DrEvil

Well, I'd stuck to my "if I can't buy it over the counter without putting my name down, I ain't buying one" sucessfully until this weekend just gone.. HMV had some in stock for joe public..

I now have a PS2 as well as my DC...

Being aware of all the probs surrounding this box, I was a little wary but knew worst case Sony alledge 48hr replacement of knackered goods..

So, I got myself a PS2, two controllers, memory card, s-video splitter (no RGB dvd playback :I ), SSX, TimeSplitters, TekkenTag and Rayman Evolution (keeps the girlie happy)...

First impressions were that it was better than PSone, but not to the point where I went WOW or anything.. Tekken is a lot prettier but no quite as pretty as I thought it would be... The DC version of Soul Caliber beats TekkenTag I feel...
Rayman is good, very cartoon, but isnt as bigger step up visually from the N64 versions as I would have thought it should be...
TimeSplitters, looks good, but think I need to play it more before commenting..
Infact SSX is probably the only thing that has been the saving grace for this platform, its a brilliant game both visually and playability wise..

I sincerely hope the quality of games improves, otherwise I think I'll just keep buying the good PSone titles to play on it..

As for the DVD playback, well, I can't believe they dropped RGB playback for protection reasons (piracy prevention).. bunch of Rsss... S-video is OK from a distance, but RGB should have a been a must.. As for lipsync probs, apparently Japan are getting the new 2.01 drivers soon, so hopefully we will too...

Basically the DC has a better a selection of games, that are IMHO better graphically and playability wise.. unless you really want a DVD player (which the PS2 is not a good one), get yourself a DC and wait for PS2 to come down to a more reasonable price.

Just my 10cents worth, I realise similar has been said before..

Rgds, Alex

PS. Electronics Boutique are selling some of the more suss PS2 titles for 30 quid in Guildford at the mow...

[This message has been edited by DrEvil (edited 22 January 2001).]

GranTurismo

Hello,

I agree,

I showed my DC owning mate Teken Tag and Felt smug untill he showed me Soul Caliber which is just as prettey and a lot more fun and original.

The PS2 Needs time to mature as did the DC. Remember that the DC has been out for over a year.

My main Concern rearfing the PS2 is that it is going to be plagued by sequals and identikit games. As a PS1 owner I have played most of the classics like Colin MCree wipeout Tomb Raider, GT etc so I am not really really looking forward to paling the same game but at a higher resolution. IF GT has more card on the reack IF resident Evil has lots more Zombies, Generally I want the power to be use to add to the game, not make it just look nicer.

DVD Stuff.

I have watched 3 or 4 DVD's with no problems at all. I can not get any green stuff even if I use the RGB leads or scart block supplied. My TV is about 3 years old and is a very standard Toshiba unit. If my DVD player diddnt work I would use it as and excuse to ask for a refund and wait untill some decent games are out!

The Drivers on my PS2 are 1.20e

DrEvil

GT, agreed mate.. it does need time to mature.. Although, SoulCabiler was one of the first games out on DC...

And I also agree that they should make the games suitably different, as you say, we don't want to play hi-res more colour versions of the games we've been playing on PSone for the last few years.. they are going to have to add some new stuff in, a lot of new stuff..

DVD wise, I was comparing it to my dedicated DVD unit.. look at it this way, when you put the PS2 games through a fully connected scart lead, you know how much cleaner and crisper the picture is, well same with DVD.. which the standalone units support.. shame the PS2 doesnt but hey, s'pose you've got one unit that does PSone, PS2, audio, DVD ROM and DVD Video all in one.. shouldnt grumble too much...

Alex

[This message has been edited by DrEvil (edited 22 January 2001).]

Shaun

You have both said, what I have been saying since the release of the PS2!!! But one careful point is the fact that the PS2 IS nearly 1 year old (from Japanese launch), and quite frankly the amount/quality of games on import from both USA & JAPAN is nothing short of rubbish!!!.....for what is supposed to be THE next gen machine!

The PS2 may be selling MORE than the Dreamcast, but this doesnt play down the fact that the software is'nt there!!! People KEEP GOING ON ABOUT how brilliant GT3 and MGS2 will be, but come on people, smell the coffee, these are ONLY TWO games!!! How can anybody justify a £300 machine, on the outcome of a couple of anticipated games!!!

??????

People with a Dreamcast have got some MEGA games to look forward to upon PAL release. I have just recently purchased a rake of import games, and they are all nothing short of awesome!!!

