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“Open
wide, Billy. Say “Ahhhhhhhh….”
“Ahhhhhhhhh…”
“So Billy, have you played Playstation 2 before?”
“Yeah! I have both the X-Box and Playstation 2!”
“Really? Which do you like better?”
“Ummmm…it’s tough, but I like the X-Box better…”
Writing console reviews is a bit like pulling teeth for a
dentist…the end result is fulfilling, yet the process is
somewhat agonizing. I find that console reviews need to be a
lot more in depth in order to cover just about any questions
that anyone would have (within reason…after all, I didn’t
design and build the thing myself). This isn’t to say that the
process is less than enjoyable; on the contrary, it is a lot
of fun, but at the same time, very time consuming.
Before I give you the impression that I favor X-Box over the
Playstation 2, let me explain how I do my console reviews.
First, I look at the machine as a whole unit, dissecting each
section as if it was brain surgery. Then I look at each
individual component, scouring over them, looking for any
inconsistencies. When that is all said and done, then I begin
comparing the unit as a whole to the other consoles on the
market. That is exactly what I did with the X-Box in my X-Box
console review. That can be found here:
Official PLANET42.COM Xbox Review
With all that said, let’s begin, shall we?
History of Sony and PlayStation (Past)
Seeing what companies such as Sega and Nintendo could do to an
industry like video games, Sony just had to have a
 piece of
it. Of course, everyone knows that Sony doesn’t do things
halfway and they decided early on that they sought to be the
dominant force in a growing industry…and they did just that.
Sony debuted Playstation in Japan in mid-1994, before bringing
the sensation to the United States less than a year later.
PlayStations where the most talked about piece of
entertainment and technology. Everyone had to have one, or at
the very least, played one. In no time at all, Sony
Playstation took the world by storm. Prices of their games
were kept as low as possible, and their fan base quickly grew
to astronomical proportions. Just as Playstation was reaching
a peak in popularity, Sony dropped the bomb that would be PS2.
With Playstation 2, Sony saw the opportunity to take their
violently popular game console and improve on what was already
the talk of the town, while at the same time shooting for the
goal of making it the one and only console you would ever need
to buy. The decision to include the then new DVD technology
was what brought PS2 to every little kid’s Christmas list.
The original Playstation had above average graphics, and Sony
saw this as a chance to take an even bigger piece of the
market: by improving upon their already widely loved graphics.
With that, Playstation’s heart and soul is called the Emotion
Engine, which at the time was one of the best 3D graphic
processors for consoles. As impressive as it once was, it is
no match hardware-wise when you compare it to the X-Box’s
nVidia graphics chip. The Emotion Engine serves its purpose of
bringing the player much higher resolution as well as better
color and shading than its predecessor, but the true hardware
geek wouldn’t stand for it.
The best feature with the Playstation 2 is its backwards
compatibility with existing PS1 games. This gives even the
casual gamer hundreds, if not thousands, of games to choose
from. Because PS2 is the latest and greatest in the Sony
timeline, PS1 game prices have dropped substantially.
Sometimes you can find 4 PS1 games for the price of a brand
new PS2 game. One might ask: Well, why would you even consider
buying an old Playstation game? My answer is: why not? If they
are a lot cheaper, I say go for it. What many people might not
realize is that Playstation 2 brings many of the older games
up to the next level by speeding up load times as well as
sharpening some graphics, such as shading and some textures.
I’m not saying that it makes the original library of
Playstation games look like PS2 games, but it certainly
improves them enough to notice that there is a difference. Not
only is Playstation’s software backwards compatible, but Sony
was kind enough to make sure that the hardware would be as
well. From your favorite controller to your multi-tap that
allows you to hook in more of your friends, Sony has taken
care of its faithful.
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