that's more because of hardware limitation than anything, ps2 games on a 480i tv can only look what they look like
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Those of us who lived through PS2's dominance of the sixth gen should count ourselves as lucky
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
that's more because of hardware limitation than anything, ps2 games on a 480i tv can only look what they look like
Seriously, I'm kinda jealous of kids growing up with gaming now they have no idea how good they have it from FTP games, patches fixing horrible glitches, coherent controls across all games, cameras that don't fucking suck, online play, lets plays and video walkthroughs, news and updates per second on upcoming games rather than waiting each month on a magazine only for it to slip into obscurity a month later.
I remember looking at lego city undercover and thinking to myself, If I had that game at 6 years old it would have easily blown my mind.
I love the 6th gen to death, but I would argue the last decade was the finest in gaming yet.
Not to brag but I feel more lucky and proud to say I lived through the Nes era into the Snes and Genesis.
Here in the Philippines, the PS2 was the last massively pirated playstation console. You could buy games as low as 1 USD at the end of that gen!
I was in high school when I got a PS2. Because virtually everyone was buying pirated PS2 games, I basically bought all the games I wanted since they were so cheap. The PS2 has a MASSIVE library of good games. My PS2 lasted me 9 years before I got a PS3 slim.
I think games are indeed better nowadays but I don't think they are as plentiful back then. It's the mid tier B games that are missing nowadays. Indies are starting to fill the void but not quite yet. And plenty of those amazing games are unique Japanese games.
I was in high school when I got a PS2. Because virtually everyone was buying pirated PS2 games, I basically bought all the games I wanted since they were so cheap. The PS2 has a MASSIVE library of good games. My PS2 lasted me 9 years before I got a PS3 slim.
I think games are indeed better nowadays but I don't think they are as plentiful back then. It's the mid tier B games that are missing nowadays. Indies are starting to fill the void but not quite yet. And plenty of those amazing games are unique Japanese games.
It's a shame that the PS2's wonderful library is tied to hardware that is massively flakey and fairly unorthodox. I don't want to rely on emulating PS2 games but probably will have to sooner than I'd like.
It was an epic generation and the last vestige of a time before most games became iterative.
Now, once you've found a concept that makes money, publishers suck everything they can from it.
Back then, you had AAA developers still making absolutely bonkers games, just because they could, apparently. It was amazing.
Then you had 1st parties such as Nintendo all like - hey, why not make:
- a cell-shaded cartoon Zelda
- Mario with a super soaker
- a Donkey Kong platformer controlled by bongos
- a Luigi game where he vaccums up ghosts
- an RTS controlling mini plants that attack monsters
- another RTS where you play pinball while shouting commands at medieval Japanese troops
...yeah. We're never going to see another generation like that again.
I don't see how people can deny this. If you like sequel after sequel and paid DLC of modern gaming, then have at it.
Now, once you've found a concept that makes money, publishers suck everything they can from it.
Back then, you had AAA developers still making absolutely bonkers games, just because they could, apparently. It was amazing.
Then you had 1st parties such as Nintendo all like - hey, why not make:
- a cell-shaded cartoon Zelda
- Mario with a super soaker
- a Donkey Kong platformer controlled by bongos
- a Luigi game where he vaccums up ghosts
- an RTS controlling mini plants that attack monsters
- another RTS where you play pinball while shouting commands at medieval Japanese troops
...yeah. We're never going to see another generation like that again.
I don't see how people can deny this. If you like sequel after sequel and paid DLC of modern gaming, then have at it.
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The golden age of dynasty warriors. DW 3-5 was so god damn good. I could take just a remaster of those 3 games with online coop and be set for years.
So many good DBZ games to, PS2 library is just unmatched.
So many good DBZ games to, PS2 library is just unmatched.
There's also how easy it is to play online multiplayer games with your friends now. Back in the 6th generation it was a few games on xbox live or on PC. While I put thousands of hours into Counter-Strike and Diablo 2, the options were much more limited compared to now.
I loved my ps2 back when i was 8yo, but... damm, i got the thing in 2006. I wanted a Ps3 so bad at that time that i still have drawings of that console around my house, lmao.
