All hail the mighty PS2

The Last Bandit

Which has finally reached the end of the line as production ceases in Japan.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/28/playstation-2-discontinued-in-japan-after-almost-13-years-of-ser/

13 years isn't a bad run for a console

Myrddin

Jeez I didn't even know they were still being made! Hugely successful machine, despite its launch being as barren as Atavans sex life

Retr0gamer

Are they not still being made for the Chinese and Brazilian markets?

The PS2 got off to a woeful start with one of the worst launch line ups and launch windows of any console but after that first year it well deserved the success it had.

Dale Parish

GTA:SA sold the console IMO

CiDeRmAn

EnterNow wrote: »

as barren as Atavans sex life

Oh, I don't know, I hear he has an intimate, ongoing relationship with a certain Captain Morgan.....

And the PS2 is/was a marvelous machine, and in spite of our desire to love to hate the corporate success stories in favour of the underdog, it was host to a vast library of gaming goodness.

Ok, it was also host to a vast-er library of crappy shovel ware but we'll let that slide right now!

Myrddin

Can we finally agree the PS2 is a retro console now?*





*can open...worms everywhere

Mr.Saturn

It's amazing to think that Sony went from runaway leaders in Gen 5 and 6, to a slightly limping 3rd in the 7th.

CiDeRmAn

EnterNow wrote: »

Can we finally agree the PS2 is a retro console now?*





*can open...worms everywhere

You know, we are all old fogeys now, with a conservative idea of what is "retro".
We see retro as being what has been retro since we got into the scene, so the PS is barely in there, never mind the PS2!
But younger, newer members of the church of retrogaming will no doubt look at the PS2, a console perhaps even old for them, folk whose first console may have been a 360 back in '05, they will see the PS2 as a retro candidate more readily I feel.

Should we be concerned then, that we will be supplanted by a new generation of retrogaming fans?
Even Sera and Atavan may be too old for their scene!
The PS2 and GBA as retro consoles?
Could it be so???

Retr0gamer

PS2 has been retro to me for ages. Once you can't get the games in shops anymore then it's retro. Disclaimer: LMA Manager is not a game.

OwaynOTT

Gba isn't retro? I'm a retro gamer so may him the lot.

megaten

GBA is two generations behind so I'd definitely call it retro.

Dr Bob

Retr0gamer wrote: »

PS2 has been retro to me for ages. Once you can't get the games in shops anymore then it's retro. Disclaimer: LMA Manager is not a game.

up till a few months ago,
If you hunted around for a bit you could still pick up non shovelware for 99c - 1.99 usually with a bogof or 3 for 2. Think that era is over now though.

Dr Bob

By the way ive thought of ps2 as retro for ages now , same with gba.

CiDeRmAn

I just spent so much time with the ps2 that it doesn't really occupy that "nostalgic" niche in my noggin.
It feels if not current then at least a recent gen device, and I'm still finding vast tracts of games I have yet to buy for it.
I don't think I'll have anything like that kind of attachment or the ps3 however, or the PSP.
Sad that.
And seeing as the Vita is doing a great impression of a concrete submarine I don't think many will have retro feelings towards it either!

Myrddin

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

It's amazing to think that Sony went from runaway leaders in Gen 5 and 6, to a slightly limping 3rd in the 7th.

Sony, they only do everything (I suppose that includes failing)

CiDeRmAn

I sense a certain apathy towards the next generation as well.
The Wii U managed to build some interest but with surely only a year before the release of the 360 and ps3 follow ups there is no buzz at all, no videos, no promos, nothing to get the gamers heart all of a flutter.

Myrddin

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I sense a certain apathy towards the next generation as well.
The Wii U managed to build some interest but with surely only a year before the release of the 360 and ps3 follow ups there is no buzz at all, no videos, no promos, nothing to get the gamers heart all of a flutter.

Well if the 3DS launch is anything to go by, don't expect much if anything worthwhile for at least a year. Still at least there's Zombi U...for the first year of the 3DS' life all that was worth having was a port of a 20 year old game

Retr0gamer

There's nothing worthwhile on any console within a year of launch.

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's nothing worthwhile on any console within a year of launch.

My younger self who got a Snes with Super Mario World would beg to differ

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's nothing worthwhile on any console within a year of launch.

And there's nothing as worthwhile as a sweeping generalisation like that!
I still enjoy Fantavision, Halo, PGR and PGR3.
There was Incoming that was fun and Virtua Fighter 3.
I enjoyed Wipeout, Destruction Derby, Tempest 2000, Tetris, King Kong, Super Mario World, Ridge Racers, Lumines...
So many launch games that didn't suck.... Well, didn't seem to suck at the time, but Fantavision is still great, better than that fireworks game by the PGR people, man that game stank!

Retr0gamer

There's always one or two launch titles worth playing, well sometimes but there's always a massive drought of games for that first year. Also when it comes to 3D consoles a lot of those launch titles don't hold up. Of course there's exceptions to the rule like the Dreamcast and NGP.

