So I'm getting a PS2

I haven’t owned a console, or seen a need for one, since the glory days of the NES, but I realised that since it also doubles as a crappy DVD player it would make my sparse room more sociable.

The thing is, I’m on a pretty tight budget so I want to get old and cheap games. So, sadly, no GTA:SA for me. Not yet atleast. I figured this would be a good place to get game suggestions.

What I’m looking for in the games:

-A lot of replay value/lots of playtime
-Multiplayer games preferably. I want to do social gaming afterall, otherwise I’d just stick to my PC.
-No driving games.

I do NOT want an XBOX or a Gamecube, so please try to keep this thread on topic. Thanks.

The games I have my eyes on right now are Virtua Fighter 4:Evo and Virtua Tennis 2.

Also, can anyone recommend a cheaper alternative to the offical PS2 controller that’s not crap?

I’m having a blast (and so is my wife) with Katamari Damacy. We just got it yesterday so we haven’t tried out the two-player matchup yet. It’s a fun little $20 game.

Katamari Damacy’s multiplayer mode is only decent, sadly - there’s only one arena and it’s somewhat limited in size. However, it’s still an awesome social experience because it’s so quirky that even the most non-gamer of non-gamer friends will want to play it.

VF4:EVO is the best singleplayer game I’ve ever played, but it’s not good if you want something to play with friends, unless they all happen to be VF4:EVO fanatics as well. I’d recommend Soul Calibur 2 or Guilty Gear X2 instead when it comes to fighting games - they’re more “attractive” (SC2 has flashier graphics/sound, GGX2 is absurdly wacky but in a legitimately funny way) and they’re much easier to become at least adequately good at, while still being tough and satisfying to master.

Frequency and Amplitude are pretty good rhythm games, and while Amplitude might still be relatively expensive, I’m sure you can get Frequency for very little money. Also, if you’re one of the anti-mainstream-music types, you’ll like Frequency’s much more obscure soundtrack better.

Wrestling titles make for great multiplayer games. The AI usually sucks, which drags down the singleplayer experience, but clever human players can make any match challenging. Having said that, Def Jam:Fight For New York is the most brutal game of this type - not in the sense that it’s overly bloody/gory, but rather because the viciousness of the various moves will make you wince. The attacks look and sound like you’re actually putting the fucking HURT on someone.

WWE’s Smackdown series (I’d go with “Here Comes The Pain”, since it should be only $20 at most) is not quite as good in a pure gameplay sense, but the Create mode makes up for that in a huge way. The degree of customization it offers is nothing short of astonishing. There’s something great about being able to create a replica of President Bush, then getting to kick him in the balls and bodyslam him through tables and so forth.

Rumble Roses is cheap, it has as good T&A as any game to date, and the basic gameplay mechanics are surprisingly solid given the poor trackrecord of T&A-centric games. However, it lacks the variety of match types that Def Jam and Smackdown offer, it’s roster is incredibly small, and there’s no Create mode to make up for that. The absurd story (very similar to the King Of Fighters games) almost makes up for some of this, but… no, actually it doesn’t. It’s really not worth more than a rental, or if the price drops a lot further.

this, rez and gtaSA.

Front Mission 4 is a great game. Much better than Gladius, IMHO.

Other suggestions from a fellow budget gamer - these are used prices, mostly purchased from my local EB:

Beyond Good & Evil - which I bought last week for a paltry $14CDN - is a terrifically weird action-adventure game with the strongest art direction since Grim Fandango. You’ll blow through it quick, but it should be cheap enough to be worth it.

Another great adventure game that should be longer, ICO, you should be able to get cheap as well, assuming you can find it.

For more long term turn-based gaming goodness, I can’t recommend Disgaea highly enough. If you wanted to, you could probably sink 200 hours into this monster and always find new challenges. My used copy ran me $40 CDN, but considering I just hit hour one hundred, that’s money well spent.

(Based on that theory, GTA:SA even brand new will cost you pretty little on an hourly basis. My wife and I have about 160 combined hours into GTA:SA, so for the $70 CDN (new) we spent that ain’t too shabby.)

If you like RPGs, Final Fantasy X and X-2 are pretty huge - I put about 100 combined hours into both. Both of those you can find for $20 CDN. Xenosaga, which is more likely about $40 CDN, is like 60-80 hours, but much of that is spent watching it as opposed to playing it.


MODEL A

Winning Eleven 7 should be cheap sometime soon, since WE8 should be coming out shortly. It is a fantastic soccer game and one of the best multiplayer games.

Freq/Amp/Rez are all great, but Rez is OOP so may be pricey.

Ico and Beyond Good & Evil are two fantastic single player games that you can find cheap.

