Pata-post Wednesday: Multiplayer Hotness!

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So here we are again Dear Reader, on the edge of another Pata-post, a few seconds from divulging the secrets of multiplayer that Jeff so brutishly decided to amputate from last week’s post. But before we continue with this scheduled program, I want to take a moment to answer some questions about last week’s “digital only” format announcement.

Q – What happens if accidentally erase or lose my Memory Stick?
It doesn’t matter how many times you erase, break or lose your memory stick. The magic of Patapon 2 is that can re-download it (for free) as many times as you want off the PlayStation Network using the PSN ID you bought or redeemed the voucher with.

Q – I fiendishly back-up all my digital entertainment; can I do that with Patapon 2?
Yup, you can back up the Patapon 2 game on a PC with Media Manager, a free application available at store.playstation.com. It’s easy-peazy-lemon-squeazy.

Q – How much Ka-ching will I have to drop for Patapon 2?
Patapon 2 is priced at a wallet friendly $19.99 USD for both the retail voucher and the PSN download.

It is very clear to see how passionate you guys are about Patapon 2 and we’re thankful for all your feedback and opinions. Of course there are many other questions, but since we did promise a breakdown on multiplayer, we best jump into this sweet new trailer before Jeff cuts me off again…

Now that we have raised your eyebrows, a couple of weeks back, we chatted about Hero Patapon, his mighty powers and his customization features. Today we’ll dive a bit more into customization and how to unlock new masks via multiplayer, the Patagate, Eggs and Game Sharing.

Multiplayer mode takes place in a parallel universe accessible only to Hero Patapons. The gateway to this realm is the Patagate, and it is here that you’ll join forces with other Hero Patapons in order to fight through all the levels you’ve unlocked in single player mode. This is a mortal eyeball-to-eyeball battle, and your rhythm skills will be tested as you and your three friends fight without the support of your vast Patapon army.

Patapon 2 screenshot patagate

To kick off a game, just go into the Patagate and select from one of the options: Bring Mysterious Egg, Game Sharing or Play Alone.

Bring Mysterious Egg
What are these eggs? Where do you find them? Wasn’t Easter a long time ago? Well, as you make your progress through Patapon 2 (single player mode), some of the bosses you defeat will drop an egg as part of the reward of beating them, and inside these eggs are the special masks available for Hero Patapon…so once you’ve acquired an egg, you’ve got to take it to the Patagate to crack it open and whisk the insides into an omelets of musical greatness. But before you can get a crackin’, you must first prove your worthiness by defeating the enemy you got the egg from!

Patapon 2 Multiplayer screenshot 2

The mission is simple: Work together to carry the egg from Point A to Point B within a set amount of time. Simple enough right? Trouble is, you’ll have at least one nasty boss or a ton of angry Karmen soldiers in your way. In single player, you had a full Patapon army that had your back, now it’s just you and 3 other friends…well…“super-powered” friends that is. If this sounds a bit difficult, worry ye not, victory is actually quite simple.

Patapon 2 Equip screen 1

Just make sure to outfit each Hero Patapon with the best armament available…and when in battle, make sure that you and all your friends keep true to the rhythm of the earth! If all four of you work together and coordinate when you all March, Attack, and Defend together as a unit, victory will be yours!

Patapon 2 screenshot 5

Once you and your merry band of Heroes beat all the obstacles before you, the game changes to “DON CHAKA” mode. Here you and your co-players rhythm are tested once again. By hitting the right drum beats at the right time, you will be awarded great riches that you can spend in single player. If you hit every beat, you crack the egg and get the secret that lies within!

Game Sharing
If by some horrible chance, your friends don’t have Patapon 2 (if this is true, why even call them friends?) well, then you must teach the ways of the drum via Game Sharing. This way, even if they don’t have Patapon 2, they can still help you out in your Egg breaking mission. Just fire up the Game Sharing option and have your friends download multiplayer mode from your PSP to theirs. Once that’s complete, they will be able to join you in battle in cracking the Mysterious Egg and unlocking Mask greatness.

