Rest In Peace PS2
- September 17, 2009 12:27 PM PST
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RIP PS2: The Sun is Setting on the Last Generation of Consoles.
DISCLAIMER: The views in this ad are not the views of GamePro or the GamePro Staff. It is a paid advertisement.
With over 140 million units sold worldwide, the PS2 is the most successful console ever, but after nine years on the market it is time to finally embrace the next generation. Some of you may consider the PS2 the greatest console of all time, but even the greatest (Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky) eventually pass their prime and fade away. It's clear that PS2 is now in its twilight.
Publishers continue to pull back from PS2 and devote more development resources to Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii as the PS2's sales dwindle.
From a first-party perspective, the old PS2 just isn't getting the same kind of support anymore. In fact, most of what Sony is bringing to the table is simply ports of PSP games, like Secret Agent Clank (and even that came to PS2 nearly a year later). The last really significant launch on the platform was God of War II, which came two and a half years ago.
On the third-party side, things are hardly any better. The support is already sketchy and it's not about to improve. Sure, Electronic Arts still releases Madden for PS2, but what about Fight Night Round 4? And most of the big releases coming up this holiday and early next year - like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Brutal Legend, BioShock 2, Dante's Inferno, to name just a few - are all bypassing the PS2. If all you own is a PS2, you've already missed out on one of the biggest entertainment launches ever in GTA IV; do you really want to keep missing out on so many amazing gaming experiences?
Moreover, if you're at all interested in online gaming, community and downloadable content, the PS2 unfortunately doesn't stack up, largely because it comes from an era in gaming when online functionality just wasn't very important. You could purchase a PS2 network adaptor, but it won't do you much good, as only a handful of titles support it and many have had their network service terminated in recent years.
So now that we've established the need for a modern console, let's look at your options. You could buy a Wii - and if all you're looking for is some occasional motion-sensing fun, great - but if you desire the most robust set of gaming experiences, you ultimately have to consider a machine with far more capabilities like an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
Times are tough, however, and there's only so much money you can afford to spend on gaming. The good news is that for just $199 (less than the price of the Wii), you can step up from your old PS2 to a real next generation experience with Xbox 360's Arcade SKU. The odds are you've either recently doled out plenty of money on a shiny new HDTV or are about to - over a third of Americans own an HDTV set (as of Feb. '09) and that number's quickly growing, according to Nielsen - so why break the bank by adding a PS3 into the mix and a bunch of expensive Blu-ray movies, especially when Sony's console can't even offer the same meaty experience as the Xbox 360?
With the Xbox 360 you're getting a robust online experience, with an online feature set integrated into every game, including friends lists, achievements, in-game invites, voice chat and more. Moreover, with its Netflix streaming functionality, Video Marketplace, 1080p instant-on streaming movies and TV shows (Blu-ray quality), Games on Demand, customizable Avatars, Xbox Live Arcade and Indie Games, a Last.fm music option, and Twitter and Facebook social networking features, the Xbox 360 is truly the perfect console to sit as the centerpiece of your living room entertainment setup. What better way to show off that new HDTV? Let's face it: your old PS2 is not going to look pretty hooked up to your new HDTV.
Furthermore, although the PS2 has a huge installed base, it's no longer very active. Ask your friends... how many of them still play PS2 today? Did you know that Xbox 360 recently became the first current-gen console to trump PS2 monthly usage in hours since Nielsen began tracking the data in April 2007? The Xbox 360 accounted for 22.25% of time played in May and June 2009 - more time than any other gaming console - and it's clear that momentum is on Microsoft's side.
Hardware sales are way down in 2009, but Xbox 360 is still seeing growth despite the poor economy. For the first seven months of 2009, Xbox 360 hardware sales were actually up 17%. That means more of your friends are buying and playing Xbox 360, and finally putting the PS2 in the closet. And with an active user base of more than 20 million people, you'll never have trouble finding someone to play with or against on Xbox LIVE, which is easily maintaining its leadership position in the market. Over the last year (through June), LIVE members logged over 1.7 billion multiplayer gaming hours, representing an increase of more than 100% year-over-year.
What it ultimately comes down to of course is games, and Xbox 360 has the best lineup of games you could find anywhere. Third party publishers often lead development on the Xbox 360, not the PS3, meaning that the games are designed with the Xbox 360 in mind, and then ported to PS3 where they may not look as good. Moreover, Xbox 360 is home to some of the most-anticipated blockbuster exclusives like Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and downloadable episodes for Grand Theft Auto 4. And since you're about to be new to the Xbox family, you're in for a real treat, as you can find some truly brilliant games in the console's library that you won't see anywhere else, like Gears of War 1 & 2, Halo 3, Fable II, Project Gotham Racing 4, Crackdown, Viva Pinata, among many others.
So as you begin putting together your holiday shopping list, ask yourself, "Do I want to step up to the next generation of gaming?" If you answered "yes," go ahead and jot down Xbox 360. Make Santa proud.
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Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, LittleBigPlanet, inFamous, God of War III, MGS4, Flower, Heavy Rain, Ratchet and Clank, MAG, pixeljunk, Gran Turismo... would you like me to go on?
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Whoa!!! This is a first. I haven't seen an actual ad dressed up like a Gamepro editorial. Heck, even the author of this article is "Gamepro Promotions". Gamepro, I really love you guys, but if you're going to put an ad then put an ad. Don't do this "article dress-up " thing. Especially when it starts talking about the PS2 and you move to the Xbox 360. I mean, seriously, it just bashes the PS3 without even discussing how the PS3 is actually PS2's successor (for btter or worst). Hope this is not the beginning of a trend.
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holy shit people...second sentence into the thing:
"DISCLAIMER: The views in this ad are not the views of GamePro or the GamePro Staff. It is a paid advertisement."
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DISCLAIMER: The views in this ad are not the views of GamePro or the GamePro Staff. It is a paid advertisement.
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if you knew how to read the first sentence of this article you would of known that it is not Gamepro who did this....they payed Gamepro to post this up.
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