Double Agent
The PS2 market - October 28, 2000 - Andrew Kaufmann

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Turn a phrase. Don't say we didn't warn you.

A lot of you sent me band name suggestions, which I greatly appreciate. I'll be passing them along to the rest of the band at our next practice.

I guess what everyone's talking about is the PS2. I talk about it a lot, especially since I don't have one to play on. I wish I did; I'd put that thing on eBay so fast it wouldn't be funny. I mean, having a launch PS2 would be great, but the current crop of games certainly aren't worth paying multiple thousands for. I thought the PS2 prices would drop significantly after launch, to only $100 or so above retail... not enough to stand in line for 24 hours. But man, at the prices they're hauling in, I would have gladly stood out in line for a while, write some poetry, enjoy the nice weather we were having at the time, etc. Oh, well.

'Tis the season to be jolly

Dude

I can't enjoy anything as too much stuff has come out recently. What's that? OH GOD!!!!!!!!!!! Shen Mu? Final Fantasy 9? Persona 2? Lunar 2? Grandia 2? Coming one after the other?

NOBODY CAN BASH ANYTHING 'CAUSE NOBODY WILL HAVE TIME TO PLAY EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man oh man, it's a great time to be a video game fan, isn't it? There's something for everyone right now. RPGs out the wazoo coming up, the PS2 is released... good stuff in the gaming world. And hey, you may not have a PS2, but I bet one of your friends does. And suddenly, I bet that friend has a bunch of new friends...

PS no

In the past two days I've seen the PS2 at the school lounge, in the stores (the advantage of driving through small towns with nothing but a Burger King and a Wal Mart), and on demos. I can honestly say that I have no intention of purchasing the system at this time. None of the games I've seen or played have looked interesting or have been very fun. For all the people wanting a PS2 and didn't get one, I think there are many great games already out that could tide people over until they are easier to find. Once I see some better games, I'll purchase one but until then, I'm happy with Majora's Mask, Chrono Cross, and Pokémon Silver.

I'm on your side, man. Well, I'd buy one, but just for the resale value. Profit turning is a good thing, it's what America is all about, baby. But game-wise, I think Madden 2001 looks great but I'm happy with it for the PSX. It's not worth huge amounts of money to me to play it on the PS2. And again, just spend some time with those close friends you haven't seen in a while that happened to have bought a PS2.

Gaming prejudices

Chris,

We don't really know more about FF11 than we do about 10. We know about the same amount of info, really. See, FF11 is gonna be an online-only rpg. that's the only thing we know about it. but everyone's pretty much assumed how it's gonna be like, how the gameplay will be, what a disaster it will be, etc.. common sense type stuff.

and FF10, we know it's gonna be pretty much like every other FF, only in 3d, and with a real time world kinda thingy... and that's all we know.. and that's all -i- need to know it will suck :)

but i'll stop now.

orlando

Gaming prejudice, compared to social and racial prejudice, is a joke, and to even call it gaming prejudice is almost to make light of the seriousness usually associated with the term. But in many cases, I think the term "gaming prejudice" is very fitting.

A game's quality is not determined by one factor. A game's quality cannot be determined by three screen shots and a five-item numbered list of features. A game's quality cannot be determined over a year before it is going to be released.

You can judge the book by the cover if you'd like, but it looks like you've decided not to like either game years before they're released. That seems ridiculous to me. I'm not saying either game is going to rule or suck, we know next to nothing about them. They may or may not be your favorite style of game, but to decide years before the game is even released that it will "suck" is crazy. I'm not trying to defend the Final Fantasy name here, and I don't fault anyone for being skeptical of Square.

Square has put themselves into a position where people are asking "prove you're not idiots." But give them that chance. Wait at least until early impressions of the Japanese version are released. Or don't. It's no skin off my back, to use an overused cliché.

The PS2 stock market analysis: sell sell sell!

