storyline my first horror game for the ps3 and i hope its not the last one you make because the game is awesome i hope you make more sirens!!

  • I am up to chapter 3 and I must say this game is great! I know you’ve heard this 1,000 times in this blog but could you please add trophy support? I’m sure it can implemented in a patch. Help us in our PSN Trophy drout!

  • The demo was pretty sweet but that right analog stick thing was a bit weird since every other game uses that to aim. When will this game be available to buy on blu-ray in stores?

  • he demo was awesome, I just was surprised that the right analog joy-stick wasn’t set up to aim the weapons. When will this be made available to buy on blu-ray disc in store?

  • The demo was awesome, I just was surprised that the right analog joy-stick wasn’t set up to aim the weapons. When will this be made available to buy on blu-ray disc in store?

  • The demo was awesome, I just was surprised that the right analog joy-stick wasn’t set up to aim the weapons. I don’t like this download-only idea very much though.I’m the kind of guy who likes to have the hard copy in a case so I’ll probably buy it off of play-asia.

  • Question I have downloaded Siren it is Awsome I was telling my Nephews how great it is and I thought you could purchase it on BluRay Media but I only seen the Asian and Japan version of the game the Asian being the only one dubbed in English. Was Wondering if possibly Sony may release the Game on BluRay in the Future like they did with Warhawk. You see My Nephews don’t have High Speed Internet so they can’t use the PSN Store. Hope they can purchase it in the future. We live 700miles away so maybe if they visit this summer they can at least play it.

  • Hope it eventually comes out on BluRay I always like a Disc that I can take over to a Friends or Familys house to play and show them. My Nephew wants it but he does not have High Speed and he lives 700 miles away so he is out of luck unless Sony releases on BluRay Disc. Just a Suggestion to bring it out on BluRay like Warhawk was done. Really Great Game by the Way. Never like Survival Horror Genre before this game. This Game as won me over I like the direction you have taken it to.

  • Sorry about the Double comment for some reason the system kept asking for a log in and a error kept popping up.

  • Dear mr.Tsubasa
    Just want to ask you something you see i’m from Bahrain a country in the middle east so i don’t have a playstation store and even if i created an american one my credit card won’t work because it’s a bahrainy credit card and my inter net speed is scarier than this game so are you sure that this game will not be released on blu-ray i would love that because i’m a big fan of this game . thank you for your time to read our comments

  • Dear mr.Tsubasa
    just want to say something, you see i’m from bahrain which is in the middle east so i don’t have a playstation store and even if i created an american one my credit card wouldn’t work because it’s a bahrainy credit card and my inter net speed is scarier than this game so are you sure about the game will not get released on blu-ray ? because i would love that and i’m a fan of siren games. thank you for your time to read our comments

  • =======================
    For the honorble Tsubasa Inaba
    =======================

    Thank you for finally answering the many questions posted regarding a North American retail release of SIREN: BLOOD CURSE.

    As many other gamers have stated in these comments, I am also very interested in playing the game, but I too have no intentions of ever downloading it. I find it preferable to purchase a foreign retail BD edition at a higher cost over this downloadable PSN version.

    You have stated many times in your responses that, as gamers, we should not worry about the hard drive space this game utilizes — you state that we are able to download and delete each episode individually, and we can always re-download the episodes again at any time.

    But how long will SIREN: BLOOD CURSE remain available on Sony’s servers for us to re-download? Will we be able to re-download the game and play it a year from now? How about five years from now… or ten years?

    Unfortunately, this is one major problem with PSN digital downloads that is being overlooked. Retail editions give your customers the ability to obtain this game on a long-lasting storage medium (BD-ROM), which in turn enables us to play SIREN: BLOOD CURSE many years in the future… long after Sony has removed/deleted SIREN: BLOOD CURSE from the PSN servers.

    I still regularly play older titles I have in my collection — PS1, PS2, Genesis/Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, N64, GameCube, Atari Lynx, NGPC, and several others — and have never had any problems. Playing many of these games would not be possble at this point in time if I didn’t own the retail editions.

    While PSN digitally-distributed titles do serve a need and are fine for some people, they are certainly NOT an ideal medium for the many game collectors such as myself. I enjoy having a tangible game package to keep in my collection, as well as the ability to hold and read a proper paper game manual. But most importantly, I enjoy having that physical disc (or cart) in my possession, which enables me to play the game WHENEVER I wish to… be it next week, next month, or ten years from now.

    A person cannot hold or display binary code on their shelf, or place it into their collection with their other games. And once again, there are absolutely NO guarantees that we will still have the ability to re-download and play a game we “purchased” a couple years later, much less a decade or more. The game file may have been deleted or the license revoked (the electronic version of “out of print”), or maybe the servers themselves no longer exist. True, we might be able to store the entire game on our HDD.. but what happens if our HDD has a mechanical failure, or the game file becomes corrupted or is accidentally erased? Such problems have already occurred with both PC titles and X360 titles — i.e., servers being shut down within a year of a game’s release; or paid-for content being removed from the servers, and users were unable to re-download it. Plus we’ve already had a similar issue on PSN with ECHOCHROME, in that we are only allowed to play new DLC puzzles for about a week before they are “gone forever” (developer quote) — the problem is, downloading a new puzzle pack automatically overwrites/deletes the previous pack (there is no way to save them).

