PigLick on 6/2/2014 at 10:20
yes the 360 gamepad is the best, even all my pc buddies use it for things like drift etc
icemann on 6/2/2014 at 14:51
Completely agree with deth's earlier comment. The PS2 was the best console of all time. Super Nintendo is a close 2nd. PS1 wasn't too shabby either.
The PS2 just has such a HUGE library of great games across ALL categories of games that you simply cannot go wrong with it. Even the xbox pails in comparison, games libray wise.
Every other console, had deficiencies in one category or another. PS2 had the lot, in large quantities. You also (via backwards compatibility) can play PS1 games on it, which opens up a further mammoth-load of games.
I'm still going through my backlog of PS2 games to play and I bought mine (original model) back on release.
zacharias on 6/2/2014 at 14:55
Yeah the 360 pad is the best. For that reason alone I tended to choose 360 with the cross platform games.
My favourite games on 360 were probably the Skate series (1 and 3 are a little better than 2 i feel), it's the kind of game that doesn't hold your hand too much, you will try and fail tricks multiple times but the reason it still works is that falling flat on your face can be hilarious and it's also satisfying to finally nail something. Cool cityscape to skate around in too.
Crackdown gets a thumbs up from me too - pure Superhero type fun jumping over buildings and kicking cars - no real story.
Dead Rising 1 and 2 are worth a look imo. Quirky and a bit flawed (the save system is weird) but has character.
Gears of War is very slick and polished but it never really grabbed me gameplay wise (never played 3).
If you pick up a PS3 God of War 3 is probably one of the highlights.
Going way back the Megadrive/Genesis and SNES have heaps of good gaming, that really is it's own thread though. I think you'll have to give a few more clues as to what you are looking for.
caveat: I wouldn't say the old stuff is cheap/bargain material though, in my neck of the woods the SNES/megadrive consoles and games are now kinda vintage again and not really any cheaper than the newer consoles. I'll have to buy a SNES again one day though (my brother gave ours away, what a dick).
henke on 6/2/2014 at 15:33
Quote Posted by icemann
The PS2 was the best console of all time.
There were no doubt a lot of great games on it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone picking up a console at this point. The graphics are quite dated, and most of the games don't have widescreen support. Since Nicker is planning on playing on a big widescreen TV, that's worth considering.
A lot of the PS2 classics have been HD'd up and re-released on PS3 anyway.
Jason Moyer on 6/2/2014 at 15:39
If choosing between PS3 and X360 I'd say it depends on what kinds of games you want. The PS3 has the better library overall, imho, with all of the great HD collections (Splinter Cell, Sands Of Time, Devil May Cry, Ratchet And Clank etc), downloadable PS1/PS2 ports (FATAL FRAME! fuck you dethy), the Uncharted games, Last Of Us, Little Big Planet, Resistance, Sly Cooper, and most of the non-exclusive console games that didn't get PC ports (Red Dead Redemption, various sports games, Ninja Gaiden 2/3, the Suda51 stuff, etc). On the other hand, the 360 has Rez HD, Forza (the two reasons I want one, to be honest) and has a much better selection of SHMUPS, if you're into that. Also Halo and Gears Of War, but fuck that shit. IMHO the 360 is basically a pile of shit that's superior on other platforms aside from the aforementioned titles/genres.
The Wii has a surprisingly nice selection of non-PC games, and you can get one new for super cheap (without Gamecube compatibility sadly - if this is an issue get an older used model). The Bit.Trip games (sans Runner2) were basically designed to be played on the Wii, and most of the games control far better with the Wii controller than a mouse or normal gamepad. There's the Metroid trilogy, assuming you can find a copy for under $300. The Epic Mickey games, the Mario games, the Zelda games, the virtual console is ace, it's easy to hack/homebrew (having a modern system that can run basically every NES game easily is nice), Boom Blox, the only good Dead Space game, House Of The Dead Overkill, the Golden Eye remake, the Kirby games. Did I mention the Mario games? Honestly if I had to pick one reason to own a console, it would be to have Super Paper Mario, Paper Mario, and Super Mario RPG, the latter two of which can be had for cheap for the VC. The biggest thing I hate about the Wii is the way developers try to shove motion controls into games where it's totally unnecessary (I'm looking at you, Tenchu), but for the good games it's a non issue as either the motion stuff is done well (Bit.Trip, Super Paper Mario), completely optional (Punch Out!), or not a factor at all (Goldeneye).
