Techtite Feature Article

Playstation 2 : 

The Next BIG thing?

Okay, yeah, right: looking at the list I made of PS2's 3DO-caliber snafus, several people might retort that it's hardly made only mistakes. There are a number of pieces of sheer brilliance, that outshine many of the other game systems currently available. Here's some of the better ideas that Sony had with the PS2 :

DVD capability is built-in, not "sold separately." How many times are you told that a cool feature of a brand-new system will be available "ASAP," only to have that planned expansion unit pulled from manufacturing? This is a gimmick that dates as far back as the first generation of game systems (Atari, Intellivision, et al), and continues right to this very day ("ZIP drive" for Dreamcast...? "hard drive" for N64...?). This time, there's no fear of Sony not delivering on the promised PS2 "expansion"; it's a built in feature. In fact, as soon as you get your PS2 (good luck!), you'll at least be able to play tons of DVDs, right out of the box.

Downward compatibility. "99" percent of all Playstation-One games work on the new system. This is far superior than other game units, which leave their older systems in the lurch...and leave you with a lot of worthless investment. This is even better for PS2, because in a very real sense, it already has a massive (PS1) game library, plus PS2 games, and DVDs as well!

Games are sold in DVD casing. One of many perks to this choice of game packaging, is that manuals can be the same size as the magazettes in typical "special edition" DVDs; no more thumbing through a dinky square manual from a CD "jewel case." It also means that storage of your games might be easier as well. There are any number of DVD shelves and furniture units, that you can buy anywhere DVDs are sold. For that matter, you probably already own one, for your current DVD collection. PS-2 games can be shelved right next to them!

Many first-year games only have to be translated from their Japanese versions; not made "from scratch." Many new game systems promise X number of games upon launch. Sony should have no problems delivering on that promise. Titles that were released in Japan for the past year, only need to be English dubbed : change a few sound files, add new screen text (main menus, etc.), and they're as good as finished for stateside distribution.

Not rushing out poorly manufactured product, just to make quota. One of the biggest mistakes of Sega's Dreamcast launch, was in doing whatever it took to make enough of a mass market by its snazzy "9-9-99" release date. The end result was a system here and there which had to be returned or exchanged, due to a few bugs (thankfully, mine is apparently fine, though I've heard reports of others who weren't as lucky). Many initial games had bugs as well, though only 1/4 or so of them (because of multiple manufacturing plants), making it even more iffy that you got a good or bad game CD. The good news is, if you got a PS2 at launch, you can be confident that it was manufactured better than it could have been. After all, they're well aware that as little as one return of these first-released PS-2's would be certain death for the system.

The loading tray opens from the front, not a "lid." Dust gets into a CD unit very easily, if all the dust has to do is accumulate on its top "lid". Open the lid to put in a disc, and accumulated dust just falls right through the cracks into the opened unit below. As for spilling food crumbs or something similar onto the top of the unit; game over. This isn't a problem (or at least, not as much of a problem) when the CD of a PS2 is inserted from a tray that opens from the side, like any typical computer DVD drive. It may seem like not a big deal now, though after a year or more of steady use, this wise move will be made even more clear.

Games at launch run the gamut of popular genres. Whether you want sports, action, shooter, action-adventure, or just a top notch graphic frenzy, the games upon launch are of all types. Many game systems upon launch always get a gripe from fans of one or two genres, like "Where's the Quake clone?" or "Where's a sports-related title?" Not so with PS2, whose games upon launch include any number of likely hits, and several possible "Deep Impacts" (in Techtite's rating terms; a possible award winner).

Sony's reputation. 3DO had practically no reputation upon its launch, or at least not a very good one. Actually, the same can be said for Atari in the '90s, whose cockiness during the '80s led to many third parties not even considering making a single game for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar. Not so with the PS2, when so many game companies had such success with their release of games for PS-1. While making games for the new system might not be as much of a picnic, Sony still has that reputation of sticking to their guns. If a 3rd-party game is announced for the system, it has a far better chance of being released "soon" than in the days of 3DO, when such game designers wanted to "wait and see" how the system sold before completing a game for those systems.

Exclusive games for the system, "acquired" from other systems! In case you didn't hear, much awaited games like "Drakan 2" will be on the PS2 exclusively. This will be a likely sale of more than a few units, because Drakan's finale (of its single-player storyline) was open ended; players will need to buy the exclusive PS2 version, to see an ending to the story at all. Meanwhile, a few other popular game series will be on the system exclusively.

Not just one "mascot" to sell the system. Sure, Super Mario sold the initial Nintendo 64 units, though where's a Super Mario 64 "2" for the system, so many years later...? The same gripe can be said for Sonic on the Dreamcast; I'd say Sonic Adventure is pretty much it. Meanwhile, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the dragon, Lara "Tomb Raider" Croft, and all the other staples of Playstation-1 gaming, will all be on PS2 games sooner or later. In a sense, this means that instead of having just one sure-sell "mascot" game for the system, there probably will be several, "coming soon"...

What do you think...? Will PS2 succeed, or will it's 3DO-caliber flaws do it in? Send your opinions via Techtite's Letters page!