ICO, the classic PS2 adventure that I personally consider the greatest work of video game design and artistry I’ve ever played, has been adapted into a 400-page paperback novel by Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe. Even better news: it’s less than two weeks away from bookstore shelves!

ICO: Castle In The Mist is being published in North America by Viz Media, under the company’s Haikasoru imprint, and it will be available on August 16th, just in time to give fans and newcomers a chance to read up before the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection graces the PS3 with its artistic beauty, grand atmosphere and emotionally evocative storytelling.

The book’s list price is $15.99, but you can pre-order it now through Amazon for only $10.76. Read a brief excerpt here.

HIGH FANTASY AND TRUE LOVE COME TO LIFE IN ICO: CASTLE IN THE MIST, NEW FROM VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU IMPRINT [Viz Media]

As if the remastered 1080p HD graphics, stereoscopic 3D, 7.1 surround sound and PSN Trophy support weren’t enough of a bonus already, Sony has announced additional extras to come packed inside the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, coming to PS3 on a single Blu-ray on September 27th.

The spruced-up bundle of PS2 classics will now also come with a voucher card unlocking two free XMB Dynamic Themes (one for ICO, one for Shadow of the Colossus) and exclusive on-disc video content for both games as well as Team ICO’s next masterpiece, The Last Guardian. More information about the video content will be announced sometime next month, according to the PlayStation Blog.

Now if only Sony would toss in a compilation soundtrack and a playable The Last Guardian demo…

Bonus Content Comes to ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection [PlayStation.Blog]

Is it just me, or do these HD-upscaled PS2 games look better than 75% of the games built for modern hardware? Just goes to show that great art direction trumps technical horsepower every time.

Source: YouTube user GamesHQMedia, via Kotaku

For someone who considers ICO and Shadow of the Colossus his two favorites games ever made, the wait for Sony’s PS3 collection has been excruciatingly long. But thankfully the wait is nearly over, with Sony announcing that the two-classics-in-one Blu-ray bundle is ready for North American retail prime time starting September 27th for $39.99.

Like all of Sony’s HD collections, this one will sport 1080p, stereoscopic 3D, trophies and 7.1 surround sound.

Earlier this year Sony released a list of 20 exclusive games coming out for PS3 in 2011, with The Last Guardian and the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection taking up two of those spots. But now a 2011 release for both titles is in question.

When posting about those exclusive PS3 games, I stated towards the end that I didn’t fully believe that The Last Guardian would make it our this year, and it looks like my skepticism was warranted because the game has been officially delayed from its scheduled holiday 2011 launch to an undisclosed date sometime in the future. In all likelihood, that means it’s on hold until 2012.

The game’s director, Fumito Ueda apologetically explains:

I announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show that the release timing of The Last Guardian which is currently being developed would be holiday 2011.

However, to provide more challenging and better quality of content to users and to fulfill First Party Studio’s obligations, I decided to postpone its release timing.

All the members of my production team are working together at a fast pace to develop and release the game in First Party Studio quality.

I sincerely apologize to all the customers who have been waiting for “The Last Guardian” for so long, but I beg for your patience. I will also announce the new release timing at a later time.

Not mentioned in that quote is the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, the HD remake compilation of the PS2’s two best games, and two of the greatest games ever created, in my opinion. But it too has been delayed, slipping out of its planned release for this spring. Like The Last Guardian, the collection has been postponed without a new target date, but here’s hoping for a holiday 2011 release followed by an early 2012 launch for The Last Guardian.

Is this the first of many high profile 2011 games to get pushed into next year? I’m guessing yes!

Update on The Last Guardian and Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection [PlayStation.Blog]

After months and months (and months and months) of hope and speculation, and after recent retailer and magazine leaks outed its existence, Sony today officially announced the PS3 HD remake compilation everyone has been waiting for: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus: The Collection!

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus: The Collection brings the two classic PS2 adventures from Team ICO to the PS3 on a single Blu-ray disc, packing in remastered HD graphics locked in at a “solid 30 frames per second,” support for 3D, and Trophies. It’ll be out in spring 2011 leading up to the holiday 2011 release of Team ICO’s next grand adventure, The Last Guardian (back with more on that one in a minute).

Here is the unveil trailer. More screenshots can be found at the PlayStation blog linked below.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection hits PS3 Spring 2011 with 3D [PlayStation.Blog]