Hello and welcome to the Weekly Furnessly, content that is hopefully going to be every week. I would have called it the Daily Furnessly except a daily blog would be just too stressful considering that I'm not a very good writer at all. Also the name is a word play, try figuring it out. ![;)]()
Usually the stuff is going to be on about video games however sometimes I might talk about something else.
For any younger members of the forum who want to know, well let's just say that I am an old member of Youchew who has been around since 2007. Try to be in the poop tennis section as well as making videos, didn't work out and got too stressed (plus the videos were poor), was one of the earlier article writers and left since the second sentence would explain it all. You may have even seen me being mentioned on RF Generation where I add some European entries to their system since the site is very US biased. Even sprite ripped on the Spriters Resource in the past but got burnt out. For the older ones wondering what happened to me been unhappy yet again for the past month and lately just too busy playing games to get my mind off it (suppose to be playing Sonic Unleashed on the PS3 right now after finishing Vanquish and dreading when it comes to playing a month of Xenoblade Chronicles next month, ouch).
I was thinking of writing a post on the General Video Game Revengance thread about it however I thought that it is going to be too detailed for that thread and a topic that might be well... a bit unpopular. So without further ado.
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The PlayStation 2. A console for many is loved for its games and that it was really popular in the early to mid 2000s. NeoGaf call it the King of game consoles alongside Pro Evolution Soccer 5 that is the king of all football games. For some it might even be their first console. While this might be a nice set up to talk about how great it is however I do not feel this way both in the past (bearing in mind that I have been playing games since the late 90s and actually experienced this time) and the present. It isn't to say that it is a bad console because it is not but I am going to explain why I don't have the same happy memories of the console.
Firstly I describe from experience. As mentioned I was there when the hype started, I got myself a Dreamcast for my birthday in September 2000 since the PS1 was dying down, the N64 was nearly dead and the games were hard to find plus I wanted a console that had the Sega goodness of its games and very very good arcade ports (e.g. Soul Calibur, Sega Bass Fishing, Confidential Mission, Crazy Taxi [but stopped working and had to take it back to Computer Exchange the first of many many returns], Virtua Tennis, 18 Wheeler and the not so good but finally played it at home Sega Rally 2). As as well as the graphics were better than any console at the time. Then came the PS2 hype, magazines were hyping up the console to silly levels and not just because it had a DVD player even though much of the hype was to do with that and "graphics" as good as Toy Story with tech demo screenshots. I actually got a tape, that's right a VHS tape from somewhere (for young ones reading, before the days of streaming, downloads, Blu-rays and even DVDs; videos were released on tape) showing the PS2. It might have been from E3, can't remember but it didn't show much. The console had a good design at the time though. One of the games shown was Midnight Club, an early PS2 title and the first footage that was a cutscene, it looked okay but afterwards when it showed the actual gameplay footage, it looked awful. Jaggies everywhere, not very good looking textures, not much draw distance and I think it wasn't smooth. While I didn't think it looked BAD back then, my first thought was after watching it "was it an alpha"? Was it even the same game? It might have also had Smuggler's Run too that looked a bit better, probably also Dead or Alive 2 as well showing off a cutscene. Now I'm not sure if Fantavision was on the video, I do know that it is a launch title and remember it at the time. Since I had a Dreamcast, the graphics looked slightly worse in comparison on the games shown. Bearing in mind it took a couple of years before the PS2 had the mega hits coming such as GTA 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2.
