The "Sony Games" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I own a PS2, and it’s a wonderful piece of kit. The problem is that there are a couple of things that really bug me.
Games.
How many are there for the PS2? I just counted about 300 in the Special Reserve catalogue, and it doesn’t quite include them all (although there are quite a few that haven’t been released yet). I suppose that’s not bad for a console that’s been around for just under 2 years, but how many of them are actually really any good?
We seem to have games spawning from everything:
“18 Wheeler” – Truck Driving
“MTV Music Generator” – Music Creation
The list goes on, and the number of similar games:
“Tekken Tag”
“Tekken 4”
“Virtua Fighter 4”
“Soul Calibur 2”
“Formula 1 2002”
“Gran Turismo 3”
“Gran Turismo Concept”
“Ridge Racer *”
Do we need this many versions of each game? I know they are all slightly different, but are people going to buy each one? I wouldn’t, I’ve got GT3 which I consider to be the best, and the only other driving game I would consider would be a rally game (a good one, so I haven’t got one yet as it doesn’t exist!).
I also worry about the number of terribly poor games there are. I look in the second hand bin at my local ‘Game,’ and think ‘bin’ is the correct term. There are so many games that people have bought and taken back, sometimes they are there after being released for only a couple of days! I really feel sorry for these people (although I do wonder why they don’t get their money back if its before 14 days?). They have wasted probably £15 to £20 on something that should probably have been shot at birth.
Even looking at the shelves full of new games, I despair at not being able to find anything I want. I truly find it worrying at the vast, yet rubbish choice we have.
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
This is where the title of this post becomes relevant. I had to take a driving test to be able to drive on public roads; you have to pass exams to become a barrister or pilot. Why then, is there nothing for game developers?
The best solution may be for a panel to vet the ideas, or early copies of games before they are released so that any really bad ones can be stopped before too much money is wasted. It is probably all too easy for a developer to get so engrossed in what they are creating that they don’t think of how the public will accept it. I’m sure that developers can save a lot of money by stopping their game before they waste too much money on it.
Of course, someone will have to pay for the panel, but it may be possible to use normal people like us. Developers could open forum’s about game ideas, let us discuss them and give them our feedback. Demos could also be published earlier and the game could be graded before it is released, so improvements could be made, or the entire project abandoned.
It does seem that recently we have had a few decent games brought out, FFX and the up-and-coming TOCA Race Driver, Medal of Honor: Frontline should prove to be awesome, but no doubt there will still be some real lemons coming soon as well.
I am also worried about the lack of utilities that the Ps2 has. I invested in an I-link cable when I first got mine with GT3. I was really let down. The link mode isn’t very good, as you can’t use your memory card cars, and also there still aren’t any other computer cars. You would have thought that 2 Ps2’s could handle a little computer AI. Also, what other games use the I-link cable? Looking through the SR catalogue again, I see no others. This is a real shame, as 2 player Quake3 or Unreal, or Timesplitters would have been great, rather than split screen meaning you can cheat and see exactly where the enemy is. They can’t say that multiplayer isn’t popular, my friends and I always look out for multiplayer options in games. It is hugely popular on PC’s and it looks like the X-Box will supersede the PS2 in Multiplayer, although Sony have had much more time to develop a console specific network.
We also need a hard disk! £28 a time for 8MB memory cards is ridiculous when I recently installed a second 20GB hard disk in my PC for only £80. Its not as though it isn’t possible, the PS2 has a huge expansion slot that could easily take a modem or Hard Disk.
It seems to me that Sony and other developers are only after our hard-earned money, and don’t try to actually give us what we really would like. I’m happy paying £40 for FFX as it is value for money, but £15 for a cable that I’ve used once and will never be able to sell? There are too many promises of technology that have never appeared, even in Japan. I hate to say it but maybe Microsoft are better developers. The X-Box has many things I want for the PS2, and it may be that Sony’s marketing Genius won’t be able to sell us a second rate product anymore. Sony have to pull out all of the stops and really make the PS3 something special, making sure that they keep their promises. I am still a fan of the PS2, but there’s only so much I can put up with…
Games.
How many are there for the PS2? I just counted about 300 in the Special Reserve catalogue, and it doesn’t quite include them all (although there are quite a few that haven’t been released yet). I suppose that’s not bad for a console that’s been around for just under 2 years, but how many of them are actually really any good?
