Ys Seven gets premium edition

Japanese developer Nihon Falcom and US publisher Xseed Games this week announced a premium pack for the upcoming North American debut of Ys Seven on the PSP.

Set for a late summer release, the Limited Collector's Edition of Ys Seven will be available for preorder at participating retailers for $49.99 and includes themed offerings. Inside the pack is the game's soundtrack on CD, a 60-page art book featuring work from recent games in the series, and a 12.5"-by-34" cloth map highlighting the Ys Seven world. A standard edition of the game, which retailers are currently listing for $29.99, will be available at launch as well.

For those seeking a deeper level of immersion, Xseed embarked upon its own quest and announced a "Name in the Game" promotion for Ys Seven, which will afford 14 fans digital immortalization in the title. Anyone who joins Xseed's Facebook fan page by June 11 will be automatically entered into a drawing to have their name potentially embedded into the game as a quest-giving character.

Ys Seven will be the first of six PSP titles Xseed brings to North America as a result of a partnership with Falcom, which was announced last month.

The terms of the deal grant Xseed exclusive rights to publish and distribute three recent PSP Ys games (Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and Ys 1 & 2 Chronicles) in North America. It also includes The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy, known as Sora no Kiseki in Japan.

Ys: The Oath in Felghana released in April in Japan is a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. In addition, Ys 1 & 2 Chronicles is a remade set of the franchise's first two games released on TurboGrafx CD in 1990.