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Namco Bandai Denies Paid Exclusivity For Tales Of Vesperia
If you've been holding your breath for a North American release of the extra content-packed PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia, I'm sorry to say that it's not going to happen. But the why behind that is still very much in question.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Namco Bandai junior community manager Charlotte Toci explained to fans on Facebook that the PS3 port would not be localized in the U.S. because "Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3."
Fans got even angrier at this revelation at which point Toci and Namco quickly backtracked. In a new statement, Toci says she was mistaken in her original Facebook post:
"A few months ago I replied to a fan who asked me why Tales of Vesperia wasn't localised in Europe on my Facebook page. I replied that it was because of a Microsoft exclusivity, thinking that that was the reason why, even though I didn't have any official information on that. I was wrong to do so, and sadly my reply was relayed on many websites, thus sharing a false information to fans around the web. I would like to send my sincere apologies to all the Tales Series fans I have wrongly informed, and Microsoft and Namco Bandai for any damage that might have been caused with this."
So what's the truth? Well, there must be a reason that Vesperia's PS3 port isn't coming to the U.S., but it also seems a little strange to imagine Microsoft paying for exclusivity in only one territory -- especially when it's not the territory with the most love for the genre in question. Whatever the case, though, it looks like North American gamers will have to go on living without the new playable characters, mini-games, dungeons, and bosses of the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia.
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