It feels as if an announcement of an ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD collection is a certainty as we head into Tokyo Games Show 2010. Rumors of a supposed PS3 bundle of these two beloved PS2-era titles have been particularly persistent, circulating for about a year. It's clear that people want the collection, and it's also appearing much more likely that something is up SCE's sleeves. The latest three rumors indicating that such a collection exists are powerful ones indeed.
Let's take a look, first, at what has prompted the new round of rumors. Last weekend, US retailer Walmart listed ICO/Shadow of the Colossus PS3 for an April 2011 release. No mention of a remake is made in the listing, but it's priced similar to the God of War Collection--a collection you have to assume is the model SCE looks at when considering PS2-era remakes. That one had two games, the press liked it, and the fans gobbled it up.
It bears mentioning that the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus bundle has been listed before at other retailers--much earlier than this one, in fact--but none have the sort of pull, power, or shelf space that Walmart has. It's OK to raise your eyebrow at this listing. It's convincing.
== TEASER ==But after Walmart re-ignited the rumor mill, Eurogamer got in touch with a mysterious source that has added some heat to these rumblings. The source confirmed SCE's plans to push out an ICO/Shadow of the Colossus collection, though the source said it was possible that the collection could see an earlier March 2011 release.
And now it appears that we have some box art to look at. Swedish retailer Webhallen's image from its listing of the game looks rather convincing, but it's impossible to tell if it's authentic. The image, which was apparently spotted first by a Twitter account that doesn't haven an affiliation with Sony yet goes by the name "PlayStation Team," hasn't been something Sony is willing to talk about. As is proper, the publisher is giving out its "no comment on rumor or speculation" boilerplate in regards to this image, as well as these latest rumors, across the board (via Joystiq).
As previously reported, Sony is open to PS2 HD remake collections beyond the God of War Collection, which makes this Team ICO collection seem even more like a real thing. Speaking with IGN at this year's E3, SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida spoke highly of the God of War Collection and said Sony is "looking to continue to do these [kinds] of HD conversions." And of course, a Sly Cooper collection is already confirmed to be en route.
Whether that means ICO and Shadows of Colossus--two highly regarded and well-loved games by critics and fans alike--will be the next collection is still up in the air. I suppose we'll have to continue waiting, at least until Tokyo Game Show later this week.
Here's the full image of the boxart from Webhallen:
UPDATE: The latest issue of Famitsu confirms that ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will each be receiving an HD makeover. The two games, however, are being listed separately in the mag, making it hard to confirm that Sony intends to bundle the two games. (Via Kotaku.)