Best of the decade?
While I didn't bother with a best-of-the-decade article at the end of last year, the January issue of Edge magazine has an interesting piece on what it considers the best games, hardware, events and people from 2000 to 2009.
Edge cites World of Warcraft as the game of the decade, with Grand Theft Auto III runner up, Half-Life 2 in third spot, and Halo: Combat Evolved coming out in forth place. It gives Nintendo the nod as developer and publisher of the decade, while cites Satoru Iwata as person of the decade and the Xbox 360's red ring of death as the failure of the decade (it cited Sony's botched PS3 launch second).
But the category that I want to concentrate on today is Edge's hardware of the decade, the PlayStation 2, and I must say I do agree with them. I think the PS2 was instrumental in taking gaming to the mainstream and brought gaming to the living room. It was also the first gaming console to merge the DVD player with the game player. Genius.
To me the PS2 is an iconic piece of hardware - a fact that is supported with the 138 million sitting in homes around the world - and despite today's current-generation consoles, the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the PS2 is still going strong, and still selling strong. It must have done something right for it to still be selling and doing well, right? Many people I know have a PS2 - be it the original model or the more svelte slim - sitting under a TV in their home.
For many people, too, the PS2 became synonymous with gaming, and it introduced people to casual gaming. Several well-established game franchises, too, started out on the PS2. My PS2 still gets use these days - granted not as much as it used to - but it's testament to the impact it had on gaming.
If I had done a Best of the Decade awards, I, too, would have given the gong to the PlayStation 2. I think it deserves it thoroughly. (If you're interested, Edge voted the Nintendo DS as second best hardware of the decade and the Nintendo Wii third.)
Do you agree with Edge magazine? Is the PlayStation 2 the best console of the decade or are they deluded? What other gaming moments over the last decade do you cherish the most?
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PS2 certainly a great machine!
Recently got rid of mine and replaced with a ps3, but yeah. Great machine and still going strong many years after release! I would have thought the Wii....as imo it "broke the mould" more than the ps2.
Interesting for best game of the decade. Id have thought the Wii sports pack just for the sheer numbers of players it has sucked in. GTA 3 rocked too. Better than 4 imo, for gameplay!
It's pretty hard to argue with their choice of the PS2, to be honest. I had a PS1 before it, but the PS2 was what really got me into console gaming. It's appeal and lifespan were incredible, and there were so many great PS2 games that became hugely influential... GTA III, Guitar Hero, God of War, Devil May Cry, Ratchet and Clank...
I can still remember my flatmates getting stuck into Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance on my PS2 one night, when I got up the next morning they were still going. I can also remember taking it into university one day during the holidays and hooking it up to a projector in one of the seminar rooms for some epic FIFA and Tekken 4 action with some mates. Great fun (until a security guard spoiled the party).
I would personally vote the Xbox 360 as best console (assuming console platform over specific bits of plastic and wires) of the decade. I think the ease of use and simplicity with which you can connect and game online is second to non. The Xbox Live platform was a significant leap forward in online gaming connectivity and is something unmatched by other consoles. My choice is heavily biased by my being a traditional gamer.
PS2 would be second and probably the Wii third. PS2 made the console mainstream and did a great job of expanding into non-traditional markets (Singstar, Buzz, etc). The Wii of course has expended this even further into the casual gaming market and also included a new interface for gaming which has a revolutionary effect on many peoples view of a gaming console.
Did you know that tortoises are very depressed creatures? They are always sad because the only thing they get to do all day is sit around like a dead rock. I think we could all make the tortoises in the world much happier if we teach them to ride bicycles. And since they live for hundreds of years they have no excuse for not learning. Imagine that - thousands of tortoises on bicycles - I bet that would turn their little tortoise frowns upside down. I would suggest a tricycle would be a good first bike for a tortoise and then they can progress to a rad BMX. They probably wouldn't need any safety gear because they have a hard shell which, as we all know, is what protected them from the meteorite during the triassic period. yes, a tricycle will definately console a tortoise nicely.
I'd give the Wiimote the third best piece of hardware, The Wii itself is horrible, basically just a Gamecube.
I concur. PS2 was, & still is a great console. Some fantastic games, & putting a DVD player in was mint. Definatley forced alot of push for the next generation consoles to be something outstanding. PS2 has been an impressive foundation for gaming. I still play mine to! Quite often crank it out to play some of my much beloved games (FFX,GT3....& a stack of PSONE games...go Sir Daniel Fortisque *spelling??*)
I would go with Nintendo hardware. While I don't like the Wii, the fact that they tried something new is to be commended as is the DS. Bringing touch screen and trying motion control (even if it is rubbish) is at least trying to push the boundaries, gaming will never advance if developers do the same thing over and over. Yea Xbox 360 and PS3 are great but they are simply a hardware upgrade on the Xbox and PS2.
As for games of the decade. Diablo 2. How old is that game and everyone I know still plays it!
Hmmm definitely the PS2, and the DS second, for me the Wii has only a select few games that interest me so I dunno about that being third, high speed modems for online play maybe.
Games of the decade I would swap it around and have Half Life 2 as number 1 given the decade's fondness for FPS especially on the PC platform.
RROD is definitely the worst failure but the rise and rise of the console Fanboy phenomenon I would say is up there as a failure...
horrible list but it had to be mainstream, really. PS2 does deserve best console of the decade, though. It had the biggest line-up of quality titles. Nintendo dev/publisher of the decade? :barf The only 1st Party Nintendo games that were good: Animal Crossing, Pikmin 1 & 2, Mario Galaxy, DK Jungle Beat... F-Zero GX would count but it was developed by Sega so... <_<... thats it! A piss poor output for 10 years work for sure. Capcom would get my developer/publisher of the decade for sure. Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry 1-4, Resident Evil 4 & 5, Street Fighter 4, God Hand, Okami, Dead Rising. Amazing stuff.
Grand Theft Auto III is atrocious by todays standards, Resident Evil 4 should have been number one or runner up. Half Life 2 is great, but WoW and Halo? zzzzzzzz. I can name at least 100 games that came out last decade that are better.
Anyway my top 5 of the decade:
1. Resident Evil 4 (GC, Wii) 2. Killer7 (GC) 3. Etrian Odyssey (DS) 4. Baten Kaitos: Origins (GC) 5. Dead Rising or Mass Effect, cant decide
ooops all those games are Japanese, guess Im a nerd
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Despite batting for the other team (not in THAT way; I have an Xbox), I would have to agree with the choice to name PS2 as console of the decade. I actually did own a PS2 for a brief period of time (won a limited edition Platinum one in a competition), but sold it unopened due to spousal pressure caused by said Xbox already residing in the lounge.
The reason I chose the Xbox was that it appeared to have the better technical specifications (which is the same reason I chose a PS3 over Xbox 360). Afterwards I came to regret that move, as the PS2 had the lion's share of all the cool games. I initially had similar fears for the PS3, but that situation seems to be improving as developers figure out how to harness the full potential of the Cell processor.