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94-535: Star Ocean is a franchise of science fantasy role-playing video games developed by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix ). Star Ocean is known as one of the earliest real-time RPGs to allow players to alter the storyline's outcome through the player's actions and dialogue choices, mainly through a social relationship system referred to as "private actions". The original Star Ocean , published by Enix in 1996, introduced

188-513: A PC-9801 . Composing for the Game Boy Color presented multiple limitations in cord numbers and quality. The battle theme, "Hand to Hand", was a track Sakuraba particularly remembered, as he tried to capture the momentum of battle despite the limited hardware. The music for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was composed by Motoi Sakuraba , a long-time collaborator with tri-Ace. The soundtrack

282-512: A smartphone , as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment , a division of Sony . The first PlayStation console was released in Japan in December 1994, and worldwide the following year. The original console in the series was the first console of any type to ship over 100 million units, doing so in under a decade. Its successor,

376-682: A "non-gaming role" regarding their new partnership with Philips. This proposal was swiftly rejected by Kutaragi who was facing increasing criticism over his work with regard to entering the video game industry from within Sony. Negotiations officially ended in May 1992 and in order to decide the fate of the PlayStation project, a meeting was held in June 1992, consisting of Sony President Ohga, PlayStation Head Kutaragi and several senior members of Sony's board. At

470-428: A "private actions" social system, where the protagonist's relationship points with the other characters are affected by the player's choices, which in turn affects the storyline, leading to branching paths and multiple different endings . This was expanded in its 1999 sequel, Star Ocean: The Second Story , which boasted as many as 86 different endings, with each of the possible permutations to these endings numbering in

564-427: A deliberate attempt to apply the techniques and attitudes of science fiction to traditional fantasy subjects. Distinguishing between pure science fiction and pure fantasy, Rod Serling argued that the former was "the improbable made possible" while the latter was "the impossible made probable". As a combination of the two, science fantasy gives a scientific veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in

658-544: A game. Sony is developing an improved suspended gameplay state for the PlayStation 5 to consume less energy than the PlayStation 4. The system's new controller, the DualSense has adaptive triggers that can change the resistance to the player as necessary, such as changing the resistance during the action of pulling an arrow back in a bow in-game. The controller also has strong haptic feedback through voice coil actuators, which together with an improved controller speaker

752-650: A hotel in Tokyo in 1994, numerous developers began to approach PlayStation. Two of whom later became major partners were Electronic Arts in the West and Namco in Japan. One of the factors which attracted developers to the platform was the use of a 3D-capable, CD-ROM-based console which was much cheaper and easier to manufacture for in comparison to Nintendo's rival console, which used cartridge systems. The project eventually hit Japanese stores in December 1994 and gained massive sales due to its lower price point than its competitor,

846-657: A natural scientific basis. Science fiction critic John Clute chose the narrower term "technological fantasy" from the broader concept of "science fiction". The label first came into wide use after many science fantasy stories were published in the American pulp magazines , such as Robert A. Heinlein 's Magic, Inc. , L. Ron Hubbard 's Slaves of Sleep , and Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp 's Harold Shea series. All were relatively rationalistic stories published in John W. Campbell Jr. 's Unknown magazine. These were

940-404: A new "Super Slim" PlayStation 3. The new console, with a completely redesigned case that has a sliding door covering the disc drive (which has been moved to the top of the console), is 4.3 pounds, almost three pounds lighter than the previous "slim" model. The console comes with either 12 GB flash memory or a 250 GB, 500 GB hard drive. Several bundles which include a Super Slim PS3 and

1034-461: A new story. Star Ocean games also take an all-encompassing approach to items. Party members can create new objects or improve existing ones through crafts like metalworking , alchemy , writing, painting and cooking. The strongest items and equipment are usually only available via Item Creation, and many others can be sold for a profit or provide other benefits (books can be used to transfer skills and abilities; cooked foods can be used to circumvent

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1128-404: A remastered soundtrack. Initially, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time received a somewhat negative impression in Japan. Parts of the game were alleged to be buggy, and the game refused to work at all in older SCPH-10000 PlayStation 2s. Enix blamed Sony , as they had coded Star Ocean 3 with features from updated libraries that were apparently not backward-compatible. Star Ocean: The Last Hope

