Mixed news in the realm of game preservation this week. Starting on a less positive note, website TheGamer reports that the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) stores may go offline July 2, and the PlayStation Vita store will go offline August 27:
https://www.thegamer.com/ps3-vita-psp-stores-permanently-closed/
This means that legally purchased digital titles and DLC may not longer be able to be re-downloaded after this date (this is not yet 100% confirmed). It’s strongly suggested that if you have purchased digital content on any of these platforms that you don’t currently have downloaded or backed up, you re-download it now to avoid losing it permanently. A larger risk is that many exclusive titles for these systems will be lost to time as a result of the store closures.
On a much more positive note, preservation group Hidden Palace announced on their main website today the release of “Project Deluge”, a public release of currently 752 unique PlayStation 2 trade demos, betas and prototypes:
https://hiddenpalace.org/Main_Page
Included is a summary of how the titles were obtained, and the team members involved:
https://hiddenpalace.org/Project_Deluge
And of course a complete list of the titles covered:
https://hiddenpalace.org/Project_Deluge_-_Sony_PlayStation_2_(List)
I look forward to seeing comparisons of development and prototype versions compared to their final commercial releases, and a glimpse behind the curtain of the game development process.