Still, the Ps2 managed to get me hooked on gaming for life. Prince of Persia, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Dragon Quest VIII, some Crash and Spyro games and DB: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 were the only games i had at the time and never got bored of replaying them. Some years later i hacked the thing and discovered games like Rule of Rose, Katamari Damaci, Hunting Ground, Ratchet and Clank, Devil May Cry... all that bunch. And, surprisingly, I'm still playing on the damm thing in 2020. Now is even worse, because I have an og Xbox and a Wii that I also use from time to time, I have the full 6th gen experience (and a bit of the 7th, bcs of the Wii). Maybe the 6th gen doesn't have the best library in terms of quality, but it is so weirdly diverse and big that I keep playing games from that era right now.
You know what. This era trapped me. And I hate it and love it at the same time. I still want a Ps3, but still feels wrong to get one having so many great games on the 6th gen that I should play. Thank god I can play modern stuff on my Pc.
Still, the Ps2 managed to get me hooked on gaming for life. Prince of Persia, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Dragon Quest VIII, some Crash and Spyro games and DB: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 were the only games i had at the time and never got bored of replaying them. Some years later i hacked the thing and discovered games like Rule of Rose, Katamari Damaci, Hunting Ground, Ratchet and Clank, Devil May Cry... all that bunch. And, surprisingly, I'm still playing on the damm thing in 2020. Now is even worse, because I have an og Xbox and a Wii that I also use from time to time, I have the full 6th gen experience (and a bit of the 7th, bcs of the Wii). Maybe the 6th gen doesn't have the best library in terms of quality, but it is so weirdly diverse and big that I keep playing games from that era right now.
You know what. This era trapped me. And I hate it and love it at the same time. I still want a Ps3, but still feels wrong to get one having so many great games on the 6th gen that I should play. Thank god I can play modern stuff on my Pc.
Games now are much better. You must be only talking retail games but something like Hades would have been $50 back then.
2/3 of those games wouldn't be considered "AAA" by today's standards, and the industry's predominantly-western shift with the 360-generation was a double-edged sword that paved the way for what were proficient, but mid-tier publisher/developes like Ubisoft to become bloated multi-million dollar corporations that pumped out yearly IPs and derivative products (something that was relegated to Activision, EA and THQ in the early 00s).
I'm glad some semblance of balance came about last generation thanks to the growing interest in niche-Japanese IPs like Yakuza, Persona, Ys (or most of Falcom's output really), etc. but the damage is done. That imbalance brought about by the 360-generation and the introduction of smartphones has completely shifted Asia's focus to mobile and there's little in the way of non-American/European support for game development on consoles that would allow a return to mid-tier games like what the PS2 had.
I didn't play much outside of Nintendo & Sega first party offerings prior to the 360/PS3/Wii era, but as someone who pretty much played every noteworthy third party release from the seventh gen I've really felt the harsh drop off of variety and quantity this past decade (excluding indie). I can only imagine that feeling was much more pronounced for people who played a bulk of the sixth gen catalogue.
Halo 2 got a patch and DLC in that generation. I remember they also released a disc with the DLC maps and patch on it if you didn't have an internet connection.
The funniest is that the SD>HD transition that happened during the PS360 makes having far better visual memories of the PS2/GC.
Agreed. It felt like everything was at just the right level. Games were made in 1-3 years, and were a lot better looking than the blocky games of the previous generation. It felt like the perfect middle between the two extremes of technology (low tech PS1 gen & high tech PS3+).
Nothing will beat the sheer amount and diversity of games that gen.
Nothing will beat the sheer amount and diversity of games that gen.
As much as I LOVED the PS1 and PS2 era and they will be forever my favorite... but gaming in the last decade has become GODLY GOOD.
We are living now the golden era of gaming, simply brilliant and exciting and cannot believe how good the experiences they offers now.
We are living now the golden era of gaming, simply brilliant and exciting and cannot believe how good the experiences they offers now.
Undeniably the greatest time to have experienced was the jump from PS1 to PS2. I simply could not believe the jump in quality graphics and gameplay. While PS1 was a terrific console with amazing games the leap when PS2 came along was a wow factor everytime a new game in an established genre was released.
Final Fantasy 9 >> Final Fantasy 10.
Metal Gear Solid >> Sons of Liberty.
Gran Turismo 2 >> Gran Turismo 3.
GTA2 >> GTA 3.
Resident Evil 3 >> Resident Evil 4.
Think about just the games listed above and how stark a difference there is between the game that came before it. And then apply that to mearly every PS2 game. You can only truly appreciate it if you made the jump.
Final Fantasy 9 >> Final Fantasy 10.
Metal Gear Solid >> Sons of Liberty.
