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There are 2 main reasons for the continued success of PS2.
Well before XBox and GC, the PS2 had a massive popularity and following. It's got the right image, the right price, doesn't look too bad, a dvd. People had already decided that this was the machine of choice. Not even a cut price dreamcast could inflict any damage.
Then at the beginning (before Xbox was even announced), the design studio's had to decide on which platform they would develop for. Since the XBox was not announced and Nintendo Dolphin (GC) seemed a long way of, the PS2 was the only option. So they spent loads of dosh on setting up their software studio's for PS2 development. When GC and XBox arrived, these software studios were not about to chuck out their yet to be paid for PS2 development kits. And by now, PS2 was already shifting serious numbers - another reason to stick with PS2 development. So this results in software studio's just creating "ports" of PS2 games - not built from the ground up "native" code for GC and XBox. Since most ports are just the same images and sounds converted for compatibility reasons, these games look identical or nearly identical on all 3 consoles. Plus, most games still get released on PS2 first - because that's the development software most studio's already have installed. And this is also the reason why the PS2 gets more PC ports than the "more PC friendly" XBox. The fact that XBox IS more PC friendly means nothing since most studios are geared towards PS2 development.
The future....
With so many new games still going to PS2 first, people have to often wait longer for the GC and XBox ports which look identical. This does not encourage people to buy those consoles or switch from PS2. Now with Tome Raider, the GTA series, TOCA, and some others I cant remember being PS2 exclusive, there is little reason to buy GC or XBox. This could lead to a domino effect, in which since there are not enough GC's and in particular XBox being sold, software studio's could say that a "port" is not worth the cost and axe it, thus creating another PS2 exclusive by default. There are a few exceptions to all this, like Halo, and DOOM 3 - but that's a long way of.
Well before XBox and GC, the PS2 had a massive popularity and following. It's got the right image, the right price, doesn't look too bad, a dvd. People had already decided that this was the machine of choice. Not even a cut price dreamcast could inflict any damage.
Then at the beginning (before Xbox was even announced), the design studio's had to decide on which platform they would develop for. Since the XBox was not announced and Nintendo Dolphin (GC) seemed a long way of, the PS2 was the only option. So they spent loads of dosh on setting up their software studio's for PS2 development. When GC and XBox arrived, these software studios were not about to chuck out their yet to be paid for PS2 development kits. And by now, PS2 was already shifting serious numbers - another reason to stick with PS2 development. So this results in software studio's just creating "ports" of PS2 games - not built from the ground up "native" code for GC and XBox. Since most ports are just the same images and sounds converted for compatibility reasons, these games look identical or nearly identical on all 3 consoles. Plus, most games still get released on PS2 first - because that's the development software most studio's already have installed. And this is also the reason why the PS2 gets more PC ports than the "more PC friendly" XBox. The fact that XBox IS more PC friendly means nothing since most studios are geared towards PS2 development.
The future....
With so many new games still going to PS2 first, people have to often wait longer for the GC and XBox ports which look identical. This does not encourage people to buy those consoles or switch from PS2. Now with Tome Raider, the GTA series, TOCA, and some others I cant remember being PS2 exclusive, there is little reason to buy GC or XBox. This could lead to a domino effect, in which since there are not enough GC's and in particular XBox being sold, software studio's could say that a "port" is not worth the cost and axe it, thus creating another PS2 exclusive by default. There are a few exceptions to all this, like Halo, and DOOM 3 - but that's a long way of.
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There are 2 main reasons for the continued success of PS2.
Well before XBox and GC, the PS2 had a massive popularity and following. It's got the right image, the right price, doesn't look too bad, a dvd. People had already decided that this was the machine of choice. Not even a cut price dreamcast could inflict any damage.
Then at the beginning (before Xbox was even announced), the design studio's had to decide on which platform they would develop for. Since the XBox was not announced and Nintendo Dolphin (GC) seemed a long way of, the PS2 was the only option. So they spent loads of dosh on setting up their software studio's for PS2 development. When GC and XBox arrived, these software studios were not about to chuck out their yet to be paid for PS2 development kits. And by now, PS2 was already shifting serious numbers - another reason to stick with PS2 development. So this results in software studio's just creating "ports" of PS2 games - not built from the ground up "native" code for GC and XBox. Since most ports are just the same images and sounds converted for compatibility reasons, these games look identical or nearly identical on all 3 consoles. Plus, most games still get released on PS2 first - because that's the development software most studio's already have installed. And this is also the reason why the PS2 gets more PC ports than the "more PC friendly" XBox. The fact that XBox IS more PC friendly means nothing since most studios are geared towards PS2 development.
The future....
With so many new games still going to PS2 first, people have to often wait longer for the GC and XBox ports which look identical. This does not encourage people to buy those consoles or switch from PS2. Now with Tome Raider, the GTA series, TOCA, and some others I cant remember being PS2 exclusive, there is little reason to buy GC or XBox. This could lead to a domino effect, in which since there are not enough GC's and in particular XBox being sold, software studio's could say that a "port" is not worth the cost and axe it, thus creating another PS2 exclusive by default. There are a few exceptions to all this, like Halo, and DOOM 3 - but that's a long way of.
Well before XBox and GC, the PS2 had a massive popularity and following. It's got the right image, the right price, doesn't look too bad, a dvd. People had already decided that this was the machine of choice. Not even a cut price dreamcast could inflict any damage.
Then at the beginning (before Xbox was even announced), the design studio's had to decide on which platform they would develop for. Since the XBox was not announced and Nintendo Dolphin (GC) seemed a long way of, the PS2 was the only option. So they spent loads of dosh on setting up their software studio's for PS2 development. When GC and XBox arrived, these software studios were not about to chuck out their yet to be paid for PS2 development kits. And by now, PS2 was already shifting serious numbers - another reason to stick with PS2 development. So this results in software studio's just creating "ports" of PS2 games - not built from the ground up "native" code for GC and XBox. Since most ports are just the same images and sounds converted for compatibility reasons, these games look identical or nearly identical on all 3 consoles. Plus, most games still get released on PS2 first - because that's the development software most studio's already have installed. And this is also the reason why the PS2 gets more PC ports than the "more PC friendly" XBox. The fact that XBox IS more PC friendly means nothing since most studios are geared towards PS2 development.
The future....
With so many new games still going to PS2 first, people have to often wait longer for the GC and XBox ports which look identical. This does not encourage people to buy those consoles or switch from PS2. Now with Tome Raider, the GTA series, TOCA, and some others I cant remember being PS2 exclusive, there is little reason to buy GC or XBox. This could lead to a domino effect, in which since there are not enough GC's and in particular XBox being sold, software studio's could say that a "port" is not worth the cost and axe it, thus creating another PS2 exclusive by default. There are a few exceptions to all this, like Halo, and DOOM 3 - but that's a long way of.