World Bids Farewell to PS2

[Stormwatch]

Not in the Japanese launch.

[GaijinPunch]

even worse than Wii U's. Has there ever been a console launch with a weaker selection than what PS2 got in Japan?

Fuck yeah. Gamecube.

Super Monkey Ball and Luigi's Mansion?

Don't think so.

I do. I'm not the only one, either.
Some review. Not only were the launch titles not launch-worthy (three games total, arguably none of them household names), the units didn't sell out, and the release of continual games well into the next year sucked big ass balls. We got Pikmin 5 weeks after launch, but it was another month until Super Smash Brothers DX, and then another month for Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (if you can count that as a good one). GC didn't launch w/ a Mario game, and Nintendo paid the price.

The PS2s, while also shit, at least had some recognizable names (RRV, Street Fighter, and a Koei game) and also recovered much quicker.

The only way Nintendo could release 3 games at launch, not release another for 5 weeks, and then another a month after that is if you have a Mario or a Zelda in there. At least they learned their lesson (sort of).

[Paradigm]

PS2 Japanese launch lineup:

A-Train 6
DrumMania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3

Not a single game there I'd be excited about buying.

I'll take two good games over ten mediocre (at best) games any day.

[brentsg]

even worse than Wii U's. Has there ever been a console launch with a weaker selection than what PS2 got in Japan?

Fuck yeah. Gamecube.

Super Monkey Ball and Luigi's Mansion?

Don't think so.

Don't forget Wave Race: Blue Storm

I know it wasn't as highly regarded as the first game but I quite enjoyed it.

[brentsg]

PS2 Japanese launch lineup:

A-Train 6
DrumMania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3

Not a single game there I'd be excited about buying.

I'll take two good games over ten mediocre (at best) games any day.

While not a launch game, Tekken Tag Tournament was just a few weeks out from launch.

[Skykid]

Don't forget Wave Race: Blue Storm

I know it wasn't as highly regarded as the first game but I quite enjoyed it.

I thoroughly enjoy Blue Storm still!

[GaijinPunch]

I wound up trying Wave Race mainly b/c it was all there was. While Super Monkey Ball is fun, it's hardly a game to keep me interested for 5 weeks. Luigi's Mansion was a 6000 yen tech demo. While Super Monkey Ball is probably the best out of both lists, we're talking about the launch in general. GC's started with a poof and then went downhill from there, dragging ass for about 6 months.

[null1024]

PS2 Japanese launch lineup:

A-Train 6
DrumMania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3

Not a single game there I'd be excited about buying.

I'll take two good games over ten mediocre (at best) games any day.

Christ. Only thing I'd have even touched was Ridge Racer V. That's disappointing. I looked up the other titles, blegh.
And then it became everyone's favorite system years later, but early adopters got shit on.

[Obiwanshinobi]

While Super Monkey Ball is fun, it's hardly a game to keep me interested for 5 weeks.

Did any Mario game (that wasn't the original SMB) keep you busy for that long when it was new?
I mean, asking for a killer app of SMB caliber 16 years down the line is asking for a lot. If Super Monkey Ball didn't do it for you, I wonder which Mario really did.

[Stormwatch]

Super Mario World could probably keep me busy for that long if I decided to play it again right now.

In fact, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[GaijinPunch]

Did any Mario game (that wasn't the original SMB) keep you busy for that long when it was new?

I put in quite a bit of time w/ all the Mario games I've purchased, which is quite a few of them. If the GC launched w/Sunshine I'd have probably gone for all the shines and not been nearly as bothered for the lackluster line up. Even with a huge game backlog, I'm pretty sure I played it for a good 2-3 weeks. I played Galaxy 2 even longer but didn't get it until way late in the game, and am not scrambling to play and clear tons of games.

[louisg]

I put a pretty decent amount of time in with SMB, SMB3, SMW, Galaxy and Galaxy 2. I didn't care for Sunshine or 64, personally. Super Monkey Ball, on the other hand, did keep me busy for weeks (but I didn't buy it until '03 or something like that). Such a great game.

I do remember Luigi's Mansion being criticized for being a tech demo, but I finally got around to trying it fairly recently and it seemed like a decent game. It was pretty clever in some spots, too. It's not a new Mario game, sure, but it was a bit better than I thought it was going to be. What I take away from that is that I think the bar is set pretty high for Nintendo games. Even after they released glitchy haphazardly-designed shit like Mario 64 (ducks)

[Friendly]

PS2 Japanese launch lineup:

A-Train 6
DrumMania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3

I'm pretty sure I remember also playing Fantavision on launch day in Japan, or am I mistaken?

[Paradigm]

I'm pretty sure I remember also playing Fantavision on launch day in Japan, or am I mistaken?

According to Wiki it came out five days after launch.