Of course you could spend a little more for a WiiU and get everything a Wii has and everything a WiiU...well, might have...someday...
From the prior generation, I'm an Xbox/Dreamcast fanboy. Pretty much every good game from that era was either exclusive to one of those systems, or had a vastly superior Xbox version.
Edit: My personal preference would be to find a massive old 4:3 projection TV, an Atari 2600, and then play Kaboom! until the acid kicks in.
gunsmoke on 6/2/2014 at 16:04
Just Cause 2, FEAR 2+ 3, Condemned 2, Darkness 1 & 2.
Jason Moyer on 6/2/2014 at 16:46
All of those but Condemned 2/Darkness 1 are on PC, though.
icemann on 6/2/2014 at 17:03
Quote Posted by henke
There were no doubt a lot of great games on it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone picking up a console at this point. The graphics are quite dated, and most of the games don't have widescreen support. Since Nicker is planning on playing on a big widescreen TV, that's worth considering.
A lot of the PS2 classics have been HD'd up and re-released on PS3 anyway.
I was going completely from a games libray point of view. The dated graphics is more of a "in the eye of the beholder" type thing I would argue, and is very game dependent.
Just today I tested on my widescreen TV a PS2 (since I've taken to selling retro games and consoles on eBay over the last 12 months) Gran Turismo 3, Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance and the PS1 port (via backwards compatibility) of Crusader No Remorse. Of those, GT3 looked good as did BG : DA. Crusader No Remorse being a PS1 game definitely looked quite dated, however just as with anything retro you adjust within a few minutes to it all and after that I barely even noticed honestly. I didn't notice any issues of any kind in relation to character models looking stretched or off other than maybe some of the NPCs when speaking to them in BG (since you see them from a 1st person perspective in chat mode).
So on graphics I would say that that all depends on how import that is to you (by you I'm meaning the player of said medium). If having crisp graphics and nice anti-aliasing + good resolutions is important then hell yeah go for current gen, or ps3/360 generation.
Now however having said all that, re-reading the first post he does say:
"playing more sedate FPS like Thief, Far Cry or Splinter Cell, maybe a bit of racing or fishing"
Racing - Go Gran Turismo 3 or 4, or any of the Ridge Racer games. Old gens got you well and truly covered on this category.
FPS - On this one I'll bend and say that the ps3/360 generation did that better. The best FPS games on the ps2 from memory were the Medal of Honor games with "Frontline" being the biggest stand out. However on the ps3 and 360 there was "The Darkness", the continuation of Halo on the 360 end and the "Resistance" series on the ps3. The other good ones I don't count since they were also released on PC.
Fishing - Not a clue on the ps3/360 generation. I know there were a few fishing games on the ps2 + games that had fishing side stuff you could do (Dark Cloud 2). Hell there were HEAPS of fishing games on the Atari 2600.
Thirith on 6/2/2014 at 17:26
List of PS2 classics that have a PS3 HD port (at least the ones I know about):
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Okami
The Ratchet & Clank games
The Sly Cooper games
I'm not a huge fan of the latter two, but Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were two of the reasons why I originally got a PS2, and the MGS games are worth checking out.
System exclusives that I'm happy I got a PS3 for (I'm sure I'll forget a few):
MGS 4 (yes, even with the eyerolling bits)
Flower
Journey
The Last of Us
The Uncharted series
These are all reasons why I'd recommend a PS3, especially now that the new generation is out and the older system is likely to come down in price.
june gloom on 6/2/2014 at 17:39
Don't forget that Metal Gear Solid 1 is available via PSN, and that the MGS HD collection comes with Peace Walker as well as 2 and 3. (For the record, I prefer the PS2 version of 3, but that's rare now and if you're not a purist it's not an issue.)
Silent Hill 1 is also on PSN, as are a number of PS2 classics like all the PS2 GTA games (yes, Vice City Stories/Liberty City Stories included) and The Warriors, which is as rare as MGS3 Subsistance now.
Quote Posted by henke
There were no doubt a lot of great games on it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone picking up a console at this point. The graphics are quite dated, and most of the games don't have widescreen support. Since Nicker is planning on playing on a big widescreen TV, that's worth considering.
A lot of the PS2 classics have been HD'd up and re-released on PS3 anyway.
You could say the same thing about the SNES, still doesn't make it not an amazing system.