Play Alone
But what if you happen to be flying solo for the night with no wing-man to help you out? If that is the case, just select Play Alone and fill in the other three spots with ComPons – A.I. Hero Patapons that will help you crack the Mysterious Egg.

Note: Every voyage through the Patagate requires four Hero Patapons, but don’t worry if you are short of one person for Game Sharing or Bring Mysterious Egg modes. You’ll be able to fill in any empty slot with a ComPon.

That’s about it for multiplayer and Mysterious Eggs; however, finding them in the single-player mode is not so easy. You’ll need to beef up your army with brand new warrior types who have joined the Patapon army…something we’ll dive into a little further in the next Pata-post!

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91 Comments

2 Author Replies

  • The thing that makes me sad if this sell badly the developers will not get the money they deserve and that is saddening. Plus would mean less of a chance for Patapon 3.

    So I hope download only games do not take off and the future PSP versions are not download only too.

    Also with download only games you will run out of room on you memory card real soon and my 4 gig was not cheap so I would hate to have to buy any even greater value one.

    Plus not all country’s have great internet. I even have broadband and it still takes me time to download games. I don’t have all day to around. So I want the download only games to end soon.

    Because I love owning lots of games and if this is the way gaming is going I don’t see my self being a gamer much longer.

    So even though I want Patapon 2 to do well in sales I do not want it to sell well either. So I will wait for a US version or I will import the game because the first was great and this ones looks to be even better.

  • Good job on having A.I. partners if you want to play alone or have no friends with Patapon 2.

  • I am going to order this from Amazon.com next week. Good move on no UMD for this game. Some games should live on my memory stick Patapon is one of them.

    Please ignore all cries of no UMD no sale. They are complainers, they would complain either way.

  • I like Patapon.

    I like how this one’s a digital download! :)

    Unfortunately, I cannot download anything to my PSP! I can’t register my new PSP under my account because I had my older PSP’s (and my brother’s) under that account, and thanks to getting new PSP’s and breaking old PSP’s I couldn’t UN-register those from my acount. So now I’m kinda screwed!

    Could you please help? Is there any way that I can just completely CLEAR the list of registered PSP’s under my account manually without having to plug in the registered PSP through USB?

    PLEASE! I need some help!
    I WANT IN ON THIS PATAPON GOODNESS!!!!

  • I am already disappointed that the game will be download only. I hope the download isn’t too big.

    Just hurry up and give me the demo so that we can get pass this dilemma.

  • Lots of whiny irrational scaredy-cats on this blog! Personally, I held off on the original BECAUSE there was no digital version! And you know why I didn’t get LocoRoco 2 yet? Yep, you guessed it – no digital version.

    I guess people would rather be limited only to the game that’s currently in their UMD tray when they go out, rather than carry as many games as they could fit on their stick. And let me tell you, I can carry more memory sticks A LOT EASIER than I can carry a bag of UMDs.

  • Just adding to the Q&A here…

    Q – What happens if I have don’t have DSL/broadband?

    A – You’re boned. No Patapon 2 for you. You say you liked the first game? Well, we decided to screw over you users by making this a download only title rather than having it be a UMD like everyone wanted.

  • I prefer digital downloads over UMDs anytime. You are able to fit lots of different games on a single card, and don’t have to lug around the extra UMDs while on the go. I usually impulse buy more often things that show up in the PSN store than I would at a retailer anyhow, so you will probably get a purchase from me.

  • Could you guys please port Patapon and Patapon 2 to the PS2? Or make them downloadable and playable on my PS3? That would give you guys more exposure and allow more gamers to play these great games!

  • Wow…

    I’ll admit – I’m a collector. I love unwrapping the plastic off a new case, opening it up, and taking out the UMD to rotate the disc so it’s right-side-up – always the first thing I do ;). There’s nothing quite like the “new game smell” of a newly printed manual to solidify that you’ve got something to add to your collection. Digital downloads have no equivalent – You can’t unwrap a download, or set a download on your collection shelf.