Sega then announced that the Dreamcast was dead and as a result meant that the Dreamcast dropped support. The official magazine didn't even review Sonic Adventure 2 like it promised. So in order to continue gaming, I felt that I had to get a PS2 since by 2001 it had a better library and another DVD player would come in handy but for my bedroom. Due to lack of money from those days, games from me were few and far between and many were gifts. Unlike the PS1, I only managed to get a couple of PS2 magazines with demo discs so much of the games back then I bought blind, played the arcade games or from previous experience. Before the Gamecube in early 2002; got James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (not bad), Time Crisis II (finally play it at home!), Silent Scope 2 (ditto), Simpsons Road Rage (Crazy Taxi clone that I did enjoy), Virtua Cop Elite Edition (finally able to play a non-Tiger electronics version of the game) and had to wait until it got to £20 and the Platinum range before getting Gran Turismo 3 and slightly later the PAL/Japan only Gran Turismo Concept. Graphically, most weren't the best and had a very dull look on the graphics where it looked desaturated (Time Crisis 2 and Virtua Cop had better contrast in the arcade) with the more colourful ones being GT3/Concept, Agent Under Fire, Simpsons Road Rage (bad loading times though) and Silent Scope 2 had the same contrast as the arcade/Xbox. This was also from a SCART connection too, the best in PAL land at that time and was from a CRT TV. I also remember the slowdown too, with only the GT games not having that or at least noticeable. It was the gameplay however that made me play the games for what they were. So while I was able to enjoy playing the games, the Gamecube hype got to me and by May 2002 got myself a Gamecube and was more happy.
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2 years later with only GT4 and Time Crisis 3 (both barely played) in terms of PS2 games, Gamecube games were getting really hard to find in the stores with a few retailers refusing to sell Gamecube games (history repeating itself with the Wii U). Since by then I only realised like with the N64, the Dreamcast and now the Gamecube only lasting 3 years from my experiences (plus the Xbox only lasted 4 years in Europe) while at this point the PS2 was 5 years old, I knew something was fishy so I went back towards the PS2 but rather bitterly. Got Sega Classics Collection cheap so I could play some okay to good remakes of Sega games, Capcom Classics Collection to play Capcom arcade games, same thing for the Midway Arcade Treasures trilogy since they weren't released on the Gamecube in Europe, Sonic Gems Collection to play Sonic the Fighters (heard the PS2 version had the JP tracks and bonus games, it didn't on my copy and when I played Sonic CD on it, I used a CD player to play the JP/EU songs, yes I was immature back then) and a gem of a game, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. OutRun 2006 actually impressed me on the PS2 and became my favourite game that still is to this day (will talk about it in the future). It was colourful, looked really good and ran pretty good with a few slowdown spots. Oh and a game crash but it does happen. My last PS2 games of that era were the Sly Cooper trilogy but only managed to to play 1 and 2, didn't play 3 despite having it until the PS3 HD remasters. The slowdown in Sly 1 was really bad on the 3rd World on the PS2 (thankfully fixed on the PS3 version), however the game was enjoyable enough to go to the end.
Thanks to the other consoles dying out and the monopoly of the PS2, it nearly put me off gaming all together since I was just that bitter. Luckily with the DS and later the PSP, I was able to play handheld gaming right up to 2012 when I got a PS3 and my gaming passion has returned.
It was these experiences that taint my like of the console. When I see online especially the GAF praising the console, I have a counter argument in my head. "Every game is 60fps!" More like up to 60fps, many games ran at 30fps (same thing on other consoles) or up to 60 but had slowdowns, sometimes really bad. "Massive fill rate!" Only comes in handy for shmups and Dynasty Warriors where they need lots of the same sprite/model to be on screen. It also doesn't help like the Dreamcast that many of the games that were famous on the PS2 were also ported to the PS3, the Xbox, the PSP, the Vita or even the PC, some even came in trilogy/double packs making them cheaper. GTA (3, Vice City, San Andreas)? Better on the Xbox due to better graphics, smoother frame rate and a few tweaks/bugfixes as well as on the PC, people can mod the games too. God of War 1 & 2 had a better frame rate on the PS3 but not drastically. While Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 lost a few features in the HD packs (one was an online mode that got switched off), it however gained an extra game in the form of Peace Walker HD except the Vita and JP versions. The pack might have had a better frame rate for MGS 3 but not sure. I mentioned the slowdown fix on Sly 1 and the graphics are much clearer to see. Plus in the case of multiple mulitplatform titles, the Xbox or the Gamecube versions were better with a few exceptions where the PS2 was the best version due to graphics, performance, loading times, better sound (Dolby Digital/Pro Logic II), extra features or in the case of the Xbox a hard drive without the need of memory cards. I ended up usually getting a Gamecube or a Xbox version of a game, sometimes even rebuying the game like with OutRun 2006. Then again the PS2 couldn't cope well with certain games such as Max Payne 1 and 2 where they were ported with worse graphics, smaller areas, longer loading times unlike the Xbox version where they were closer to the PC originals. Thanks to this, it is hard to tell whether it is a true exclusive (e.g. The Getaway) or one that is at the time (e.g. Jak and Daxter).
