Last month, Sony released the PSOne Classics version of Vib-Ribbon on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Portable, with a way to bring it to PlayStation 4 being worked on.
The road to getting Vib-Ribbon in North America wasn’t an easy one though, with Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Shawn Layden, who got the job in April 2014, talking about the game at E3 2014:
A little earlier, I was delighted to hear Andy give a shout-out to one of the most iconic games of our time, Vib-Ribbon. A personal favorite of mine that really embodies the PlayStation spirit. It wasn’t a multi-million seller, but that’s not the point. Vib-Ribbon was unafraid to go against the tide. It was courageous in its ambition and it brought a completely new experience to gamers.
Unfortunately, he didn’t actually have anything to announce regarding Vib-Ribbon at the time – instead only introducing the Mortal Kombat X gameplay footage – and this angered people all over the internet.
Upon seeing the outcry and rage voiced by people about the Vib-Ribbon bait-and-switch, Layden went to David Thach, Director of International Game Development at Sony, and said (via Wired), “You have to get me Vib-Ribbon.” After Thach told him the game wasn’t released in North America, Layden added:
I know. You’ve got to find out how we’re going to get this thing to market, get it emulated. If you can get the CD-swapping thing to work, great. But don’t let that be the game-stopper. Just get this thing to market.
Now that Vib-Ribbon is out, Layden says, “Downloads have been pretty good. Although I think everyone who screamed at me on the internet should make good on their scream and go buy it now.”
With Layden pulling through on the release of Vib-Ribbon, he says people are now asking for Parappa the Rapper.” Currently, they are looking at it, but “that’s a more complex rights package.”
He continued:
It’s us trying to be more open at SCEA. If someone comes to me about something that they would like to have back on the platform, and it’s in my power to make it happen… I mean, why wouldn’t we?
What other classic games would you want to see get a digital release?
[Source: Wired]
