Slashdot Mirror
PlayStation 2 Timeline, From Launch to Present
Decaffeinated Jedi writes "GameSpy has posted a timeline charting the history Sony's PlayStation 2, the third part in a series previously covered on Slashdot that includes similar retrospectives for the Xbox and for GameCube. The timeline traces the PlayStation 2's history from its initial boom, through its period as 'a repository for bad sports games, giant robot games, and other disappointing releases,' and up to the console's revitalization by such games as Gran Turismo 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, Devil May Cry, and Grand Theft Auto III." How has the PlayStation 2 measured up to your expectations?
So where exactly was this timeline? It looked to me much more like a 5 page list of dated events. They seemed to have missed out on a very important part of the timeline....the LINE.
How has the PlayStation 2 measured up to your expectations?
Poorly.
The hardware is better than the Playstation 1, sure, but because it was so difficult to make games for, the first generation of titles barely looked any better than Playstation 1 titles. They had higher resolution, slightly better textures - but that's about it.
And even the games that make the best use of the hardware today still aren't very good from a technical standpoint. The Playstation 2 can't even do anti-aliasing and trilinear filtering. Something that a bottom-of-the-range 3Dfx graphics accelerator could easily do in 1998. I mean, look closely at Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. Nothing on the Playstation 2 has ever come close to looking that clear, crisp and vibrant - including the native PS2 Soul Calibur 2 release.
And the best Playstation 2 titles just look kind of average in comparison to the best on Xbox and Gamecube. Splinter Cell and Crimson Skies on Xbox both look amazing. The best PS2 titles look.. well.. merely okay underneath all the rendering artifacts and lack of high-quality models and textures.
The PS2 has the best controller, best memory cards, best sleek case design. But it also has the worst technology - worst video hardware, worst processor, worst CD-drive (that is really noisy!) and worst load times.
A textbook triumph of marketing over technology.
For some reason, I've never felt any draw to the PS2 itself as a console. The Gamecube is cool (and these days ridiculously cheap too) and the Xbox ... well, the fact that I bought one says it all I think ... Guess the specs appealed to the geek in me and the games I wanted were available.
...
But the PS2, nope. Never any attraction. And that's despite the fact that I've played several great games on a friend's unit over the years. It's just never felt purchase-worthy. And I don't think it will even if it drops to 'Cube prices, but I'm always toying with the idea of picking up a 'Cube just to play Zelda and Metroid.
Perhaps it's simply that the PS2 has a lot of good and great games, just nothing that's a total drool-causer for me. Especially not drool-causers that don't show up on the other consoles if you're just a little patient
I take offense to the terrible treatment that giant robot games recieve.
In all seriousness, Zone of Enders II: The Second Runner is my favorite PS2 game. And that's all about the robots.
Also, I found it interesting that they could talk about games that looked cool but aren't really as fun as they look, and yet mention Devil May Cry as one of the console's great titles.
But come on. More love for the giant robots, please.
As was said before, the actual logic units of the playstation2 are well beyond both the xbox and the gamecube - the simple fact is, that the video memory does not hold nearly as many pretty textures, and cannot do anti-aliasing very well (mainly because of the lack of memory). If they had utilized something like 64mb or 128mb of memory, the system would have smoked either one of the other systems. The major problem with the emotion engine in floating point calculations, is that it only performs at 32-bit precision, not 64-bit. Of course, neither do the numerous pentium3 (And 4) based beowulf clusters out there.
For as many failed units that Sony throws out, it still amazes me when people associate the word Sony with Quality.
If you were going to buy a console for the primary purpose of mucking about with it, programmatically, which one would you get?
Does the Linux/PS2 port have a more 'fun' realm than the Linux/XBOX realm?
I've considered getting a couple of gaming platforms, mostly for the hack value - I'd love to make an XBOX or PS2 a workable terminal in my house for various net-related things.
Which system give best bang for the hacker buck, in your opinion?
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
The PS2, and the forthcoming PS3 are the only Sony products I would ever buy for this reason exactly. For every Sony product I have bought over the years, only one of them still worked normally after about year and a half of purchase. I had to replace my Ps1, and I have already had to replace my PS2. Now one could write this off to bad luck, but of my half dozen gamer geek friends, 4 of them have had to replace their PS2s since launch.
I have owned every Nintendo system (except the virtual boy) and have never had a single problem. My NES, purchased in 1989 still works (albeit with a little bit of fighting with the cartridge loading mechanism) And while My X-box did need to be replaced a few weeks ago, I am the only person I know that suffered such ill-fortune with it.
Why do I still by Playstations? Um well I have this gaming problem and I can't help it. He doesn't hit me all the time...
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
One major gripe I have about both GC and Xbox is the definitive lack of RPG's. Sure GC has it's tried and true Zelda, but that was a late comer game, and Xbox titles concentrate far more on Sports/Action/Fighing genres than RPG. The most definitive company representing this is Squaresoft, who only of late are coming back to Nintendo with FFCC. Not only that, but through Sony, I can play not only FFX, but virtually every final fantasy game every created, as well as numerous other great classics that on lazy afternoons I feel like revisiting, and I only need one console to do this with. If you go nintendo, I need 4 different consoles to play games from wayback, or I need to go search for roms (which is a pain for N64).
Now with the advent of Monolithsoft (breakoffs from Square) creating the Xenosaga series and furthering the Chrono line only for PS2, it seems that things are going to stay this way.
XBox does great with American companies, and Nintendo does great with First party games, but the only console I've seen that mature 3rd party japanese game companies develope for is Sony's.
It's the games that make the console, and in the RPG genre, Sony is the only real option. Until that changes, or my budget does, Sony is where I stay.
The article was outstanding, except it labeled PS2 as the best system of all time.
PS2 is the best system today but it hasn't destroyed its competitor the way NES did. Xbox and GC are still standing.
IMHO NES 8-bit is forever the most dominant monopoly the video game industry will ever see.
I think it's difficult to overstate the importance GTA3 had for the PS2. It came totally out of left field to take the world by storm. It reportedly sold over four million copies on pre-order alone and by the time Vice Ciy was announced in May 2002, GTA3 had sold over six million copies. That was about six months after the game launched, for an average of a million units a month.
I'm at work and can't look up all the numbers, but now that it's on the Greatest Hits line and thus has enjoyed the $30 price cut, I'm sure it's enjoying strong sales to this day.
I know at least half a dozen people that bought a PS2 just to play GTA3 - myself included. Sure, I bought other games later, but GTA3 is definitely a system mover.
Why do you think Sony was paying Rockstar/Take Two the big bucks to keep it off the Xbox? GTA is a great exclusive to have because it sells systems.
Again, it's extremely difficult to overstate the importance of GTA3 to the PS2.
Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.