Sony

The Past And The Present

What can you say about Sony? They come out of nowhere and completely dominated the home console market with the original Playstation. It has sold more units than anyone could have imagined, and it continues to sell well in its redesigned $99 package. High profiles titles are still being written for it, even a year or so after the PS2 hit the market. It is a stunning story of corporate success.

Yet, when the PS2 was introduced, Sony got hammered by the press and the rest of the industry. It was too big, too oddly shaped and too expensive. It also lacked a clear vision and was too hard to develop for. Yet here we are, a year later, and they have sold 20 million units! Even with all its flaws, it is still a huge, huge seller! How come? Well, for one, it plays almost every Playstation One title out there, which means you can pick one up and continue to play your favorite games from the past while waiting for those great titles yet to come. That has to be one of the key selling points and I think was a brilliant decision on the part of Sony. Another good decision was that they did not alter the controller very much at all, so their huge Playstation base would not feel alienated. Perhaps one of the more controversial moves turned out to be a good one as well, and that was the inclusion of basic DVD player functionality.

By some accounts, DVDs have been the fastest growing standard in consumer electronics history, and Sony, with their finger ever on the pulse of the industry, took an informed gamble that the PS2 would benefit from that momentum. They were right. Critics would say that the PS2 had no titles, and consumers would fire back with "Yeah, but it plays DVD's too!". The titles would come later, and they would come in droves. Some would be good, some would be bad, but they have arrived and there is a little something for everyone.

The Modern PS2

To get this out of the way, I think the design of the PS2 stinks. It is ugly and inefficient and no matter what anyone says, looks very bad sitting on its side in the entertainment center. But if you put it flat, on top of your VCR, it actually looks okay. Plus, you won't have that odd vibrating that some units seem to have when it sits upright. The controllers are as slick as ever, though again, they are not my favorite. They are, however, small and if you concentrate, you can get a handle on how to use them. Practice makes perfect.

We whipped out one of the launch titles: SSX. This is a really fun game and one that shows the positive side of the PS2. Controls are about as tight and accurate as you can hope for, and the visuals, while consistently 'white' and snowy, somehow find a way to keep you interested. They didn't bother putting too much effort into sculpting perfect skiers. Instead, they focused on how well the title plays, and because of that, it still rules a year later. If you have big hands and clumsy fingers, it can be hard to keep from screwing up complex moves on the controller, but I think that I must be an exception to the rule, because everyone I talk to seems to be a fan of the PS2 controller. We fired up another great title, Gran Turismo 3, and I was blown away. It is more on the "sim" side than an arcade boy like me may prefer, but the cars look awesome and the controls are tight and well done. The tracks and backgrounds are not as highly detailed as the cars, but I think that works in its favor, because I like how they fade into the background and put the emphasis on the cars instead. Game play was fun at first, but I got bored within about 20 minutes.

So, we threw in Tekken Tag and I was treated to the second best fighting game I'd ever seen. It looks and plays great! Too many complex combos for a simpleton like myself, but beyond that, I was heartily impressed. It is not just about eye candy, but about fluid movements and innovative attacks. The only game that could top it substantially would be the upcoming Soul Calibur 2, which will be on all 3 of the big platforms in about 6 months. Next came NBA Live 2001 and when push came to shove, I liked 2K2 on the Sega much better. We tried a few first person shooters, and frankly, I'm a PC guy and with keyboard and mouse on a high res screen, no console can beat it. We wanted to give the new Metal Gear Solid a shot, but he could not get his hands on a copy, so I guess that will have to wait. As good as it could be, I just don't see how it could move me off the PC after games like Thief and System Shock...