PS2.....the underestimated console becomes THE console

Many people have been complaining about how PS2 was overhyped,not able to offer CGI quality graphics,that tech demos were just....tech demos,its AA uncapability,its limited VRAM etc....

Now it offers the games Sony has promised.Ok not the Toy Story graphics Kutaragi said(anyone with no graphical knowledge could have made the same mistaken description) but we are getting CGI quality real time graphics,streaming VRAM proved to be more capable(just see DMC2 or SH3),we get anti aliasing,real life like graphics(Moto Gp3,SH3,WRC2,AC4,GT3 and lets see how GT4 might look),huge worlds(Rachet and Clank,Haven=a solar system to exlpore) and tech demos look out dated compared to the newer games......


PS2 got so many attacks when it was launched,so many criticism,so much underestimation and since then I ve been trying(including some others) to tell to some people that what we were getting would be nothing compared to the next gen games.

I ve even made a 2 or 3 similar threads comparing the tech demos with full games and posted many replys in threads in the past trying to convince the PS2 was not as overhyped as people thought(or some wanted to beleive).


Now I would like to see present opinions about PS2.Is it the console that offered us games like Summoner,Bouncer,Primal Image,Oni,RRV and a ton of others that made u say"thats nice" "that sucks" "My DC can do better than this"?
Or the console that makes u  :eek:?

It has improved a lot than people expected.

I am not sure if it was ever underestimated except for the first half year.  Since then everythign picked up and is strong.

it was to be expected that it would take time for devs to exploit the ins and outs of the EE engine and PS2\'s architecture

its not like the xbox or DC where it had everything out on the table right away

*moving to console discussion

[Kurt Angle]

It is a known fact that the ps2 has always be more difficult to program for than other consoles previously. This is why it has taken a while for the devs to fully understand the ps2 architeture and to get the best out of it.

Things are certainly looking rosy in the future and there are some execellent games right around the corner.

Sony knew what the PS2 would offer when getting good performance out of it.The newer unexplored architecture was a risky move by Sony but it proved to be be a positive thing later on as we see the biggest and most improvements in each generation of games that come to the PS2.

We certainly never saw that gap between the generation of titles on PSX.

It\'s into this third year of being, and it\'s just NOW beginning to live up to the hype with only a handful of games. That\'s pitiful.. no matter the excuse. If it\'d taken one to two years to start really exploiting the system.. fine.. that\'s pretty understandable... but good god the PS2 could barely live up to even it\'s most basic promises until just recently. When will everybody be able to catch on and make spectacular looking games like Konami, Namco, and Polyphony??

I\'m surprised more of you aren\'t upset over this.. but eh.. that\'s you\'re choice.

It\'s okay...it\'s not my choice console, but nothing is.  I play games, doesn\'t matter what console they\'re on.

I do think it\'s rather astounding it\'s taken developers so long to get something better out of it.  Honestly, was it worth the wait?  Was it worth the different architecture?

[GmanJoe]

PS2 = new technology, new programming language which made all game developers a newbie.

Xbox = using current but powerful hardware to out muscle the PS2 in the short run. Also used current programming language. Game developers were experienced with it from the get go.



After 2.5 years since the Japanese launch, the PS2 games are maturing and beginning to outshine the "pretty" Xbox games. But the PS2 games had always been more fun and diverse. Hence....the 35 million PS2 owners on this planet. (I heard aliens took another 5 million to their solar system, Alpha Centauri )

[Living-In-Clip]

*reads ninety percent of the garbage in thread*

*looks at Ginko\'s and Sony\'s comments.*

Amen, brother\'s. You all speak the truth.

P.S - I\'d like to know how the PS2 was the "underestimated" console, when infact it was a frickin\' hype machine that was overestimated , if anything.

[GmanJoe]

Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
*reads ninety percent of the garbage in thread*

*looks at Ginko\'s and Sony\'s comments.*

Amen, brother\'s. You all speak the truth.

P.S - I\'d like to know how the PS2 was the "underestimated" console, when infact it was a frickin\' hype machine that was overestimated , if anything.

Mine was the 10% that made sense.

Originally posted by GmanJoe
PS2 = new technology, new programming language which made all game developers a newbie.

