What's wrong with the Playstation2




Sony scared, Sega strong.IMO

Well here I am again writing another editorial, but some things must be discussed on the current gaming news. I must announce the current thoughts on the Sony system. Now, for years the gaming industry always finds a winner and a looser in the gaming community. History is always known to repeat itself, and history shows that if you don't keep what people are used to seeing, most likely you will have a tool of failure. This reminds me of the days when I was a kid. I would look at those cool racetracks that climb the wall and are filled with loads of loops, but unfortunately end up with the casual figure 8 race track. I will go on to say that the Dreamcast is the figure 8 track, and the PS2 is the super track. The toy the kids want, but will be satisfied with the toy that is affordable, but yet still as much fun.

What's Wrong with the PS2?

I will go on to speculate that Sony has forgotten about the casual gamers. There are just so many things wrong with the PS2. I will first comment on the design. When looked at, you can only wonder if common people will believe that this is a gaming machine. You will notice that the design is more like one of these older console based CD players of the 80's. This change is surly going to confuse the consumer. As I mentioned, this design is something that the consumer is not used to seeing. When looking at consoles of the past, they all have a revolutionary new look, but also still remain in a familiar look of the other gaming systems. This allows the consumer to familiarize himself or herself on what a gaming machine looks like, but Sony has not taken in consideration of this look out. What we have here, is a bulky old age machine that may confuse consumers into thinking that this is not a gaming machine..sad thing is. this is what Sony wants! The machine is in a pretty sized up state. This also pulls gamers away by not being very portable. There are always times I like to take my game systems to a friends house to play over there. This design takes away from this idea. If the PS2 is at your house, chances are it will remain there. Sony is blind to realize that all these added features of backwards compatibility, DVD, USB ports..Etc. are pointless to the average gamer. Yes, we can sit and mention that Sega included a useless tool of a modem that many gamers may not take advantage of, but for $200 with it being included, who cares? These other features pull away from the casual gamers. Why? Well, Sony is attempting to create this beast of a machine that they included so many features, that the price range is completely ignored. This sucker is currently retailing for an amount of 370 US dollars! History also shows that such a price range usually doesn't equal success.

I will also go on to add that Sony did not do a very good job with the overall approach of what they wanted to accomplish. They did not look very well into any new ways of a new system. The name of the system is lacking, the controller is. hmmmm.a Playstation controller. That was creative. The memory card looks the same as the Playstation. There are only two controller ports and with the extention of two USB ports. No cool logo to go with this machine. Sony just strapped away a new system quickly to compete with Sega and Nintendo. Also the PS2 is no kids toy and I can guarantee you that mommy and daddy is not going to pay 370 Dollars for their sweet little Jimmy to break the costly system.

Does anyone feel that this looks like a Saturn repeat too? Here is the low down!

  • Both system are black ( No racist statement involved, with the exception of the Genesis, black systems don't sell extremely well. )
  • Both retail at near 400 US dollars
  • Both felt they will rule the market share. Sega felt they would beat Sony hands down.
  • Both hard to develop for. Had lots of support, but because of this, the Saturn lost its support.


The Dreamcast, why it will be of Choice,

Experts always look at business points of views and not of average consumers views. Many experts to this day will agree that Sega has no chance to beat out Sony. Yes, Sony holds a large installer base around the world, but if anyone knows who can go from #1 to last, it sure is Sega. Sega has built the gamers machine. They built a power house machine that more than competes with the arcades, it out does them. This machine being of only 200 US dollars. Very affordable with games running at 39.99 to 49.99. The design is smart. With a small design and 4 controller ports, they created a machine that will be recognizable and pleasing to the average consumer. Sega was thinking for the gamer and not themselves. ( as they did with the Saturn ) They came up with a name that would explain their future preference as well be accepted to the public. Many people laughed at the logo of the Dreamcast. They felt that it was too bland and uncreative for a next generation platform. After being exposed to this logo for more than a year, I now see Sega's reason for this style of logo. This logo used ( The swirl ) is common in many other logo designs of other products. In fact, the swirl is located in lots of other designs. Now, if you were to find this logo on another brand, tell me you don't think of Dreamcast. Sega did this to remind consumers of Dreamcast. This logo will relate to the Dreamcast product instead of the current product that the logo features. This was a good marketing scam from Sega.

We will all get a glimpse of what's to come for the next generation of gaming in the years to come, but if history repeats itself again, this time Sega will be the one in favor.


Written by: Chris Vantu

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