Gran Turismo 2 >> Gran Turismo 3.
GTA2 >> GTA 3.
Resident Evil 3 >> Resident Evil 4.
Think about just the games listed above and how stark a difference there is between the game that came before it. And then apply that to mearly every PS2 game. You can only truly appreciate it if you made the jump.
Games are still great and I don't see the PS2 gen as the apex of gaming but yeah it was great.
A lot of my favorite games are from that generation, helps that a lot of games from back then still feel reasonably "modern". I actually wish more stuff from back then was available on modern platforms.
A lot of my favorite games are from that generation, helps that a lot of games from back then still feel reasonably "modern". I actually wish more stuff from back then was available on modern platforms.
I wouldn't say, that this generation was better or worse then now. But it was at least a very interesting and excititing time, because it felt like the last time, medium sized and big companies were still experimental and made weird games for consoles. Today this is less common and indie developer don't have the resources of that era.
When you follow the VR scene, you can still get a climpse of this era, since many developers of different sizes try to figure out to make VR work.
When you follow the VR scene, you can still get a climpse of this era, since many developers of different sizes try to figure out to make VR work.
I lived though that (and generations before, I'm old) and I'd say most of it is nostalgia. Games are more diverse now than ever (and inclusive). They are generally ridiculously polished (and if they're not they can be fixed later on), offer more ways to play than ever before (including virtual reality and online that's actually worth a damn) and cover the gamut from experiences like Return of the Obra Dinn, Inside, Cuphead, Nex Machina and Outer Wilds to games like Fortnite and Fall Guys to The Last of Us Part 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Yakuza, Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing.
We have things now like Game Pass, Share Play, CrossPlay and Smart Delivery.
Games like Hollow Knight, It Takes Two, 13 Sentinels, No Man's Sky, The Witness, Ori and Hades would have been AAA games back in the day with pricetags to match. No variety in AAA games? I can go almost seamlessly from Half Life Alyx to Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, from MS Flight Simulator to Control, from DOOM Eternal to Dreams, from Death Stranding to Prey, from Hitman 3 to The Last Guardian, from Sea of Thieves to Nier Automata, from Nioh to Astro Bot, from Resident Evil 7 (in VR no less) to For Honor, from Planet Zoo to Elite Odyssey, from Super Mario Odyssey to Demon's Souls and soon from Deathloop to Rider's Republic or Balan Wonderworld to Returnal. And I don't even need to switch discs.
We have things now like Game Pass, Share Play, CrossPlay and Smart Delivery.
Games like Hollow Knight, It Takes Two, 13 Sentinels, No Man's Sky, The Witness, Ori and Hades would have been AAA games back in the day with pricetags to match. No variety in AAA games? I can go almost seamlessly from Half Life Alyx to Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, from MS Flight Simulator to Control, from DOOM Eternal to Dreams, from Death Stranding to Prey, from Hitman 3 to The Last Guardian, from Sea of Thieves to Nier Automata, from Nioh to Astro Bot, from Resident Evil 7 (in VR no less) to For Honor, from Planet Zoo to Elite Odyssey, from Super Mario Odyssey to Demon's Souls and soon from Deathloop to Rider's Republic or Balan Wonderworld to Returnal. And I don't even need to switch discs.
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I think that's just rose-tinted glasses. Games are better than ever now and yes there are some classics from that era that will last forever but the majority will be titles that you wouldn't give a second glance to these days.
These days you can pick up a brand new console for £250 (which is around £150 in 2000!) and for the price of XBL you can play games like Fortnite and Warframe for free!
For those who were part of that generation it was great but to me each successive generation has been better than the last even though there are always things that could - and probably should - be done better.
These days you can pick up a brand new console for £250 (which is around £150 in 2000!) and for the price of XBL you can play games like Fortnite and Warframe for free!
For those who were part of that generation it was great but to me each successive generation has been better than the last even though there are always things that could - and probably should - be done better.
I'd argue that today's game development landscape is far more intuitive and imaginative then PS2 era. Yes there were some amazing games, but I also remember the literal trick loads of shovelware and bogus "demo discs" in magazines that had horrendous games. Today's technology is better, the game design is more rich and the ability to make anything if you put in the time opens the world up to some really amazing titles.
I absolutely loved my PS2, even with the hilarious point of buying it in New Zealand due to being cheaper then Australia launch price. I also loved my PS1 and SNES, but I much prefer the landscape of now.
