Playstation 2: 20 Years Later

[Burning Fight!!]

They can't add full BC for legal reasons. They need the ok from publishers before they make their games playable on platforms different from what they were licensed for.

I somehow doubt that's the case. The PS3 supported PS1 and at some point officially supported physical PS2 discs... look at the size of the library of those consoles and how many different devs and publishers were involved.

Of course that's a different matter entirely when repackaging old games for sale on PSN.

My current PS2 is a phat DTL-H30001 debugging station with EA asset tags. Being able to play all regions and burnt discs of PS2 and PS1 games is a sweet deal. Before that I had a CIB gloss pink slim PS2, and a DTL-H70011S slim debugging station. To me, the PS2 is a must own because of its backwards compatibility with the PS1. My family had a PS2 growing up, and I remember we kept the PS1 titles we had since buying brand new games at that point was a bit of a rarity for us. At that point, renting games at Hollywood Video is how we played new releases. The only new new game I remember getting was Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition. My parents wrapped it in some gift wrap, and I’ll never forget how excited I was to have a copy of it. I played it to death, getting a 100% clear. Some great times can be had with the PS2.

Believe it or not some PS1 games don't run properly on the PS2... and, this is something few people know, on the Slimline PS2s instead of the R3000 from the PS1 being included, since at that point Sony was probably facing an issue of finding factories who would manufacture such an old ass processor, they included a PowerPC chip specialized at hardware emulation. Since the video side was already "simulated" via the Emotion Engine you get a totally emulated PS1 experience on the PS2 Slim. A damn good one though.

https://playstationdev.wiki/ps2devwiki/index.php?title=IOP/Deckard

 

[joe8]

I somehow doubt that's the case. The PS3 supported PS1 and at some point officially supported physical PS2 discs... look at the size of the library of those consoles and how many different devs and publishers were involved.

Of course that's a different matter entirely when repackaging old games for sale on PSN.



Believe it or not some PS1 games don't run properly on the PS2... and, this is something few people know, on the Slimline PS2s instead of the R3000 from the PS1 being included, since at that point Sony was probably facing an issue of finding factories who would manufacture such an old ass processor, they included a PowerPC chip specialized at hardware emulation. Since the video side was already "simulated" via the Emotion Engine you get a totally emulated PS1 experience on the PS2 Slim. A damn good one though.

https://playstationdev.wiki/ps2devwiki/index.php?title=IOP/Deckard

The early PS2 consoles had the actual PS1 hardware built into it. So, they weren't emulating the PS1, as they didn't need to.

 

[k'_127]

I somehow doubt that's the case. The PS3 supported PS1 and at some point officially supported physical PS2 discs... look at the size of the library of those consoles and how many different devs and publishers were involved.

Yeah I believe hardware makers could get away with it back then, but now I think the situation has changed. Probably because publishers realized there is a market for older games they can milk. For instance, when MS introduced BC on XB1, they didn't open the gate for all OG XB and XB360 games at once, even though they could technically do that. I'm sure they had to get back to the publishers before they enabled their games to work via BC, in batches.

Not making excuse for them. I do think it's lame Sony didn't even try to push the PS1 / PS2 releases on PS4, besides releasing a handful of PS2 games on it, not even via the PS Now service. I just hope it's part of their plan to do so on PS5.

 

[neo_mao]

Microsoft did a good job w/ by but I just wish I could play Japanese 360 games on my us xbone.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

The early PS2 consoles had the actual PS1 hardware built into it. So, they weren't emulating the PS1, as they didn't need to.

Again, the GPU was the Emotion Engine in another mode, on ALL consoles. That's why you have texture smoothing on/off. Don't remember seeing the PS1 doing that?

https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/wiki/PSX-mode

 

[LoneSage]

I remember everyone hating the launch titles. But SSX was a real gem. Spent so many hours on it.

