Forum - View topicINTEREST: Sony Japan Ends Sales of PlayStation 2 Console
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Primus
 Posts: 2779 Location: Toronto |
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Probably not. The first PlayStation was also manufactured for 12 years. The majority of the PS2's sales in recent time have come from places like South America, and India where the average person likely can't justify a PS3's price. As such, I suspect the PS3 will have a similarly long life thanks to those markets. The PS3 won't ever get near the PS2's numbers, but it could surpass the PS1's sales. |
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potatochobit
 Posts: 1373 Location: TEXAS |
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I have a japanese scph 1000 in the closet
however, the only american games I played were on dreamcast back in those days |
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Graceful Nanami
Posts: 303 Location: United States |
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I have three PS2s (my original fat, newer slim and Japanese slim) that still work. I hope they stay working forever, now.
Goodnight, sweet prince. Your memories will serve my mind well. |
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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I don't see why this is a bad thing. This just tells me Nintendo has the strongest first party/exclusive presence. It's what makes something like Super Smash Brothers possible. Most of the top selling games on the other consoles were multi-platform games, which obviously wouldn't work on the Wii due to hardware, and begs the question of "why should I buy this in 360/PS3/PC when I can get it on the PS3/360/PC" which kind of devalues the console itself if it's just an interchangeable piece of hardware. Personally I'd be more worried if all the first party games did so bad that the multi-platform games were the best selling. I feel the only way to properly judge a console is through it's first-parties/exclusives, but maybe that's just me. And hey, the Wii does have the footnote of having the most successful Western game released in Japan on it, so that accounts for something, I guess.
I'm not sure Bethesda is a good example to use for this point given their games tend to be horribly buggy and broken no matter what platform they're on. I think that speaks more for their programmer's incompetence than the console. This really just seem more of a multiplatform issue than a general one. There's a big difference than a game made for the PS3 and a game made for multiplatform and being ported to all the systems. 360/PC are essentially the same so it's obvious it'll be easier to port between those than the PS3 with different hardware. Obviously developers aren't going to make the same game twice on a different engine to compensate, so they have to try to 'force' it to fit on the PS3 which may lead to problems. Though that's for western developers who obviously favor the western 360. In Japan you see the opposite: like FF13 being better on the PS3 while the 360 version had problems like framerate drops and the like since it was made using the PS3 engine. Just another reason in why multi-platform games aren't a good way to judge a system, in my opinion. |
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victor viper
 Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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Fortunately, I have a huge backlog of PS2 games that I never got around to playing, enough that I could keep enjoying the old PS2 for a couple more years. It was a little sad when the PS2 games started disappearing from the prime wall spots at Gamestop into the big unorganized rack in the middle of the store a couple of years ago; you knew the end was near for this great system.
Hopefully, the PS4 (or whatever it will be called) will be able to emulate the PS2. |
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PingSoni
 Subscriber Posts: 195 Location: Lansing MI |
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Just last night I finished playing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (for the third time) on my PS2. As many of my favorite games are PS/PS2 games, I already have a spare system in the closet. I think I'll replay Rogue Galaxy next.
