August 23, 2012August 24, 2012

Psychonauts Coming to PS2 Classics This Tuesday

First things first: Psychonauts is coming to PlayStation 2 Classics.

…Okay, that’s only one thing. But it’s super important.

Psychonauts was Double Fine‘s first game, and it came out for the PlayStation 2 way back in 2005. We love it a lot. It’s the story of a gifted young psychic cadet who must delve deep into dangerous minds and put a stop to a sinister conspiracy. And on August 28th, you will be able to download it to your PlayStation 3 as a PlayStation 2 Classic.

If you never played Psychonauts, you’re in for a treat! If you played it before, why not buy it again, just for old time’s sake? Ha ha! Tell a friend or two or a hundred.

“So, what took so long?” you may ask. Well, you’d be in fine company for asking. As internet user @smushums66 requested, “Psychonauts PSN title or PS2 classic PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Fellow netizen Lemming inquired only last month, “RELEASE PSYCHONAUTS ON PSN…DO YOU LIKE FREE MONEY???”

These are just a few of the seemingly infinite requests for Psychonauts PS3 we receive on a daily basis. And as it turns out, we do love free money! (Preferably in cash-stuffed envelopes slid under the office door.) But to truly become a PlayStation 2 Classic, we wanted to ensure Psychonauts had all the time it needed to grow into its status as a classic, like a fine artisanal Tuscan cheese. But less smelly.

Now, nearly seven years after its original release, that time has come. In five days, I mean. So get ready. Prepare yourself. Warm up your console. Recharge your controller. Do some thumb exercises (is that a thing??). Fortify your funnybone. Tune up your heartstrings. Clean off your credit card. Brace yourself for Psychonauts.

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95 Comments

3 Author Replies

jonathan_val
August 23, 2012 at 5:35 pm PDT

Contra Shattered Soldiers, Gradius V and Maximo Vs. Army of Zin classics please…!!!
PatchAdams2000
August 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm PDT

Please don’t let there be a “licensing issue” like GTA3. Still waiting on it! Gladly will buy both.
acidsoda
August 23, 2012 at 5:58 pm PDT

GREAT!!!! i cant wait to play it ^^ now when are u putting .hack onto PSN?????
papolatte
August 23, 2012 at 6:23 pm PDT

I have a backwards compatible PS3, and still own the disc version of this game. I also have the disc version for PC, and also a digital Steam copy.

So… why do I foresee myself buying this PS3 digital copy?

It’d be awesome if the Vita had PS2 software compatibility, because then I would totally play this game on the go.
iBOCK_
August 23, 2012 at 6:34 pm PDT

I’ve never gotten the chance to play this game, so I’ll definitely be picking it up! :)
GermanMink
August 23, 2012 at 7:06 pm PDT

I never played this the first time around, so I’m thinking this might be a necessary buy.
blingity
August 23, 2012 at 7:23 pm PDT

Awesome to get this and THPS HD in the same week. The only thing I need to plead to Sony right now is shortly after the upgrade to play PS1 classics on Vita – DO THE SAME WITH PS2 CLASSICS ON VITA!!!! I need every reason you can supply me to play my Vita more! (THPS HD would also ROCK on the Vita)
FearMonkey
August 23, 2012 at 7:26 pm PDT

How many times am I expect to buy this game!?!
Shadowbhiemes
August 23, 2012 at 8:33 pm PDT

I’ve been wanting to play this, and without a good gaming PC or a certain other console I haven’t had a chance. I was wondering when it’d hit PS2 Classics! I will definitely get it after mowing enough lawns to earn the appropriate cash.

Hopefully other devs also port their good stuff to the PS2 Classics Service.
ramankhutu
August 23, 2012 at 8:50 pm PDT

Psychonauts and Ratchet & Clank were the last two games I needed to see on the PS3 in order to stop regretting the fact that I gave away my PS2 in 2006. So this news makes me very happy. Unfortunate that they will take badly-needed time away from the fall semester, but oh well.
MarinoBrea
August 23, 2012 at 8:57 pm PDT