1222-415: A science fantasy franchise has been debated. In 2015, George Lucas stated that " Star Wars isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and a space opera ". PlayStation PlayStation ( Japanese : プレイステーション , Hepburn : Pureisutēshon , officially abbreviated as PS ) is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles , two handhelds , a media center , and

1316-492: A selection of games are available. The PlayStation 4 (PS4) was announced by Sony Computer Entertainment at a press conference on February 20, 2013. In the meeting, Sony revealed some hardware specifications of the new console. It introduced the x86 architecture to the PlayStation series. According to lead system architect, Mark Cerny, development on the PlayStation 4 began as early as 2008. PlayStation Europe CEO Jim Ryan emphasized in 2011 that Sony wanted to avoid launching

1410-504: A similarly incomplete anime series Star Ocean EX . The anime series saw release by Geneon Entertainment in the United States. The anime features 26 episodes covering events that happened on the first disc of the PlayStation game. The show was continued on drama CDs afterward. By 2013, the game series had shipped over 4.2 million copies. In a 2009 retro review, NintendoLife praised Star Ocean technical aspects calling it "one of

1504-614: A total of 80 million units worldwide by November 2013. Its successor, the PlayStation Vita (PSVita), which launched in Japan in December 2011 and in most other major territories in February 2012, sold over four million units by January 2013. PlayStation TV is a microconsole and a non-portable variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. Other hardware released as part of the PlayStation series includes

1598-618: A variation of the GUI previously used only on PAL consoles up to that point. Released in 2000 , 15 months after the Dreamcast and a year before its other competitors, the Xbox and the GameCube , the PlayStation 2 is part of the sixth generation of video game consoles , and is backwards-compatible with most original PlayStation games. Like its predecessor, it has received a slimmer redesign. It

1692-615: Is Star Ocean: The Last Hope Arrange Soundtrack , a selection of tracks from the original soundtrack performed in different remixes. Sakuraba is a "series mainstay", and included a "synth-rock" soundtrack in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness . As with the other games in the Star Ocean series, Star Ocean: Anamnesis soundtrack was composed by Motoi Sakuraba . There was an incomplete manga series by Mayumi Azuma based on Star Ocean: The Second Story , which became

1786-490: Is 40% smaller and carries a rounded body with a matte finish on the top of the console rather than a two-tone finish. The two USB ports on the front have a larger gap between them, and the optical audio port was also removed. It ships with a minor update to the DualShock 4 controller, with the light bar visible through the top of the touchpad and dark matte grey coloured exterior instead of a partially shiny black. The PS4 Slim

1880-529: Is a direct sequel to The Second Story , released for the Game Boy Color on June 28, 2001, in Japan (a North American version was planned but canceled). Blue Sphere adapts the Star Ocean series to hand-helds altering several aspects in the process, including interactive item creation, auto private actions, 2D side scrolling battles, Field Actions, and the removal of random battles. It takes place in 368 SD, two years after The Second Story , and features

1974-568: Is a free-to-play card and item creation RPG developed by Hippos Lab and published by Square Enix for the GREE mobile phone social network in 2013. GREE and Square Enix has terminated the service as of February 2014, and the application has since been delisted. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in 2016. The story takes place between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till

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2068-463: Is designed primarily to enable selected games to be playable at 4K resolution , and improved quality for PlayStation VR . All games are backwards and forward compatible between PS4 and PS4 Pro, but games with optimizations will have improved graphics performance on PS4 Pro. Although capable of streaming 4K video from online sources, PS4 Pro does not support Ultra HD Blu-ray . Additionally the PS4 Pro

2162-405: Is intended to give better in-game feedback. USB-C connectivity, together with a higher rated battery are other improvements to the new controller. The PlayStation 5 features a completely revamped user interface . The PlayStation 5 is backwards-compatible with most PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR games, with Cerny stating that the transition to the new console is meant to be a soft one. In

2256-481: Is sometimes cited as an example of science fantasy. Writer James F. Broderick describes Star Trek as science fantasy because it includes semi-futuristic as well as supernatural/fantasy elements such as The Q . According to the late science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke , many purists argue that Star Trek is science fantasy rather than science fiction because of its scientifically improbable elements, which he partially agreed with. The status of Star Wars as

