It's official, gaming fans. The PlayStation 2 has turned 25 when it came out in Japan and in North America. This is the console that became developer-friendly and has most popular and critically acclaimed titles. In fact, it is arguably one of our most favorite Sony consoles of all time. I'm gonna start from the beginning on playing PS2 games during my childhood as well as the life cycle.
October 26 is when the PS2 came out in North America. There was a point of time when I was playing PS2 games during my childhood when I was a kid. I have enjoyed a lot of them and I was astonished at them. This console became the most popular because of backwards compatibility to every PS1 game and accessory, most popular and acclaimed titles and all that. It became developer-friendly unlike other platforms that failed and didn't come close to the renowned Sony did in both eras. This has exposed a reason why I'm into PS2 games as I am with PS1 games because both consoles became renowned and so appealing.
I remember what former PlayStation boss, Jim Ryan, has said about PS1 and PS2 games while he was at a Gran Turismo event. He has disrespected and infuriated us retro gamers to our face. He said all that about what we love and cherished for years. How dare he talk down to the golden media that is playing PS1 and PS2 games.
When the PS3 came out, none of the models support full backwards compatibility. Some are backwards compatible to PS1 games while some are backwards compatible to PS2 games. The PS3 has a vast library of PS1 games, but a limited selection of PS2 games, which doesn't do us any good. Then PS Now came to have a limited selection of PS2 games and that's not nearly enough. I have been wanting to revisit my PS2 games from my childhood other than the ones on PS Now, but none of Sony's modern platforms were fully backwards compatible to classic generations because of the PS3's Cell processor and PS Now had a limited selection, rendering it terrible. For years, we've been requesting for an upgrade to PS Now that would bring in a PS1 catalog and a vast selection of games.
But fast forward to 2022, Sony has planned to compete with Xbox Game Pass by developing a beefed up PlayStation Plus with two additional tiers, Extra and Premium. The Premium Tier caught millions of players' eye that it offers a vast selection of PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games. This was met with fan excitement about those that are looking forward to playing their games they played during their childhood. However, when the service launched, there aren't any new PS2 games so far, until in 2024 when Sony has a brand new PS2 emulator to pave the way for more PS2 games. Finally, my endeavor to revisit PS2 games I played during my childhood has been claimed after all these years.
It went well with revisiting Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus, a PS2 game I played during my childhood. I pretty much loved it and I have beaten it, but not when I was a kid. It also went well with revisiting the sequel. I loved the innovations the game has made, having a Mickey, Donald and Goofy-style trio. I am looking forward to revisit Sly 3 and its crazy adventures soon. I gave my shoutout to Kevin Miller for killing the voice acting of Sly Cooper, both when I was a kid and in this generation.
And I heard Sucker Punch is eyeing on the return of Sly Cooper or the third Ghost game. I thought Sucker Punch said that they're done with Sly Cooper after Sanzaru took over. I think Sucker Punch should bring Sly Cooper back into the limelight and resolve the cliffhanger that was left off in Thieves in Time. Sly is stuck in Egypt and we need them to get him out of there lickety-split and maybe have an episode where the Cooper Gang goes to Hawaii in search of a new member of the Cooper Gang because none of the games involved a Hawaii episode.
To support a Hawaii episode for the new Sly Cooper, I made an Old Man Sly video where the Cooper Gang are going to Hawaii in search of a new member. I have the link, so go check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkREGugNbRI
Of course, I had to make this video that features the new gal from Hawaii where Old Man Sly throws a tantrum over desserts at Boss' Pizza & Chicken. I have the link to it below as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4BTFMhNsfk
So originally, this video was supposed to cover that place I want to go in my old stomping grounds, Wana Pizza, but decided to make it Boss' Pizza & Chicken instead. How ironic that being around those people in big places at my old stomping grounds to bolster seeking my old friends would apply to this.
The process of releasing PS2 games is turning out to be smooth so far and had not backfired. Not one time. If I recall correctly, they have been releasing a lot of PS2 games so far to make things up, especially when PlayStation turned 30, three new PS2 games were revealed with a little bit of Sly Cooper news and it became a big win for us.
