By	mollipen	1
	Filed Under	Japan, News, PlayStation Portable, RPG, Video Games
	Tags	atlus, persona 2, shin megami tensei

Over on NeoGAF, member creid noticed something strange about the Atlus Faithful email newsletter he received today: it has a most peculiar date.

That date? June 23, 1999. While the rest of the newsletter is fittingly retro, that date especially stands out; it just so happens to be the date that Persona 2: Innocent Sin was originally released in Japan for the PlayStation.

To this day, Persona 2: Innocent Sin stands as the only Persona title never officially released in North America. (It did, however, come out a number of years ago as a fan translation.) In Japan, Persona 2 was actually two separate releases: Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Sure, each one could totally stand as their own game, but they were really intended to be played as one larger whole.

So why did we get P2: EP and now P2: IS? There’s never been an official explanation released (that I know of), but the most poplar rumor is that elements in the game caused SCEA to reject it for release. (For anybody who thinks Sony of America can be a little bitchy about some of their rules for the PS3 and PSP, you ain’t seen nothing compared to their PS1 days.)

Because of this—getting only part two of a two-part game—it has always felt like there was a hole in the Atlus USA library.

But, there was hope! After the original Persona was resurrected via a reworked PSP release, fans hoped that maybe Persona 2 would get the same treatment. Then, it was announced: Persona 2: Innocent Sin Portable. If there was ever going to be a realistic chance for an official English release on our shores, this was going to be it. If this peculiar date in the most recent Atlus Faithful newsletter is indeed a reference to what many (including myself) are thinking it is, it now seems this dream could finally become reality.

Update: Atlus has indeed announced Persona 2: Innocent Sin for release in North America come Fall 2011.

[simpleviewer gallery_id=”18″]

This entry was posted on Friday, May 20th, 2011 at 2:43 am and is filed under Japan, News, PlayStation Portable, RPG, Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.