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"The Third Place"

Playstation, what a company. They've been through thick and thin and they're still going strong. Nintendo was supposed to have a partnership with Playstation, but due to minor disagreements they went their own way.

1995 was the year that everyone (in the UK anyway) saw the Playstation and it impressed many people. It provided great graphics and great gameplay than it's strong contender Nintendo who at the time had the ever popular SNES selling loads in the game market. Playstation however was faster (32-bit), had a great pad that fitted right into your palms and offere a whole lot of gameplay. Release titles like Wipeout and Ridge Racer, certainly gave the Sony developers a boost to their new experience in the industry.
This console appealed more to fans because of its looks, accessibilities and newly presented peripherals like the 1Mb memory card and its games played CDs not cartridges. This allowed more space for more games to be saved, so you could return to your save-point of a game. The playstation had more features than its contender SNES:

Visible and manouvreable saves
1Mb Memory card
Playable music Cds with added touches e.g. echoes

Although, the Playstation had longer load times than the SNES because it ran Cds it was still worth the wait when you wanted to play it. The Playstation introduced the world to a much closer encounter of realism. The SNES brought us great fun and excitement, but most of its games were unrealistic. Following the launch of the Playstation, Gran Turismo was presented. This game had outstanding graphics (at the time), realistic gameplay and lots of never-before-seen modes in a racing game. It absolutely smashed what Ridge Racer did and made everyone notice how racing games should really look like.
Playstation was later challenged by Nintendo's comeback, ther N64. This console doubled the speed and power of the Playstation by having a 64-bit engine, but it wasn't as well received as the Playstation. Some found the pad not as comfortable as the Playstation's and the gameplay was no competition to the Playstation's. The graphics started off very blurry, but in its later stages were improved by its developers. Playstation were further challenged by Sega's comeback out of the blue, the Dreamcast. This was a much faster machine (4 times faster than Playstation), which offered great graphics and very good, enjoyable gameplay. The game I think that really gave Sega a boost with its new console was the release of the very popular Sonic. With this newly improved version from the 16-bit machine, Sonic offered very enjoyable gameplay, great graphics and a certain exhiliration within the game. The 3D environments came across as quite detailed and just the fact of seeing the revolution from the previous Sonic games gave a satisfying feeling. Playstation was been pushed further and further out of the picture until the PS2 was released on the 24th of November 2001 in the UK.
Such great titles as Gran Turismo for the Playstation are still carrying on strong on the Playstation 2. Why is this I hear you ask? This is because of the gameplay and graphics. That is what really matters in games today, how good it plays and how good it looks. The Playstation has offered games like this that have stretched its capabilities, but the Playstaion 2 hasn't done so well in that department. Many of its release titles didn't stretch the PS2 much, they almost seemed rush in an attempt to please fans. Some fans of the Playstation enjoyed these titles, but most didn't. It hasn't been until now that we've actually received games that have stretched the PS2 that little bit, but still not far enough. Such games like Onimusha and the continued revolution of Gran Turismo, Gran Turismo 3, have satisfied most gamers and reassured them that the PS2 is still going to remain strong in the future of gaming.

Bill Gates' XBOX and Nintedo's Gamecube might be better received by gaming fans, but the PS2 has so much capabilities and room for improvement that we just cannot be sure what's going to happen. Already Internet capabilities have been introduced for the PS2 in certain places as well as many advanced peripherals. This is why I think the PS2 is going to carry on strong and even if it doesn't there's always the chance of a PS3!!!

oh, what an all-consuming black pit of knowledge you are.

This is something I wrote last holidays:

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Right then, flying around recently have been a lot of comments about the PS2ís large (allegedly) amount of sequels. In front of me I have the latest copy of the Official UK PlayStation 2 magazine. Inside it contains a list of every PS2 game launched yet, and release dates up to October (reliably). So, hereís my analysis:

Out of the 106 games out now there are:

59 original games
19 sequels
5 multi-format ports
23 tedious sports updates

And, of the 45 games coming out up to and including October there are:

22 original games
12 sequels
3 multi-format ports
8 tedious sports updates

So, is the PlayStation 2 a SequelStation too? Well, sequels are inevitable on all consoles, for reasons I will explain later. Now, letís analyse the GameCubeís launch line up (provided by Reaper[oV]).

