So a couple of weeks ago I bought my first PS2. I had a Best Buy Coupon, and some Best Buy Bucks in danger of expiring (seriously, if you live near a Best Buy, there's no reason not to use the Rewards Zone program. You're gonna buy shit there, anyway - so why not get a little store credit back?). I had some Xbox games that were just sitting there, being all not-backwards-compatible and stuff, and I've been getting the feeling that MS is just going to let that whole deal quietly die. You'll probably get one more BC update (if that), and then it's fuck you previous Xbox owner. So I was tired of waiting. I thought about getting another Xbox, but this assjackery about BC has left a bad taste in my mouth, and there aren't any really good games left to be released on the OXB. Most of the stuff I still might want to play again is available on PS2 (and they have an insanely large library), so buying a PS2 made the most sense. I used the coupon and the bucks for a silver slim PS2 and 32 MB Max memory card at BB (ended up paying $108 for both), and traded all my games in at Gamestop for some games and used component cables.
SYSTEM IMPRESSIONS:
While I like the silver okay, I think I would have been happier with a black system. All the PS2 accessories are sort of geared towards a black system, and the controller itself looks like a shiny fake-silver cheap piece of crap - sort of like one of those fake Korean "Playbase" PS2s you see sometimes. This thing is tiny. Not as small as the manual claims (it's two inches thick, not one, and it's also longer and wider than claimed), but it is still the smallest home console you can own. Takes up no room at all - you can seriously set it in the space left on top of your DVD player on your rack, and not worry about clearing an extra shelf off. I was going to buy a stand for it and set it up vertically, but was advised not to by the Gamestop dude.
The controller is very light, almost too light for my tastes, and I had forgotten how cable confine you to a system since owning a 360. I have never liked the placement of the analog sticks when playing at friend's homes, and I still don't like them. Too close together, too loose feeling, stick tops too big and imprecise.
The online disc and setup was incredibly easy to use - not as easy as Xbox was, but still impressive for what it is. I don't own any online games yet, so I don't know what the community is like or how well multiplayer works, but I guess through sheer numbers of users that online games still get a respectable amount of play.
Tried a DVD on it. I won't use it as a player, but I figured I'd at least try it once. I had to go online when I couldn't figure out how to set it for 16:9 and progressive scan - you could see the options there, but they were grayed out. Turns out you have to hit "stop" twice on the display to make those options become available. That was a bit of a pain in the ass, could have used that info IN THE FUCKING MANUAL. It's okay - it's an awkward DVD player, but the picture quality is all right. I'll never use it again, because there's really no use for it.
It's very quiet, unlike the Airbus noise the 360 makes.
THE FIRST GAMES:
I wanted to try some of the stuff everyone has been raving about the past couple of years, and with my leftover credit I just bought a couple of games. I haven't finished any of these games, so these are just my initial impressions.
1. RESIDENT EVIL 4: I like the story okay, and the graphics are great for the aging ps2 hardware. I fucking hate the controls, though. The aiming system is awkward and imprecise (there are those words again), the "spring-back" camera control is stupid, and the 180 degree turn is more trouble than it's worth if you're in a tight spot. The main character's boyband haircut makes me want to kick him in the face. I usually hate button-pressing minigames within a game, but they are put to good use here, and the game itself always keeps your attention. I like the fact that there's actually some bullets in this one.
2. GOD OF WAR: This game makes me wish they'd remake some of those old stop-motion mythology flicks from the 50s. The story is hilarious (I know it's not intended to be, but it's so over the top you can't help but laugh), the dialogue is hilarious, the gory action is hilarious, the controls...not so hilarious. For the most part they are perfect, but whenever you have to tightrope walk over an area on a beam or a rope or whatever, they suck. It's a good thing that "X" button pulls you back up, or I would have broken this game in half after the first 30 minutes. Some of the puzzle elements piss me off, too. It took me a good fifteen minutes of cursing to finally shove that damned box across the deck of the boat without those demon assholes shooting it to pieces. It just felt like a cheap tactic on the designer's part. Still, a good action game so far.
3. SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS - I've really only watched the opening to this, but it's very cinematic, and the story seems good so far. I liked the way I could mess around with the camera during the opening scenes. I'm setting this aside until I can devote some time to it.
4. HALF-LIFE: I had never played this before, and always wanted to, so I figured what the hell. Yeah, the graphics blow compared to newer games on the older systems, and the voices sound like they were recorded in someone's bathtub, but damned if this game isn't fun. The controls are perfect and smooth - I never feel like I'm fighting with them, the "quick save" feature is genius (I don't know why more PS2 games don't seem to incorporate it), the story is engrossing, and it's just an overall great experience so far. I don't know why I waited so long to play it in any form.
5. COMBAT ELITE - WWII PARATROOPERS: I love WWII games. I make no secret about it. Shooters, RTS, whatever. I like the time period, the music, the history, etc. So I am pretty forgiving when it comes to WWII games. Don't think that just because I love them I can't recognize a bad one, though. This is one of the ones that could have been just "okay," but a fatal flaw knocks it into the "bad" category. In a top-down game, one of the crucial requirements for the player is the ability to control the camera. You cannot do that here. You can swing it to the left or right, but you can not look ahead. So fuck Nazis are forever getting cheap offscreen shots on you. I like the slight RPG elements to it, it controls okay, and the graphics are decent, but not being able to control the camera/field of vision makes having escort missions (which I don't like to begin with) ridiculously stupid. Good thing it's pretty easy.
Anyway, those are just some impressions from a latecomer. Any game or accessory suggestions, etc, can go here.