As for the library, much of the currently talked about games don't have any interest such as the Persona/SMT series, Final Fantasy X + XII, Xenosaga, Suikoden, Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud/Chronicle and other genres such as Shadow of the Colossus, SOCOM (at the time not many people had the internet here where I live and was pricey for it, plus wasn't easy getting all the equipment needed too), even the Dragon Ball fighters. They aren't to say that they are bad games since it is understandable why people like these (whether it is the story, the gameplay or something else). Great if someone is into RPGs since there are plenty on the PS2 however I am not into that genre which makes the praise, well not as praisey. There are also a bunch of games that were not released into my region such as Katamari Demancy, Kinetica as well as the Mega Man Collections to know why the games were good (ironically, the first one was made in England based off Rockman Complete Works) and ones that I would have happily bought back in the day but not a chance due to JP only such as Dynamite Deka, Monster World Collection, Fantasy Zone Collection and Sega Rally 2006. This was another reason at the time since I saw all these lovely games online only to be heartbroken that sorry, this game is not coming out in Europe (similar thing to Smashing Drive on the Gamecube).
Honestly I would love to know why and finding that PS2 exclusive that makes me like the console. I thought OutRun 2006 was it but founded out that it got released on the PSP and the Xbox, ended up buying both and the Xbox version has more content without cheating. A game that makes the PS2 what it is, was released in Europe, that I can't play on another console (such as Ratchet & Clank and played most of the main games on the PS3 except Gladiator/Deadlocked). As I already said, hard to know what is an exclusive now and actually could do with some recommendations (providing that the games are cheaper enough).
The ironic thing is that I actually really like Sony's other consoles quite a fair bit. The PS1 gave me lots of memories and great games such as Crash 2, Gran Turismo, GTA, Rage Racer, Ridge Racer Type 4, Metal Gear Solid, ports of Point Blank and Time Crisis among other games. The PS3 I am playing rather regularly with so many decent to great games on the thing with Yakuza 5 and probably Battlefield Hardline being the last games that I will get for it (not bad for a console that is nearly 8 years old) and being my own Blu-ray player. PSP was nice especially with some games especially Dracula X Chronicles and Burnout Legends but faulted by its poor battery life and the Vita is a console that is a great handheld but nearly dead apart from the odd indie or the Japanesey games that I am not into (e.g. Hyperdimension Neptunia, etc) thanks to the changing gaming climate.
It isn't to say that I hate the PS2, this year I got 3 proper exclusive games and a Sega game. Smash Court Tennis, Formula 1 2001 (both really cheap), The Getaway (the original version with the BT vans) and Headhunter. I have also played a few on the PCSX2 emulator such as Time Crisis 2 and Virtua Cop Elite Edition, just how I remember them (my computer can't run The Getaway or a found copy of Ratchet & Clank 2 very well at all). Plus I don't get rid of any console since one day, that PS2 spark might alight for me. I mean the PSP, the Wii side of the Wii U and the 3DS all had negative first impressions but ended up really liking them.
