Now that Sony has revealed the price drop for the PS2, we may be seeing the final hardware push for the aging machine. Sony also mentioned in the press release that they're looking to appeal more to the casual gaming crowd with new PS2 software – the price drop announcement itself is tailor-made for the growing number of casual gamers – which means…yep, it means it may be in direct competition with the Nintendo Wii.
Sony made specific mention of producing new PS2 games "that appeal to families and casual gamers looking for social entertainment experiences." And with the new and very attractive price tag, this could drop the PS2 into the same league as the Wii; they could be considered to cater to similar demographics. During a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview with SCEA Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller, it seems clear that Sony might want to snag a little of the Wii's market share away with this move. Said Koller:
"Yes, we do think the $99 price point could steal some share [from Wii]. From a technological standpoint, the Wii is much closer to the PS2 than it is to the next-gen consoles. It's obviously not an HD box and the software development is on a par with where PS2 development is, so that's a much more realistic and similar demographic."
Koller admits that Nintendo has done a "fantastic job of capturing young and female" gaming audiences, and if the PS2 wants to compete in that category, it has some work to do. And of course, the PS2 doesn't have that nifty motion sensing that has the entire non-gaming gadget-loving world in a tizzy. On the other hand, $99 for some great party games seems like a decent offer, and Sony is banking on that for continued success with their last-generation console.
Feel free to read that whole interview; they even talk a bit about PlayStation 3 pricing. They don't seem to mention the fact that it has already happened , though. Odd…
Largest game library I have for a single console is the PS2. I have 154 (I think) titles, but I'm sure some of you have a lot more. Before that was the Atari 2600 with exactly 100 games. I kicked myself (figuratively) for selling it. SONY needs to keep the PlayStation namebrand in the public as much as they can after what happend to Walkman. My cell phone is a SonyEricsson Walkman W580i, and it's very nice.
I can definitely see more shovel ware and maybe having developers focus more on the analog sticks for some "fun".
I just can't see any big good games coming out for the PS2 anymore. they're practically ports and those occasional JRPG's people are just waiting to come out, like Persona 4.
I know we'll end up just seeing huge greatest hits sections and collector packs at stores now. just to push the envelope on "oh we have a system at 99$ and tons of games at 20$ and 3-game packs at 30$"
which is a good idea. but as far as my PS2 is concerned, the last new good title it might see might be Okami.
When i heard news of the price drop, i figured that was the direction Sony going with the PS2. How much of the thunder it can steal from the Wii is anyone's guess. I figure that the price drop is also aimed at the few people who don't own any system.
The Wii's current thunder is Mario and the controls. With out the controls, the PS2 will NOT be taking much away from the wii.
You are spot on I think. Unfortunately, the PS2 has neither, and is 9 years old. Its not gonna take anything away from the Wii.
Don't care 'bout this
Nintendo is letting the Wii die out anyway
Ps2 cannot compete with Wii at any price. Wii has great graphics, and full screen on hdtv's. The PS2's graphics are really bad on a hdtv, and is in 4.3 aspect ratio. Also the Wii as it is also plays gamecube games, and is a fun machine for families to play together as it takes a lot of interaction and body movement to play which can bring about a lot of laughter and fun such as mabey children laughing at adults doing the movements required. A 99.00 outdated machine will not compete, besides everyone already owns a PS2. I don
t think there is much of a market left for PS2.
BTW Im interested on a new ps2, I gave my old one to my nephew as a Bday gift and I want to finish DQ VIII, but you made a good point. How good is the ps2 on a Hdtv? I've been looking for some info but it is not clear to me if DQ VIII will look like crap on my samsung 32" lcd. Besides DQ Im looking forward for Rogue Galaxy and Persona 4. Anyone can enlighten me?
Last edited by raztad on 4/1/2009 1:09:22 PM
I am glad you like the graphics. I hate that your characters have floating hands and feet. (No legs or arms).
The PS2 does look pretty good on my 50" 1080p screen with the settings slightly tweaked. My games are full screen and play, look, and sound preety good considering the age of the hardware.
Google "PS2 HDTV settings" to get it right.
I have a 500gb drive inside my PS2 that stores and plays alot of my games so I never need to switch disks.
I have close to 600 games for that system (Not all on drive), and it is always fun to jump onto memory lane and play some of the best games made. I am not one of the young guys, I have been gaming for over 25 years.
Last edited by PS3addict on 4/1/2009 5:34:54 PM
@PS3ad
Good info there. I appreciate it.
