Playstation 2: Still Alive o/~
Kombo.com has a great feature acknowledging a little fact the rest of us are half-ignoring: The Playstation 2 is alive and well. It’ll be some time before its spark dies (’Til the Day All Are One, etc).
The Playstation 2 is small. It’s affordable. It’s–well, I don’t want to say “hardy”, ’cause it’s not. Regardless, I would recommend its purchase to anyone. I recently received a review copy of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 for the PS2 from Namco Bandai (Bandai Namco?), and it was not a bad game in the least. It’ll definitely prove to be a lot of fun for the Narutards.
And heck, what am I playing now when I have a few minutes to myself and my husband’s not poking me for a Brawl match? Xbox 360? Nope. DragonQuest VIII. (Yes, still.)
I completely agree. The PS2 is still alive and well in my entertainment center too.
I would attest to the product’s durability. Mine still exists. My friend’s launch PS2 still exists. I have yet to personally meet a PS2 owner with a busted console.
>> I would attest to the product’s durability. Mine still exists. My friend’s launch PS2 still exists. I have yet to personally meet a PS2 owner with a busted console.
Not so sure I’d vouch for them quite as strongly myself. I’ve seen several PS2s come and go amongst friends, but most of them had issues with dirty of misaligned lasers/lenses/optics and overheating problems that stemmed from a somewhat harsh lifestyle. (Heavy smokers, lots of dust, cluttered space, etc.)
“Durable” makes me think it’d be ok to drop the machine a few times without wincing, something I challenge any owner to try. Rather, I’d say they’re in the very happy territory of “Satisfactory.”
(I should note that I’ve heard very good things about the survivability of the slimmed down PS2s compared to the originals.)
Perhaps your definition of “durable” in the context of an electronic product would need some revising. :)
Yes, there are certain “shock-proof” electronic products out there like laptops, mobile phones, GPS doohickeys, and the like. They were designed as such with a specific demographic in mind. We can drop these with abandon.
The PS2 console is not part of that type. People normally shouldn’t bring these products out into the wild or treat them like steel-toe boots. Naturally, a minimum amount of care and responsibility is required for preserving game consoles.
The issues you mentioned had a lot to do with the product’s optics. Whether one is careful with his/her machine or not, such problems do happen and it’s the price we pay for such a medium (i.e. optics). Likewise, game cartridges present a different set of problems altogether, but that’s another story.
Despite the questionable durability of optics, it’s not difficult to see that the rest of the product is in good shape. Doesn’t that speak for something?
Based from your description, it seems that your friends weren’t very careful with their PS2s. Like any household computer, the PS2 has two main enemies: heat and dirt. If an owner exposes his/her console to these two, it won’t take long before the console fails.
The manufacturer can do so much to make a prodict durable (the 360 is another story, however). It’s up to us consumers to protect our investments. Like I said, we should provide a certain amount of care and responsibility to maintain our electronics. Even the most durable products will break down when we don’t take care of them.
As for me, I like the original better than the slim. Why? Because the original’s cooling is better. I think the original has a better survivability because of this. ;)
lawl, 360.
All very reasonable points though and I’ll concede that my definition of durable wasn’t what you were getting at. *thumbs up*
lol, thanks David. You brought up an interesting point about durability though. A shock-proof game console? I like the idea. ;)
What should be shock-proof are those handhelds. Have you ever dropped yours and it survived?
Actually, my DS has taken quite a beating over the years and still remains rock-solid. I’ve had to have dropped it over ten times by now and aside from a few pits in the outer plastic shell it’s working like a champ.
Amongst my friends, I’ve only ever heard of problems with scratches from overused styli, the occasional busted hinge and one case of a frayed bit of wiring that killed the back-lighting on the top screen. I suppose this is one of the benefits of cartridge based games you mentioned.
The downside is that I always seem to misplace the little buggers and of course, the games usually aren’t nearly as pretty as those on my PSP.
I can’t say much about the Sony handhelds because I almost never leave the PSP out of the case. The idea of dropping it terrifies me. Something about its wide glossy screen and sleek piano black contours invokes a strange sort of reverence in me.
Honorable Mention: The Game Gear was an invulnerable brick. I clocked a school bully over the head with it once and it still works to this day. Now /that/ is durability.