I just finished playing games on my PSII and I must admit that I am not all that impressed. I am really, really disappointed, I had this system on reserve since March and now I can see why Chris (Mon-Fri agent) decided to wait. I purchased Summoner, Armored Core II, and Timesplitters so I had a relatively diverse gaming experience. The load time for Summoner was ridiculous and when I paused the game my PSII made funny sounds for around 2 minutes. These are first generation games so no one has to send in a flame to remind me, but none of the games on the horizon are all that interesting either. I think I am going to return everything to EB, the system, 3 games, vertical stand, DVD remote and an 8 meg memory card. I even purchased the year long warranty, dude, I was in for the long haul. I have Final fantasy IX on reserve and I still have my original PS, so I will have a somewhat decent gaming future. The fact that it plays DVD's does not justify keeping a system that, in all likelihood, I will not use otherwise. Maybe I will pick one up when the games get really interesting. I truly believe that I got caught up in the hype of the PSII, and now I must pay the piper. Sorry for my bitchy sounding letter dude but I am really peaved. Maybe I will just go buy Zelda (MM) and borrow a friends N64 until FFIX comes out.

Snakeyezz1 the Assassin, sitting at his PC wondering if he is really going to return or sell the hottest item of the year.

I think the PS2 is a great system that currently has no good games for it, but there's a huge market for it. I'd sell the system at a profit, and buy one again when there are more decent games for it. If you can't sell at a profit, I'd hold onto it, because there will be good games for it. Just not right now.

A new challenger has joined!

Why hasn't anyone thoght that the perfect president is Gilgamesh. I mean, who else would be better for the job of the man than THE MAN. No crackpot dictator or terrorists would ever dare intimidate him unless there stupid or crazy.(Oh wait they all are) But then what odd game characters would be his running mate and fill out his cabinet? What would be his policy on the issues?

Imperial Mog

I'm going to go make bumper stickers at the first chance I get, Mog. He is THE MAN and THE MAN would make a great president, of course. His stance on the issues would be the right stance. And all the mean foreign leaders would stand no chance against all of His Gilgameshness's weapons.

Scary images

I've figured Chris out. All the Dragon Quest VII and Playstation 2 'bashing'. I know what he's doing...Reverse Psychology. He knows we'll buy DQ7 and PS2 just to spite him. And you know what? I'm going to give him exactly what he wants. I'll get both.

And then I'll take nude pictures of myself with them, using them to barely cover up my most intimate of places while I pose provocatively. That'll show him.

What do you think, AK?

~Ian P.

I plan on getting a PS2 and DQ7 also. Not right off the bat on either one, unless I have $50 laying around when DQ7 comes out (doubtful), but I do want to give both a try.

And, dude, please. Keep your little games with Chris with Chris. If one of those pictures appears in my mailbox, I'll do the meanest thing I can think of:

Post them. In fact, not only would I post them on this site, I'd go to a personals web site and make one out for you, titled "rich gaming nudist seeks single ferret or goat." So let's just keep peaceful AK out of this, yes? Yes.

A rare bird

Everyone and their uncle is either praising or attacking the PS2. Everyone who isn't doing this is praising or bashing Zelda:MM...

...Am I the only person who bought Mega Man Legends 2 on the 26th?

Well, actually, you quite possibly are. I bought nothing on the 26th, except for some groceries. I went grocery shopping and got really excited about finding my favorite popsicles (Dole Lemonade) at 25 cents off. My life has gotten very mundane.

Wisdom from a lunatic

I say, wait a few days for the PS2! There will be some downright amazing games coming out for it, (MGS2...) but until then, wait for the pricetag to drop and the massive selling of the system to go down. -SC4000, realizing that he sounds like a lunatic

Lunatic? Far from it! You're speaking the words of common sense. I applaud.

Closing Comments:

It's raining outside. I love the rain. It makes such a peaceful sound as it rhythmically plops onto the ground.

-Andrew Kaufmann

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