    You recently stated that no retail release is planned for this region. But even a single letter has been effective in getting companies to change policies in the past. Marketing research conducted by companies over many decades showed that each person who took the time to write a letter represented thousands of others who do not write. While email has replaced mailed-in letters, those tried-and-true marketing computations still hold much weight.

    Out of 180+ postings here, many of the comments are from gamers requesting a proper, physical BD-ROM retail release of SIREN: BLOOD CURSE in North America. (This posting trend continues in other internet forums I’ve viewed as well.) That’s an unusually large percentage of consumers requesting a “retail purchase” edition, especially considering they are commenting on an article regarding a niche game title that appears in a somewhat specialized internet blog. Using the long-held marketing computations, the gamers who posted “retail purchase” requests here represents (VERY conservatively) at least 25,000 other consumers who did not write in to request a retail edition.

    At this years’ E3, Jack Tretton announced that over 5 million PS3 units have been sold in North America. Out of that 5 million, there are undoubtedly many consumers who would be interested in purchasing SIREN: BLOOD CURSE, but only at retail. Even if that works out to only 1% of PS3 owners, that would mean 50,000 additional sales ($3,000,000) at retail. Further, if Sony doesn’t wish to “risk” a domestic retail release, perhaps they can sublicense it for standard or limited distribution through another company, such as Atlus.

    Only a small percentage of gamers are aware of the existence and/or availability of Japanese or Asian (English/Japanese) retail releases of the game, and will also purchase these if no domestic edition is forthcoming. Unfortunately, there are many thousands more gamers to whom SIREN: BLOOD CURSE would appeal who will never experience the game simply because no domestic retail release exists. Instead, these consumers will do without the game and spend their money elsewhere.

    Thank you for allowing me to express my thoughts on this subject. I sincerely hope that you will at least reconsider a domestic retail release of this game. (But if this is not to be, then at least I am thankful for the Asian edition.)

    In any event, thank you for creating this follow-up to SIREN, and I wish you much success on this and any future endeavors. (Any chance we’ll ever see SIREN 2 here?)

    Best regards,
    JK

  • i’m excited, but i’m gonna have to wait till i upgrade my hard drive..i just don’t have enough space…with oblivion, gran turismo, and grand theft auto, that’s already pushing 15 gb’s, i was really excited for siren and i still am, it just looks like my purchase will be delayed

  • Like every PS3 gamer has been thinking? Trophy support? I’m buying if there are Trophies (or a disc cus I haven’t swapped to a bigger HD yet)

  • @175, my questions is this…

    I have seen you mention multiple downloads in a couple of other replies, I don’t have other PS3’s to download it to, but that 5 limit download limit, is that 5 times total I can pull it down, or a total of 5 different PS3’s?

  • @ 191 TheAngryHeretic

    5 different ps3’s, unlimited downloads, but once those 5 ps3’s are activated to your account, you can only get that content from those 5 ps3’s which also means if you ever have to send your ps3 in if it were to break down, you’d need to de-activate all your account info, and all your friend’s accounts too, or your new ps3 will not have access to content, if you’re 5/5, kinda’ get me?

    sorry for the messy explanation.

    Sony couldn’t ‘sell’ you game downloads in their business model, if they didn’t allow you to be able to reformat your system and download titles again… so once activated you can download it to your heart’s content on that system.

  • @ 188 Krispow

    Wow! just when I thought I was the most long-winded blogger on the playstation.blog, but here’s the skinny, bottom line… I agree with you, almost completely, except for the fact that Sony’s vision seems to encompass, a future of downloadable content, that once paid for by the user is available until their death… possibly even available to their kin, and so-on and so-forth.

    Your message in short

    “Sony you need to be careful about this transition of brick&mortar —> online-only based DLC, You will probably need to produce a retail version of any crucial releases, alongside the DLC until the DLC’ers outweigh the retail shoppers.”

  • This is probably a bit too much to ask for but I think the story of SIREN: Blood Curse is one of the strongest part of the game. However, it’s a bit difficult to digest due to the size of the game. Would it be possible for Sony to publish some kind of SIREN database like the MGS4 database that was released a few months ago? This will contains explanation about the story and the characters in it. Maybe if you guys are developing future SIREN titles, you’ll put this in mind?

  • Finally, a real survival horror game! A definite import for me; I don’t go for the whole digital distribution thing. It’s nothing to do with space or bandwidth, I have plenty of both, I’m just not going to pay for something I can’t touch with my own 2 hands.

  • @192, That is still confusing. Let’s narrow it down a bit. How many times can you download content to your 1 PS3? The reason I ask this question is that towards the beginning of the PS3 being in stores, I read that you could only download stuff you paid for 5 times.

    So do I have only 5 times to download it to my 1 PS3, or unlimited downloads of the same content to my 1 PS3?

  • Will this ever be released on Blu-ray in North America?

  • To TheAngryHeretic

    You can download something you buy as many times as you want to as long as it’s on the same ps3. The 5 download limit is in place to enable sharing and only becomes a factor if you set up your account on more than one ps3 and download content there. Hope that answered your question.

  • To devilBoy__86. Yes, yes it does. And with that being said, the download of Siren is about to begin.

    Thanks.

  • If there’s anybody in projectSIREN reading this:

    You HAVE to remake Siren 2! Blood Curse is a genius remake with a great storyline and nice plot twists, great gameplay and controls. A Siren 2 remake cannot be out of the question.

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