2350-451: Is the most successful console in the world, having sold over 155 million units as of December 28, 2012. On November 29, 2005, the PS2 became the fastest game console to reach 100 million units shipped, accomplishing the feat within 5 years and 9 months from its launch. This achievement occurred faster than its predecessor, the PlayStation, which took "9 years and 6 months since launch" to reach

2444-570: Is the only PS4 model which can remote play at 1080p. The other models are limited to 720p. The PlayStation 5 (PS5) was released worldwide on November 12, 2020, and, alongside the Xbox Series X and Series S , released the same month, is part of the ninth generation of video game consoles . The first news of the PS5 came from Mark Cerny in an interview with Wired in April 2019. Sony intended for

2538-477: The 7 nanometer process node. The graphics processor is a custom variant of AMD's Navi family using the RDNA microarchitecture, which includes support for hardware acceleration of ray-tracing rendering, enabling real-time ray-traced graphics. The new console ships with a custom SSD storage, as Cerny emphasized the need for fast loading times and higher bandwidth to make games more immersive, as well as to support

2632-557: The Android operating system , whereas version 2.00 released in 2014 only targeted PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV. Content set to be released under the framework consist of only original PlayStation games currently. Seventh generation PlayStation products also use the XrossMediaBar , which is an Technology & Engineering Emmy Award –winning graphical user interface . A touch screen-based user interface called LiveArea

2726-530: The Consumer Electronics Show in June 1991, Sony revealed a Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive that incorporated Green Book technology or CD-i, called "Play Station" (also known as SNES-CD ). However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology. The deal

2820-493: The Golden Age of Science Fiction , science fantasy stories were seen in sharp contrast to the terse, scientifically plausible material that came to dominate mainstream science fiction, typified by the magazine Astounding Science Fiction . Although science fantasy stories at that time were often relegated to the status of children's entertainment, their freedom of imagination and romance proved to be an early major influence on

2914-524: The Greatest Hits , Platinum , Essentials , and The Best selection of games. It is also known for the four iconic PlayStation face buttons ( [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] ). PlayStation was the brainchild of Ken Kutaragi , a Sony executive who managed one of the company's hardware engineering divisions and was later dubbed "The Father of the PlayStation". Until 1991, Sony had little direct involvement with

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3008-522: The PSX , a digital video recorder which was integrated with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, though it was short-lived due to its high price and was never released outside Japan, as well as a Bravia television set which has an integrated PlayStation 2. The PlayStation Network is an online service with about 110 million registered users (as of June 2013) and over 103 million active users monthly. (as of December 2019) It comprises an online virtual market,

3102-480: The PlayStation 2 , the PS One (stylized as PS one) was a considerably smaller, redesigned version of the original PlayStation video game console. The PS one went on to outsell all other consoles, including its successor, throughout the remainder of the year. It featured two main changes from its predecessor, the first being a cosmetic change to the console and the second being the home menu's Graphical User Interface ;

3196-439: The PlayStation 2 , was released in 2000; it is the best-selling home console to date, having reached over 155 million units sold by the end of 2012. Sony's next console, the PlayStation 3 , was released in 2006, selling over 87.4 million units by March 2017. Sony's next console, the PlayStation 4 , was released in 2013, selling a million units within a day, becoming the fastest selling console in history. The latest console in

3290-659: The PlayStation Store , which allows the purchase and download of games and various forms of multimedia, a subscription-based online service known as PlayStation Plus and a social gaming networking service called PlayStation Home , which had over 41 million users worldwide at the time of its closure in March 2015. PlayStation Mobile (formerly PlayStation Suite) is a software framework that provides PlayStation content on mobile devices . Version 1.xx supports both PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV and certain devices that run

3384-663: The Sega Saturn . The popularity of the console spread after its release worldwide in North America and Europe. The original PlayStation, released in Japan on December 3, 1994 , was the first of the ubiquitous PlayStation series of console and hand-held game devices. It has included successor consoles and upgrades including the Net Yaroze (a special black PlayStation with tools and instructions to program PlayStation games and applications), "PS one" (a smaller version of