We seem to have games spawning from everything:
“18 Wheeler” – Truck Driving
“MTV Music Generator” – Music Creation
The list goes on, and the number of similar games:
“Tekken Tag”
“Tekken 4”
“Virtua Fighter 4”
“Soul Calibur 2”
“Formula 1 2002”
“Gran Turismo 3”
“Gran Turismo Concept”
“Ridge Racer *”
Do we need this many versions of each game? I know they are all slightly different, but are people going to buy each one? I wouldn’t, I’ve got GT3 which I consider to be the best, and the only other driving game I would consider would be a rally game (a good one, so I haven’t got one yet as it doesn’t exist!).
I also worry about the number of terribly poor games there are. I look in the second hand bin at my local ‘Game,’ and think ‘bin’ is the correct term. There are so many games that people have bought and taken back, sometimes they are there after being released for only a couple of days! I really feel sorry for these people (although I do wonder why they don’t get their money back if its before 14 days?). They have wasted probably £15 to £20 on something that should probably have been shot at birth.
Even looking at the shelves full of new games, I despair at not being able to find anything I want. I truly find it worrying at the vast, yet rubbish choice we have.
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
This is where the title of this post becomes relevant. I had to take a driving test to be able to drive on public roads; you have to pass exams to become a barrister or pilot. Why then, is there nothing for game developers?
The best solution may be for a panel to vet the ideas, or early copies of games before they are released so that any really bad ones can be stopped before too much money is wasted. It is probably all too easy for a developer to get so engrossed in what they are creating that they don’t think of how the public will accept it. I’m sure that developers can save a lot of money by stopping their game before they waste too much money on it.
Of course, someone will have to pay for the panel, but it may be possible to use normal people like us. Developers could open forum’s about game ideas, let us discuss them and give them our feedback. Demos could also be published earlier and the game could be graded before it is released, so improvements could be made, or the entire project abandoned.
It does seem that recently we have had a few decent games brought out, FFX and the up-and-coming TOCA Race Driver, Medal of Honor: Frontline should prove to be awesome, but no doubt there will still be some real lemons coming soon as well.
I am also worried about the lack of utilities that the Ps2 has. I invested in an I-link cable when I first got mine with GT3. I was really let down. The link mode isn’t very good, as you can’t use your memory card cars, and also there still aren’t any other computer cars. You would have thought that 2 Ps2’s could handle a little computer AI. Also, what other games use the I-link cable? Looking through the SR catalogue again, I see no others. This is a real shame, as 2 player Quake3 or Unreal, or Timesplitters would have been great, rather than split screen meaning you can cheat and see exactly where the enemy is. They can’t say that multiplayer isn’t popular, my friends and I always look out for multiplayer options in games. It is hugely popular on PC’s and it looks like the X-Box will supersede the PS2 in Multiplayer, although Sony have had much more time to develop a console specific network.
We also need a hard disk! £28 a time for 8MB memory cards is ridiculous when I recently installed a second 20GB hard disk in my PC for only £80. Its not as though it isn’t possible, the PS2 has a huge expansion slot that could easily take a modem or Hard Disk.
It seems to me that Sony and other developers are only after our hard-earned money, and don’t try to actually give us what we really would like. I’m happy paying £40 for FFX as it is value for money, but £15 for a cable that I’ve used once and will never be able to sell? There are too many promises of technology that have never appeared, even in Japan. I hate to say it but maybe Microsoft are better developers. The X-Box has many things I want for the PS2, and it may be that Sony’s marketing Genius won’t be able to sell us a second rate product anymore. Sony have to pull out all of the stops and really make the PS3 something special, making sure that they keep their promises. I am still a fan of the PS2, but there’s only so much I can put up with…
I own a PS2, and it’s a wonderful piece of kit. The problem is that there are a couple of things that really bug me.
Games.
How many are there for the PS2? I just counted about 300 in the Special Reserve catalogue, and it doesn’t quite include them all (although there are quite a few that haven’t been released yet). I suppose that’s not bad for a console that’s been around for just under 2 years, but how many of them are actually really any good?