However, while the PS2 does have critically acclaimed and most popular titles like the PS1, there are two outliers that have games that couldn't become successful like those in the PS1 era, the orange marsupial Crash Bandicoot and the purple fiery roastmaster Spyro the Dragon. Both of them became kings of the PlayStation in their time in their original trilogies that became the most popular. Naughty Dog and Insomniac had a three-game contract with Universal to develop the original trilogies. They are the developers that made Universal so amazing even though they treated them like crap just by turning off the air conditioner to the building during crunch time, which is just not cool.
After Naughty Dog and Insomniac left for Sony to make Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank for the PS2, things took a turn for the franchises after Universal passed the franchises to different studios to continue the franchises. None of the games that came out after the original trilogies came close to the performance of the original trilogies. We can all agree that they all fell short because Universal became a terrible company and they had NO idea what they were doing. But I do love some of these games as a kid and been wanting to revisit them today. I don't care if none of them came close to how well the originals have performed. I just want to revisit the Wrath of Cortex, which sold more units than the original trilogy being an excuse to defend it and its great music.
But here's another thing. Not only the PS2 is developer-friendly, but has great games based on TV shows, movies and anime. The Simpsons: Hit & Run became a perfect example of a great game based on a TV show. While not critically acclaimed, it's a decent game overall. The plot is bearable and based on the unhinged moments we seen in the Simpsons. Then Buffy the Vampire Slayer came along to receive a video game adaptation. There are games based on anime like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto. They became successful. These games are what made the PS2 so appealing. Japanese companies were able to develop games for the PS2 well without losing any money.
Japanese companies developing games on the PS2 lead to releasing games by NIS, Square Enix and other companies. There is a vast majority of games released on the Japanese market. The GameCube did have some games by Japanese companies, but the original Xbox however, didn't do well in the Japanese market because the system was well-liked in the American market. This exposed why the PS2 became the bestselling system in the 6th generation because it was developer-friendly like the PS1.
One last thing to conclude with on what makes the PS2 generation the best generation like other consoles in the 6th generation. There are several things; the use of Dolby Pro Logic II, Sofdec, ADX and THX, advanced power and nostalgic defunct video game companies. These respective elements have less room for error and their respective logos were present in retro 3D generations. I have to stress out nostalgic defunct video game companies. What do I mean is that I'm talking about nostalgic companies that went defunct during the PS2 and PS3 generations, like Midway, THQ, Universal (not the movie company), Namco, SquareSoft, Enix, Koei and Tecmo. The ones that aren't nostalgic are SEGA, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo, and WB Games. They aren't considered as nostalgic because they are still prevalent and around in today's market, especially in this generation.
This gaming generation does suck because of greed banked by AAA companies, remakes and microtransactions. That's why they prefer indies now because they're reasonably priced. I prefer them too, especially the ones that are released on consoles. But I loved the new systems that produce faster loading times and Sony's innovative approach of the DualSense controller. In fact, I like to play my oldies on PS5 rather than buying a PS2 and its games because downloading classics on PS5 and PS4 is much faster. You don't have to put in discs.
All of this is why the PS2 is our most favorite console of all time. We can be able to celebrate the console's 25th year by playing PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5, including Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Soul Calibur III, which are the two new PS2 games launching on the classics catalog this year and they are going to be a part of the PS2's 25th year celebration to make things even more exciting.
However, the lackluster one classic game per month release cadence was slammed by many, especially when there are many of their fan-favorites are just itching to be on the classics catalog. But Sony is listening to the criticism surrounding the one classic game per month release cadence and they will never return to their lackluster cadence ever again and hopefully picking up the pace by releasing five classic games per month, so this means the Simpsons Hit & Run, Ape Escape 3 and other heavy hitters will have more of a chance. Regardless, the PS2's 25th anniversary will still be hype because we can play PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5, including the ones with emulation features.
We saw the brand's 30th anniversary celebration become even more hype because of PlayStation Plus Premium. I have the link to the post that covered it all right here.
https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2024/12/playstation-30th-anniversary-is-here.html
No comments:
Post a Comment