TotalRoundTable: A Decade of Dante, Katamaris, and Kratos
Looking back with some of the greatest PS2 journos.
Published: October 26, 2010
MNK:
And what of the system’s dark side? As previous stated, it was extremely difficult to develop for, supported little to no middleware solutions (up until the very end of the console's lifecycle), barely utilized the EyeToy, didn't even bother with the HDD, and – let's be honest – whored itself out to constant sales of peripherals, from the Multi-Tap (only two controller ports? C'mon!) to the aforementioned Network Adapter.
Plus, the PS2 is the only console I've ever had substantial problems with. I went through three or four systems, starting with a launch unit – and I'm only on my second 360. (A friend, years later, told me my penchant of using the system as a DVD player was to blame. I never did that again, and I've been using the same unit ever since.)
Do I ultimately think such obvious and extreme deficiencies are ultimately worth it for Ico and Onimusha: Warlords and Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy? Of course and absolutely, yes. But I also think such blemishes can't be easily glazed over.
Aram Lecis, news editor extraordinaire:
I wholeheartedly agree with the points made by Sir Gordon and the esteemed Jeff Haynes. My gaming memories stretch back to Pong and Space Invaders, my mom wrote manuals for ColecoVision games, and I bought a TurboGrafx-16, 3DO, and Jaguar all on launch day, so I have been pretty immersed in gaming my whole life. If you told me I could only have one console for the rest of my days, I wouldn't hesitate to say "PlayStation 2" (or "fully backwards-compatible PS3"), and I'm willing to bet my answer will be the same 20 years from now. No other console has ever put out such a diverse library of titles. Every game, no matter how crazy the idea, could find a home on the PS2, where there was literally something for everybody. Offbeat ideas like Mister Mosquito, Disaster Report, and God Hand were viable products, largely due to the size of the install base. Add those to the scores of AAA-quality games available, and I don't think we will ever see anything like it again. Hell, that beautiful black box was my first real DVD player (and now you say it contributed to its demise) and it had that nifty blue LED on the front – two things that changed my life forever. Sure, the graphics may look a little old now, and it will only get worse with time, but they should remain far more palatable than the wretched eyesore that PSX-era 3D was.
Yes, the PS2 had and still has its share of issues, and I am on my second "fatty" that sounds like it could die any day, but the first one (launch unit) lasted longer than my launch PSX or my first two Xbox 360s. Maybe it was hard to develop for, but who cares! Feel free to glaze right over that like frosting on a Cinnabon! There are so many fantastic games that it obviously never proved to be that much of a hindrance. The rest of your issues are just little nitpicks that could be said about all consoles across every generation, and none of which detracted from my (or your) experience with the system. The PlayStation 2 is the only non-current-generation console in active use at my house, and recalling the cold Alaskan night 10 years ago standing outside Fred Meyer's at 2 am with 23 other diehards to pick it up still brings a smile to my face – a very similar smile to the one it gave me when I played Gitarou Man just last week. Happy tenth birthday, baby.
Previous roundtables:
Launch Moves
Moving into the future – and beyond.
The Cult of Originality
Facebook, motion controls, and modern warfare. Oh my!
Moving to Kinect to the Wii
Debating, contemplating, and enumerating Kinect, Move, and the Wii.
And what of the system’s dark side? As previous stated, it was extremely difficult to develop for, supported little to no middleware solutions (up until the very end of the console's lifecycle), barely utilized the EyeToy, didn't even bother with the HDD, and – let's be honest – whored itself out to constant sales of peripherals, from the Multi-Tap (only two controller ports? C'mon!) to the aforementioned Network Adapter.
Plus, the PS2 is the only console I've ever had substantial problems with. I went through three or four systems, starting with a launch unit – and I'm only on my second 360. (A friend, years later, told me my penchant of using the system as a DVD player was to blame. I never did that again, and I've been using the same unit ever since.)
Do I ultimately think such obvious and extreme deficiencies are ultimately worth it for Ico and Onimusha: Warlords and Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy? Of course and absolutely, yes. But I also think such blemishes can't be easily glazed over.
Aram Lecis, news editor extraordinaire:
I wholeheartedly agree with the points made by Sir Gordon and the esteemed Jeff Haynes. My gaming memories stretch back to Pong and Space Invaders, my mom wrote manuals for ColecoVision games, and I bought a TurboGrafx-16, 3DO, and Jaguar all on launch day, so I have been pretty immersed in gaming my whole life. If you told me I could only have one console for the rest of my days, I wouldn't hesitate to say "PlayStation 2" (or "fully backwards-compatible PS3"), and I'm willing to bet my answer will be the same 20 years from now. No other console has ever put out such a diverse library of titles. Every game, no matter how crazy the idea, could find a home on the PS2, where there was literally something for everybody. Offbeat ideas like Mister Mosquito, Disaster Report, and God Hand were viable products, largely due to the size of the install base. Add those to the scores of AAA-quality games available, and I don't think we will ever see anything like it again. Hell, that beautiful black box was my first real DVD player (and now you say it contributed to its demise) and it had that nifty blue LED on the front – two things that changed my life forever. Sure, the graphics may look a little old now, and it will only get worse with time, but they should remain far more palatable than the wretched eyesore that PSX-era 3D was.
Yes, the PS2 had and still has its share of issues, and I am on my second "fatty" that sounds like it could die any day, but the first one (launch unit) lasted longer than my launch PSX or my first two Xbox 360s. Maybe it was hard to develop for, but who cares! Feel free to glaze right over that like frosting on a Cinnabon! There are so many fantastic games that it obviously never proved to be that much of a hindrance. The rest of your issues are just little nitpicks that could be said about all consoles across every generation, and none of which detracted from my (or your) experience with the system. The PlayStation 2 is the only non-current-generation console in active use at my house, and recalling the cold Alaskan night 10 years ago standing outside Fred Meyer's at 2 am with 23 other diehards to pick it up still brings a smile to my face – a very similar smile to the one it gave me when I played Gitarou Man just last week. Happy tenth birthday, baby.
Previous roundtables:
Launch Moves
Moving into the future – and beyond.
The Cult of Originality
Facebook, motion controls, and modern warfare. Oh my!
Moving to Kinect to the Wii
Debating, contemplating, and enumerating Kinect, Move, and the Wii.
