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When people say things like, "Playstation 2 is the greatest console ever"... why do they even bother buying subsequent hardware?

teezzy

Banned
The Playstation 2 has an amazing library, and so much of it perseveres in terms of overall quality to an insanely strong degree to this day. The sixth generation of consoles all hold a very special place in my heart, and the Playstation 2 was undeniably the hands-down winner of that generation, despite not packing the most horsepower inside the plastic casing when compared to either the Gamecube or Xbox. The library was phenomenal, including full PS1 backwards compatibility, and had more exclusives than you could shake a stick at. So much so, that I'm still discovering new favorites on PS2 in 2020 that I never got a chance to play previously.

For these reason, people often consider the Playstation 2 to be the greatest console ever. I've read this opinion stated objectively countless times on this forum alone. In my opinion, Xbox 360 absolutely gave it a run for its money and if you consider that Xbox One plays a good amount of Original Xbox and 360 titles as well.... you could even make an argument there too - but so few do.

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This argument isn't exclusive to the PS2 though. People will say this about SNES, Dreamcast, etc.

I guess my question is, why do people even bother playing the newer games or getting hyped for PS5/Series X when they already have their favorite so readily available?

I don't buy the story that most people have played all there is to play on a library as diverse as PS2/PS1 combined (or 360/Xbox for the sake of argument) yet. Both Sony and Microsoft spent a lot of money on research and development towards new technologies and studio acquisitions to secure that their upcoming products continuously provide a superior gaming experience to their previous iterations. Shouldn't this ensure a better gaming experience overall? Doesn't the truth of GAF focusing so heavily on next gen and current gen right now reflect that directly? Why aren't we all still talking about Dark Cloud 2?!!

As much as I love the now-classics, there's plenty of modern QoL features which retro titles just can't deliver on, and sometimes formerly well regarded games age like milk and feel awfully clunky compared to their modern counterparts.

So, why do we bother with the new consoles when the so-called 'greatest ever' already exist? How many people here apart from myself still even have a PS2 hooked up? What about your original Xbox? Gamecube? Do you play them more than your PS4, Xbox One, and/or Switch?
 

01011001

Banned
I think the PS2 is the best console ever, yet I also had an Xbox and a GameCube...

so even then I didn't only play on the PS2 because even tho it is the best console overall, there are games that aren't on it and there are systems that have better versions of specific games.

I actually try to play PS1 and PS2 era games that I didn't back in the day and I found a bunch I love.

just because something is the best doesn't mean you don't want to also have othee things

an analogy of your argument for example: if you have a favourite band, and a favourite album, why even listen to other bands or even other albums? hell, if there's a favourite song on that favourite album of your favourite band... why listen to any other song? IT'S THE BEST SONG! why bother with other songs?
 
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teezzy

Banned
an analogy of your argument for example: if you have a favourite band, and a favourite album, why even listen to other bands or even other albums? hell, if there's ba favourite song on that favourite album of your favourite band... why listen to any other song? IT'S THE BEST SONG! why bother with other songs?

I have a top five.

Deftones, Tool, Radiohead, NIN, and Smashing Pumpkins

90% of what I listen to is music from those five bands, or side projects.

How many people who claim PS2 is the best console ever still play it?
 

01011001

Banned
I have a top five.

Deftones, Tool, Radiohead, NIN, and Smashing Pumpkins

90% of what I listen to is music from those five bands, or side projects.

How many people who claim PS2 is the best console ever still play it?

so that's changing the whole idea tho.

it's not about the top 5 consoles is it? it's about the BEST.
 

Amiga

Member
because of the memories, there was no real competition that generation so many don't dispute it. for older people like me it was SNES, for the younger it was split 360/PS3. for the kids of this generation it is PS4
 

teezzy

Banned
01011001 01011001

To be fair also, I've also had people call me out on the fact that I obsess over my PS2 and Original Xbox still while listening to those 5 late 90's/early 2000's staples and never shutting up about my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. There's something about that time period for me. Pure magic, but I stuck with it while everyone else seems to have mostly moved on.

I do listen to Deftones A LOT dude lol
 
They fail to understand how consequential the PS2 was to everything else going on in gaming at the time. Every other console option aside for Nintendo had tanked officially by this point, and coming off of the N64 Nintendo had scared away a lot of publishers anyhow. That only leaves the Sony console as the one getting all the games. Let's not forget 3D gaming coming into it's own as well: it was no longer an experimental toss-up, so the games were not only plentiful but they were good.
 
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01011001

Banned
01011001 01011001

To be fair also, I've also had people call me out on the fact that I obsess over my PS2 and Original Xbox still while listening to those 5 late 90's/early 2000's staples and never shutting up about my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. There's something about that time period for me. Pure magic, but I stuck with it while everyone else seems to have mostly moved on.