Tim Schafer can have many money.
MarinoBrea
August 23, 2012 at 8:57 pm PDT

*my money
smushums
August 23, 2012 at 9:08 pm PDT

THANK YOU Double Fine for mentioning my Twitter account on your posting . But most of all THANK YOU for bringing Psychonauts to the PS3 . I am beyond excited . I can hardly wait to get mt hands on it . Any idea how much the game will be so i can have a PSN card locked and loaded for Tuesday .
- Chris Remo
  August 24, 2012 at 5:11 pm PDT
  
  You’re welcome! Thanks for tweeting! $9.99!
Elvick_
August 23, 2012 at 9:32 pm PDT

Xbox version ran better, and I already have this game on the PS2. Good for those who want it, and good for more exposure for a great game.
Elvick_
August 23, 2012 at 9:33 pm PDT

I want that tower defense game that you put on XBLA. :/ I think MS published it though so idk
ALARM-cIock
August 23, 2012 at 9:36 pm PDT

@ 9
“2. Quit trying to express your opinions as facts”
His opinion is fact. So is yours and so is mine. That is to say, it is a fact that such a person has an opinion.

@ 14
“I’m not even going to express how messed up your comment is.”
I agree, the hypocrite projects his own shadow… It’s difficult to argue with someone that hides in plain sight.
mclovinrocks
August 23, 2012 at 9:42 pm PDT

come on sony can YOU REALLY BRING BACK THE TAK GAMES to ps2 classics and the spongebob squarepants movie game for download I would really love TO PLAY THEM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS oh and thanks for psychonauts and everything but I have been a full on true paying customer to everything you have been putting via download on psn I would like to think that you would send a blog message to us the people saying you would bring them back on the ps3 ok I have alot of ps2 games I would like to re own again thanks for your time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MR_SUPREME69
August 23, 2012 at 9:58 pm PDT

YES! Buying it! I freaking love this game and the developer.
Ecks
August 23, 2012 at 10:09 pm PDT

I still have this for PS2, and can play it on my launch model PS3, or on my old PS2, but for those that want it digitally… good!
joeyrpger
August 23, 2012 at 11:08 pm PDT

I’m pretty sure if I dig deep inside my mind and scan across the western hemisphere, I’ll find at least 100 friends. The ones who will interested in video game in general though…well that’s another question. The fact that the majority are likely to be girly females doesn’t improve the odds either.
fleinn
August 24, 2012 at 12:03 am PDT

So fail once again. Double Fine exists as a studio and a license holder. They are liberal with licensing out remakes, pc and console versions. And then you guys go ahead and choose the PS2 port for release?

It’s the same as with Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evil, etc. You could get the PC version running with higher internal resolution, xmb support, etc. But instead you choose deliberately the worst version that has ever been released of the game — never mind spend a decade actually getting it on the store.

At the same time – the games that actually were great on the ps2, and actually were better than the other versions – such as DMC1-3 – these games you’re not getting at all.

Seriously, what sort of incompetent punk is in charge of this? And why do you seem to deliberately want to give us as customers the worst possible experience we can have? I mean, you know already that you can get a better version of Psychonauts for a lower price, running on a Mac, a PC or on xbox — so why would we buy this?
AceGamer84
August 24, 2012 at 12:28 am PDT

Why?

If there’s any game that deserves the HD remaster treatment, it’s Psychonauts.

I love the game. I really LOVE the game. So much so, that I just started playing it again for the 6th time. This time, however, I bought a Steam copy, so I won’t be buying it through PSN. I’m guessing it’s the PS2 version, which isn’t as good.

If you ever release the game in HD, or better yet, but highly unlikely, remake the game. I will be there with money in my pocket and it’ll be your’s.
MaikelSteneker
August 24, 2012 at 4:53 am PDT

Psychonauts is a must-have, especially at that price. I’d prefer an HD version though, so I’ll play the Steam version instead.
Superstone
August 24, 2012 at 5:31 am PDT

PS2 classics on the Vita please!!
MarcusRaven
August 24, 2012 at 5:55 am PDT

I really hope that you guys took the time to fix some of the glaring bugs the PS2 version had. Firstly, random lines of speech would get dropped, really taking away from the experience. Also, the rendering of the figments was done poorly, which made them harder to find than they already were! There were numerous others. I originally bought the PS2 version of this game, but had to swap it out for the XBox version because the bugs were SO bad. (Had to buy the XBox with it.) I do hope some consideration to this was taken. I got the PC version through the past Humble Indy Bundle, but my computer isn’t great at playing it, so I do hope this PS2 classic has been improved on.
RodrigoFate
August 24, 2012 at 8:39 am PDT