Last edited by raztad on 4/1/2009 7:49:35 PM
No offence crawd… but the graphics on both the Wii and PS2 are nearly identicle. If anything, the PS2 is still the stronger machine from the two. But other than that, your right about everyone already owning a PS2.
Don't be fooled Raztad, Wii doesn't look that great on my mates 32" hdtv with component cables at 480p. Not every Wii game is in 420p anyway because on the back of the game boxes, some will state the game is in 480p and some don't say this.
Some of the later PS2 games had 420p, like Guitar Hero 2 and with component you saw improvement on a 40" bravia. Also many later PS2 games had 16:9 aspect ratio. Is it true that he NA version of GoW 2 had 720p native or was upsaled to 720p?
I think Sony should have gone ahead with their 'magic wand' plans a few years ago. What Sony could have done is do a re-launch of a new looking model, maybe shrink it a little more or have it half the size in length but it would be double the thickness, so essentially the drive would be on top of the remaing hardware. bring out a better Eyetoy as good as the PSEye that would come with the PS2, also packed in would be the Magic Wand that you use in front of the EyeToy 2, to give you Wii type gaming controls. With a new brand of games to suit the style all at $99, I think all that would give it a good chance to get some market share from the Wii.
Many Wii owners are people who have never owned a console before and a new PS2 with the stuff above mentioned could be an attractive package.
Also 'Crawdaddy' the PS2 plays PS2 games which is bigger and way much better than gamecube games, it will also be able to play PS1 games too.
I can see it taking some thunder away from the Wii. It really depends, i have both ps3 and Wii and i like my Wii for casual days for Wii fit or when i want to play FFCC or Zelda. My Ps3 is my online gaming machine and well basically everything else. I'll be getting a PS2 for my son who likes to play the cars games hes not keen on mario or anything like that.
I don't need another ps2, the one I purchased at launch is still going strong. All the of the children and the elderly have bought they're wii so the sales will decline soon enough.
So here's what I gather, everyone who wants to already owns a PS2, and every person on the planet who ever liked casual gaming already owns a Wii, so how is this gonna take market share from Wii?
Oh well, to tell you the truth I hope it works for Sony and that I'm wrong about it being a failed attempt. In the end though, you just CAN'T complain about ANY console going down in price. What I can complain about is any marketing efforts that should go to PS3 games instead going to something like "PS2 Fitness".
So this is the April Fools joke………right?
If you look at the game selection for the PS2 now, there is not that many on store shelves. Stores are starting to phase out PS2 games to make room for PS3, XBox 360, and Wii games. When a casual gamer say goes to Best Buy and only sees 15 PS2 games available and 50 Wii games available, which one do you think they are going to go for? I know the PS2 has 1,900 games, but stores have stopped selling most of them. Most causal gamers don't go to Gamestop, they go to the big chain stores.
Last edited by psxmax on 4/1/2009 3:27:50 PM
Although I agree in principle, even casual gamers like to get their good online, plenty of PS2 titles online. Thing is, Sony won't be making much money off them since a sensible person just buys old games used.
Yeah i dunno, this could work. My lil brother got buzz for xmas and my mum and dad were up all night playing it, I hear they are still going at it. This is the same mum who cursed the day she bought me a master system.
I'm sure they could make a usb sensor bar and motion controller for the ps2. Then it'd be open season against the Wii. Otherwise the price drop is only good for replacing your old broken one.
There go the Sony suits again, delirious, out of touch, and have no idea what a gamer's tastes are.
I've been gaming ever since my old old "Texas Instruments/Atari 2600/ Intellivision/and Colecovision" days, so here's my take on all this….
This price drop to $99 will be good for all the new casual & newbies that are now entering the gaming market.
Plus they can still find many good games(racks & racks of them still at Gamestop).
And also, in the bargain bins, priced from $9.99 all the way down to 2.99. Hell, I've even managed to find a couple now & then for 99 cents.
Since I'm a games collector myself, I'm always checking for used bargain bins for games and accessories that I don't own yet, & I've just picked up a bunch of PS2 stuff real cheap recently.
Got a pair of used Logitech wireless controllers(9.99 each), a set of 4-person Buzz game controllers(4.99), an Eye Toy(4.99), & 2 eye toy games, ET Antigrav(3.99) & ET Groove(3.99).
All the above only came to $39.96, & then another 10% got lopped off the total by using my discount card.
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The one downside I see with the PS2 price drop is for myself……but only because once all the new casual's start buying PS2's, there won't be a hell of a lot of used PS2 stuff left for me to acquire.