We seem to have games spawning from everything:
“18 Wheeler” – Truck Driving
“MTV Music Generator” – Music Creation
The list goes on, and the number of similar games:
“Tekken Tag”
“Tekken 4”
“Virtua Fighter 4”
“Soul Calibur 2”
“Formula 1 2002”
“Gran Turismo 3”
“Gran Turismo Concept”
“Ridge Racer *”
Do we need this many versions of each game? I know they are all slightly different, but are people going to buy each one? I wouldn’t, I’ve got GT3 which I consider to be the best, and the only other driving game I would consider would be a rally game (a good one, so I haven’t got one yet as it doesn’t exist!).
I also worry about the number of terribly poor games there are. I look in the second hand bin at my local ‘Game,’ and think ‘bin’ is the correct term. There are so many games that people have bought and taken back, sometimes they are there after being released for only a couple of days! I really feel sorry for these people (although I do wonder why they don’t get their money back if its before 14 days?). They have wasted probably £15 to £20 on something that should probably have been shot at birth.
Even looking at the shelves full of new games, I despair at not being able to find anything I want. I truly find it worrying at the vast, yet rubbish choice we have.
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
This is where the title of this post becomes relevant. I had to take a driving test to be able to drive on public roads; you have to pass exams to become a barrister or pilot. Why then, is there nothing for game developers?
The best solution may be for a panel to vet the ideas, or early copies of games before they are released so that any really bad ones can be stopped before too much money is wasted. It is probably all too easy for a developer to get so engrossed in what they are creating that they don’t think of how the public will accept it. I’m sure that developers can save a lot of money by stopping their game before they waste too much money on it.
Of course, someone will have to pay for the panel, but it may be possible to use normal people like us. Developers could open forum’s about game ideas, let us discuss them and give them our feedback. Demos could also be published earlier and the game could be graded before it is released, so improvements could be made, or the entire project abandoned.
It does seem that recently we have had a few decent games brought out, FFX and the up-and-coming TOCA Race Driver, Medal of Honor: Frontline should prove to be awesome, but no doubt there will still be some real lemons coming soon as well.
I am also worried about the lack of utilities that the Ps2 has. I invested in an I-link cable when I first got mine with GT3. I was really let down. The link mode isn’t very good, as you can’t use your memory card cars, and also there still aren’t any other computer cars. You would have thought that 2 Ps2’s could handle a little computer AI. Also, what other games use the I-link cable? Looking through the SR catalogue again, I see no others. This is a real shame, as 2 player Quake3 or Unreal, or Timesplitters would have been great, rather than split screen meaning you can cheat and see exactly where the enemy is. They can’t say that multiplayer isn’t popular, my friends and I always look out for multiplayer options in games. It is hugely popular on PC’s and it looks like the X-Box will supersede the PS2 in Multiplayer, although Sony have had much more time to develop a console specific network.
We also need a hard disk! £28 a time for 8MB memory cards is ridiculous when I recently installed a second 20GB hard disk in my PC for only £80. Its not as though it isn’t possible, the PS2 has a huge expansion slot that could easily take a modem or Hard Disk.
It seems to me that Sony and other developers are only after our hard-earned money, and don’t try to actually give us what we really would like. I’m happy paying £40 for FFX as it is value for money, but £15 for a cable that I’ve used once and will never be able to sell? There are too many promises of technology that have never appeared, even in Japan. I hate to say it but maybe Microsoft are better developers. The X-Box has many things I want for the PS2, and it may be that Sony’s marketing Genius won’t be able to sell us a second rate product anymore. Sony have to pull out all of the stops and really make the PS3 something special, making sure that they keep their promises. I am still a fan of the PS2, but there’s only so much I can put up with…
Games.
How many are there for the PS2? I just counted about 300 in the Special Reserve catalogue, and it doesn’t quite include them all (although there are quite a few that haven’t been released yet). I suppose that’s not bad for a console that’s been around for just under 2 years, but how many of them are actually really any good?
We seem to have games spawning from everything:
“18 Wheeler” – Truck Driving
“MTV Music Generator” – Music Creation
The list goes on, and the number of similar games:
“Tekken Tag”
“Tekken 4”
“Virtua Fighter 4”
“Soul Calibur 2”
“Formula 1 2002”
“Gran Turismo 3”
“Gran Turismo Concept”
“Ridge Racer *”
Do we need this many versions of each game? I know they are all slightly different, but are people going to buy each one? I wouldn’t, I’ve got GT3 which I consider to be the best, and the only other driving game I would consider would be a rally game (a good one, so I haven’t got one yet as it doesn’t exist!).
