I’ve never owned a PS1 or PS2, so I’ve missed out on a lot. I have an extra couple hundred dollars to spend. It seems to me like a PS2 would be cheaper than anything else right now (I already have an Xbox and 360). Mainly because the Gamecube, while having lots of cool games, mostly requires the use of multiple controllers (Smash Bros is awesome but shelling out for 4 Wavebirds seems a bit much). Same goes for the Wii - The motion sensor and VC sound awesome, but shelling out for multiple Wiimotes and a classic controller or two is also expensive. But a new PS3 can be had for what, $130 now, and that includes a controller? Add in a memory card and that’s all the accessories I need. Then all the games I haven’t played, such as FF7-12, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, all those things would be open.
Is there anything I’m missing? I almost don’t want to, because after everything with the PS3 I have an irrational hatred of everything Sony and don’t really want to give them any money. But, the PS2 is really cheap right now, and it seems like it’d be a good deal.
Hell yes, it’s worth it. PS2 is the best system in the world right now…well, unless you want super graphics and/or online gameplay. But for pure gaming goodness? PS2 is EASILY the best for your money. Get it now.
Absolutely it’s worthwhile, especially since you’ll find a lot of games that are different from what you got on the Xbox and the 360. The only reason I’d tell you not to get one is if you buy a lot of 360 games and want to keep current there with the Qt3 Flavor of the Week Online.
Well, you don’t have to buy all the games used to do that, just the system, the official accessories and Sony’s games. I would actually recommend that if you can afford it and can find a good deal to buy some games new; every small or game from a small publisher counts in order to get Japanese developers to give you more and this is especially true on the PS2.
Which I suppose is partially why they say Atlus makes small print runs, so they don’t experience massive price drops, can better track the success of the game and use the funds to bring more stuff over. American interest in Nippon Ichi, Atlus and Marvelous Entertainment’s products had a profound effect on the funding the Japanese branches had access to.
You said FFVII - XII, does that mean you haven’t played any of the PlayStation era FFs and by extension missed out on the PSX as well? If that’s the case, then the PS2 is really a good purchase to make. Just to be sure to try and check out the less noticeable RPGs. ;)
The only FF game I’ve played was FF3 (or FF6, depending on your continent). That was force-fed to me through an emulator after I had told some friends a year or so ago I’d never played a Final Fantasy game. I enjoyed it, and certainly would’ve bought it for an SNES if that was the platform/game right now. I don’t think it was as great as everyone said it was, but I certainly enjoyed it for 60+ hours which is a damn good game anyways. I’d like to try FF7-12 and the rest of them. Honestly, I’d rather have Smash Bros. on my projector rather than anything else, but the cost of four controllers sort of kills it.
How would I go about even getting FF7 through 9 nowadays anyway? I would think they’re long gone from stores.
FFVIII and FFIX are still pretty easy to get new – I ordered them myself recently. FFVII doesn’t seem to be available in stores, but you can probably find it used. When I looked it was pretty pricey so I passed.
A PS2 is absolutely not worth it if playing PS1 games is your primary drive; PS1 emulation that’s available on the PC is far, far better than playing those games on the PS2.
I would say, though, that a PS2 is worth it overall, as there are a few genuine masterpieces that aren’t available for anything else.
I bought a PS2 back in June, which was my first console purchase since the Sega Genesis (unless you count the 32X…). Sure, it was late in the day for that machine, but I’d been wanting to play Gran Turismo since the original was released on the PS1. Haven’t played GT4 in a while, but the money spent was well worth it for the games I ended up playing afterwards, specifically Mercenaries, Bully, and God of War. There’s definitely no shortage of good games for this thing.
I agree, for the most part, although with the caveat that games with 2d backgrounds don’t do as well as pure 3d games.
As for the PS2, I’m mostly playing my PS2 right now, after buying my 4th. Sigh. I was going to get a PS3 but with all the noise about PS2 BC problems, I just said fuck it and got a new one. Now I can retire my chocolate-filled PS2 (long story).
I think the good general answer to “Should I get console X?” is:
If you can find 5 games you’d like that are still possible to buy, YES!
If you can find 3 zombie games you’d like, YES!
I got a PS2 this year for $129 as an early Christmas present. I’m not interested in any other consoles (95% of my gaming is PC), but the $129 PS2 was a great deal for me. There’s a decent number of used PS2 games for under $10. PS1 still has some fun titles, but they’re getting expensive.
At the least, you’ll need one memory card (two if you plan on saving PS1 games), and probably one additional controller. I’d highly recommend budgeting an additional $60-$80 for Guitar Hero and guitar controller as well.
I’ve had a slimline PS2 for two years with 0 problems. I have a backlog of 30 games or so… Guitar Hero 1 and 2 in multiplayer is a lot of fun. Just do it.
I think so - it’s my next console purchase(once it’s dropped a bit more in price). One thing i like about japanese gaming is that by admitting i like it i dont paint myself as some kind of biggot…but more importantly i find that amongst the usual ‘cash-in’ dross, they often have more(percentage wise) of the unusual and creative efforts in gaming.
I think it’s worth it unless you are planning to buy a PS3 soon – in which case I’d hold off on both, and wait to see if they fix their BC issues.
The catalog for the PS2 alone makes it the best “bang for the buck” gaming machine. There are so many great exclusives for that platform. And most of them are cheap at this point.
