We’ve got some great news for PS Vita owners today concerning Remote Play, the application that enables you to interact remotely with PS3 using your PS Vita and a Wi-Fi connection. Starting today, PS3 owners will be able to download an update for God of War Collection and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection that will enable these classic games to be played from their PS Vita using the Remote Play function.

So what does this mean? It means you’ll be able to enjoy two classic HD collections almost anywhere, whether you’re around your PS3 or not, from the comfort of your PS Vita and a Wi-Fi signal. Both collections include customizable control options, so you can choose to have the R2 and L2 buttons from your PS3 mapped to PS Vita’s rear touchpad. This is great news because God of War, God of War II, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus represent some of the most beloved and acclaimed titles in videogaming — and both collections look stunning on PS Vita’s brilliant 5” OLED screen.

To access the Remote Play functionality for both God of War Collection and ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, you’ll need to download patches for each game on your PS3, at no extra cost. Once you download each patch and try out Remote Play for yourself on PS Vita, be sure to let us know what you think!

In addition to playing selected games remotely, the Remote Play feature enables you to access music, videos, and photos stored on your PS3 through your PS Vita. For instructions on how to set up your PS3 and PS Vita for Remote Play please visit our guide here.

The Legend of Dragoon was one of the last projects I worked on as a producer in Japan Studio and by far the biggest team I managed hands-on. We started the project in 1996 with only a handful of people, hired one by one as we were building up teams for Ape Escape, The Legend of Dragoon, and Ico simultaneously. During the peak of the game’s development, we had well over 100 people working internally in the studio on The Legend of Dragoon — for a PSone game! We had roughly 10 artists dedicated just to drawing concept art for this gigantic RPG. As the game contained lots of pre-rendered maps and full-motion videos, we were forced to spread the content over four CDs, which was the maximum number of discs that the fattest PSone game case could hold.

It took nearly three years to build the team and develop the game, which was released in December 1999 in Japan and June 2000 in the US. As I moved from Japan to the US in March 2000, I was able to personally handle the game’s release in both Japan and the US. Following the game’s launch in Japan, we learned from players that certain parts of the game were too difficult. The team re-balanced the gameplay for the release outside of Japan, so the US version was the complete version of the game that we were all proud of.

I still occasionally hear from fans of The Legend of Dragoon, and many want to know if there is a sequel. LOD2 was put into preproduction after I left the Japan Studio, but was eventually cancelled for some unknown reason, and the team members moved on to different projects. Some people still work in the Japan Studio, so we talk about the memories of developing LOD when we see each other at company functions.

It’s great to see the game being prepared for release as a PSone Classic on PSN, which means that fans can revisit the world whenever they want. Maybe it’ll make a new fans, too. Long live LOD!

I’m excited to share a great bit of news that I know many of you have been eagerly awaiting! The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection will be hitting stores starting September 27th, 2011 for $39.99 (MSRP). Featuring two of the most beloved video games of all time from famed visionary Fumito Ueda and his talented team of developers, this collection is a must-have for gamers.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus have never looked or sounded this good. Both games have been re-mastered to support full 1080p HD resolution for a stunning, razor-sharp presentation, as well as full stereoscopic 3D support to bring the games to life in a brand new dimension. You’ll also be able to enjoy the games in up to 7.1 surround sound this time around, and unlock Trophies as you master, or re-master, these video game classics.

The development team is hard at work to meet and exceed expectations for The Last Guardian, so this collection is the perfect remedy to tide you over until the team’s latest gaming masterpiece is ready.

Look for more information about this collection coming in the months ahead.

And check out first screenshots of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection below.