I also worry about the number of terribly poor games there are. I look in the second hand bin at my local ‘Game,’ and think ‘bin’ is the correct term. There are so many games that people have bought and taken back, sometimes they are there after being released for only a couple of days! I really feel sorry for these people (although I do wonder why they don’t get their money back if its before 14 days?). They have wasted probably £15 to £20 on something that should probably have been shot at birth.
Even looking at the shelves full of new games, I despair at not being able to find anything I want. I truly find it worrying at the vast, yet rubbish choice we have.
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
This is where the title of this post becomes relevant. I had to take a driving test to be able to drive on public roads; you have to pass exams to become a barrister or pilot. Why then, is there nothing for game developers?
The best solution may be for a panel to vet the ideas, or early copies of games before they are released so that any really bad ones can be stopped before too much money is wasted. It is probably all too easy for a developer to get so engrossed in what they are creating that they don’t think of how the public will accept it. I’m sure that developers can save a lot of money by stopping their game before they waste too much money on it.
Of course, someone will have to pay for the panel, but it may be possible to use normal people like us. Developers could open forum’s about game ideas, let us discuss them and give them our feedback. Demos could also be published earlier and the game could be graded before it is released, so improvements could be made, or the entire project abandoned.
It does seem that recently we have had a few decent games brought out, FFX and the up-and-coming TOCA Race Driver, Medal of Honor: Frontline should prove to be awesome, but no doubt there will still be some real lemons coming soon as well.
I am also worried about the lack of utilities that the Ps2 has. I invested in an I-link cable when I first got mine with GT3. I was really let down. The link mode isn’t very good, as you can’t use your memory card cars, and also there still aren’t any other computer cars. You would have thought that 2 Ps2’s could handle a little computer AI. Also, what other games use the I-link cable? Looking through the SR catalogue again, I see no others. This is a real shame, as 2 player Quake3 or Unreal, or Timesplitters would have been great, rather than split screen meaning you can cheat and see exactly where the enemy is. They can’t say that multiplayer isn’t popular, my friends and I always look out for multiplayer options in games. It is hugely popular on PC’s and it looks like the X-Box will supersede the PS2 in Multiplayer, although Sony have had much more time to develop a console specific network.
We also need a hard disk! £28 a time for 8MB memory cards is ridiculous when I recently installed a second 20GB hard disk in my PC for only £80. Its not as though it isn’t possible, the PS2 has a huge expansion slot that could easily take a modem or Hard Disk.
It seems to me that Sony and other developers are only after our hard-earned money, and don’t try to actually give us what we really would like. I’m happy paying £40 for FFX as it is value for money, but £15 for a cable that I’ve used once and will never be able to sell? There are too many promises of technology that have never appeared, even in Japan. I hate to say it but maybe Microsoft are better developers. The X-Box has many things I want for the PS2, and it may be that Sony’s marketing Genius won’t be able to sell us a second rate product anymore. Sony have to pull out all of the stops and really make the PS3 something special, making sure that they keep their promises. I am still a fan of the PS2, but there’s only so much I can put up with…
Unfortunately bad games are something that will always be a part of the industry. Its the same with any product in the shops. I think the main reason for these catastrophies[sp?] is a lack of money in funding the development although we all know this isnt always the case. A licence to develop games might be pushing it a bit though. Developers have to learn from their mistakes and if only the good ones were allowed to release games then we could end up missing out on a talent that learned as they went rather than had a natural gift.
I see what your saying about the number of bad games that there are out there, that is alarming as there is such a high number of them, but the thing is there are still more than enough good games out there that are well worth buying, so in the end i dont come anywhere near these bad games as i dont need to even think about buying them.
Keych wrote:
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
--------------
I know the point of your post is that of the license for games developers but you're also complaining that there aren't enough good games for the PS2. Well, you've just named 5 and said that you can't afford them all. If you can't afford all the good games then why do you need anymore?
That's just me making a point. However, I do agree with you. :-D
Of course, there are exceptions. FFX, GT3, GTA3 & SSX are all great games, also MGS2 and TH3. I would love to own all of these, and indeed would buy them all if I had the money, but there are far more games that I cringe to look at.
--------------
I know the point of your post is that of the license for games developers but you're also complaining that there aren't enough good games for the PS2. Well, you've just named 5 and said that you can't afford them all. If you can't afford all the good games then why do you need anymore?
That's just me making a point. However, I do agree with you. :-D