    But would you seriously deprive yourself of new Patapon for that? Some people I can understand – people under stringent download caps or without Wi-Fi, for example, though theoretically there are free Wi-Fi hotspots in many places these days – but those standing against this game on some weird version of “principle” I don’t understand.

    As for me, day 1 purchase – downloaded. I will regret not having a case to place on my shelf next to the first one, but the trade-off is no shipping time, no trip to the store, no disc to lug around – just a few presses of the X button. The important thing is that I want this game, and the developers deserve to get paid for the work they’ve done.

  • Hey Chris,

    Is there a way to change the Hero’s name after naming them?

  • First Patapon on PSN for PS3. Thanks.

  • So excited this is going to be digital. All portable games should be offered this way. Although I am curious to see how this ‘experiment’ goes because i’ve seen quite a bit of backlash regarding no UMD…but honestly for a PORTABLE system I’d prefer a giant memory stick with TONS of games that fit magically inside the system instead of carrying around a handful of UMD pods in case I want to switch my gaming while I’m out.

    Honestly I didn’t want to even buy LocoRoco2 on UMD but I couldn’t refuse so thanks for going digital!

  • Sorry to bother you again I just have a few other things I would like to say then I will not bother you any more.

    I agree with tailsthecat if you need to launch a more expansive Patapon 2 version for the PSP if you want UMD. If I go the way of importing the game I would already be paying more because of shipping but I would much prefer to give it to SCEA instead.

    I also wonder about imported games they will be no more if you can only buy games going forward in download from only. There has been some great games that never came out of Europe and Japan and if games were locked to your part of the world you would miss out on many great games.

    I know you are testing Patapon 2 to see if a full download way is the right way to go. But why can’t SCEA launch Patapon 2 on both PSN and UMD like SCEE and SCEJ did on this game plus other games too.

    I also think this is a way to stop pirates and I am all for stopping pirates. They have put a huge dent into the PSP and that really makes me mad.

    I am a huge supporter of the PSP having bought over 100 games plus the UMD movies because I really LOVE the PSP. But when you see a move like this it just makes me sad but expected because of the pirates but I still want the disk.

  • I also am thinking about the future I still have my Genesis and NES and still like bringing them out ever now and then to play. Plus you can find old classics at garage sales or on ebay.

    I just bought at a garage sale two awesome Playstation games Vagrant Story and Tomba. Now what if the game servers are turned off years from now you are out the game you bought and will never have another chance to buy games you missed out on.

    So that is why I don’t like download only games.

    Again I am sorry for taking your time I just wanted to let you know what is on my mind and tell you why I don’t like Download only games.

  • So Chris, what does the Patapon developement team think about SCEA sending its game out to die in to justify its pre-decided horrible digital distribution policy for the PSP in North America?

    Anyone with half a brain could figure out releasing UMD and Digital at the same time is the best stratagy for the PSP right now yet SCEA refuses to do it why?

  • ARGH! Why is the PSN game more expensive than the one you can get in-store that comes with the case?!!?!?!?!? I was gonna purchase this game, but now I’m not so sure…. There’s no overhead costs dammit!!!

  • >> also are all psn downloads like that
    “download as many times you like”…
    cuz i heard there was a max number of 5 times you can do this”

    FIVE ACTIVATED SYSTEMS FOR PSP/PS3 on ONE PSN ACCOUNT.

    EG: You own five PS3 systems and download the same game from your one account.

    OVER THAT/you DID NOT deactivate a PS3/PSP system before selling it/whatever: You lose one of those.

    To get around this you MUST deactivate a system that you do not want using your account stuff on.

    I wish Sony would allow me to do it remotely like iTunes.

  • I was a little apprehensive at first about getting Patapon 2. Mainly because I was unsure about the digital distribution and I really loved the first game.

    However this statement laid my fears to rest “The magic of Patapon 2 is that can re-download it (for free) as many times as you want.”

    Thank you.