Please, put GOOD RPG games on PS2 Classics:

Rogue Galaxy
Star Ocean
etc!
cosmis_chaos
August 24, 2012 at 10:06 am PDT

Don’t listen to any naysayers on this site. Psychonauts was criminally ignored. Anyone who says it is mediocre probably never played the Milkman level. It reserved a sequel and deserved to be put on a pedestal next to Okami, Viewtiful Joe and God Hand instead of in the bargain pile hoping someone would be open minded enough to play it.
khalie11
August 24, 2012 at 10:16 am PDT

we want checkin little for U.S store!!!!!
petepat97
August 24, 2012 at 10:35 am PDT

Finally budokia 3!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait thank you
iiGeTMoNeY23
August 24, 2012 at 11:57 am PDT

Stop being greedy and anti consumer and put back PS2 BC on PS3 and let us use our UMDs on PSVita for free like it should be.
arkangel4357
August 24, 2012 at 12:18 pm PDT

Never Heard of the Game Before but by what people aresaying in the comments it was awsome back in its time.. i just wanna know if they would add The KH Series to the Ps2 Classics or they may come out with an HD Collection. Just Wondering
TJF588
August 24, 2012 at 1:15 pm PDT

Count me among the PC hoarde. If this was a PSN release, though, the trophy metagame would draw me to it. But, then, I have Psychonauts on Steam and Beyond Good & Evil on PSN, without a second thought to their equivalents on each others’ platforms other than a collector in me adding them to a watch list.
WolfyHopeless
August 24, 2012 at 6:25 pm PDT

@72

ummmmm…. I’m guessing you haven’t really looked into anything regarding what you just said, or else you wouldn’t be bawwwing so much.

DMC 1-3 HAS been released in an HD collection. Beyond Good & EVIL HD WAS updated and tweaked.

also “I mean, you know already that you can get a better version of Psychonauts for a lower price, running on a Mac, a PC or on xbox”

Wrong brah. It’s on steam and steam and PSN are closely integrated, and just to make sure, I just checked. 9.99. huh… How about that?

or how about this wisdom filled gem? “never mind spend a decade actually getting it on the store.”

Right, thank god the master and last word on licensing issues is here to call Sony out on this… said no one ever.

“Double Fine exists as a studio and a license holder. They are liberal with licensing out remakes, pc and console versions.”

They exist as more than that but good attempt, and again, you obv know JACK about licensing. Nomatter who’s in charge, a lazy gesture and a “make it so” doesn’t just get it done.

But then again, it’s been made obvious you’ve no clue what you’re talking about, and you’re just yapping away like a little purse dog.
MADPUPPY89
August 24, 2012 at 8:10 pm PDT

I hope any Ace Combat game gets added to the PS2 Classic. PLEASE!!!
jmk1999
August 25, 2012 at 12:06 pm PDT

as much as i love psychonauts, im thinking an hd remake would have been even sweeter… regardless, i’ll probably still end up blowing my wad of cash on this. double fine, i hope you’re happy that you’re gonna make me blow my wad…
allwasgood
August 25, 2012 at 2:43 pm PDT

@83: Well, to be fair, Psychonauts has been $2.50 three or four times over the past two years. 9.99 is its regular price, but anyone willing to wait a few months between sales never pays full price on Steam.
Hooligantuan
August 27, 2012 at 9:25 am PDT

I’m not touching anymore PS2 re-releases if they don’t have trophy sets. Sorry.
FinderKeeper
August 31, 2012 at 9:24 am PDT

@ 40

YES. + > 9,000 internets for you!
*clink* *clink* *clink*
“War-ri-ors… come out to play-ayyyy…”
HeavyDriver
September 1, 2012 at 12:24 am PDT

When I try to launch the game from the XMB my PS3 crashes! Anyone else having this problem? I tried deleting the download, thinking it was maybe corrupted, then re-downloaded and installed with the same results. I just get a black screen when I try to run the game, no sound, and then my PS3 just sits there with its one green light on mocking me.