I do listen to Deftones A LOT dude lol

well my profile pic tells you what I listen to 90% of the time lol
 

Astral Dog

Member
Because there ARE better games on newer systems, PS2 was the best at the time and its remembered fondly but the current battle is between the PS5 vs Series X

Even PS2 lovers will find plenty to like on PS4 including remasters of their favorite games
 

teezzy

Banned
Did you stop watching shows after Buffy? Probably not.

I mean, I don't really bother with a lot of modern media in general. Comparing a TV series to an entire video game platform seems disingenuous. It'd be more apt to compare Buffy to like a specific gaming franchise.

Let's say I do watch Breaking Bad or Sopranos... Buffy/Angel is what I always return to. I'm head over heels for it. Like PS2 or Deftones... that's my comfort food. I can't remember the last time I actually got excited over a new/upcoming TV show
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
Did you just stealth tried to imply that Xbox One gave PS2 a run for its money because it plays some 360 games? That’s the hottest take I’ve read today.

Anyway what people really mean to say is that the best memories they have of gaming are from generation *insert here*, on console *insert here*. They were younger and more positive.

Gaming has only gotten better and I remain unconvinced by the arguments people make. It’s just nostalgia, like you have for the 360.
 

teezzy

Banned
well my profile pic tells you what I listen to 90% of the time lol

Prog metal?

Did you just stealth tried to imply that Xbox One gave PS2 a run for its money because it plays some 360 games? That’s the hottest take I’ve read today.

Anyway what people really mean to say is that the best memories they have of gaming are from generation *insert here*, on console *insert here*. They were younger and more positive.

Gaming has only gotten better and I remain unconvinced by the arguments people make. It’s just nostalgia, like you have for the 360.

I had a PS3 and a Wii during the 360 gen. I just think that if people wanna talk about diverse libraries, then Xbox 1 can hold its own with the best of the bunch considering BC.

I love PS2 though, don't get me wrong.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
This is a valid point, which is why I still play my ps2 and why I am less and less favorable to buying new hardware. I'm constrained by time, not on available games to play. Plus, the good games have such a high ceiling.

It's marvelous.
 
I would assume it’s because people don’t want to or can’t play PS2 forever if they eventually want to experience new content? I think music and movies were better in the past, yet people want to experience new stuff even if it isn’t as memorable or good. If you have the best movie, game or music ever, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek newer stuff as well because you never know what you might find that really appeals to you or surpass your expectations. That’s why I will never understand the gamers who pay one single game for the entirety of a generation, especially when it has comparable games in the same genre.
 
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RoboFu

One of the green rats
When they say that they mean overall experience. That doesn’t mean they don’t want to try new experiences.
It’s simple to understand really.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
np teezzy teezzy

To answer the question "why aren't we still talking about Dark cloud 2!?!?" it's because not a lot of people are playing it at once, and people are shy. Making threads like these (and making threads on Dark Cloud 2) are how you get people talking about old gems and enjoying them again. In fact, there are numerous forums devoted to retro classics, even devoted to particular genres, in hopes of attracting the sort of conversation and hype for old titles that you describe in your post.

Also, game of the month clubs are fun, like the one Nikana Nikana put on recently
 

Rubik8

Member
Rose colored glasses. I think when people look back to the “best console of all time”, they are really framing it with situations in their lives at the time. I think very fondly about the SNES/Genesis days, I was in high school at the time. I had more free time than I would ever have again. And the experiences I was having with those consoles were full of “firsts.” When the PS1/Saturn/N64 showed up I was in college and working part time. I was busy. I owned the consoles and played some but it was also a highly stressful time in my life. So I don’t look back on those days with a lot of nostalgia.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
because of the memories, there was no real competition that generation so many don't dispute it. for older people like me it was SNES, for the younger it was split 360/PS3. for the kids of this generation it is PS4

This guy gets it. For me it was the Colecovision and the C64 and later in my teens the NES/Genesis/SNES. There were later great consoles, but by then I was an adult and it never was quite the same. The PS2 was great, but so were the top selling consoles of every other generation.
 

teezzy

Banned
Thirty7ven Thirty7ven

You have to admit, it's intriguing that Series X may end up with the most diverse library ever (apart from PC) just based on backwards compatibility alone.

I don't really buy the whole nostalgia angle a lot of people are taking in this thread. Rose colored glasses, be damned. I enjoy plenty of older titles which I didn't grow up with.
 