3478-434: The "Greatness Awaits" and eventually, "Play Has No Limits" commercials in the United States. The series also has a strong line-up of first-party games due to PlayStation Studios , a group of many studios owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment that exclusively developed them for PlayStation consoles. In addition, the series features various budget re-releases of games by Sony with different names for each region; these include

3572-474: The "New Wave" writers of the 1960s, who became exasperated by the limitations of "Hard Science Fiction" . The term "science fantasy" was coined in 1935 by critic Forrest J. Ackerman as a synonym for science fiction. In the 1950s, the British journalist Walter Gillings considered science fantasy as a part of science fiction that was not plausible from the point of view of the science of the time (for example,

3666-467: The 20-of-each-item inventory limit), placing great importance on Item Creation. Star Ocean games are known for their real-time battle engines, and, for being one of the first of its kind to come to the consoles. Battles take place on a separate screen, but all characters (rather than waiting in one spot and taking damage) are fully mobile in three dimensions, can dodge and chase foes, and must cast their spells and deploy attacks despite enemy harassment. In

3760-536: The End of Time is a part of Sony's Greatest Hits line, indicating that the game had done reasonably well in North America. In 2008, Square Enix released an enhanced remake of the original Star Ocean title for the PlayStation Portable called Star Ocean: First Departure . This was followed in 2009 by an enhanced port of Star Ocean: The Second Story for the PlayStation Portable called Star Ocean: Second Evolution . Star Ocean: The Last Hope

3854-532: The End of Time , in 537 SD. Star Ocean: Anamnesis is a free-to-play role-playing game featuring three-dimensional characters and environments. Players could participate in real-time battles against enemies that supported up to four players. It was released in Japan on December 7, 2016, and later worldwide in July 2018 for Android and iOS devices. Both the global and Japanese versions were terminated in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Star Ocean: The Divine Force

Star Ocean - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-401: The End of Time , in terms of in-universe chronology, can be explained by the series' choice to emphasize the setting of its fictional world rather than focus on its characters. In Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness , producer Shuichi Kobayashi noted that one of the game series most important themes is first contact between two different societies and planets. The first game in the series

4042-553: The PlayStation 3 was re-released in 2009 as a "slim" model. The redesigned model is 33% smaller, 36% lighter, and consumes 34% to 45% less power than previous models. In addition, it features a redesigned cooling system and a smaller Cell processor which was moved to a 45nm manufacturing process. It sold in excess of a million units within its first 3 weeks on sale. The redesign also features support for CEC (more commonly referred to by its manufacturer brandings of BraviaSync, VIERA Link, EasyLink and others) which allows control of

4136-507: The PlayStation 5 to be its next-generation console and planned to ship it worldwide by the end of 2020. In early 2019, Sony's financial report for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, affirmed that new next-generation hardware was in development but would ship no earlier than April 2020. The current specifications were released in October 2019. The console uses an 8-core, 16-thread CPU based on AMD's Zen 2 microarchitecture, manufactured on

4230-542: The President of SCEI from Sony's headquarters, and Olaf Olafsson . Olafsson was CEO and president of New York-based Sony Interactive Entertainment which was the parent company for the 1994-founded Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). The PlayStation project, SCEI's first official project, was finally given the green light by Sony executives in 1993 after a few years of development. Also in 1993, Phil Harrison , who later became President of SCE Worldwide Studios ,

4324-594: The Slimline which had an overhauled internal design incorporating the power supply into the console itself like the original PlayStation 2 resulting in a further reduced total weight of the console. Released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a seventh generation game console from Sony. It competes with the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii . The PS3 is the first console in

4418-636: The Sorcery Globe, which has landed on Planet Expel and has been causing disasters ever since. An enhanced port entitled Star Ocean: Second Evolution was released for the PlayStation Portable on April 2, 2008, in Japan, January 20, 2009, in North America, and in Australia and Europe in the following month. It features similar enhancements, including fully voiced dialogue, new playable characters, and new character artwork and animated cut-scenes provided by Production I.G . Star Ocean: Blue Sphere

4512-444: The ability to patent items created during item creation and recruiting inventors to create items for the player. The game takes place nearly 400 years after the last Blue Sphere , in 772 SD. Fayt Leingod is the main character, and after finding himself separated from his family during an alien attack on a resort planet, is pursued by the same Vendeeni forces across space for reasons beyond his imagination. Star Ocean: The Last Hope