So there we have it, a bit long but goes towards my experiences regarding the PS2. I know more people would have more positive ones rather than a distilled slightly disappointing one like mine. Then again I hope that one day this disappointment would drop and follow yet not as much as to why the PS2 is worth remembering.
Usually the stuff is going to be on about video games however sometimes I might talk about something else.For any younger members of the forum who want to know, well let's just say that I am an old member of Youchew who has been around since 2007. Try to be in the poop tennis section as well as making videos, didn't work out and got too stressed (plus the videos were poor), was one of the earlier article writers and left since the second sentence would explain it all. You may have even seen me being mentioned on RF Generation where I add some European entries to their system since the site is very US biased. Even sprite ripped on the Spriters Resource in the past but got burnt out. For the older ones wondering what happened to me been unhappy yet again for the past month and lately just too busy playing games to get my mind off it (suppose to be playing Sonic Unleashed on the PS3 right now after finishing Vanquish and dreading when it comes to playing a month of Xenoblade Chronicles next month, ouch).
I was thinking of writing a post on the General Video Game Revengance thread about it however I thought that it is going to be too detailed for that thread and a topic that might be well... a bit unpopular. So without further ado.
The PlayStation 2. A console for many is loved for its games and that it was really popular in the early to mid 2000s. NeoGaf call it the King of game consoles alongside Pro Evolution Soccer 5 that is the king of all football games. For some it might even be their first console. While this might be a nice set up to talk about how great it is however I do not feel this way both in the past (bearing in mind that I have been playing games since the late 90s and actually experienced this time) and the present. It isn't to say that it is a bad console because it is not but I am going to explain why I don't have the same happy memories of the console.
Firstly I describe from experience. As mentioned I was there when the hype started, I got myself a Dreamcast for my birthday in September 2000 since the PS1 was dying down, the N64 was nearly dead and the games were hard to find plus I wanted a console that had the Sega goodness of its games and very very good arcade ports (e.g. Soul Calibur, Sega Bass Fishing, Confidential Mission, Crazy Taxi [but stopped working and had to take it back to Computer Exchange the first of many many returns], Virtua Tennis, 18 Wheeler and the not so good but finally played it at home Sega Rally 2). As as well as the graphics were better than any console at the time. Then came the PS2 hype, magazines were hyping up the console to silly levels and not just because it had a DVD player even though much of the hype was to do with that and "graphics" as good as Toy Story with tech demo screenshots. I actually got a tape, that's right a VHS tape from somewhere (for young ones reading, before the days of streaming, downloads, Blu-rays and even DVDs; videos were released on tape) showing the PS2. It might have been from E3, can't remember but it didn't show much. The console had a good design at the time though. One of the games shown was Midnight Club, an early PS2 title and the first footage that was a cutscene, it looked okay but afterwards when it showed the actual gameplay footage, it looked awful. Jaggies everywhere, not very good looking textures, not much draw distance and I think it wasn't smooth. While I didn't think it looked BAD back then, my first thought was after watching it "was it an alpha"? Was it even the same game? It might have also had Smuggler's Run too that looked a bit better, probably also Dead or Alive 2 as well showing off a cutscene. Now I'm not sure if Fantavision was on the video, I do know that it is a launch title and remember it at the time. Since I had a Dreamcast, the graphics looked slightly worse in comparison on the games shown. Bearing in mind it took a couple of years before the PS2 had the mega hits coming such as GTA 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2.