SOOOO DISAPPOINTED!
zombiemom
September 1, 2012 at 7:16 am PDT

@89

You’re not alone. I’ve had one instance of it just hanging on the black screen like you described. I powered down the system (no hard freeze), and afterwards the game loaded a bit slowly but normally. For some reason it turns off my controller everytime I turn the game on or off though, and I’ve had a few glitches in the game (audio and video going off sync, broken/pixelated bars across the top of the screen during two cutscenes, and my telekinesis once stopped working during the tutorial for it necessitating a reload). As a result I save early and often… well, I usually do that anyhow, but moreso here. I’ve been debating myself whether or not to redownload or if there are some glitches involved that’ll need an update to fix.

I’m up to the Milkman Conspiracy section, and I’m still very happy that I purchased the download. Since it’s my first PS2 Classic on the system, I’m just having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how many glitches are from a problem in the emulation and what might be a corrupt download. I hope you get yours working HeavyDriver! Best of luck!
HeavyDriver
September 1, 2012 at 9:30 am PDT

@90 Thanks for the quick response! My wife and I are totally disappointed that the game won’t run. I just cringe every time my PS3 freezes. Sony tech support wrote me back very promptly and suggested I delete the game data utility, restart teh PS3 in safe mode, then “restore the file system”.

The game install must have been poor, because I didn’t even the game data for Psychonauts in the game data utility. The remainder of the troubleshooting did not fix my problem, either. Hopefully I get a quick refund, and I will have to move from the disappointment I guess.

It’s a shame that I encountered this problem. The biggest reason I play on consoles such as PS3 is that I typically do not have to hassle with problems like these (or those often encountered on a PC). I wonder how many others are having serious buggy issues… Perhaps DoubleFine released this port too early?
Yuki-Mizuno
September 3, 2012 at 7:49 pm PDT

Ah! How did I miss this announcement?! D:

I’ve already went ahead and bought it. I have one already for the PS2, Xbox and Steam… So this is my fourth copy? XD

Very nice to see this as a PS2 Classic, can’t wait to start playing it as soon as it finishes downloading! 8D
Yuki-Mizuno
September 4, 2012 at 9:09 am PDT

Oh! Umm… *Raises hand* I think I have a technical problem on my download.

You see, when I was watching the opening rendered cutscene, the FMV was going faster than the audio; like, the audio was not lagging at all, it’s just the cutscene was being rendered too fast… I don’t know for certain if this has happened to anyone else, but if it has, I just wanted to report it. Also, nothing else in the game seems to have the same problem; just the rendered cutscenes like the one in the beginning.

But, then again… I was downloading the game while there was a storm going on all night in my location. That might have factored into this. Though the power didn’t go out, the internet did for a short period of time and I did not notice it… XD

I just wanted to know if this is just my own mistake of downloading it in a thunderstorm, or if anyone else is having the same problem…? If it was my own mistake because of the thunderstorm, do I need to download it again? >.> <.< I hope I didn't come off as a jerk… *Looks to the side there* D:

Thanks if anyone can answer my question! :)
HeavyDriver
September 11, 2012 at 11:24 pm PDT

Yuki, it is interesting that buggy behavior seems quite common on the PS2 classics. I am just really bummed that I couldn’t get my download running at all. I literally pulled my original XBOX out of the garage and hooked it up to my HDTV just so my wife could hang with Raz for a few hours!

Interestingly, the reply I got from Double Fine about my bugged experience with the PS2 version was very down to earth. They support guy basically told me that they don’t get any $$$ from Sony on the deal… nor do they have any input on the PS2 Classic release, developement of it, etc.. So in my case I can only blame the PS2 emulator or something on my PS3. I just appreciate that Sony showed good faith and gave me a refund.
TylerTheDestroye
September 14, 2012 at 1:37 pm PDT

@ 89-94

Are you guys serious? I’ve been wanting to download this, since I haven’t had any luck getting a physical copy at a decent price. So, are these glitches still prominent? I mean, I’ve seen how glitchy and down-graded the PS2 version is from the other versions, but freezing and de-sync? That sounds really unfortunate. Makes me wonder if anyone at Sony actually tests these…

I heard Spyro 2 had similar issues and had to be re-released.