Sigh. They don't make consoles, or games, like they used to. |
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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No, Nintendo LOST... in a big way. They may have sold more hardware but they lost the hearts and minds of hardcore gamers who didn't want the millionth repeat or reissue of Super Mario Bros and DIDN'T like being told what the technology of the future would be. Nintendo's always been a bit gimmicky with controllers for as long as I can remember and it's not necessary if they really have the software support they say they do. A lot of the hardcore crowd dismissed motion controls. It's a bit too early for that and frankly it was never implemented that well in many games. There were also Wii games like Mario Galaxy that caused raids on the remaining stock of GAMECUBE controllers... that says a lot about the quality of the main Wii controllers, too. Third party support is very important for a console... It's a huge part of its life's blood. Ask Sega if consoles can really survive without decent third party support -- they don't. The third party companies found out the game industry can survive just fine without needing to supply Nintendo consoles with the highest quality games -- especially if Nintendo management is going to interfere with game development, censor their work, and dictate major changes ON TOP OF charging the highest game licensing fees in the videogame industry! It's the management of Nintendo that hasn't figured that part out and drives third party support out with really dumb decisions and declarations. The GameCube in spite of its "failure" had better third party software support up until its final year (before the Wii release) than the Wii has now. The Wii's been stagnant for at least 2 years now. The multi-platform games released for the GameCube were also not noticeably downgraded like they have been for the Wii when companies have bothered to do Wii ports of games. By its Fourth Year, the Wii was effectively dead for many of the hardcore gamers -- the guys who buy more than 3-4 games a year and DON'T rent all their games off NetFlix or from the remaining Blockbuster Video Stores. Nintendo counted on a more casual game crowd to sell the Wii to and they accomplished that with gimmicky motion controls. Unfortunately, they seemed to dismiss hardcore gamers and for the majority of these guys the Wii sits in an entertainment area just gathering dust. The casual crowd is NEVER going to equal the hardcore players in buying power software-wise. Just not gonna happen. Being known as a "technology demonstrator" and the king of shovelware is not a good reputation to have. CPU power and graphics DO count as well as having at least decent third party software support which the Wii DOESN'T have now. The Wii U is already getting the reputation of "having caught up to XBox 360 and PS3 after 6 years." The Wii U will probably have a good first year... After next year, I'm not so sure. Most of the hardcore guys I've talked to already think the Wii U is a joke. We called it right before on the Wii/GameCube 2.0... My own prediction is that if Nintendo doesn't turn around its reputation AND give better support to the third party developers AND they continue the Wii trend of turning off the hardcore gaming crowd, the Wii U could very well be the last gaming console they produce. Nintendo will stay in portables since they seem to understand that market but they've seemed to have lost their way since the GameCube days... |
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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That's an interesting assessment because looking back I half-regret buying a Gamecube, but don't regret buying the Wii at all. Probably because the Gamecube competed with the Playstation 2 which was simply a better system.. the SNES of it's era more or less. But for the Wii? Don't mind that purchase at all. Probably since no single console is so dominating this generation.
What exactly is a "hard-core gamer" anyway? That label gets thrown around a lot but seems to mean different things to different people. I've seen some say it was "when Mario games were hard" to which I reply "Mario games were never hard" Others say those Xbro 360 Call of Duty players. To which I say "Playing a console FPS over a PC FPS is not hardcore in the slightest bit" I'm not sure what that word even means anymore because of how much of a buzzword it's become.
Rogue Galaxy is sadly underrated. Shame, because I love it. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6311 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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The PS2 came really close of getting the record outdoing the NES, but oh well, it came close. |
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DTJB
 Posts: 671 Location: Dubuque, IA |
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Been spending most of my free time these days playing PS3 with a game I spent COUNTLESS hours on the PS2 (3rd Strike) and a game I could have also picked up for the PS2 (Persona 3 FES). When I can afford more money to buy a giant house and more games to put in it, I promise I'll spend most of my cash on more PS2 games.
A twenty one gun salute is in order as I weep these manly tears. |
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DavidShallcross
 Posts: 1008 |
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Somebody else already pointed out the existance of a few PS2 Classics. For example, Odin Sphere. On the other hand, I have found that the PS3 does not play the PS1 version of Final Fantasy II correctly. What I presume are certain graphical effects were implemented in such a way as to cause the game to crash on a PS3. |
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Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
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You know, I never had a playstation of any generation. In retrospect, It's kind of surprising, seeing as I am (now in some ways becoming 'used to be') a pretty big gamer. I had an N64, and later a gamecube and xbox, and in the current gen all I have is a 360. I think the reason I never had a PS was that they never really had any exclusive games that I tremendously wanted to play. The things I'm a huge fan of are all either Nintendo or Xbox exclusives (like pikmin, metroid, halo), or aren't exclusive, so I get them for xbox.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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You can pick up brand-new PS2s really cheap in electronics shops in New Zealand as retailers try and flog off their remaining stock, and I would imagine the same is true in other countries too. So if you have a lot of old PS2 games it might be worth buying a brand-new PS2 just in case your old one dies in the next few years.