  • @50/51

    How is it that you have trophies for Stardust and Novastrike? I didn’t know they came on BD.

  • @68…and this is all I ask for VIDEO

  • All you whiners complaining about having no UMD version are full of Bull about Buying It your just whining because you aren’t able to pirate it and this is a much smarter choice for the developer because they provide it cheaper to you and more sales and it wont get pirated and also more sales then. And People don’t go crazy over itunes and apps on its store not being physical just look at what itunes has done to record stores its a great thing it makes the makers so much more money and its convenient.

  • I am not “complaining” about it being UMD only or “Download” only, what I am not happy about is how it was sold, or how we were led to believe that it was UMD.
    I just canceled my pre-buy, and bought something else. All 3 of my Gamestops in my area had NO IDEA that it was download only, AND STILL DON’T. In fact one Store Manager called his DM, right there on the spot, and the DM had no idea. They are still pre-selling it as a UMD, until told other-wise. How many people are going home with a sealed UMD case to open it up only to find a code? This is a HUGE PR SNAFU!! And Guess what?? Gamestop told me that once the customer gets home and opens it up, NO REFUND!! I really hope that it states in HUGE GIANT LETTERS that this is DOWNLOAD ONLY!!! FRONT AND BACK OF BOX!!
    On top of this, The price is the same in-store as PSN download..WHAT???? Shouldn’t I get it Cheaper with Download only?? I am not getting a Plastic Case or an Instruction Guide, but your still charging me Full Price as Stores at $19.99.
    This is a HUGE MESS!!! This was a No Brainer of a Buy…But now this is a HUGE PASS!

  • Wow Gold5225, You sure did prove you dont have a clue what you’re talking about. This game was already released on UMD in Europe and Japan. Anyone who wants to pirate Patapon 2 already has.

  • What is the size of the download? If it’s not very big then I don’t mind getting the download but if it’s huge I’ll probably end up importing a UMD. I use my memstick for storing other stuff too, ya know.

  • @48 & 50

    You took the words right out of my mouth.

    This is a slap in the face to consumers, a slap in the face to people who have supported the PSP up until now (yes, I *do* buy my games), and a slap in the face to the people who pre-ordered this game.

    I would your test is a spectacular failure guys. Any chance of making things right, or are you determined to deprive this game of sales?

  • Chris Hinojosa-Miranda Greetings from Mexico!!!

    Just one question, there’s a propability that we can see Patapon for the PS3 someday?

    Thanks

  • @53 – I wouldn’t be complaining if there were a UMD, because I was planning on buying this.

    @56 & 72- Calling people names doesn’t make you right, jerk-faces.

    @64/65 – You are exactly right.

    Come on guys.

    The market has spoken – tons of people are *not* buying this game because of your decision to go DD only.

    What are you going to do about it?

  • One of the weirdest games I ever saw but it’s weird in a great way. Thank you for your efforts guys. :)

  • To the people saying DD is the right way to go, have any of you honestly bought more than 5 UMD games?

    If any of you have bought more than 20 UMD games (like I have) you would understand that if they proceed to go with a device that’s DD only it will be the biggest F-U you can receive from the company. It would be like saying thanks for supporting the PSP and wasting hundreds of dollars on us but we no longer care and are leaving you behind. I know this is one title but it’s testing the market to see how consumers will react.

  • Let’s take a look at the VERY few questions Chris responded to:

    . . .

    #1 – “It doesn’t matter how many times you erase, break or lose your memory stick. The magic of Patapon 2 is that can re-download it (for free) as many times as you want off the PlayStation Network using the PSN ID you bought or redeemed the voucher with.”

    DL-only is essentially a rental medium, not a sale-through medium. What guarantee do we have that PATAPON 2 will still be available for re-downloading in 5 years.. 10 years… 20 years…? Will Sony’s servers even be functioning within a few years…?

    Obtaining the game will not even be possible for many consumers. What about the many people who are without broadband or DSL access in their area, or those who simply cannot afford it? Or consumers who are extremely computer-illiterate?