4606-607: The adventures of Roddick Farrence as he searches for a cure for a sickness on his planet with the help of two Earthlings. An enhanced remake entitled Star Ocean: First Departure was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 27, 2007 in Japan, and in North America and Europe in October 2008. The game was remade using Star Ocean 2 ' s engine, adopting prerendered backgrounds and 3D battlefields, as well as new character art and animated cut-scenes provided by Production I.G , and fully voiced dialogue. There are also new playable characters. Star Ocean: The Second Story

4700-410: The best-looking Super Nintendo games ever created" and that the soundtrack "never ceases to amaze". Famitsu reviewed Star Ocean: The First Departure , a remake of the original Star Ocean , saying the title's animation and characters were well done and the story was "charming" though they lamented that players could only save their progress at certain points such as the world map, which they also felt

4794-478: The characters did in fact change to reflect the type of weapon they were using. Another recurring gameplay feature is that many of the branching story choices and different endings are not easily accessible, as things like "affection points" are not exposed to the player. This has proven both frustrating to some players who feel they are missing out on choices they didn't know about, but for others it opens up further replay ability as newly discovered choices will yield

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4888-493: The console over HDMI by using the remote control as the controller. The PS3 slim also runs quieter and is cooler than previous models due to its 45 nm Cell. The PS3 Slim no longer has the "main power" switch (similar to PlayStation 2 slim ), like the previous PS3 models, which was located at the back of the console. It was officially released on September 1, 2009, in North America and Europe and on September 3, 2009, in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In 2012, Sony revealed

4982-728: The earlier games, magicians had spells, whereas fighters had special physical attacks called "Killer Moves"; both are learned after passing certain level requirements (or through specific items and sidequests ) and cost HP or MP to use. In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time , all the characters are able to use spells and battle skills (i.e. killer moves). The first Star Ocean was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, and included orchestral samples, including flutes, and even included digitized battle cries during combat. The scores for Star Ocean and First Departure were composed and arranged by Motoi Sakuraba . Critics praised Sakuraba's progressive rock style, and highlighted his musical experimentation throughout

5076-401: The game with bonus dungeons, new playable characters, a versus mode, and tweaked gameplay was released in 2004, and that version was brought to North America and Europe the same year. Till the End of Time is the first fully 3D game in the series and features fully voiced dialogue. It retains most aspects of the previous games with new features, such as the fury and bonus battle gauge, as well as

5170-474: The game's opening animation as well as the end credits, and was included in that version's official soundtrack in 2008. This theme was replaced for the First Departure R release with the song "Atarashī Ippo" ( 新しい一歩 , "The First Step") by Yauchi Keiko of Shadow of Laffandor. The music of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere was composed by regular series composer Motoi Sakuraba : he created the soundtrack on

5264-401: The hundreds, setting a benchmark for the number of outcomes possible for a video game. Using a relationship system inspired by dating sims , each of the characters had friendship points and relationship points with each of the other characters, allowing the player to pair together, or ship , any couples (both romantic heterosexual relationships as well as friendships) of their choice. However,

5358-558: The imaginary and the actual, the magical and the prosaic, the mythical and the scientific, meet and interanimate. In so doing, these worlds inspire us with new sensations and experiences, with [quoting C. S. Lewis] 'such beauty, awe, or terror as the actual world does not supply', with the stuff of desires, dreams, and dread." Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore published novels in Startling Stories , alone and together, which were far more romantic . These were closely related to

5452-413: The logo to capture the 3D support of the console, but instead of just adding apparent depth to the letters "P" and "S", he created an optical illusion that suggested the letters in depth of space. Sakamoto also stuck with four bright principal colors, red, yellow, green, and blue, only having to tune the green color for better harmony across the logo. Sakamoto also designed the black and white logo based on

5546-417: The meeting, Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had been working on which involved playing video games with 3D graphics to the board. Eventually, Sony President Ohga decided to retain the project after being reminded by Kutaragi of the humiliation he suffered from Nintendo. Nevertheless, due to strong opposition from a majority present at the meeting as well as widespread internal opposition to