FWIW this Gamefaqs page lists four extra launch titles:

Den Sen Electric Lines - Sony
Doukyu Billiards 2 - Ask
Popolocrois 3 - Sony
Unison - Tecmo

[Friendly]

I'm pretty sure I remember also playing Fantavision on launch day in Japan, or am I mistaken?

According to Wiki it came out five days after launch.

Could it be that I played it on a demo unit in Akihabra during the launch? Or maybe it was really 5 days later. Not that it matters; ancient history

[louisg]

5 days after launch pretty much counts as "at launch" IMO

[GaijinPunch]

I'm pretty sure I remember also playing Fantavision on launch day in Japan, or am I mistaken?

According to Wiki it came out five days after launch.

Could it be that I played it on a demo unit in Akihabra during the launch? Or maybe it was really 5 days later. Not that it matters; ancient history

You could have, b/c I distinctly remember seeing it on screens. OF course, I didn't get a PS2 for a couple of years so it very well could have been just a demo.

[Edmond Dantes]

PS2 Japanese launch lineup:

A-Train 6
DrumMania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3

Not a single game there I'd be excited about buying.

Hey man, Eternal Ring was good. Not great, but good.

[Obiwanshinobi]

FantaVision was a tech demo at first. Not a launch title technically, but the very first gen. Could use a port to more recent systems. High resolution and anti-aliasing wouldn't hurt.

[louisg]

Oh I haven't thought about Fantavision for a long time. I should try it. I remember my first reaction was, "Wow, they're bringing back Fantavision?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL7V5nfmveI ... but then I saw it wasn't the same thing and never gave it a second look

(Apple ][ Fantavision was basically Flash but a couple decades earlier)

[Jonathan Ingram]

PS2 production stopped worldwide:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... ends-years

[Ex-Cyber]

Well, that sucks. I hope PSCX2 ends up being a reasonable replacement by the time the supply of working PS2s dries up. Or that PS4 ships with a nice PS2 emulator (ha).

[trap15]

Or that PS4 ships with a nice PS2 emulator (ha).

That's more likely than you'd think

[Friendly]

I think it's pretty much a given that PS4 will feature PS1 and PS2 BC. The real question is, will it have PS3 BC?

[Friendly]

PS2 production stopped worldwide:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... ends-years

That's extremely weird, given that PS2 was introduced in some markets as late as 2011. I expected Sony to keep making PS2s for a long time.
Maybe it will be licensed to another manufacturer.

Topic updated.

[Ex-Cyber]

It occurs to me that this means that Sony now has nothing in the sub-$200 price range (PSP notwithstanding). Could this mean that they're planning to fast-track PS3 into that slot? Or perhaps they envision that market being taken over by a cloud gaming service attached to their smart TVs and Blu-ray players? Hmm...

Or that PS4 ships with a nice PS2 emulator (ha).

That's more likely than you'd think

The "ha" was mainly for the notion that the product planner and business strategist types would let PS2 discs compete with the re-releases on PSN, given the choice. I guess I can hope; after all, they haven't removed PS1 disc support from PS3 yet.

I think it's pretty much a given that PS4 will feature PS1 and PS2 BC. The real question is, will it have PS3 BC?

I don't see how they'd do it without actually including Cell and RSX. I can see a vague hand-waved sort of path for how they might handle RSX, but it seems like SPE emulation would bring current hardware to its knees (unless they could get that translated to modern GPU shaders too, which would be pretty badass).

[Jonathan Ingram]

Well, that sucks. I hope PSCX2 ends up being a reasonable replacement by the time the supply of working PS2s dries up. Or that PS4 ships with a nice PS2 emulator (ha).

It depends on the game, but overall PCSX2 has been a reasonable replacement for several years now.

[Ganelon]

The "ha" was mainly for the notion that the product planner and business strategist types would let PS2 discs compete with the re-releases on PSN, given the choice. I guess I can hope; after all, they haven't removed PS1 disc support from PS3 yet.

I entirely agree with your pessimism here. With PS2 games out of production and no significant dent in PS3 sales after the removal of PS2 backwards compatibility, there's no incentive for Sony to even bother with BC rather than charge more for individual games later on. With Sony struggling as it is, I think it would be an awful business decision to leave BC in even though I agree that it would be great for fans.

[Friendly]

Do you think having PS1 compatibility greatly reduces sales of PS1 games on PSN? Somehow I doubt it. As time progesses, physical copies of desirable PS2 games become harder to find and get more expensive on the secondary market (just as the games of any other old console).
Add to this that most people gladly trade away their rights for some added comfort (right to sell or give away vs. direct availability at relatively low prices).

Of course with Sony you never know. At least they've made more sense than Nintendo lately.

[Skykid]

Of course with Sony you never know. At least they've made more sense than Nintendo lately.

And they have the balance sheet to prove it.