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Playstation 2 – still viable, still a great gift

Brian Ambrozy November 15, 2008 9:14 PM ET in Gaming

I want the pink one! :(  

 

 

I want the pink one! :(

Since we upgraded to a PS3 here at ICHQ, the sturdy old PS2 has been relegated to a box in the basement. We spent many happy hours with our PS2 though – games like Final Fantasy X, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, and Grandia 3 gave us a lot of great gaming memories.

I think back – those games are still totally viable. They still look great, they still play great, and there are tons more. The Playstation 2 library is gigantic – over 2400 games by some estimates. New games are being released today. Now, Sony is pushing the PS2 as a “budget” gaming platform for the 2008 holiday season.

This is great move on Sony’s part – here they have a platform with zero R&D cost, that can be built very cheaply, and publishers are still releasing new games for it. Gamasutra quotes SCEA sales and marketing VP Ian Jackson as saying “In a tight economy, (it) is a great value proposition for the consumer.”

Right now, the PS2 slimline console with a controller is selling for around $129.99 from most retailers. This is significantly cheaper than even the Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360 Arcade. With those systems, parents / grandparents / cool aunts are still staring at a $200 purchase (without games even). After game and accessory purchases, your out the door cost with a Wii or 360 is hovering around $300 or more.

Certainly the PS2 takes the multiplayer gaming aspect out of the equation; there is no online experience for PS2, but you can still get the latest Rock Band and Guitar Hero games for PS2, meaning you can still immerse yourself in the local multiplayer epicness that those games provide.

Let’s break it down and look at an “awesome holiday gift”, and figure out the cheapest way to deliver that experience to a lucky kid on your list.

Our awesome gift is Guitar Hero World Tour. You can deliver the GH World Tour experience to a loved one in one of four ways. Here is the bottom line price for GH World Tour on each platform, using prices pulled from the Icrontic marketplace:

Playstation 2: $137.79 for PS2 from Dell.com. GH World Tour for PS2 complete: $219.99 from RedOctane.com
TOTAL OUT THE DOOR: $357.78

Playstation 3: $399.97 from PC Richard & Son. GH World Tour for PS3 complete: $208.88 from bestbuy.com
TOTAL OUT THE DOOR: $608.85

Nintendo Wii: $249.99 at Amazon.com. GH World Tour for Wii complete: $192.19 from buy.com
TOTAL OUT THE DOOR: $442.18

Microsoft Xbox 360: $316.94 at dell.com. GH World Tour for Xbox 360 complete: $189.99 from RedOctane.com
TOTAL OUT THE DOOR: $506.93

So as you can see, the PS2 version is the most inexpensive way to get into Guitar Hero World Tour. This is purely a theory exercise. There are definitely benefits to choosing the other systems, such as online experience or games libraries – those who have their minds set on a particular platform are going to get that platform regardless of economics.

However, I don’t think we can quickly discount the continually expanding PS2 library. If you are a JRPG fan,

Can't get this kind of weirdness on Wii or 360!

Can't get this kind of weirdness on 360 or Wii!

PS2 is still the best system out there. Now that the newest models of Playstation 3 are not hardware backwards-compatible with the PS2 (they no longer contain a complete PS2 inside of them – PS2 games are emulated via software now), you cannot be absolutely guaranteed that the weird, fringey PS2 RPG from Atlus that you just special ordered will work on your PS3. With a PS2, a couple of 8mb memory cards, and even a small chunk of the currently available JRPG library, one could easily lose themselves in a winters’ worth of big eyed, twisted plotline, cutesy goodness.

Atlus, for example, just released Eternal Poison and Dokapon Kingdom for PS2. Square Enix is releasing Kingdom Hearts re:Chain of Memories on December 2.

I mentioned this article on Twitter tonight and my friend Kyle Harrison mentioned that the PS2 is a pure gaming platform as opposed to the PS3, 360, or Wii, which are all trying to be some kind of entertainment hub. The Wii is the closest thing in this current generation of consoles to a pure gaming machine, but even that is somewhat diluted by the web browser, news channel, voting channel, and other non-gaming nonsense. When you turn on the PS2 without a game disc in it, there’s nothing you can do. You play games with this machine, it’s inexpensive, the library is huge, and it looks great. What’s not to love?

The only wish I have for the PS2 is wireless controllers. I wish somehow you could get a USB bluetooth adapter and a software update to allow the PS3 SixAxis controllers to work on the PS2.

My kids have an old standard def TV upstairs in their room. I’m probably going to take the PS2 out of the box in the basement and give it to them along with some great PS2 games like Dark Cloud 2 or Shadow of the Colossus. If I’m slick, maybe I can pull it off as a Christmas present. ;)

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12 Comments:

  1. jared
    Howdy Damnit
    15 Nov '08, 9:34 pm

    Xbox Arcade 199 + GH World Tour for Xbox 360 complete: $189.99 from RedOctane.com = $388

    $388 for a Xbox 360 Arcade package
    $357.78 for PS2 package

    Not a hard choice there. Plus with a 360 you get to play the whole Xbox original library.