Sega then announced that the Dreamcast was dead and as a result meant that the Dreamcast dropped support. The official magazine didn't even review Sonic Adventure 2 like it promised. So in order to continue gaming, I felt that I had to get a PS2 since by 2001 it had a better library and another DVD player would come in handy but for my bedroom. Due to lack of money from those days, games from me were few and far between and many were gifts. Unlike the PS1, I only managed to get a couple of PS2 magazines with demo discs so much of the games back then I bought blind, played the arcade games or from previous experience. Before the Gamecube in early 2002; got James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (not bad), Time Crisis II (finally play it at home!), Silent Scope 2 (ditto), Simpsons Road Rage (Crazy Taxi clone that I did enjoy), Virtua Cop Elite Edition (finally able to play a non-Tiger electronics version of the game) and had to wait until it got to £20 and the Platinum range before getting Gran Turismo 3 and slightly later the PAL/Japan only Gran Turismo Concept. Graphically, most weren't the best and had a very dull look on the graphics where it looked desaturated (Time Crisis 2 and Virtua Cop had better contrast in the arcade) with the more colourful ones being GT3/Concept, Agent Under Fire, Simpsons Road Rage (bad loading times though) and Silent Scope 2 had the same contrast as the arcade/Xbox. This was also from a SCART connection too, the best in PAL land at that time and was from a CRT TV. I also remember the slowdown too, with only the GT games not having that or at least noticeable. It was the gameplay however that made me play the games for what they were. So while I was able to enjoy playing the games, the Gamecube hype got to me and by May 2002 got myself a Gamecube and was more happy.
2 years later with only GT4 and Time Crisis 3 (both barely played) in terms of PS2 games, Gamecube games were getting really hard to find in the stores with a few retailers refusing to sell Gamecube games (history repeating itself with the Wii U). Since by then I only realised like with the N64, the Dreamcast and now the Gamecube only lasting 3 years from my experiences (plus the Xbox only lasted 4 years in Europe) while at this point the PS2 was 5 years old, I knew something was fishy so I went back towards the PS2 but rather bitterly. Got Sega Classics Collection cheap so I could play some okay to good remakes of Sega games, Capcom Classics Collection to play Capcom arcade games, same thing for the Midway Arcade Treasures trilogy since they weren't released on the Gamecube in Europe, Sonic Gems Collection to play Sonic the Fighters (heard the PS2 version had the JP tracks and bonus games, it didn't on my copy and when I played Sonic CD on it, I used a CD player to play the JP/EU songs, yes I was immature back then) and a gem of a game, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. OutRun 2006 actually impressed me on the PS2 and became my favourite game that still is to this day (will talk about it in the future). It was colourful, looked really good and ran pretty good with a few slowdown spots. Oh and a game crash but it does happen. My last PS2 games of that era were the Sly Cooper trilogy but only managed to to play 1 and 2, didn't play 3 despite having it until the PS3 HD remasters. The slowdown in Sly 1 was really bad on the 3rd World on the PS2 (thankfully fixed on the PS3 version), however the game was enjoyable enough to go to the end.
Thanks to the other consoles dying out and the monopoly of the PS2, it nearly put me off gaming all together since I was just that bitter. Luckily with the DS and later the PSP, I was able to play handheld gaming right up to 2012 when I got a PS3 and my gaming passion has returned.
It was these experiences that taint my like of the console. When I see online especially the GAF praising the console, I have a counter argument in my head. "Every game is 60fps!" More like up to 60fps, many games ran at 30fps (same thing on other consoles) or up to 60 but had slowdowns, sometimes really bad. "Massive fill rate!" Only comes in handy for shmups and Dynasty Warriors where they need lots of the same sprite/model to be on screen. It also doesn't help like the Dreamcast that many of the games that were famous on the PS2 were also ported to the PS3, the Xbox, the PSP, the Vita or even the PC, some even came in trilogy/double packs making them cheaper. GTA (3, Vice City, San Andreas)? Better on the Xbox due to better graphics, smoother frame rate and a few tweaks/bugfixes as well as on the PC, people can mod the games too. God of War 1 & 2 had a better frame rate on the PS3 but not drastically. While Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 lost a few features in the HD packs (one was an online mode that got switched off), it however gained an extra game in the form of Peace Walker HD except the Vita and JP versions. The pack might have had a better frame rate for MGS 3 but not sure. I mentioned the slowdown fix on Sly 1 and the graphics are much clearer to see. Plus in the case of multiple mulitplatform titles, the Xbox or the Gamecube versions were better with a few exceptions where the PS2 was the best version due to graphics, performance, loading times, better sound (Dolby Digital/Pro Logic II), extra features or in the case of the Xbox a hard drive without the need of memory cards. I ended up usually getting a Gamecube or a Xbox version of a game, sometimes even rebuying the game like with OutRun 2006. Then again the PS2 couldn't cope well with certain games such as Max Payne 1 and 2 where they were ported with worse graphics, smaller areas, longer loading times unlike the Xbox version where they were closer to the PC originals. Thanks to this, it is hard to tell whether it is a true exclusive (e.g. The Getaway) or one that is at the time (e.g. Jak and Daxter).