And what does the PS2 have to show for it?

Xbox = using current but powerful hardware to out muscle the PS2 in the short run. Also used current programming language. Game developers were experienced with it from the get go.

And it\'s not even a year old.

After 2.5 years since the Japanese launch, the PS2 games are maturing and beginning to outshine the "pretty" Xbox games. But the PS2 games had always been more fun and diverse. Hence....the 35 million PS2 owners on this planet. (I heard aliens took another 5 million to their solar system, Alpha Centauri )

Again, you talk as if the Xbox has been out long enough to gauge just how "pretty" Xbox games can be. Fun is subjective and diversity comes with time.

PS2 under hyped?  Now thats funny..............................

Gman, you don\'t need to tell me.. hell those are the same points I\'ve used to justify why the PS2 isn\'t preforming as well as it\'s contemporaries or even up to it\'s own potential. Sony KNEW damned well going into this generation that they\'re console was a pain in the ass to develop for by even skilled programmers.. and next to hopeless for newbies or development houses which don\'t have the cash to sink into learning their machine.

This is why I say 1 to 2 years of dealing with sub-standard graphics quality is fine.. however, Sony should have been busting their asses to provide documentation and lessons on how to program the PS2. While they have provided some rather intriguing and enlightening documentation.. it\'s nowhere NEAR the librarys of info and tools they SHOULD have been releasing. They built the damned thing.. shouldn\'t they know exactly how to program it for optimum preformance right from the get-go? Who the hell creates a piece of computer hardware that they themselves don\'t even know how to work??!?

No-one was expecting them to have excellent graphics right from the get go.. at least.. anyone with common sence in their heads. But when you go for nearly 3 years on a piece of hardware that\'s just NOW overcomming the graphics standard across the board that a console which launched in 1999 set... common sence should tell you something else. (Yes, I know there were games like MGS2 that met graphical expectations and set the bar further.. however those were EXTREMELY few and far between until just recently.)

Was the new hardware archetecture really worth it? Chances are, we\'re NEVER going to see the PS2\'s full potential because this generation will be long over by the time it gets fully exploited... and Sony is probably going to end up dropping this archetecture for something with bang for their buck since they cannot afford to have this poor of a showing next generation if they plan on staying the market leader.

[GmanJoe]

Well....I\'m just going by results. Xbox does have prettier games. Are they more enjoyable? Not most of them. A few. They look pretty though. Sure there are crappy games on PS2. Lots. But as gamers, you weed out the bad ones and get the good games. That\'s a given.

Overall, I\'m happy with the games I got for my PS2 and GC. When I think of a game, I think of the enjoyment I got out of it. Not really the graphics. Hell, I think Animal Crossing is one ugly looking game....but I still play it and enjoy it.

I think the point of Unicron was whether the PS2 is THE console of this generation. It is. It\'s got plenty of enjoyable games with many more coming to it. Plus, now that develepors are getting used to the language, it\'s starting to look prettier too.

I can\'t make you like rock\'n\'roll over country music that is the Xbox. That\'s your opinion. Right now, I am pocketing my reserve stub for GTA : Vice City and anticipate the release of V-Rally 3 as I fall asleep(it\'s nearly 1am here)....later, I might dream about The Getaway.

Full potential of the PS2? Oh I don\'t know....maybe when WRC2 is out, we\'ll see some of it. BTW, that\'s only on PS2!

Xbox does have prettier games. Are they more enjoyable? Not most of them. - Gman

First of all, that\'s a matter of opinion. Secondly, that\'s not the point. No-one is arguing gameplay quality.. we\'re talking graphics here. As far as game content and the sheer amount of enjoyable games, the PS2 has by far lived up to my expectations. I\'m sure most everyone else would agree. It\'s everything else about it that has me dissapointed.

Noone\'s saying that these problems make the PS2 unenjoyable to play.. but it is pathetic that it\'s having these problems even so late in it\'s lifespan.

Remember, Gamplay > Graphics. Always has been, always will be. (Unless you\'re raistlin. j/k )



*Note: Tho I would like to see more original and unique concepts out of the PS2.. games like ICO, Fatal Frame, Fable, PDO, Ecco, JGR, Animal Crossing, Super Monkey Ball.. ect.)