I hope the PS4 gets released this coming Christmas, it's about time we had a new console. |
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Mesonoxian Eve
Posts: 1858 |
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I believe you're misunderstanding my position. It's not a "bad thing" for owners and Nintendo, but it is a bad thing for developers who rely on sales. The Wii should have been released with HD, because developers around the world were gearing up for it by spending millions in preparation for the new format. When Iwata stated he saw no significant reason to include HD in the Wii, this split the room instantly. Iwata was clearly incapable of realizing how HD would explode just a year after the Wii was released, but developers knew how important it would become.
Perhaps you're unaware, but you just made the point. The reason the games are best sellers is because they are ported. It's fairly reasonable to assume not too many people own every console, which means the gamer still needs titles.
A well made game is going to sell regardless if it's ported or first party. It's of my opinion this mentality is flawed for this generation of gamers. If a company is trying to sell its console on one or two games exclusive to it, then it's going to limit their audience and revenue potential. When the next gen consoles of the other two are released, they're going to be expensive. It's very likely people will choose one over the other based on those games they've come to enjoy. If the exclusive mentality wasn't restrictive, Microsoft could be making money on Halo from PS4 owners, and likewise God of War to XBox720 owners. Hardware shouldn't be used against gamers for titles, but if this is what the industry wants, the only losers are the gamers who can't (or won't) buy 3 consoles just to play a few games exclusive to them.
That's because we've been forced to think this way. When it was Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, this mentality could drive console sales because they were cheap. We saw what happened with Sega, and this just left Nintendo and Sony for a couple of years. What separated the two instantly became clear: the PS's hardware. The PS2 did something no other console did at the time: it played DVDs too! This was a huge selling point back then. Today, I doubt it's as much a selling point to a new generation of gamers who can now download games.
That's smoke and mirrors, though. If we look at the real picture, the Wii's shovelware was more popular because developers came "late" to the PS3 party and the 360 tanked in Japan. The Wii earned the footnote by default.
Bethesda is a perfect example to use, because it highlights the point. Gamebryo is at fault here, not the core game, and that's because Gamebryo was designed for very specific architecture. I've played many games on the 360, and many seem to have "bugs" in them. I fault this with games being rushed. I pre-ordered Assassin's Creed 3 and firing it up for the first time, I was required to download a patch! Best get used to this, I suppose.
But this is exactly what they're doing right now. A game's engine is critical for development, and many developers had to re-work these engines for the PS3. It's why they were late in developing, and why I believe Sony cut them some slack, financially, so they could make two games.
We're going to disagree on this one. A game should never be the deciding factor of a console's performance. Gamers should never have to worry if FFXIII will play better on one console over the other. Oh, and it's my belief Square-Enix was responsible for the design of the PS3's design. S-E has always been pushing to render true life 3D in real time, and the PS3 can certainly do its best. But look at the sacrifice it had to make: it kept FFXIII from being open world, pushing the entire game on rails. That sucked for a FF game and hundreds of thousands of gamers felt the same way. It's the worst FF game ever made. All because the PS3 changed its design. Well, the good news is Sony recognized its issue of trying to (once again) dominate the gaming scene with proprietary specifications and has ensured developers the PS4 will utilize standard architecture. It's of my belief, though, that the PS4 and the Xbox 720 will pretty much be indistinguishable from one another, being nothing more than a "box that can play games". Now, gamers will simply choose their console on brand preference. While the Wii U can't decide if it wants to be a DS or a Wii with its exclusive catalog. 
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