By the time 2005 had rolled around, it looked like the beginning of the end for PS2. Critics started to refer to its once-impressive hardware as “aging,” and the Xbox 360 was gearing up to snatch away its crown and claim dominance over the next console generation. And because previous hardware cycles had lasted about five years, most assumed that the PS2’s days were numbered, and that the machine would be largely discarded once the PS3 finally hit.
Only now do we realize just how wrong we were to count the PS2 out so early. 10 years after its North American launch, it’s still getting games and moving units, if not exactly going strong. With the anniversary of that launch just around the corner, let’s take a look at the best of what we thought, at the time, would be the PS2’s final great year...
If there’s one thing us gamers love to do, it’s sit on our asses. And rarely are we ever tempted away from blowing the crap out of zombies and Nazis to partake in the sportsman-like area of gaming. Hell, anything involving increased blood flow, stretching or rapid movement is a waste of time if there’s no cutscene for our rewards. Even sports games can be our kryptonite (your older brother who buys nothing but Madden and
These games are classics. They're beloved by millions. The problem? Well, they suck. Don't believe us? Keep reading. Yeah, some had their defenders - even on our staff. But a convincing argument can be made about why each game just doesn't cut it. And that's just what we'll do. Ready? Line 'em up and we'll knock 'em down...
Final Fantasy VIII
Hated by: Nintendo Editor Brett Elston
The entire catalogue of Final Fantasy games is untouchable. We get that. They're all special and unique in their
Well, this was an unexpected surprise. Sony generously decided to hand out a completely free, ten-car and one track teaser demo of Gran Turismo HD to any PS3 owners who wants it. Granted, this isn't GT 5 - it's just an enhanced version of GT 4 - but we'll take it.
Your prize for waiting for 650MB to download is a clearly beautiful race game that, and were not exaggerating, looks streets ahead of anything else available. The cars are fantastic models and they look incredibly sharp. There are no
Theres never a backlash when it comes to Gran Turismo - the public loves the series so much, it can get away with practically anything. Poor old Gran Turismo 4 was delayed a million times and wasnt quite as online as Sony said it would be, but still we adored it and bought it without any fuss. Gran Turismo 3 shouldve been a PS2 launch game, but arrived two years later, but we didnt care then either.
And it looks like well be waiting until 2008 for the PlayStation 3 version of Gran Turismo 5,
Gran Turismo 3 was the first game most of us on saw running on PlayStation 2, thanks to the “GT 2000” demo that appeared alongside PS2 when it launched in Japan in March 2000. A little more than a year later wed get the final version of GT3, and boy did it ever show off PS2 to the maximum.
Even now, loading up the six-year-old PS2 game is a staggering event. Religious, even. It still has the power to shame the puny efforts being put out by other game-makers today, thanks to its
There were still no Porsches or Ferraris, but what the hell. Gran Turismo 2 came out in December of 1999, just when the world was starting to get excited about PlayStation 2. That didnt matter though - GT2 was a staggering creation that squeezed more out of PSone than had ever seemed possible before.
The feel and system was pretty much unchanged from GT1, apart from two enhancements - the number of cars went from under 200 to well over 600, and the tracks were boosted from the mid teens to
GT STATS
Released: May 1998
Cars: 178
Tracks: 15 tracks
Music: Ash, Feeder, Garbage
Average eBay price: $5.10
So, thinking about it, if you want to thank anyone for starting the whole Gran Turismo ball rolling, thank series creator Kazunori Yamauchis dad. Yamauchi senior did a lot of driving for his work, and luckily enough happened to do all his driving in a fancy Nissan Skyline. Lucky daddy. Often, little three-year-old Kazunori would go with him, spending hours in the car. Probably
One of the key features of Gran Turismo 4 when it was first announced was that you would be able to play the game online. However, back in September, Sony revealed that the game would be .
But whatever Sony would have us believe, it is possible to play GT4 online by tricking the game into thinking that it's hooked up to a local area network when, in fact, it's working over the internet. Here's how to do it.
You will need:A PS2 with a network adaptorA copy of Gran Turismo 4A PC with a
Last week we met with the legendary producer of the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi, to ask him a variety of questions about GT4, PSP and plans for the future of the franchise.
Read below for our full exclusive one-on-one interview with the most important man in videogame racing.What's happening with the online stuff? Why wasn't it included and when is it likely to appear?
The online feature was a huge portion of the game and my values were weighted to completing and making sure