I absolutely loved my PS2, even with the hilarious point of buying it in New Zealand due to being cheaper then Australia launch price. I also loved my PS1 and SNES, but I much prefer the landscape of now.
PS2 era was great with so many games and geners, but IMO PS1/N64 was better with much stronger effect, nothing cant compare going from 2D to 3D games.
I mean Zelda OoT, Mario 64, FF7, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Golden Eye 007, Banjo Kazooie, Silent Hill, Twisted Metal 2...I mean playing some of those IP for 1st time or at least 1st time in 3D after SNES/SEGA games, was truly magical.
I mean Zelda OoT, Mario 64, FF7, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Golden Eye 007, Banjo Kazooie, Silent Hill, Twisted Metal 2...I mean playing some of those IP for 1st time or at least 1st time in 3D after SNES/SEGA games, was truly magical.
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I see where you are coming from. I count myself lucky in being born in 1982, which means I am old enough to have seen the evolution from NES to PS5. I think gaming really is at its best right now, when you compare quality, quantity and availability, but I am so happy I have been there for the ride and having experienced the magic of things like FFVII when I was a teenager, or being wow-ed by my first steps in FFX (graphics!!). The jump scares in Resident Evil, goofy things like scratching the Gran Turismo disc to get a rubber smell, 10-15fps splitscreen GoldenEye multiplayer. The list goes on.
I could go on, but the early nineties in gaming where the 60's in pop music in my opinion and I look back at it fondly.
I could go on, but the early nineties in gaming where the 60's in pop music in my opinion and I look back at it fondly.
I'd definitely prefer PS2 over PS4. PS4 was one of the worst consoles I have owned. Owned the least amount of games, overall abysmal experience. On PS2 on the other hand, I used to buy 4-5 games a month and they were diverse as hell. JRPGs, extreme sports, fighting games, slashers, platformers...
First party wise PS2 was also unmatched. We got asshole Kratos, Jak, Sly, Ratchet instead of fatherly figure Kratos, Ellie and... Parker.
First party wise PS2 was also unmatched. We got asshole Kratos, Jak, Sly, Ratchet instead of fatherly figure Kratos, Ellie and... Parker.
Yes. Is very 😢 you can't really make friends online anymore.
online gaming on the 360 was the tops... for boys. Not sure women ever got a golden age of online gaming.
Thinking back to all of the generations that I've lived through, the PS2/Xbox/GC generation honestly feels like one of the less interesting ones.
If you lived through the NES/MS generation you saw the popularisation of home consoles, the introduction of Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc.
If you lived through the SNES/MD era you saw (at least in Europe), Sega become this huge force with its first party stuff like Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe etc. The SNES bought us some of highest quality games we've ever seen. Things like FF6, Chrono Trigger, Zelda ALTTP, Mario Kart, Super Mario World etc. And we were finally playing stuff like Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, etc at home.
PS1/Saturn/N64 bought us the first 3D home consoles in a seismic move for gaming that will probably be never replicated.
PS2/Xbox/GC largely feels like it was just there to me. It had high quality software and the PS2 sold a lot. But my nostalgia for it feels like impactful than the ones before. Again, maybe age.
If you lived through the NES/MS generation you saw the popularisation of home consoles, the introduction of Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc.
If you lived through the SNES/MD era you saw (at least in Europe), Sega become this huge force with its first party stuff like Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe etc. The SNES bought us some of highest quality games we've ever seen. Things like FF6, Chrono Trigger, Zelda ALTTP, Mario Kart, Super Mario World etc. And we were finally playing stuff like Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, etc at home.
PS1/Saturn/N64 bought us the first 3D home consoles in a seismic move for gaming that will probably be never replicated.
PS2/Xbox/GC largely feels like it was just there to me. It had high quality software and the PS2 sold a lot. But my nostalgia for it feels like impactful than the ones before. Again, maybe age.
To me Ps1 generation was the best, probably because it was the generation i really was introduced to gaming. Before that i only had a handful of Genesis games.
Ps2 generation was like more of the same but with better graphics.
Ps2 generation was like more of the same but with better graphics.
Games on average are better today but they're all so same-y that I've damn near abandoned the AAA side of gaming, especially the western ones. Even indie games are getting to that point with me. I think it's just how things are in general these days, there's so much data available on everyone and everything that you they know exactly what sales, so why stray?