As for the library, much of the currently talked about games don't have any interest such as the Persona/SMT series, Final Fantasy X + XII, Xenosaga, Suikoden, Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud/Chronicle and other genres such as Shadow of the Colossus, SOCOM (at the time not many people had the internet here where I live and was pricey for it, plus wasn't easy getting all the equipment needed too), even the Dragon Ball fighters. They aren't to say that they are bad games since it is understandable why people like these (whether it is the story, the gameplay or something else). Great if someone is into RPGs since there are plenty on the PS2 however I am not into that genre which makes the praise, well not as praisey. There are also a bunch of games that were not released into my region such as Katamari Demancy, Kinetica as well as the Mega Man Collections to know why the games were good (ironically, the first one was made in England based off Rockman Complete Works) and ones that I would have happily bought back in the day but not a chance due to JP only such as Dynamite Deka, Monster World Collection, Fantasy Zone Collection and Sega Rally 2006. This was another reason at the time since I saw all these lovely games online only to be heartbroken that sorry, this game is not coming out in Europe (similar thing to Smashing Drive on the Gamecube).
Honestly I would love to know why and finding that PS2 exclusive that makes me like the console. I thought OutRun 2006 was it but founded out that it got released on the PSP and the Xbox, ended up buying both and the Xbox version has more content without cheating. A game that makes the PS2 what it is, was released in Europe, that I can't play on another console (such as Ratchet & Clank and played most of the main games on the PS3 except Gladiator/Deadlocked). As I already said, hard to know what is an exclusive now and actually could do with some recommendations (providing that the games are cheaper enough).
The ironic thing is that I actually really like Sony's other consoles quite a fair bit. The PS1 gave me lots of memories and great games such as Crash 2, Gran Turismo, GTA, Rage Racer, Ridge Racer Type 4, Metal Gear Solid, ports of Point Blank and Time Crisis among other games. The PS3 I am playing rather regularly with so many decent to great games on the thing with Yakuza 5 and probably Battlefield Hardline being the last games that I will get for it (not bad for a console that is nearly 8 years old) and being my own Blu-ray player. PSP was nice especially with some games especially Dracula X Chronicles and Burnout Legends but faulted by its poor battery life and the Vita is a console that is a great handheld but nearly dead apart from the odd indie or the Japanesey games that I am not into (e.g. Hyperdimension Neptunia, etc) thanks to the changing gaming climate.
It isn't to say that I hate the PS2, this year I got 3 proper exclusive games and a Sega game. Smash Court Tennis, Formula 1 2001 (both really cheap), The Getaway (the original version with the BT vans) and Headhunter. I have also played a few on the PCSX2 emulator such as Time Crisis 2 and Virtua Cop Elite Edition, just how I remember them (my computer can't run The Getaway or a found copy of Ratchet & Clank 2 very well at all). Plus I don't get rid of any console since one day, that PS2 spark might alight for me. I mean the PSP, the Wii side of the Wii U and the 3DS all had negative first impressions but ended up really liking them.
So there we have it, a bit long but goes towards my experiences regarding the PS2. I know more people would have more positive ones rather than a distilled slightly disappointing one like mine. Then again I hope that one day this disappointment would drop and follow yet not as much as to why the PS2 is worth remembering.