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Idk fam, that's nearly 2,000 different experiences in one region alone

True, but I forgot to mention that despite having so many games, they might look antiquated by today’s standards for many gamers. I guess it depends on the individual and what type of games appeal to them as well. For example, fans of JRPGS or Japanese games in general would find much more to love with a PS2 over an XBOX or even a PS4 I feel.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Thirty7ven Thirty7ven

You have to admit, it's intriguing that Series X may end up with the most diverse library ever (apart from PC) just based on backwards compatibility alone.

I don't really buy the whole nostalgia angle a lot of people are taking in this thread. Rose colored glasses, be damned. I enjoy plenty of older titles which I didn't grow up with.

It’s such a young medium that the vast majority of these “great” early works don’t really stand the test of time. Some do sure, but mostly you have to lean on romance. Most of the worthy ones get HD updates, remasters, what have you.

Series X BC isn’t really all that intriguing for me because the library doesn’t have the classics of the PS2/GameCube/PS1 era. I thought the 360/Triple era had a strong start with the Xbox and a strong finish with the PlayStation but to me it was one of the weaker generations.

I played Vagrant Story last year and it was awesome, but I gotta be honest... I would rather play most of these older titles on my phone or on a Switch than I would on a big 4K tv if you know what I’m saying.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Because next to no game is endlessly replayable. If my favorite Final Fantasy is say, 9, or 4, would that make me not play any other JRPG, if my favorite CRPG is Baldur's Gate 2, how could I avoid all others, I'd entertain myself and pass the time by fondly remembering the one and twiddling my thumbs? What's wrong with you? Lol.

So you even half-entertained that idea in your OP but somehow fail to see it through and "don't buy" what you mention. How do you not get it dude? Favorite console doesn't mean you have to play every shitty game out of the thousands on it before moving on, it's your favorite because of your favorite games on it, not the rest, lol...
 
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Neolombax

Member
To me, it was the greatest console ever, because it had quite diverse games at the time, and had tons of 3rd person platforming games.

Naturally, newer games come to the latest consoles. Hence why anyone buys the newer consoles I imagine....its really not rocket science.
 

teezzy

Banned
It’s such a young medium that the vast majority of these “great” early works don’t really stand the test of time. Some do sure, but mostly you have to lean on romance. Most of the worthy ones get HD updates, remasters, what have you.

Series X BC isn’t really all that intriguing for me because the library doesn’t have the classics of the PS2/GameCube/PS1 era. I thought the 360/Triple era had a strong start with the Xbox and a strong finish with the PlayStation but to me it was one of the weaker generations.

I played Vagrant Story last year and it was awesome, but I gotta be honest... I would rather play most of these older titles on my phone or on a Switch than I would on a big 4K tv if you know what I’m saying.

I've got a CRT tv with a PS2, 360, and original xbox hooked up to it via S Video and HDMI.

Then on my PC, I have my old Dell CRT for emulating Gamecube, Dreamcast, and all the old sprite stuff or playing old PC games, etc

You're right though, the BC situation on Series X isnt perfect but it covers a heck of a lot of games and Xbox certainly held its own compared to PS2/Gamecube. Theres a lot of crossover, and some cool exclusives too. Just wish everything was compatible.

You emulate on your phone? You hook up a controller or use touchscreen controls? I've never even played around with that sorta thing. Seems odd, idk why.
 
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While a good game, like a good movie or album, should be timeless, the first two 3D generations were pretty awkward in many ways. Inconsistent, weird controls, plus rough-looking graphics that were often worse than their pixel predecessors. I think that presents a significant barrier to gamers who weren't there, but honestly even to those of us who were and remember them fondly.

I agree though that most PS2 fans probably haven't even scratched the surface of its incredible library and gamers shouldn't forget that old games are still around and worth playing.

Been a huge Deftones fan myself since their very first album was released. They just get better as time goes on and thanks to you I found out they have a new one. Cheers!
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
I've got a CRT tv with a PS2, 360, and original xbox hooked up to it via S Video and HDMI.

Then on my PC, I have my old Dell CRT for emulating Gamecube, Dreamcast, and all the old sprite stuff or playing old PC games, etc

You're right though, the BC situation on Series X isnt perfect but it covers a heck of a lot of games and Xbox certainly held its own compared to PS2/Gamecube. Theres a lot of crossover, and some cool exclusives too. Just wish everything was compatible.

You emulate on your phone? You hook up a controller or use touchscreen controls? I've never even played around with that sorta thing. Seems odd, idk why.

Yeah, all the way up to PS1 and DS emulates pretty well on a phone. Touch screen controls work pretty good with turn based games, and you can use a controller for the rest. I like the low footprint and portable experience it provides, but I only play select titles on it. Hell if you get the right tablet you get a kickass experience.

I think MS is right on the money with their BC strategy, no doubt.
 
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