-Scott-

I second Beyone Good and Evil… Definitely worth double it’s bargain price.

You could also pick up GTA: VC…It really is quite fun and while maybe not as open or awesome as SA, still lots of play time there.

I played Beyond Good and Evil on PC. Among my top 20 games last year. The only thing that annoyed me with it was that, having just finished playing Prince of Persia, I kept trying to make Jade do rolls and wall jumps.

I’ll probably just end up borrowing the Final Fantasies from a friend of mine. I used to play through them with him, but halfway through FFX I moved, and when you can’t just run cross the street for some nightly gaming FF isn’t worth bothering with.

Katamari isn’t out in Europe, I have no clue if it will even get a release date, and it will also probably not be released at a budget price here. Still, when I do get a chance I’ll probably try to get my hands on it.

word of caution since you asked for multi, gta:sa is the only gta with multiplayer.

I’ll probably grab GTA:SA when it comes for PC. I’ve already played and finished all the other GTA’s.

You should be able to find all of these highly recommended titles for under $20 bucks

Ico - amazing single player, might be fun for others to watch, limited replayability
Mark of Kri - single player, somewhat short, limted replayibility
Sly Cooper - single player, limited replayability
Katamari Damarcy - mostly single player, moderate replayability
SSX Tricky - A snowboard themed racing game, not driving though. Mutliplayer, fun for others to watch. May find SSX3 cheap as well. High replayabilty.
Amplitude - shaking your ass while playing actually helps your results. limited replayibility
Beyond Good and Evil
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Soul Caliber II - if the Virtua fighter thing doesn’t work out for you.

Adentures of Cookies and Cream - Dangerously cute, high fun one to two player game. A gamer’s game because sections require timing and dexterity from two people working in tandem to help each other finish each course.

GT: Vice City should be $20 now as well

Renters:
Onimusha series - may be too short for a full $20 a pop
War of the Monsters
Burnout 3 - it’s a driving game but it might click with you.

I just bought my PS2 a couple of days ago. My first console since I had a Philips console sometime during the eighties.
I was bundled with 2 games: Tekken 4 and Ratchet & Clank 3.
I didn’t touch RC3 yet, but I’m really enjoying Tekken. I always wanted to play fighting games but the only ones I could find for the PC were Mortal Combat 4 which was kind of boring, and VF2 which I spent hours on. So I’ll probably get VF4 and SC2 as well.

I’d really like to know about other games for the PS2 that are not like the usual variety found for the PC.

I love fighting games. I’d probably not try to learn three of them at a time though. :) One is hard enough. I’d rank SC2 above Tekken 4, but I’ve spent an obscene amount of time with both of them, beating/hacking friends into pulp and they’re both good.

I’d really like to know about other games for the PS2 that are not like the usual variety found for the PC.

Me too. Well, I want to find out about games that are not coming out on the PC at all, but it’s pretty much the same thing.

How could I forget…

Dynasty Warriors 3 has a pretty good multiplayer mode. The only problem is if you do one of the main missions in co-op mode, it’s split-screen, and you’ll see a lot of slowdown since the game tries to animate twice as much stuff at one time as usual.

But for beat-em-up action with a cool story and some Diablo-like replayability (randomized weapons/items whose powers are determined by the difficulty), it’s nearly impossible to beat.

The Two Towers/Return Of The King are similar games with multiplayer, and they aren’t split-screen, so performance isn’t an issue with them. They have better basic arcade game mechanics than DW3, but the Diablo-like replayability isn’t quite there.

ohohohoh I forgot gradius V

No. But if you can find an original DualShock used, you might like the feel a little better than the DS2. I find the DS2’s buttons to be too loose for comfort. However, a handful of PS2 games (including Kingdom Hearts) will refuse to run with anything other than a DS2.

I know it’s not cheaper, but the Logitech wirless controllers are teriffic.

The only games which justify my owning a PS2 are the Ratchet & Clank games, the Jak games, the Sly Cooper games, and Katamari Damacy. Everything else is either multi-platform or can be lived without.

La Pucelle/Disgaea/Phantom Brave

and

Tenchu

Second Disgaea. I can stop playing it any time I want to. Yup. I just don’t want to…

Sounds like you want dirt cheap multiplayer… so I’ll kick out things like Burnout 3.

Hot Shots Golf 3 - 10 bucks… fun for you and friends
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (not number 2) - 2 people + Couch + this game = Fun and cheap
DDR Konamix (ps1 game)- I got this for 15 off ebay, 2 dance pads for another 20 bucks. Tons o fun for many people
Ill second Soul Calibur 2 and Amplitude - get them used for 20.
Champions of Norath just dropped… see the Baldurs Gate description