The PocketStation and why Sony is dumb for not releasing it worldwide

[thanonyx thanonyx]

​

The PocketStation, the Ps1 memory card peripheral Japan kept to themselves.

It worked with the following games:

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Ape Escape

Arc the Lad III

Armored Core: Master of Arena

Battle Bug Story

Be Pirates!

Boku wa Koukuu Kanseikan

Brightis

Burger Burger 2

Chaos Break

Chocobo Stallion

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix

Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix

Dance Dance Revolution 5thMix

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Digimon Tamers: Pocket Culumon

Dokodemo Hamster 2

Doko Demo Issyo

Final Fantasy VIII

Fire Pro G

Fish Hunter

Fun! Fun! Pingu

Gallop Racer 3

Grandia

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

Hello Kitty: White Present

Hot Shots Golf 2

I.Q. Final

Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Kero Kero King

Koneko mo Issho

Kyro-chan's Print Club

The Legend of Dragoon

Legend of Mana

LMA Manager

Love Hina 2

Lunatic Dawn 3

Medarot R Parts Collection

Metal Gear Solid: Integral

Mister Prospector

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

Monster Complete World

Monster Race

Monster Farm 2

Paqa

Pi to Mail

Pocket Digimon World

Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc

Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc

Pocket Dungeon

Pocke-Kano Yumi

Pocket Family: Happy Family Plan

Pocket MuuMuu

Pocket Tuner

Pocketan

Pokeler

Pokeler DX Black

Pokeler DX Pink

Pop'n Music 2

Pop'n Music 3 Append Disc

Pop'n Music 4 Append Disc

PoPoRogue

Prologue

Purumui Purumui

Racing Lagoon

RayCrisis (Japanese version)

Remote Control Dandy

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

Rival Schools 2 (Shiritsu Justice Gakuen Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2)

Rockman Complete Works

SaGa Frontier 2

Samurai Shodown : Warriors Rage 2

Shop Keeper

Sno Pokeler

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Super Robot Wars Alpha

Tales of Eternia

Taregoro: Tarepanda no Iru Nichijō

Theme Aquarium

Tokimeki Memorial 2

World Neverland 2

World Stadium 3

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories

So WHY OH WHY WAS IT NEVER RELEASED OUTSIDE OF JAPAN!?!?!?​

 

[ShinnAsukaYESTaylorSwiftNO]

probably because they didn't want buyers to confuse the PS1 for the Dreamcast that came out around the same time the PocketStation got released

 

[Deathsmiles]

I seriously wish they did because I would love to see what happens. I picked one up recently with the hopes of seeing the Chocobo World in Final Fantasy VIII but haven't gotten around to trying to make it work yet...

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

Agreed..
That was one of, if not the, dumbest decision that Sony ever made in the 90s..

 

[Blueskunky Blueskunky]

Oh wow... I only expected like... Six or seven games to be supported, not THAT many??

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

Pocket MuuMuu is the coolest use of the PocketStation I've seen. It's a big minigame collection that you can either play on the console or load onto the PocketStation and take it with you. You progress through the overall game by unlocking more and more minigames.

 

[solnK!]

It's a shame, the digimon games seem to be very similar to the original V-pets, and man, I love those.

 

[Natsuyasumi]

I love the concept of these, the form factor, the size, everything. Also loved the Dreamcast's VMUs.
I wish modern systems had dumb, fun stuff like this.

 

[Lena CE]

Apparently they said it was because they weren't able to produce many units and that since they couldn't meet the demand domestically they couldn't afford to bring it worldwide. They announced it at E3 specifically and plans to localize it were so far along that Squaresoft games like FF8 still have Pocketstation functionality localized and accessible on the disc. I imagine that because the PS2 was a year away it wasn't worth spending the money on worldwide manufacturing and distribution for an add-on that would only be used in a handful of games.

If anything what confuses me is that they didn't make a PS2 version. Like if it was a domestic success and people liked the Dreamcast's VMU why not try it again in a worldwide capacity with the PS2?

 

[PSVitaForever]

Oh, I remember the chocobo minigame in FF8, I was playing it on pc (I got the pc version, it's been one of my first videogames, the one that opened up the world of rpgs): it took me a while to understand the thing, but then I spent hours grinding for items in it - and there was an extra summon if I remember correctly, in fact I imemdiately download this one when I saw it.

Final Fantasy VIII: Enable MiniMog & ChocoBocle (Hack) PSP Eboot - The Repo

Final Fantasy VIII: Enable MiniMog & ChocoBocle (Hack) PSP Eboot ID: SLUS-00892, SLUS-00908, SLUS-00909, SLUS-00910. Languages: English.

retrogametalk.com

 

[RageBurner]

If I had to guess they didn't want to front up the costs. I don't know how much UI is actually in the side games on the Pocketstation, but that may have influenced the decision somewhat as well.