5640-624: The next-generation console behind the competition. Among the new applications and services, Sony introduced the PlayStation App, allowing PS4 owners to turn smartphones and tablets into a second screen to enhance gameplay. The company also planned to debut PlayStation Now game streaming service, powered by technology from Gaikai . By incorporating a share button on the new controller and making it possible to view in-game content being streamed live from friends, Sony planned to place more focus on social gameplay as well. The PlayStation 4

5734-411: The only game in the series not released outside Japan in any form. The characters of the series were designed to be "action-figure-like". A feature adjusting the characters' appearance when changing their equipment was considered for the series but ultimately was scrapped because of the large number of characters to design. However, in the later installment of Star Ocean: The Last Hope the appearance of

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5828-468: The original Star Ocean score and First Departure . Tracks added from Star Ocean: The Second Story received mixed reviews on the First Departure album, adding some familiar Star Ocean themes but also some lesser known songs to the mix. Several musical pieces were missing from the original album and were added to the remake's release. The First Departure remake features the theme song "Heart" performed by Japanese music group Asunaro, which accompanied

5922-521: The original PlayStation 2, the PlayStation 2 Slimline was the first major redesign of the PlayStation 2. Compared to its predecessor, the Slimline was smaller, thinner, quieter and also included a built-in Ethernet port (in some markets it also has an integrated modem ). In 2007 , Sony began shipping a revision of the Slimline which was lighter than the original Slimline together with a lighter AC adapter . In 2008 , Sony released yet another revision of

6016-592: The original) and the PocketStation (a handheld which enhances PlayStation games and also acts as a memory card). It was part of the fifth generation of video game consoles competing against the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64 . By December 2003, the PlayStation and PS one had shipped a combined total of 102.49 million units, eventually becoming the first video game console to sell 120 million units. Released on July 7, 2000 , concurrently with its successor

6110-524: The project by the older generation of Sony executives, Kutaragi and his team had to be shifted from Sony's headquarters to Sony Music , a completely separate financial entity owned by Sony, so as to retain the project and maintain relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project (which helped lead to the creation of the DVD ). According to SCE's producer Ryoji Akagawa and chairman Shigeo Maruyama , there

6204-435: The real world under any circumstances. Where science fiction does not permit the existence of fantastical or supernatural elements, science fantasy explicitly relies upon them to complement the scientific elements. In explaining the intrigue of science fantasy, Carl D. Malmgren provides an intro regarding C. S. Lewis 's speculation on the emotional needs at work in the subgenre: "In the counternatural worlds of science fantasy,

6298-457: The relationship system in Star Ocean not only affected the storyline, but also the gameplay, affecting the way the characters behave towards each other in battle. As fans of science fiction and space travel , the developers at tri-Ace created the Star Ocean series with a sci-fi setting in mind and have cited Star Trek as one of their main influences for the visuals of the games as well as being an underlying, but noticeable, influence to

6392-537: The required content streaming from disc for 8K resolution . In a second interview with Wired in October 2019, further details of the new hardware were revealed: the console's integrated Blu-ray drive would support 100 GB Blu-ray discs and Ultra HD Blu-ray ; while a game installation from a disc is mandatory as to take advantage of the SSD, the user will have some fine-grain control of how much they want to have installed, such as only installing multiplayer components of

6486-493: The return of all twelve main characters as they attempt to solve the mystery of the Planet Edifice and its destructive nature that eradicates the planet's civilizations every 200 years. In 2008 it received a Japanese-only remake for mobile devices with new graphics, new controls, and a retooled battle system. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2003. A director's cut of

6580-624: The same design, reserved for times where colors could not be used. At Sony Music Entertainment , Kutaragi worked closely with Shigeo Maruyama , the CEO of Sony Music, and with Akira Sato to form Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) on November 16, 1993. A building block of SCEI was its initial partnership with Sony Music which helped SCEI attract creative talent to the company as well as assist SCEI in manufacturing, marketing and producing discs, something that Sony Music had been doing with Music Discs. The final two key members of SCEI were Terry Tokunaka,

6674-403: The same figure. PlayStation 2 shipments in Japan ended on December 28, 2012. The Guardian reported on January 4, 2013, that PS2 production had ended worldwide, but studies showed that many people all around the world still own one even if it is no longer in use. PlayStation 2 has been ranked as the best selling console of all time as of 2015. Released in 2004 , four years after the launch of