    This is NOT an issue with UMD releases – we OWN these and can play the game whenever we want to… even a decade or two later, when the original DL servers have long since shut down.

    [cont. on Post #82]

  • [cont. from Post #81]

    #2 – “You can back up the Patapon 2 game on a PC with Media Manager, a free application available at store.playstation.com. It’s easy-peazy-lemon-squeazy.”

    Unless you are one of the MANY gamers who are Mac users (~10 million new Mac units sold during 2008). Forget about backing up your data as there is NO Mac OSX-compatible version of the Media Manager.

    Heck, forget about even getting the game if you are a Mac user without internet access. Sony still steadfastly refuses to support OSX.

    . . .

    #3 – Why are you NOT even acknowledging the many MANY gamers who have already requested a simultaneous UMD + PSN release? Does SCEA really want to lose those thousands of additional UMD sales? I WANT to give Sony my money for PATAPON 2 and other future PSP games…

    No UMD = No Sale for Me. I’ll either import the UK edition or just forget about it.

    [cont. on Post #83]

  • [cont. from Post #82]

    If a game like PATAPON 2 is unavilable on physical media, I will simply do without it. I have never downloaded or obtained a “pirated” copy of any game — I never have and never will. I have more than enough other store-bought PSP games I can go back and replay (90+ games / 25+ movies), not to mentioned the nearly 2000 other cartridge and disc-based games I have for many other consoles and handheld systems from days past.

    I never plan on purchasing any console/handheld that is DL-only.

    . . .

    For Vengeful-Chaos @ Post #80:

    “To the people saying DD is the right way to go, have any of you honestly bought more than 5 UMD games?”

    Just to pinpoint what I stated above, I currently own 90+ PSP titles, in addition to another 25 or so UMD movies. So I am affected by this decision, as you already noted.

    Also, since this was mentioned in earlier post, I have NEVER had any problem carrying along a couple extra UMDs (or GBA/DS/NGPC carts) if I feel I needed to have them with me. (Normally I only play 1 game at a time… I don’t play 4 or 5 titles at once and continually switch between them. Just an FYI…).

    ‘Nuff said.

  • @gold5225

    Yes you can pirate it. Kinda defeats the point when it’s on disc in PAL regions, so having it download only will do nothing to deter piracy unless it is download only everywhere

  • I’m going to repeat this every time until I’m sure you’ve heard it-

    Patapon… PS3… 1080p… RB drum kit compatability…

    Imagine the awesomeness.

  • I already pre order one and Im just waiting for Cinco de Pata-yo to get it! Ive playing the demo and its cool so far, the only thing that bugs me is, I dont know if its me but I cannot get the perfect perfect timing much, so my hero is mostly stock with his regular attacks and not doing the special ones lol, dang

  • I Want a umd and for those who want to try the demo without having to pre-oder there is a free UK demo it comes in various different languages.

  • So Chris, going to man up and respond to the people who want UMDs?

  • Yeah, didn’t think so.

    Good old arrogant Sony, will never admit they’re wrong, even when it’s obvious.

  • well i saw resistance retribition for 19’99 at future shop and today i’m going to buy myself a psp is this game on psn? or umd?

  • congratulations sony you have made me buy a ps2 a ps3 and now i’m going to go buy a psp and i don’t regret buying them all!!

  • No UMD no sale. I pre-paid for my copy of the game but canceled the order yesterday.

    I’ll be importing my copy, thanks.

    I still have all of my original NES games that still work even tho I have had to buy other consoles. I still have my original PS games that I can show off and collect.

    I liked the demo and agree that it is much better than the first, but without the UMD, Sony of America, you will not be getting my sale.

  • I Love all of patapon 2 but it kinda bugs me to have only but since i can download it any time i want with no problems i am going to get it i mean losing the UMD is not worth losing patapon 2 and Zombie_56 right there with you i have a playstation 3 and psp if you get patapon 2 maybe we will play online.
    PS: also sony make patapon 3 next year or the year after that but i would prefer next year.:)

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