    I'm going to disagree here. While I think the PS2 might be a great "second hard" (ie used from a friend or a garage sale) I hardly think it is work ~$140.

    When you could pony up 60 bucks more and have a next gen console.

    Plus I read the Arcade is going to be having some really nice bundles over the holiday that come with 2 or 3 games.

    If you wanted something to stick at your house for the grand kids to play when they visit once a month, I think paying $80 for a used PS2 would be great. But I just can't justify paying $130+ for something new especially if you want to game more than just a few hours a week.

    my 2c

  2. Brian Ambrozy
    The Icrontic Guy
    15 Nov '08, 9:49 pm

    Arcade has no hard drive. I'm of the opinion that no matter what you do, if you get the Arcade you're eventually going to end up spending the $99 on the hard drive upgrade, so that increases your bottom line price right off the bat.

  3. jared
    Howdy Damnit
    15 Nov '08, 10:10 pm

    Most of the games you don't need the hard drive for. 90% of the 360 library works with the memory card (I *think* I read GH works without but maybe I was thinking of a different game). Plus you can buy any of the original xbox games - which need no hard drive - for the same price as the PS2 games.

    You are right, sooner or later you will end up getting the hard drive though.

    There is no doubt the PS2 is still a great viable gift. I just don't think getting it at $130 bucks is the way to go . At least on ebay if you spent ~that much you could get a handful of games and extra controllers.

    Then again, if I was going to get and older get console I'd buy myself a Dreamcast.

  4. Gnome Queen
    Ms. D
    16 Nov '08, 1:13 am

    OMG PINK

  5. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    17 Nov '08, 12:07 am

    Actually, new PS3s have zero backwards compatibility with PS2 games. I'm more likely to buy a slim PS2 to replace my barely-functioning phat PS2 than any next-gen system right now. I just started Disgaea, and I've got a handful of other great RPGs that I've never played.

    I stay comfortably behind the curve . I'm looking forward to getting a next-gen system when I can afford a new TV, but that won't happen on a grad student's budget.

  6. Brian Ambrozy
    The Icrontic Guy
    17 Nov '08, 12:21 am

    I was under the impression that they are adding titles to backwards compatibility list like Microsoft did with Xbox titles for the 360.

    According to the compatibility notes for the newest PS3s with Disgaea titles, there are minor problems such as FMV title sequence only playing back at 95% speed or random "jitters" with graphics, just as an example.

    http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/CompatibleStatus

  7. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    17 Nov '08, 12:37 am

    Some of the PS3s don't have the Emotion Engine chip but do have the Graphics Synthesizer from the PS2, and those continue to be supported with partial software emulation. The currently manufactured models don't have any original chips from the PS2, though, and Sony hasn't bothered to release a complete software emulator.

    Basically, Sony's commitment to backwards compatibility was a big fat lie.

  8. Brian Ambrozy
    The Icrontic Guy
    17 Nov '08, 1:41 am

    I'm so glad I have an original 20gb PS3

  9. Leonardo
    F@H Reign of Terror is back!
    17 Nov '08, 2:28 am

    What no one has commented on yet is market share. I think this is a smart move by Sony, regardless of games compatibility. It is quite likely that a sizable percentage of those who will purchase the refreshed PS2 are those who otherwise might have purchased a Wii. This is a clever, fiscally smart move by Sony to to compete aggressively in a lower price niche. As part of a long term strategy, this could be a move Sony to move more people into their camp and to keep them there. There must be hundreds of thousands of families, maybe millions who have not moved up to the current generation of consoles due to financial constraints. This could be their entrance.

  10. jared
    Howdy Damnit
    17 Nov '08, 11:10 am

    Yeah all the latest PS3s (60gb and 80gb) do not have backwards compatibility. Only the older models.

    Sony is such a cheapass. I guess they assume everyone just wants to keep their PS2 around but in my opinion ripping out compatibility is just further proof that they have no idea what they are doing in with the current generation console.

  11. GHoosdum
    tequilavangelist
    17 Nov '08, 11:53 am

    I'm with Jared on the 360 Arcade. True, it doesn't have a hard drive, but then again neither does the PS2. For the money, I'd go with the 360.

  12. Brian Ambrozy
    The Icrontic Guy
    17 Nov '08, 3:03 pm

    While I agree the 360 Arcade provides a good deal of value, if you go with the arcade, you are missing out on a gigantic library of certain games that the 360 doesn't cover - most especially JRPGs.

Hey, be nice. Icrontic is full of good people, we promise.


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