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

Believe it or not some PS1 games don't run properly on the PS2... and, this is something few people know, on the Slimline PS2s instead of the R3000 from the PS1 being included, since at that point Sony was probably facing an issue of finding factories who would manufacture such an old ass processor, they included a PowerPC chip specialized at hardware emulation. Since the video side was already "simulated" via the Emotion Engine you get a totally emulated PS1 experience on the PS2 Slim. A damn good one though.

https://playstationdev.wiki/ps2devwiki/index.php?title=IOP/Deckard

My favorite means of playing PS1 games on PS2 is definitely the official POPS emulator made by Sony for their Japanese PSN service, where for a time they offered downloadable PS1 games. Due to a hardware limitation on the PS2, it can only utilize the hardware PS1 support through the disc drive. For HDD loading of PS1 games obtained through PSN, a software emulator was required. There's homebrew ways of using POPS for backups and it is glorious. It is really stunning how well PS1 games run entirely emulated in software on the PS2.

http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Official_Sony_Emulators#Emulators_on_PS2

 

[Heinz]

I never played the Silent Hill games until recently, finished SH2 and started SH3 this week. Graphically I'm actually impressed and I really didn't expect to be.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

I remember everyone hating the launch titles. But SSX was a real gem. Spent so many hours on it.

TimeSplitters is a classic.

 

[LoneSage]

TimeSplitters is a classic.

I rented it and hated it. However, I only played single-player, didn't have friends come over to try the multiplayer. But it was such a dull, boring game to me.

I preferred Red Faction and the first Medal of Honor PS2 game. Actually. Those two might have been the last time I played FPS games.

 

[ggallegos1]

I rented it and hated it. However, I only played single-player, didn't have friends come over to try the multiplayer. But it was such a dull, boring game to me.

I preferred Red Faction and the first Medal of Honor PS2 game. Actually. Those two might have been the last time I played FPS games.

I remember really enjoying MOH Frontline, especially the D Day mission. I tried to go back to it maybe 6 or 7 years ago and the controls were waaaaay different than i remembered, but that eas because I was used to CoD controls by then. Rising Sun was good as well, and a ton of good 007 games.

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

Still have my fatty model 1 Playstation 2 complete in box with magazine and inserts in baggies. Works perfect except that the disc drive comes out a little stiff and with a little rubbing noise. Luckily, I have a friend who not only fixes Disc drives, but also laser light readers and he cleans out PS2's.

 

[ShaolinAce]

The PS2 is the only Sony console I loved and have extreme nostalgia for. Capcom vs SNK 2 and Devil may cry 3, mgs 3 and others. Very fond memories of hooking up a multitap and playing 5 player hockey with my brothers. Was n64 the genration before and 360 after. So I particularly loved the PS2.

 

[Mr Bakaboy]

Owned an early generation PS2. Played the crap out of Tekken Tag for a year then it died. I never bothered replacing it since I played on my roommates PS2, and when I moved out I switched to OGxbox. Online 2d fighters were the reason why I moved 300 miles away and kept my sanity while adjusting to life knowing nobody where you live. Got a modded PS2 10 years later. Still enjoy playing it now and then.

I will agree PS2 changed video games forever. Just not 100% sure if it was good or bad. I'd rather consoles focus on online game experience, and less being a media player since there are less expensive methods to do what media the consoles can provide, but unless you buy a decent computer the options to play games online are way less.

 

[NEOFREAK9189]

yep i still have my in original box

 

[yagamikun]

I still have a phat PS2 and a hand full of games. There were some real gems on the system, but I don't look back on it as fondly as the PS1 or even the PS3 for that matter. I think it all had to do with timing, though. I had just started college when it came out and was super busy. I was MUCH more into the Gamecube at the time despite having a PS2 from launch as well. My fondest memories on the PS2 was discovering the absolute bliss of Devil May Cry 1 and 3 - easily my two standout titles on the console.

As a whole, though, I don't have much nostalgia for that entire console generation despite a few great gaming memories.