6768-424: The series as a whole. While the first Star Ocean game included more fantasy elements to appeal to a broad audience, subsequent installments naturally moved towards a more sci-fi oriented feel, with Star Ocean: Till the End of Time described by its producer Yoshinori Yamagishi as tri-Ace's "ultimate vision" of the "whole Star Ocean world". The large gap of time between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Till

6862-478: The series to introduce the use of motion-sensing technology through its Sixaxis wireless controller. The console also incorporates a Blu-ray Disc player and features high-definition resolution. The PS3 was originally offered with either a 20 GB or 60 GB hard drive, but over the years its capacity increased in increments available up to 500 GB. The PlayStation 3 has sold over 80 million consoles worldwide as of November 2013. Like its predecessors,

6956-491: The series, the PlayStation 5 , was released in 2020 and sold 10 million units in its first 249 days, unseating its predecessor as the fastest-selling PlayStation console to-date. The main series of controllers utilized by the PlayStation series is the DualShock , a line of vibration-feedback gamepads that sold 28 million units by June 2008. The first handheld console in the series, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), sold

7050-523: The use of nuclear weapons in H.G. Wells' novel The World Set Free was a science fantasy from the point of view of Newtonian physics and a work of science fiction from the point of view of Einstein's theory). In 1948, writer Marion Zimmer (later known as Zimmer Bradley) called "science fantasy" a mixture of science fiction and fantasy in Startling Stories magazine. Critic Judith Murry considered science fantasy as works of fantasy in which magic has

7144-558: The video game industry. The company supplied components for other consoles, such as the sound chip for the Super Famicom from Nintendo , and operated a video game studio, Sony Imagesoft . As part of a joint project between Nintendo and Sony that began as early as 1988, the two companies worked to create a CD-ROM version of the Super Famicom, though Nintendo denied the existence of the Sony deal as late as March 1991. At

7238-452: The work that they and others were doing for outlets like Weird Tales , such as Moore's Northwest Smith stories. Ace Books published a number of books as science fantasy during the 1950s and 1960s. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction points out that as a genre, science fantasy "has never been clearly defined", and was most commonly used in the period between 1950 and 1966. The Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry

7332-422: Was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between the two companies. The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga , who responded by appointing Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. At that time, negotiations were still on-going between Nintendo and Sony, with Nintendo offering Sony

7426-475: Was composed by Motoi Sakuraba , who has worked on the soundtrack for the previous Star Ocean games and many other games developed by tri-Ace. The soundtrack was released in two parts: Star Ocean: The Last Hope Original Soundtrack - A 3-CD set containing all the music tracks in the game, with a total of 71 tracks. It also contains a DVD extra of an interview with Sakuraba himself, plus video footage of his workshop and some original music performed by him. The other

7520-567: Was eventually released in four parts. The limited edition of Volume 1 also came with box to hold all four albums. When the game was revised into the Director's Cut, Sakuraba composed a few new pieces of music and released an album for them. The song "The Small Bird That Forgot How To Fly" (飛び方を忘れた小さな鳥, Tobikata Wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori ) by the JPop singer Misia was used to accompany the game's ending credits. The music for Star Ocean: The Last Hope

7614-401: Was first released in North America on November 15, 2013. As part of the eighth generation of video game consoles , it competes with Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U and Switch . PlayStation 4 Slim (officially marketed simply as PlayStation 4 or PS4 ) was unveiled on September 7, 2016. It is a revision of the original PS4 hardware with a streamlined form factor. The new casing

7708-410: Was launched for the PlayStation Vita, which integrates social networking elements into the interface. Additionally, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 consoles also featured support for Linux-based operating systems ; Linux for PlayStation 2 and OtherOS respectively, though this has since been discontinued. The series has also been known for its numerous marketing campaigns, the latest of which being

7802-470: Was noted by IGN for having graphics that varied widely in quality, from very high quality to Minecraft and noting there were no cutscenes, so the acting had less emotional impact. They did, however praise the game's score and cast of characters. Star Ocean: Anamnesis was described by Kotaku as "exploitative but charming", praising the game's use of nostalgia, but abhorring the "blandness" of its free to play formula. Science fantasy During