The only good thing about gaming back then was that it was when 3D game development was the absolute cheapest. With a million bucks, a game studio could experiment with pretty much any concept they could imagine as long as it didn't have a bunch of licensed music. Of course, we ended up with way too many open-world games and RPGs stuffed full of cutscenes but there were some legitimately outside-the-box games like Katamari Damacy or Viewtiful Joe.
I do think PS2 held that gen back as it was weaker and dominant during a time where every console was its own unique architecture. Everything absolutely had to be able to run on that one system which is why you ended up with games like GTA: San Andreas or Tom Clancy games which looked rough as hell on the PS2 and obviously set a lowest common denominator for what the developer could push for. Unlike these days, scaling/porting to different hardware was a much more involved process as the hardware was very different and I'm guessing game engines required much more low-level modifications to get anything to run on a different hardware.
I think the following gen was actually the best as far as the games that I personally like. That's when games finally had enough power to get out of the "ugly 3D" phase. For about the last 15 years, the last couple generations actually haven't seen the scope of possibilities with games change that much. That's when you first saw things like normal maps, baked global illumination, and complex physics systems become a turn-key type of thing in games as the software tools and hardware power were finally there. The downside is of course that budgets had to go up and there was a bit too much love for light bloom but developers were able to create all sorts of amazing and unique games like Mass Effect, Bioshock, Dead Space, Assassins Creed, etc on the PS360. And they were still able to release sequels every couple years. Of course if you like Japanese games, that was kind of when most Japanese studios started to pull back to mobile/Wii development as creating HD games isn't cheap.
This new generation looks like it's going to make game development faster and cheaper while having relatively homogenous software tools and hardware. So hopefully that means we're getting closer and closer to the point that cool, experimental concepts can be justified again from a financial standpoint.
I do think PS2 held that gen back as it was weaker and dominant during a time where every console was its own unique architecture. Everything absolutely had to be able to run on that one system which is why you ended up with games like GTA: San Andreas or Tom Clancy games which looked rough as hell on the PS2 and obviously set a lowest common denominator for what the developer could push for. Unlike these days, scaling/porting to different hardware was a much more involved process as the hardware was very different and I'm guessing game engines required much more low-level modifications to get anything to run on a different hardware.
I think the following gen was actually the best as far as the games that I personally like. That's when games finally had enough power to get out of the "ugly 3D" phase. For about the last 15 years, the last couple generations actually haven't seen the scope of possibilities with games change that much. That's when you first saw things like normal maps, baked global illumination, and complex physics systems become a turn-key type of thing in games as the software tools and hardware power were finally there. The downside is of course that budgets had to go up and there was a bit too much love for light bloom but developers were able to create all sorts of amazing and unique games like Mass Effect, Bioshock, Dead Space, Assassins Creed, etc on the PS360. And they were still able to release sequels every couple years. Of course if you like Japanese games, that was kind of when most Japanese studios started to pull back to mobile/Wii development as creating HD games isn't cheap.
This new generation looks like it's going to make game development faster and cheaper while having relatively homogenous software tools and hardware. So hopefully that means we're getting closer and closer to the point that cool, experimental concepts can be justified again from a financial standpoint.
My argument would always be that the comparitive 'small' games with lesser budgets these days are more interesting, purely because the market supports independent publishing and varying price points. A world where you can make a game and comfortably sell it, worldwide, at the push of a button and not have to price it at $50/£50 'because that's what games cost' opens you up to do more things.
I think modern 'smaller', risky games like Outer Wilds, The Witness, Minecraft, Firewatch, Gone Home, Hades, etc etc would've had a much harder time in the PS2 generation because they would've had to have signed with a publisher and pressed tens of thousands of discs that would've gone to Electronics Boutique with an RRP of $50 and no path for future updates/evolution without a full sequel.
We're spoiled with smaller games these days!
Hard to believe people are still dismissive of indie games in the year 2021 but I guess I'm too optimistic.
Would Hades, Ori, Slay The Spire, Celeste, and tons of others exist back then? No. And if by some miracle they did get made they'd be priced the same as AAA releases, and would without a doubt sell worse because of it.
The emergence of indie games is probably the best thing to happen to this industry in a loooong time.
Would Hades, Ori, Slay The Spire, Celeste, and tons of others exist back then? No. And if by some miracle they did get made they'd be priced the same as AAA releases, and would without a doubt sell worse because of it.
The emergence of indie games is probably the best thing to happen to this industry in a loooong time.