[UPDATE: When asked if we could expect to see Syphon Filter on the Vita sometime soon, a designer at Sony Bend replied “Only if someone can convince Sony it’ll sell.”]
Okay, so this is more of a public service announcement/history lesson than an actual news story, but it’s something that I’ve been waiting on for a while now.
Remember when the Vita was first released in North America all the way back in the spring? Well, at the time Sony decided to remove a few PSP games from the PSN due to an exploit that allowed the Vita to run “limited homebrew” on their new handheld. The games in question were Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Resistance Retribution and both Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and its sequel Logan’s Shadow.
This wasn’t really an issue for folks that still had a PSP and physical copies of the games. However, anyone that had purchased them digitally and chucked their old handhelds when the Vita dropped (like me, for instance) found that they had a game or games that they had presumably paid cash money for that could no longer be played even though those games were officially supported by Sony for the platform.
In the case of Motorstorm, the issue was resolved fairly quickly. As for the three Sony Bend games, not so much.
Now, however, it seems that with absolutely zero fanfare Retribution is back on Sony’s new handheld. We can all once again play last generation’s hands-down best portable shooter in the full glory of dual analog sticks.
As for the Syphon Filter games, they remain MIA on the Vita’s storefront. I have reached out to one of the developers at Bend to see if the pair suffered from the same issue as Resistance and if we can expect to see them return as well. As of this article’s publication, I have yet to receive a response.
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