Shaun.

Bajie

This is a debate that will go on and on and on.
The only thing I will say in defence of the PS2 is that, taking into account the standard of the games throughout its lifetime, the quality for PS1 games was ever improving.
This will also be the case for the PS2.
As far as the DC goes.
I'm not buying anything else from Sega or Nintendo as whenever they improve their console you end up with a lot of obsolete hardware. At least I can be nostalgic with my old PS games once in a while.

DrEvil

Bajie,

Yes, true games do improve as the developers learn new tricks on the hardware. I seem to remember however, that PSone did have some stonking titles at launch that really set it aside from the other consoles around at the time.

And a major plus is the PSone compatibility, so you don't have to buy all new h/w and games... Which means they need to concentrate on not just releasing visually and audibly tarted up versions of the same games.. unfortunately, so far, this is mostly what they've done.

Shaun

Agreed mate. I was going to sell the DC, but think I will keep it to co-exist with the PS2...

Rgds, Alex

Richard F

Hmmmm well if it's like programming the Amiga's custom chipset, it'll be pretty easy to code for. I used to write games stuff on my Amiga and it was no problem at all. Anyway, I'd tend to agree that DC does have better titles at the mo but I'm sure that PS2 will get there because everyone still wants one and developers know that.

Also, no-one seems to have discussed the rumour of Sega getting out of the console business altogether and concentrating on the software only.

DazV

I'd happily sell my PS2 right now - I've hardly touched the damn thing.

On the other hand, I can't leave my Dreamcast alone! ShenMue, Daytona2001, Soul Calibur, SuperRunAbout SF, Sonic Adventure, 18Wheeler, LeMans, MSR, CodeVeronica - the Dreamcast oozes class.

The Playstation2 is difficult to program - games take MUCH longer to develope on (its like programming the Amiga's customer chipsets Copper Agnus & Denise I'm told)

By the time Sony gets its finger out we'll have XBOX (which WILL be easy to program and will have Square and Konami and all the Jap boys who KNOW how to write a good game all over it), and we'll have GameCube too (assuming you import both!)

I'll come back to PS2 next Christmas when it MIGHT have some good games.

DazV
(PS: Avoid 'Vanishing Point' on DC - its CRAP)

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

hmmmm.....

I've owned a Dreamcast for over a year now. (Packed a Japanese system into my suitcase when I was last in Hong Kong)

The limited number of games was off putting at first, but the jump when compared to my old Playstation was massive!!

I still have both machines, as I've found most of the addictive and playable games on the Playstation, but the Dreamcast was some games which means I'll keep it a bit longer! (Crazy Taxi is a fave!)

Imagine my delight when over Xmas, a friend had a two week loan of his brothers PS2!! He had all the games!!! (Well everything except the football one!! - but every other UK release at xmas time!!)

My inital impression were...."This is a £300 machine is it???" I'll be sticking with the Dreamcast & Playstation combo!!!

The only game we played until 3am was Tekken Tag Challenge. Why?? Well we both play Tekken too much in the arcades and on the Playstation!!!

Personally the only game I'd buy is Tekken, but why spend nearly £350 for a game that still works on the Playstation!!! At current prices, PS1 & Tekken 3 is about £110!!

I'm sure I'll buy one when the quality of the titles improve and when the price of the console drops!!

My take on things!!!
Andy

TRIGGER

Alex, I did exactly the same as you - wasnt going to buy one until generally available - then one was available for sale in front of me and I got it.

Very disappointed in the games so far - F1 is just a reworking of the PSone game with slightly better graphics and not much else. Other games I have tried are also rubbish. The only exception I have found so far is SSX which I think is excellent and really shows how to use the PS2.

But think about it - GT/GT2 were about the only games that ever really used the full power of the PSone, and it took until nearly the end of the shelf life to get there. Lets wait and see what the next 6 months bring. Also, most of us on the BB have stand alone DVD systems it appears, so the PS2 would never compete. But the majority of people think the DVD playback is fantastic.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

When Sega defunk the DC at the end of march are people still going to produce games for it?

Steve

Shaun

TAKEN FROM

DrEvil

Oh Rsssss

DazV

RichardF,

If you think hand-coding a PSX2 game in assembler would be easy *in comparison* to putting something together on Dreamcast in 'c' then I think your mistaken.

Yes the Amiga was easy to code in assembler, but you're no longer writing little 200k snippets of code with some sprites anymore.