ICO

ICO
Developer: SCE Japan Studio Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Platform: PlayStation 2 Released in JP: December 6, 2001 Released in US: September 24, 2001 Released in EU: March 22, 2002 Released in AU: 2002 Released in KR: 2002 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

I'm sorry, Ico, but your princess is in the same castle/prison that you are in, and can't speak your language.

Sucks, doesn't it?

To do: More regional differences That demo Some animals used as decoration in The Last Guardian were meant to appear here. Try to find these, if possible.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Unused Subtitle Files

To do: Finish

Present in the Japanese release, and left blank in the US and EU releases, are more subtitle files designed to be shown in cutscenes. The amount of unused files greatly outnumber the number of used subtitles.

Unused Text Files

Download ICO TXT files File: ICO-TXT.7z (2.89 MB) (info)

Present in the root of the European ISO are four text files. What's notable about these, is that SRCFILE.TXT and TRFILE.TXT seem to be disassemblies of the code. The date these files were last modified corresponds to the build date of the binary. Also present is DUMMY.TXT which just contains the string "DUMMY" and MAIN.MAP.

It should be noted that it is because of these text files that the European version is the only one to be released on DVD format disc.

File	Date added
SRCFILE.TXT	17th January 2002, 9:44 am
TRFILE.TXT	17th January 2002, 9:44 am
MAIN.MAP	2nd August 2001, 2:33am
DUMMY.TXT	6th July 2001, 4:14 am

Debug Menu

The US version running the debug menu.

A cut portion of a developer level named ba_test.

The debug menu can be enabled by using the Action Replay codes below. To enable the debug menu, press Select on Controller 1. The codes are not perfect, and some debug functions may freeze or not work. Also, a second controller is necessary to use some of the debug functions, and control the movement of Yorda.

Version	AR code
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Demo Disc 49	D019A2A0 0000FE40 20105230 08067128 D019A2A0 0000FE40 20199838 08066522
US Demo	20101F20 0C069978 201A38A8 08068D3E
US Retail	20101F48 0C06A6CA 201A6DE0 08069A8C
Japanese Retail	20101F64 0C06C9DA 201AFA20 0806BD9C
European Retail	20101F94 0C06C966 201AF850 0806BD28

(Source: fiber, eientei95, Punk7890)

Regional Differences

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

Since the release date was scheduled in the US to be before the holidays, the US version was horribly rushed from the cut features to its cover art. The JP/EU version came out the year after the US version, which is reflected in the game's title screen. The HD version of the game is based on the JP/EU version.

USA	International

The cut features from the US version:

Yorda's speech translated- In the initial playthrough of Ico, Yorda's speech would appear as runic symbols on the bottom of the screen. On a new game started from a cleared game file (referred to as a "second game"), Yorda's speech is translated.

Two-player mode- After starting a second game from a cleared file, a second player can play as Yorda (by adjusting a new "Players" setting in the Options menu).

Shining Sword- A secret weapon that looks (and even sounds, as it swings) like a lightsaber from Star Wars. The blade can vanquish shadows easily, and it has a very long reach if Ico is holding Yorda's hand.

Film-grain effects- A new option that allows the player to select from various film overlays, making the game look like an old film (The overlays are used in various parts of the regular game, including the early cutscene where Ico sees a shadow dripping out of Yorda's cage).

Extra ending- At the end of the game, Ico walks down a long beach to meet Yorda. If this is a second-playthrough file, several watermelons will be behind a large rock near the beginning of the path (the boat "points" right towards it). If Ico picks up one of the watermelons and carries it all the way over to Yorda, an extended ending will play showing them sitting together eating watermelons on the beach.

Graphical Changes

• The title screen font was changed. In addition, "Load" was changed to "Continue".
• The save screen was redrawn, removing the text "stg:" and "time:".
• The lighting and architecture to the castle was improved, including the level-of-development to distant architecture.
• The ground texture was improved.

Technical Changes

• Holding hands is executed differently: in the US version you press the R1 button to hold, and press it again to release grip. In other versions, the button must be held to keep your grip.
• Yorda's AI was improved. In the US version, she would usually just stand still even if enemies were actively approaching.
• Yorda now helps the player solve puzzles by pointing to the place or object of interest and saying Ico's name.
• Several of the rooms had their camera angles changed.
• A few puzzles were lengthened by adding trickier bits.
• Enemies became faster and more aggressive - spawning more frequently than they did in the US version (where they only spawned if the player left Yorda in a different room or at scripted events).

(Source: Team Ico Wiki)