Playstation 2 comes out this Thursday. If I were a man of means, I would rush out and buy it. However, all my disposable income is tied up this year (and every year for the forseeable future) in clothes, food, and school fees for my kids. I tried to spin it for my wife: “But honey, it plays DVDs! We could buy Toy Story 2 for the kids and they could enjoy it in crisp digital splendor!” She wouldn’t go for it. I’m thinking I will finally be able to buy this system in a couple years, when the price drops to $99 (heck, that’s how I got my current Playstation).
But I don’t ask for your pity. No, I am too proud for that.
Instead, I ask: Are any of you rushing out to buy it? Please tell me, so that I may add your name to my list of envy and loathing. Oh, and keep me in mind if you need a partner for Madden 2001.
I have never owned a video game station. Not for a lack of cash or interest but more for a lack of attention span for most (or all) video games.
However, now that I’ve got a Sony home entertainment system with surround sound and a nifty Games audio setting (among many others), I am more keen than ever to buy a video game. Sony’s player2 seems like a natural choice.
The only thing is, I don’t know if there will be many titles available with it and which are the good ones. I guess I’ll have to start readin Gamer or Wired mags to figure it out.
Another reservation I just thought of as I write this is the station that Microsoft has been promissing for next year. It’s supposed to blow the doors off everything to date. Perhaps I should wait for that… see… I don’t know if my heart is really in this…
When they dropped the price on Play Station to $99, I went right out and got one. Mainly because I needed a new CD player anyway and figured I might as well be able to play games as well if I’m so inclined. I use the CD player all the time. The only game that I actaully play very much is Tiger Woods golf. Too many damn button for those of us in the Atari generation to handle.
That being said, sledman just asked me yesterday when I was going out to get the Play Station 2. I’ll probably get it by the end of the year if for nothing else than the DVD player. Plus, you have to figure there’s going to be some awesome games, and hopefully a couple that even I can figure out!
Bottle, you know me well enough by now that as soon as I heard even a rumour of Playstation 2 I made plans for the purchase. Unfortunately, we dropped any expendable money we had (and some we didn’t) on the new computer, so we’re in the same boat.
Possibly, after the new year, once I recover from Christmas I can renew Operation Time-Waste.
Everywhere I go, I hear that no PS2s are available unless you reserve them months ago, so I wouldn’t sweat it. From what I have seen and heard, you couldn’t buy one anyway if you had a million dollars.
I just want a PS2 because it will play DVDs, and I want a DVD player, so I may as well get one you can plug video games into. I don’t really like console games enough to buy a console just for that purpose.
Bosc: MSRP $299 - expect to see it for $1200-$1500 around 12/19 on eBay. Yep, you can play all your old PSX games.
BoS, yes, I am getting one. In fact, because I’m a greedy bastard, and because this is the US, I’m buying several. Well, actually, I have “orders” in at iDerive (their PS2 link) that’ll pay you if they can’t get it to you. And they won’t. I did actually order one of the bundles at KB (*their* PS2 link) for myself. OTOH, my friend talked me into hitting up a nearby 24 hour Wal-Mart which, because they did NOT take pre-orders, will be selling there’s come midnight. If any of my iDerive orders come through, I’ll probably sell one to cover the cost, then donate the other to an orphanage or something…
QS, reveal what types of games you like, and I’ll let you know what you need to get. (Oh yes, you need to get them. Trust me.)
Gazoo – Two words: Syphon Filter. Put that Tiger Woods down, go get a copy and you will soon be a twitching, drooling drone staring fixedly at your TV as all your free time slowly drifts away.
Jack, I understand your dilemma. Waiting is probably best, anyway. There are only a handful of games out now, and it will be a while before the developers really figure out how to push the new hardware to its limits. So the best games are likely a ways off. At some point next year Sony will drop the price and then maybe I’ll seriously consider it, especially since we have wanted to get a DVD player someday anyway (kind of what RickJay said).
Still, if I just hadn’t seen that Gran Turismo 3 demo on ign.com…Kilgore, MGS 2 might just end my life as I know it.