7896-418: Was recruited into SCEI to attract developers and publishers to produce games for their new PlayStation platform. Computer Gaming World in March 1994 reported a rumor that the " Sony PS-X " would be released in Japan "before the end of this year and will retail for less than $ 400". After a demonstration of Sony's distribution plan as well as tech demos of its new console to game publishers and developers in

7990-432: Was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , and PC via Steam on October 27, 2022. The game features two protagonists and a story that changes based on player's choices. Akira Yasuda , also known as Akiman, returned as character designer from Integrity and Faithlessness and Anamnesis . Of the seven games in the series, six have been released outside Japan. Star Ocean: The Second Story

8084-495: Was released for the PlayStation on July 30, 1998, in Japan, May 31, 1999, in North America, and April 12, 2000, in Europe. It retains the features of its predecessor while introducing prerendered backgrounds, full motion videos , and 3D battlefields. Taking place in 366 SD, it features a new cast of characters, including Claude C. Kenny , the son of Ronyx J. Kenny from the original Star Ocean, and Rena Lanford , who both investigate

8178-478: Was released for the Xbox 360 in February 2009 for Japan and North America, and in June of the same year for Australia and Europe. It was also released for the PlayStation 3 worldwide in February 2010. It is a prequel to the entire series, chronicling the aftermath of World War III in which humanity must find a new home to survive. The protagonist is a young man named Edge Maverick who is accompanied by his childhood friend Reimi Saionji. Star Ocean: Material Trader

8272-487: Was released in North America within one week of its Japanese release on Xbox 360. An enhanced version called Star Ocean: The Last Hope International edition was later released as a PS3 exclusive worldwide in the first quarter of 2010. This port included the Japanese audio, new character portraits, as well as a few other new features exclusive to that version. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is also available on Steam as 4K & Full HD remaster. Star Ocean: Blue Sphere remains

8366-464: Was released on September 15, 2016, with a 500 GB model at the same price point as the original PS4 model. Its model number is CUH-2000. PlayStation 4 Pro or PS4 Pro for short (originally announced under the codename Neo ) was unveiled on September 7, 2016. Its model number is CUH-7000. It is an updated version of the PlayStation 4 with improved hardware, including an upgraded GPU with 4.2 teraflops of processing power, and higher CPU clock. It

8460-445: Was reviewed by IGN which stated that despite the rough pacing in the storyline that could be told in a much more engaging manner, tri-Ace and Square Enix's latest RPG holds together quite well with action-packed gameplay. One of the small annoyances encountered during the game is the disc-swapping, which requires players to switch discs if they need to travel between planets later in the game. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness

8554-447: Was simply titled Star Ocean . It was released on July 19, 1996 for the Super Famicom and never released outside Japan, but was unofficially translated into English through ROM hacking by DeJap Translations , and the resulting game can be played through emulation . It established the series' staples, including the futuristic setting, real-time battle system, item creation, and private actions. It takes place in 346 SD, and follows

8648-557: Was the first game to be published in the USA, by Sony Computer Entertainment America . With the PlayStation 2's installment, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time , Square Enix hoped to attract more gamers, especially in the United States, where the franchise has not been very popular. The Director's Cut 2-disc version of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time has been released in North America, with more playable characters, more games and additional storyline tangents. As of July 2005, Star Ocean: Till

8742-590: Was too large and had a limited field of view. Star Ocean: The Second Story is one of the most popular games of the series. While most reviewers gave positive reviews, some considered the game only mediocre. Jeff Lundrigan, reviewing the PlayStation version of the game for Next Generation , wrote that the game has its pluses and minuses, but ultimately called it "average" in his review. Star Ocean: Blue Spheres ' popularity in Japan, primarily for its story and gameplay systems, prompted tri-Ace to remake it for mobile devices. The remake included redrawn graphics and

8836-412: Was uncertainty over whether the console should primarily focus on 2D sprite graphics or 3D polygon graphics . Eventually, after witnessing the success of Sega 's Virtua Fighter in Japanese arcades, that Sony realized "the direction of the PlayStation became instantly clear" and 3D polygon graphics became the console's primary focus. The PlayStation logo was designed by Manabu Sakamoto. He wanted

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