Posted by jdanddiet on Aug 6, 2010 21:20 (Aug 6, 2010 21:20)
There's a thread that was started a few months ago over at the Retro Gamer forum about collecting Playstation 2 games. It's over 50 pages now which is a good amount for any topic, let alone one concerning a dedicated market such as collecting games for Sony's aged machine. It made me wonder why this thread had only appeared relatively recently and whether it was because the PS2 is now considered "retro". There's already been many a discussion over this on the forums.
So where does it fall at the moment? It's certainly not current generation. But is it really retro? It's an interesting argument, with valid points being raised on either side, but ultimately I feel that as you can still buy it's games from high street stores - I went into HMV the other day and they were selling second hand and new titles - it's still far too soon to be regarded as a retro gaming system.
The Playstation 2 is approaching some difficult years; it's not a "cool" system to own like a Sega Megadrive or Super Nintendo and it has no discernable nostalgic value, simply because it's still around. Show a 15-year old kid a PS2 game now and he'll say it's rubbish - but in a few years time he'll be looking back fondly at his first console. I remember the ZX Spectrum's similiarly fallow times: after the demise of the +3 in the early nineties, there was a period of several years where only a few dedicated followers were involved in what you'd struggle to call "a scene". Of course, the internet has changed much of this, and contemporary support for Sir Clive's legendary machines is nothing short of incredible.
But why the PS2 collecting thread now? Simple. The games are dirt cheap. The aforementioned music and video superstore were selling second hand games between 49p and £3.98, including decent titles such as Resident Evil Code Veronica for under 2 pounds. Many charity shops are getting inundated as Mum's dispose of their offsprings' PS2 collections - which, lest we forget, many of which can't be used on a Playstation 3 - with one shop I spoke to resorting to binning piles of the more common titles.
Cash Converters up and down the country have shelves full of those white and black spines. Many of them have blanket pricing: one near me has all PS2 games at 99p each whether they be FIFA07 or Shadow of Colussus. Their games are flying off the shelves; a competitor nearby has a whole wall stuffed with close to 400 titles at £2.50 each that are just gathering dust. Clearly, in stores, the end is nigh.
However, online it's a similar story, with CEX, for example, lowering their prices all the time: three weeks ago I bought Clock Tower 3 for £6.00, now it's already two pounds cheaper. Over on Ebay, sellers are more and more resorting to bulk lots to dispose of outstanding stock with individual games selling for pitiful amounts.
So where does this leave the collector of PS2 games? Well, in a pretty good position actually! Although arguably not a retro system, there are plenty of retro-style titles available for it, not to mention those many super arcade compilations such as Capcom Classics and Taito Legends. With updates of many famous game series such as Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, R-Type and Metal Slug available, as well as the mountain of excellent original titles, there hasn't been a better time to get into the Playstation 2.
Last week when I did my usual pointless walk around the cash convertor shop, (cos it has the same 10 megadrive sport titles as always!) I decided to look at the playstation and playstation 2 games and there all priced at like £1! Kinda made me wished I collected and played the playstation still
PS2 is a very good system for 2D shoot'em ups: most of my PS2 games are shoot'em ups. That's probably why someone calls it "retro": it still has some 2D games in the catalogue...
I usually treat treat anything over 10 years old as Retro, so PS2 isn't quite Retro yet...but then that would mean neither is Gamecube, and that seems retro! Hmmm...Anyhoo, I've got about 100 games on PS2, and still have my eye on some more...
I do think / wish Retrogamer would start covering more PS1 stuff though....some of it's games are 14 years old, and it be nice to read about some of them instead of retreading old ground, which they seem to do a lot...(although they do manage to keep it interesting I suppose)....
And affordable as well - I must have about 20 games for the PS2 on my shelf. I don't have the desire to get any more, but I do see the attraction in collecting for the system.
Aug 23, 2010 01:28:22 (
Aug 23, 2010 01:28
)