Boscibo – Right now it is going for $299 and Sony says you will be able to play almost all the old Playstation games on it (the almost worries me…)
BoS: I have you down as a possible teammate (or, if you suck, opponent) for Madden 2001. Because I played it at E3, and OMG, it is frickin’ awesome! So is FIFA 2001, but since I don’t play soccer games, I don’t really care. MGS2 looks to be the coolest thing ever, and of course, FF X is looming over the horizon…
Update: KB is no longer taking pre-orders (sorry guys), and iDerive pushed back their notification dates (sorry again). FTR, neither Wal-Mart, Sears, Toys ‘R’ Us (strangely enough), took pre-orders, so you can storm their doors if you have to get a PS2 before March. Also, I have unconfirmed rumors that OfficeMax (of all places), Best Buy, and CompUSA will be selling them.
[sub]I need help. Somebody help me. Please, before it’s too late…[/sub]
KK, you are the first name to officially go on my envy list. As the first, I curse you: may you develop painful thumb cramps!
I’m betting I would be better suited as your opponent than your teammate on Madden (I suck, though in my defense the only football game I own is NFL Gameday 98. I couldn’t justify owning more than one until PS2 was out).
I like flight sim games especially where you get to be in dog fights. Space fighter games are fun too. I’m a big fan of racing games but they should be realistic, not the sort where you can flip the car 17 times and keep driving without losing your position.
Adventure games can be fun too. Don’t mind the Doom style games where you travel through a labyrinth and kill bad guys in the process, but they do get dull after a little while.
Sports, well, maybe hockey or soccer. Not a baseball, football, basketball or golf fan at all. Downhill skiing might be fun but I can’t see how they can make a successful game out of that.
Hey, are there video games out there for little kids aged 4 or so. Something to challenge their problem solving skill but not frighten them with gore and mayhem? My oldest is great at computer kid games and likes puzzles and mazes a lot. Anything you can recommend for little kids would be great as well.
Thanks much. Kilgore Trout:
What do you mean gimmick?! That “Games” audio feature alone sold me on the entertainment system!
I’m not buying it, for the simple fact that the Playstation 3 is going to be so much better. One would be able to play NCUBE(Nintendo’s next platform) games, all Playstation games, Dreamcast games, and computer games on it. Not to mention all the other cool stuff that you can do with the PS2.
I’m a hardcore videogame junkie but will not be buying a PS2. Why? For $300 I’d be getting a mediocre DVD player with a corded remote (back to '84 with ya), very few good games at launch (SSX, RR5, and DOA2 are about it- Tekken got stale a while ago), and that’s if I can even find games for it for the next several months. I already own a Dreamcast which has 100+ games, online support in place (if you haven’t played NFL 2K1 DO IT NOW!), will play Playstation games thanks to Bleem, and costs half as much. I’m not a Sega loyalist (thanks to the experience of owning a Saturn and Sega CD) but if you take an unbiased look at the systems, I can’t see how you could lean to the Playstation 2.
I am getting one, and I did pre-order it months ago. But at current time I am still using a Sega Genesis, so to me it was a long overdue upgrade in my gaming experience anyway.
Nope. I’m gonna get me a shiny new Xbox when it comes out next Nov.
Supposed to be 4 to 8 times more powerful than the PS2, and have tons of developers on board to make great games. It’s also been theorized that by next Nov. all 2nd gen. systems will drop in price to $200.
Also against the PS2 is it’s been pretty buggy in Japan, and there’s tons of add ons to buy (hard drive, remote control, cable modem, etc) that’ll drive up the total cost like an extra 150 bucks. 450 bucks for a system that’ll be a quarter as powerful as a system coming out in a year for half the cost? I can wait. The DVD player has been reviewed as merely adequate on the PS2 as well (see: http://dvd.ign.com/hardware/21.html ). So another strike against.
Check out http://xbox.ign.com/ to get some more info about the xbox.
If you still are determined to get a PS2, check out http://ps2.ign.com/news/26450.html for reviews of all the up-coming games for the PS2 to be released at launch.
