Indeed, I'm one who has thought about picking up a PS2 if I could find one cheap enough. Truth is, there are many, many games for it out there that I'd like to play. Perhaps it will become goldmine for bargain hunters like the Dreamcast did. However, I was disappointed with the PS1. I picked one up three or so years ago and never was able to build up a good library for it. Even "bargain bins" tended to price their games too high. I think the backwards compatibility kept the bottom from falling out for these older games.
I also don't get the appeal of the Blu-Ray player. I've heard many times that it's a good reason to buy a PS3, but--well, I just don't see many Blu-Ray disks for sale anywhere. Besides that, I'm definitely not in a position to start replacing my DVD collection with Blu-Ray. Heck, most of my favorite movies were hard enough to find on DVD, much less BR. My guess is the only movies you will be able to find are the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and I really couldn't care less about 99% of them.
The slimline PS2 is quite attractive, but I personally have an original style PS2 with internal network adapter and aftermarket hard drive. I also have HD Loader, which allows me to transfer many of my PS2 games to play directly from the hard drive. Very convenient. If you were to get a PS2, I'd highly recommend going for a used or refurbed original model. While I still favor the Xbox over all other consoles of that generation (since it generally had the best versions of the multi-system games), it's undeniable that the PS2 has by the far the biggest and most diverse software library, and by far the biggest range of bargains.
Unlike when I was an early adopter with the DVD format over VHS (I got one of the first players back in 1997 and immediately stopped purchasing tapes), there is not a clear advantage with the hi-def optical disc formats over the standard def DVD's. Yes, you get better picture quality and sometimes better sound, but you also need the optimal setup to get the most from it and there really aren't any other major advantages (they're both on a small disc, they're both random access, they both have extra features, etc.). In my opinion, unless the movie would absolutely benefit from a true hi-def bump (rather than an upscale of the regular disc, which those players also offer), there's NO REASON to replace your DVD collection. After buying a Blu Ray or HD-DVD player, I would simply buy whatever new came out in the new format. Again, simply put, unlike with DVD over VHS, hi-def discs don't immediately make standard DVD's obsolete. It's an entirely different scenario. On a similar note, it's been announced that combo HD-DVD/Blu Ray discs (one format on each side) have been pushed back until next year. Not good. The fact that we still have two very incompatible formats is not good for overall adoption. We either need players that can play both formats or the discs need to be dual format.
======================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
(A PC Magazine Top 100 Website)
======================================
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Indeed, I'm one who has thought about picking up a PS2 if I could find one cheap enough. Truth is, there are many, many games for it out there that I'd like to play. Perhaps it will become goldmine for bargain hunters like the Dreamcast did. However, I was disappointed with the PS1. I picked one up three or so years ago and never was able to build up a good library for it. Even "bargain bins" tended to price their games too high. I think the backwards compatibility kept the bottom from falling out for these older games.
I also don't get the appeal of the Blu-Ray player. I've heard many times that it's a good reason to buy a PS3, but--well, I just don't see many Blu-Ray disks for sale anywhere. Besides that, I'm definitely not in a position to start replacing my DVD collection with Blu-Ray. Heck, most of my favorite movies were hard enough to find on DVD, much less BR. My guess is the only movies you will be able to find are the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and I really couldn't care less about 99% of them.
The slimline PS2 is quite attractive, but I personally have an original style PS2 with internal network adapter and aftermarket hard drive. I also have HD Loader, which allows me to transfer many of my PS2 games to play directly from the hard drive. Very convenient. If you were to get a PS2, I'd highly recommend going for a used or refurbed original model. While I still favor the Xbox over all other consoles of that generation (since it generally had the best versions of the multi-system games), it's undeniable that the PS2 has by the far the biggest and most diverse software library, and by far the biggest range of bargains.
Unlike when I was an early adopter with the DVD format over VHS (I got one of the first players back in 1997 and immediately stopped purchasing tapes), there is not a clear advantage with the hi-def optical disc formats over the standard def DVD's. Yes, you get better picture quality and sometimes better sound, but you also need the optimal setup to get the most from it and there really aren't any other major advantages (they're both on a small disc, they're both random access, they both have extra features, etc.). In my opinion, unless the movie would absolutely benefit from a true hi-def bump (rather than an upscale of the regular disc, which those players also offer), there's NO REASON to replace your DVD collection. After buying a Blu Ray or HD-DVD player, I would simply buy whatever new came out in the new format. Again, simply put, unlike with DVD over VHS, hi-def discs don't immediately make standard DVD's obsolete. It's an entirely different scenario. On a similar note, it's been announced that combo HD-DVD/Blu Ray discs (one format on each side) have been pushed back until next year. Not good. The fact that we still have two very incompatible formats is not good for overall adoption. We either need players that can play both formats or the discs need to be dual format.
======================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
(A PC Magazine Top 100 Website)
======================================
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.