The SNES and GBA were two other exceptions but that was because Nintendo had finalised the hardware a good 2 years in advance but held back on releasing the systems so they had a lot of first and third party games ready to ship out.

johnny_ultimate

The greatest thing about the PS2 was that it was the last time 'middle-tier' games were a viable commercial option. The cost of development was low enough that there were more ambitious and experimental games from the studios than we get today (experimentation now largely relegated to the indie and online distribution scenes). So you had 'big' but offbeat games like, Ico, Devil May Cry, SotC, Okami, Katamari, Persona 3/4, Gregory Horror Show, Beyond Good and Evil, Psyhonauts, God Hand etc... And even the 'franchise' games like MGS2/3 or the GTA games were hugely ambitious and unusual. Plenty of shovelware, too, but dozens and dozens of exciting alternatives.

Obviously the Gamecube and Xbox had a share of these titles too, but there was something about the PS2 particularly and its huge userbase that allowed such a distinctive and diverse catalogue to emerge. I am nowhere near as cynical about current gen consoles as some on here - still think there's hosts of worthwhile titles being released, if requiring a bit of effort to find given the prevalence of the blockbusters - but there's no denying the PS2 had such a rich and bulky selection that its unlikely to be replicated to the same scale again, even with the huge benefits of digital distribution.

Atavan-Halen

I remember being blown away with the ps2 when I got it from Santa one Christmas. I got WRC and gran turismo 3 with it and many many hours went into those games.

I must pick up a Japanese 9000 series ps2 pretty soon so I can play some imports!

CiDeRmAn

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on the Ps2 is one of my favourite racing experiences outside of Wipeout 2097 and MSR.... oh, and not forgetting NFS Hot Pursuit (NFS3) and NFS Road Challenge on the PSone.

Certainly HP2 was a lot more enjoyable than the Underground/Most Wanted/Carbon car modding crap that came later.

But even they were superior to that lousy Pro Street muck.

ebbsy

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There's always one or two launch titles worth playing, well sometimes but there's always a massive drought of games for that first year. Also when it comes to 3D consoles a lot of those launch titles don't hold up. Of course there's exceptions to the rule like the Dreamcast and NGP.

The SNES and GBA were two other exceptions but that was because Nintendo had finalised the hardware a good 2 years in advance but held back on releasing the systems so they had a lot of first and third party games ready to ship out.

+1

GBA ? What a product it was. Rainbow/Parasol/Bubble/Double Dragon etc, it was a miracle machine.

Zombrex

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

It's amazing to think that Sony went from runaway leaders in Gen 5 and 6, to a slightly limping 3rd in the 7th.

They failed to properly grasp online play and distribution, allowing the Xbox to become the go to console for the hardcore.

Mr.Saturn

Zombrex wrote: »

They failed to properly grasp online play and distribution, allowing the Xbox to become the go to console for the hardcore.

Perhaps, but I daren't imagine what that implies for 'the hardcore', considering the PS3 still outsells the 360 in the EU, and obviously, Japan, and it's only ever about 2 million sales behind rivaling Microsoft's global total, even less depending on where you're getting your info from. There's also the fact Microsoft had a head-start of over a year on Sony. Granted, I'm not denying Sony failed on many counts when it comes to the PS3, such as the launch price-point and whatnot, but the 360 is by no means dominating it in sales. It's kinda worse, The PS3 just slightly lagging, like a bloated, confused behemoth.

Besides, PS3 didn't really have the notable success with their motion add-on, another misguided move turn quietly retiring failure, like the Kinnect bundles, to bolster sales in the late-gen slump. Again, motion add-ons aren't something I'd consider pivotal to the 'hardcore'.

The Last Bandit

So with an estimated 10,000 titles released, anyone going for the complete set ?

deathrider

Putting it bluntly, I fecking love the PS2!! Since it's release, I've been steadily gathering and collecting it's titles. I've wound up with more PS2 titles than I have for any other console, and I'm still on the lookout for more. The great thing about Playstation2 right now is that it's not retro enough to really be retro yet, but it's not current enough to be in be high demand, so it's games are going a pound a penny at the moment.

The Last Bandit

deathrider wrote: »

Putting it bluntly, I fecking love the PS2!! Since it's release, I've been steadily gathering and collecting it's titles. I've wound up with more PS2 titles than I have for any other console, and I'm still on the lookout for more. The great thing about Playstation2 right now is that it's not retro enough to really be retro yet, but it's not current enough to be in be high demand, so it's games are going a pound a penny at the moment.

Ya I cleared out the non crap stuff from my local gamespot a while back, 99c a game or something like that. But jayus the amount of rubbish sport/singstar games is staggering...

CiDeRmAn

And it's a great system to collect for online, especially good are the jap only releases that somehow got a Euro release on some budget label with minimal changes, some not so good, some inconsequential, the changes I mean.
Most games are fairly cheap too, only a handful seem to have gotten v expensive and they range from the pants, Legend of Dragoon, to the great, Ibara.

deathrider

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Ya I cleared out the non crap stuff from my local gamespot a while back, 99c a game or something like that. But jayus the amount of rubbish sport/singstar games is staggering...

This is very true. You'd often need a shovel to dig through the amount of sh!te annual releases, but it's well worth it to get to the tasty chewy center if there are a handful of gems contained inside.