PS2 Appreciation Thread

[RCBH928]

they have to complete the phase like launch -> mainstream -> slow-down-> final days -> no one plays it any more. I guess thats how nostalgia is built. Thats why I think no one has nostalgia for something like the N-gage or Virtual Boy, they didn't go through the full phase

Vita and Xbox One are having difficulties in the launch part

[Jagosaurus]

Worth mentioning the console was officially 15 years old in March.

This is a subjective topic of course. I feel the Dreamcast is retro & it was released 6 months before the PS2 lol. But the PS2 was supported much longer & doesnt feel as dated to me. The DC had a much more arcade feel.

The PS2 is very much akin to the feel of PS3 regarding software so that's probably the main contributor to this gap in perception between those two consoles for me. Having almost the exact same controllers for 20 years doesn't hurt either

Then again, the PS2 has been around for over half my life. Crazy. Agree, we're getting old.

[alienjesus]

Then again, the PS2 has been around for over half my life. Crazy. Agree, we're getting old.

Yeah, all the consoles of that generatipon have officially been around for more than half of my lifetime. I'm pretty comfortable calling them all retro at this point.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I still refuse to call something that has DVD-ROM games, 3D graphics, dual analog controls, and online capabilities "retro". The console was only discontinued two years ago.

When I hear "retro games" I immediately think Dig Dug, Berzerk, Super Mario Bros., and so on. Games like Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy X, and Okami are just about the last things that come to mind.

As I said in an earlier post (a year ago - ha!) the Dreamcast is perhaps the final console that feels "retro" to me. And even that is pushing it.

[RCBH928]

please delete this post..

[Exhuminator]

When I hear "retro games" I immediately think Dig Dug, Berzerk, Super Mario Bros., and so on.

I do too, but then again I'm 36 years old. So we have to keep these things in context.

I still refuse to call something that has DVD-ROM games, 3D graphics, dual analog controls, and online capabilities "retro".

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but since I don't agree, let me explain why. DVD has been around since 1995. 3D graphics have been around since at least the 70s. Analog controls have been around since 1976, with the Prinztronic/Acetronic/Interton series. And Sega Meganet launched in 1990, meaning an online console existed 25 years ago.

My point about all of this, is that none of the technology is still fresh, it really wasn't even fresh when the PS2 came out. The PS2 just used better iterations of that existing tech, in a package that worked well together. So if you consider that the newest component, DVD, is already 20 years old, I don't think calling the PS2 "retro" is too much of a stretch simply going off its technological abilities.

The sad fact is, much of the PS2's library doesn't feel retro because game developers by and large haven't evolved their gameplay constructs beyond what they were doing with the PS2. The graphics have gotten more complex, but the gameplay not so much.

[o.pwuaioc]

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but since I don't agree, let me explain why. DVD has been around since 1995. 3D graphics have been around since at least the 70s. Analog controls have been around since 1976, with the Prinztronic/Acetronic/Interton series. And Sega Meganet launched in 1990, meaning an online console existed 25 years ago.

Modern Standard English has been around since the late 1700s, but that doesn't mean it's "retro" if we speak it today.

[Exhuminator]

All consoles run on electricity. Electricity has been around since the universe began. Therefore all consoles are retro upon inception.

[o.pwuaioc]

All consoles run on electricity. Electricity has been around since the universe began. Therefore all consoles are retro upon inception.

My point was just because some features have been around for that long, doesn't mean they've been around in the same form. None of the examples you listed come even close to being similar to their incarnation in the PS2, while the differences between PS2 and PS4 is far more muted.

Then again, you all are using the word retro wrong still.

[Exhuminator]

Then again, you all are using the word retro wrong still.

Have some situational awareness. If you take into account what "retro" means in the context of the video gaming lexicon, I'm actually using the lingo just fine.

Bone said he felt the PS2 was not retro based on its conglomeration of key hardware. I explained that the hardware the PS2 had at its time of release was already nothing new. Sure the hardware was beefier than past iterations, but it wasn't exactly cutting edge. Therefore whether or not the PS2 should be considered retro should be judged by its software library, not its hardware makeup. IMO.