(Note: Throughout the week, Flava and Flinch will be battling it out controller-to-controller, cartridge to CD as they determine which gaming company is best in the land: Nintendo or Sony)
We just finished Day One of Nintendo vs. Sony Week, and I am happy to report that we are off to a terrific start. We gained a few new commentators, and we would like to extend a warm welcome to them. The people have spoken, and NES has scored a decisive victory in round one (Flinch Edit: Hardly…). As a result of Flava’s domination (and Flinch’s game efforts to resist the inevitable), we logged an all-time high for most hits in a single day. (Go us!) With the wind at our backs, we dive right into Round 2 of Nintendo vs. Sony. Today, the Nintendo 64 clashes with the Playstation 2. It is the second of two battles featuring ‘old’ systems. Don’t worry, the epic Wii vs. PS3 is in the queue. But for now, on with Day Two of Nintendo vs. Sony Week.
FlavaDave Says: Ah yes. The PS2. By far the best piece of equipment Sony ever made. Everybody bought it, rappers made songs about it, parents screamed bloody murder over all the bloody murders depicted in pixels.The PS2 made the first truly great sports games. And we will never forget the unbridled joy of playing Grand Theft Auto 3 for the first time. Genius.And I acknowledge that genius. So today on F versus F, I am refusing to pull a Flinchbot. Instead, I’m admitting this right out the gate: the PS2 is better than the N64.
Now why would I do that? Doesn’t that run contrary to the spirit of the site?No my friend, it doesn’t. Remember, the argument is over the greater gaming company: Nintendo or Sony. Flinch will win this battle, but I shall win the war.Instead, I tell you this: The Playstation 2 is the only worthwhile piece of equipment that Sony Games ever made.While you mull that over, let’s explore the cool things that the N64 did:
- It was the first 64-bit system
- It was home to GoldenEye 007, universally aclaimed as one of the greatest games of all time
- It was capable of four-controller play right out of the box, which is great if you
have, like, friends. - It had plenty of cool games, like Super Mario 64, Perfect Dark, 1080 Snowboarding (a Flava favorite), Star Wars, Star Fox, Super Smash Bros., The Legend of Zelda (another universally acknowledged classic), and Mario Kart (of course).
So it was a fun little system. The graphics were cute, and the gameplay was intentionally family-friendly (
except for Quake II). You should have saved all the BS you spewed at the NES and used it for the N64, but its too late now.
But what’s wrong with fun? Games are supposed to be fun, right?
Flinchbot Says: Flava - I’m glad you’re finally figuring it out. It’s best to just quit than to engage me in a battle of wits.So for fun, I’ll tell you what sucked about the PS2.I bought one of these things
about 6 months after the massive stupid hype that this thing got (something Nintendo has never seen). I bought it, I played games, I got addicted to SSX Tricky, my roommate Derek and I had epic FIFA battles, and I rolled all who dared enter m y house boasting their abilities at Madden (I don’t care which version. Hell, Bring in the NCAA Football game and I’ll smoke you at it too. (And for fairness, my record is something like 87-1. I did lose last year finally.)The PS2 keeps going with Guitar Hero. And Guitar Hero II. And Guitar Hero: Hair Metal. And Guitar Hero: Sonny and Cher. It’s worse than freaking CSI:Muncie.But you know what? I didn’t buy a PS2 just to be a game system. Remember when Sony advertised this thing as a home entertainment center? Sure, my PS2 was my first DVD player and we still use it as the CD player for piping music out on the deck during long, drunken summer nights.But adding in a DVD player hardly makes a device a home entertainment center. Can I stream crap to it like the XBox can? Can I record TV shows like a Tivo? Nope. It can’t do any of that crap.
And that was the dream I was pursuing when I bought it. Any dumbass can make a video game console (See Nintendo). But it took someone with vision to really get the concept together of making a game system a home entertainment center. And that visionary genius was, gulp, Microsoft.
The PS3 seems to have caught up, but we’re talking PS2 here and to me, the PS2 has always been a disappointment to me because I expected so much more and all it did was give me a gaming system.
FlavaDave Says:
Flinchbot Says: Two words: David Lynch
May 15, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Technically, I’d like to point out that your comparisons are chronologically inconsistent, and while I don’t necessarily object to that method of comparison, it seems a little strange to compare systems that were never in direct competition.
That being said, the technology and framework for a decent media center barely existed when the PS2 released. I felt that it was generally understood that a media center in those days, meant something that played CD’s and DVD’s. They could’ve made things infinitely cooler by including internet, a la Dreamcast, but I don’t see that as necessarily a step towards a media center, but rather a more functional game console.
As far as flinch’s comment regarding nintendo and hype, I’d have to say that if you’re referring to self-generated advertising hype, then you’re correct– it is something Nintendo has never seen. However, if you’re referring to popular hype driven by the masses (the only kind that matters, in my opinion), lets once again look at how the Wii can’t be obtained 1/2-year after its release (I know that’s somewhat off-topic, but I felt compelled to correct it. The same effect was seen with the NES as well, I believe).
The N64 had a lot of issues, the main amongst them being lack of third-party support, not to mention lack of storage due to the by-then-outdated Cartridge format. While Nintendo was able to keep the system afloat with absolutely stellar first-party games, as well as a little help from their friends (read: RARE and that’s about it), The Playstation 2 still stands in my mind as the best console in history. It stomped every bit of the competition, and even now is outselling the Xbox360 in sales. I just wish they would’ve taken their heads out of their asses long enough to realize that people REALLY REALLY wanted 4-player support.
May 15, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I have to agree with the Baron, the N64 was released a year after the PS1, but 4 years before the PS2, so hardly fair… A comparison with the Gamecube would have been fairer, the PS2 would have still walked it, but at least their from the same generation.
August 8, 2008 at 5:22 am
a comparrison between the n64 and ps1 would be great
if you think the wii versus ps3 versus 360 debates are heated the n64 versus ps1 ones are a lot better due to the fact that people arnt just bullshitting for the entire thing because due to the n64 and ps1’s age (1996-2001 give or take) people actully have decent arguments.
a debate between ps1 and n64 made by you two would be amazing!