why is the ps2 is still selling?

[noiseredux]

PS2 is an amazing system. And when you combine the 2 libraries (PS1 titles & PS2 titles), it's really incredible. It also has immense capabilites homebrew-wise, as it's a pretty powerful machine.

I agree that PS3 BC was stopped to keep selling PS2 consoles. Which will work for a while, But BC will have to be continued so that Sony followers can continue their libraries like they did before.

[skate323k137]

The story i heard about backwards compatibility, which makes more sense to me, is that they have to put the PS2 processor (or some of it's hardware) in the PS3 since software emulation would be impossible, especially with new titles still coming out on the PS2. To compete with the price of the xbox 360, they had to drop that hardware. and since pretty much everyone who cares about PS2 games still owns a PS2 still anyway, everyone wins. hell, the ps3 is STILL way out of my price range, and if it was still backwards compatable, it would cost even more.

I don't own a current gen system, although at some point i might crack and get a 360. if they weren't falling apart/failing left and right, I'd be a lot more likely to drop the dough.

[noiseredux]

The story i heard about backwards compatibility, which makes more sense to me, is that they have to put the PS2 processor (or some of it's hardware) in the PS3 since software emulation would be impossible, especially with new titles still coming out on the PS2. To compete with the price of the xbox 360, they had to drop that hardware. and since pretty much everyone who cares about PS2 games still owns a PS2 still anyway, everyone wins. hell, the ps3 is STILL way out of my price range, and if it was still backwards compatable, it would cost even more.

I don't own a current gen system, although at some point i might crack and get a 360. if they weren't falling apart/failing left and right, I'd be a lot more likely to drop the dough.

You're half-right... early models had PS2 hardware inside, allowing for BC. Later, they dropped the PS2 hardware because it was just too expensive and switched to software emulation for BC, which was rather dodgy. So instead of tweaking the BC via network updates, they instead decided to just drop BC altogether.

This I think was a crappy move. They should have just kept working on getting the software emulation to run better rather than dropping it. What about ppl who have a PS3, bought PS2 games and don't even own a PS2?? Not cool.

[scottykick]

Because it is AWESOME!

[anosou]

The story i heard about backwards compatibility, which makes more sense to me, is that they have to put the PS2 processor (or some of it's hardware) in the PS3 since software emulation would be impossible, especially with new titles still coming out on the PS2. To compete with the price of the xbox 360, they had to drop that hardware. and since pretty much everyone who cares about PS2 games still owns a PS2 still anyway, everyone wins. hell, the ps3 is STILL way out of my price range, and if it was still backwards compatable, it would cost even more.

I don't own a current gen system, although at some point i might crack and get a 360. if they weren't falling apart/failing left and right, I'd be a lot more likely to drop the dough.

You're half-right... early models had PS2 hardware inside, allowing for BC. Later, they dropped the PS2 hardware because it was just too expensive and switched to software emulation for BC, which was rather dodgy. So instead of tweaking the BC via network updates, they instead decided to just drop BC altogether.

This I think was a crappy move. They should have just kept working on getting the software emulation to run better rather than dropping it. What about ppl who have a PS3, bought PS2 games and don't even own a PS2?? Not cool.

This intrigues me because the PS3 is still as expensive... I have a PS2 but I wouldn't mind having another PS2 in my PS3 where the laser wouldn't die every other week :3

[noiseredux]

This intrigues me because the PS3 is still as expensive... I have a PS2 but I wouldn't mind having another PS2 in my PS3 where the laser wouldn't die every other week :3

Yeah, it's still as expensive, because before Sony was LOSING money on the console.

[anosou]

This intrigues me because the PS3 is still as expensive... I have a PS2 but I wouldn't mind having another PS2 in my PS3 where the laser wouldn't die every other week :3

Yeah, it's still as expensive, because before Sony was LOSING money on the console.

They should keep doing that.. Changing the channel for PS2 is a pain

[J T]

Here is a comparison of gaming systems based on number of games with high critical acclaim.

At http://www.metacritic.com you can see how games rate based on a composite score averaged across all reviews for a game. These scores are standardized so you can easily compare them on a 0-100 point system. Any composite score of 75 or above is colored green on metacritic, indicating that it is generally accepted as a good game. If you look at the number of games in the green across systems.

The Nintendo Wii currently has 73 games in the green.
The PS3 currently has 140 games in the green.
The XBox 360 currently has 229 games in the green.
The original XBox has 339.
But the PS2 has a whopping 537 games that are universally rated as good games!

That's more than the PS3 and XBox360 combined! And if you look at the cost, you can buy PS2 games used for an average of about $10 per game and I have seen sales at a local Game Crazy store that were as low as 2 for $5 (or $5 individual). Given that a new XBox360 or PS3 game will run you about $60 bucks, you could easily find 6 really good PS2 games for the same price. The PS2 is simply a wise investment, even today.

[Flak Beard]

The PS2 is still an extremely viable system with an amazing catalog of games. Someone could easily walk into an EB, drop $200 and come out with a PS2 and a handful of titles.

I always recommend it to friends who are casual gamers but don't care about Wii controls.

[scottykick]

In fact now is the best time to be buying PS2 games, as this is the time in a systems lifespan that most gamers have moved on to other consoles, so the remaining gems that are still being released will be under produced and over looked, I plan on picking up Yakuza 2 this week, as well as Metal Gear Solid 3:Substinance (I have the Metal gear trilogy set, but want MGS3:S for Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2)

While 3D graphics tend to not age as well as 2D, I can see the PS2 becoming the ultimate retro system, it very well could be the Atari 2600 of this generation, as far as having a long lifespan, and almost everyone has fond memories of it, even us Sega fan boys, who supported DC eventualy had to admit the PS2 was amazing.

The DC/PS2/X-Box/GC generation is my favorite, as it may be the final console generation that had systems that were gaming systems, not living room media hubs, that happen to play games.

Once I move from my 1 Bedroom apt, to a 2 BR apt, I am going to turn the 2nd BR into a retro game room, with CRT tv and all the retro game systems (Master System, Genesis, Saturn, DC, 2600, Jaguar, SNES, N64,GC,Coleco) and games. Then have my 360, Wii & X-Box in the living room hooked up to a HDTV.