Of the 18 games set for launch, there are:

7 original games
4 sequels
0 multi format ports (I think)
7 tedious sports updates

So, while the 55% of the PS2ís games are original and 17% are sequels, the GameCube has only 38% original games and 22% sequels. In reality, everyone who says the PS2 is full of sequels should keep quiet in future, as the GameCube is even worse. Right then, Iíve finished my small dig at the GameCube now, but is it really a dig? Sequels are inevitable. Waterís wet, rocks are hard, consoles have sequels. Itís a fact of life. I donít blame the GameCube for having sequels any more than I blame the sun for rising in the morning. Sequels are a developerís best friend. How many people are willing to buy the exact same game every year with slightly update graphics, different players and a bigger number on the end? Millions! Just ask EA! Also, publishers are afraid of getting low review scores, but if your game is just a remake of last yearís hit, the suckers will buy it anyway. You can just keep repeating the same formula over and over again every year, and youíll be raking it in.

Another thing is, sequels donít just make good business sense, developers are required to release sequels. What do you think would happen if Kazunori Yamuchi announced there would be no more Gran Turismo games? Thereís would be a public outcry! What do you think would happen if Shigeru Miamoto announced he wasnít planning on a Zelda game for the GameCube? Well, Nintendo would lynch him for a start. I like sequels. If I finish a really great game, I want to keep playing on it. Thatís where sequels come in. The sequel gets released, and hopefully itís a better game as well. That way, I can keep playing my favourite game forever. GT3 is a sequel of GT2, although itís bordering on update territory. Does this make it a worse game? I think not. GT3 is fantastic, despite its similarities.

So what do you think? Are sequels the creation of genius, or the spawn of Satan? Discuss.

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And I'll think you'll find there are quite a large amount of seasonal sequels lined up:

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GameCube launch lineup:

Eternal Darkness
Luigi's Mansion
Pikmin
WaveRace: Blue Storm
Super Smash Bros. Melee

Third Party:
NBA Courtside 2002
StarFox Dinosaur Planet
All Star Baseball 2002
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Extreme G3
NFL Quarterback Club 2002
Crazy Taxi
FIFA Soccer 2002
Madden NFL 2002
SSX Tricky
Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
NFL Blitz
NHL Hitz
Super Monkey Ball

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Wow! Look at all those sports sequels!

Turbonutter wrote:
The GameCube has more sequels lined up than the PS2 has
> currently.

List them.
If you list them, I think you'll find MOST sequels that aren't annual offerings that people are fed up with, PS/PS2 Style.
So go on.............

yakumo wrote:
> I think SONY'S riegn of unoringinality, may be over thanks to Nintendo and
> microsoft, hopefully they will do what SEGA couldent!!


The GameCube has more sequels lined up than the PS2 has currently.

yakumo wrote:
> My cats breath smells like catfood!!

How ironic...

:D

cheers for that amazing comment. 'ralph'

My cats breath smells like catfood!!

Stephen Allred wrote:
> the gamecube has had a much better release in japan that the ps2! it even
> serprised me! about doble the consoles shifted in the same amount of time as
> the ps2 (about a week i think, i would have to go and check to make shore).
> and the game cubes tv advert is alot better

A fellow Ninty I might be, yet I can't just ignore the blatant fact that you're talking out of your backside. PS2 sold tremendously in Japan, and also, apparantly, the GameCube's sales have been somewhat "Quiet" compared to PS2's and GBA's.

Tsk, tsk...

SHOCKY

I think SONY'S riegn of unoringinality, may be over thanks to Nintendo and microsoft, hopefully they will do what SEGA couldent!!

the gamecube has had a much better release in japan that the ps2! it even serprised me! about doble the consoles shifted in the same amount of time as the ps2 (about a week i think, i would have to go and check to make shore). and the game cubes tv advert is alot better