Poll: Was i the only one who was satisfied with PS2/Xbox graphics?

[Jazoni89]

Good Question actually, i think it's the art direction, and the feeling of being truly immersed in it's world.

When i play Metroid Prime i feel like I'm experiencing this hostile alien world, which all it's rich varied environments. From the dark burning lava pits of Magmoor caverns, to the snowy bitter yet warm environment of Phendrana lake. All this coupled with brilliant exploration makes it one of the most immersive experiences i've ever had with a video game.

Also, i personally think your a bit biased towards the console, saying that the graphics, and games were bad. It pretty much trumped the ps2, and even rivalled the orginal xbox in terms of graphical power (and that's a fact, not a opinion). The gamecube was capable of some very good graphical tricks, that sadly many developers didn't use to it's full potential. In fact the only games to really take advantage of the graphical trickery were the metroid prime games, and of course many nintendo franchises notably zelda.

Cmon, you seriously can't begrudge the fact that Wind Waker looks beautiful surely.

Actually, I feel Wind Waker was the worst looking Zelda released to date (excluding the CDi Zeldas). However this is an opinion of art and not of tech. The system manages the Cell Shade pretty well, but I prefer the look of Twilight Princess, which the GameCube would not be able to acheive, but the PS2 very much could (Example: MGS3:Snake Eater or the above mentioned Shadows of the Colossus).

In response to your answer about Metroid Prime, that I can very much respect. I did like a few things they did in that title (light reflections letting you see Samus's face in her helmet), but overall I just couldn't get immersed in the game due to the poor controls. That said, I can see your reasons and understand completely.

Back to my being biased toward the console, I simply speak from what I have seen. I am an avid collector of games (My collection is over 2000 titles now), and from that generation I own around 160 ps2 titles, 120 xbox titles, and only 15 or so gamecube titles, and some of those I just sort of ended up with. The problem is no game made you HAVE to have the system

Except Shadow of the colossus had serious framerate problems trying to process it's world. The game was the peak of the ps2's graphical capabilities, and it still didn't look as nice as the Metroid Prime games did (it still looks really nice though especially for the ps2).

Controls were bad? except for some dodgy platforming sections which needed complete precision jumping, they were okay.

I own all four consoles from the last gen, and i have a sizeable collection for each one, and i love them all. They all have their must haves, and their rubbish games, Pro's, and their Cons.

Their are tons of great games on the Gamecube if you know were to look, and if you do your research.

Don't act like a snob, get informed. (If you ever want some good cube recommendations drop me a PM)

Shadow was at the peek of the PS2s power, but I still think it looked better than even Prime on the NGC. Something about the lighting in that game felt off to me.

As for bad controls, the controller itself is to blame for that. The GameCube controller was a nightmare to work with, and that translated to a lot of potentially good games getting low marks from me due to poor control.

To join the good, there were some gems on the gamecube. MGS:Twin Snakes, PN03, Eternal Darkness (one of the best games of that generation even), all were solid titles, but I feel all could have been done better on a rival console. (MGS helps prove that via the fact that the PS1 version played better, while the NGC version looked better).

Research is something I have no problem doing. My job requires me to research titles that come out all the time. This is just what I have found from what all I have seen. No snobbery intended, just speaking from what I have seen. By all means list what you found to be great games on the console and perhaps you will hit some I didn't check out, but I've had plenty of experience with the kit (a friend is also a huge NGC fan so he has many of the major titles) and it just has always failed to impress.

As one final plus for the system, it is the most reliable of that generation. The only system I have never heard of breaking by any of my friends.

It saddens me to hear that, but i've always had a great experience with the cube.

I love the controller, and i feel it's better than the N64 in my opinion (except for the little crappy ass d-pad it had).

I should've realised it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i seriously thought you was being biased towards the console in your original post, so I'll apologise for that.

 

[Woodsey]

I can play with PC graphics from that era, but current-gen console graphics are starting to bother me, so last-gen console graphics are pretty unbearable.

 

[PxDn Ninja]

It saddens me to hear that, but i've always had a great experience with the cube.

I love the controller, and i feel it's better than the N64 in my opinion (except for the little crappy ass d-pad it had).

I should've realised it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i seriously thought you was being biased towards the console in your original post, so I'll apologise for that.

Hey not a problem. I've always been a strong proponent of "Play what you enjoy"

I love games like Xenosaga while many people think it's terrible. All in what you like.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Favourite games of all time? Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It looked damn good for it's time and I still love playin it!

Graphics seem to matter to me more on my PC.

 

[AgentNein]

The biggest problem with lots of PS2 games isn't really how realistic the graphics were, but rather the technical limitations of the console in general. Short draw distances, smaller levels, and poor framerate weren't uncommon on great many PS2 games.

The PS1 was even worse, here is a short gameplay clip from the original Medal of Honor on the PS1:


Notice how the draw distance is only like 10 meters and how the rest of the world just magically appears in front of the player as he moves? This is why I can no longer be bothered with most PS1 and PS2 games. Either the levels in the game were small enough for the engine to render everything you could see (Aka corridor shooter) or there was the rendering problem like the one in the above video.

It's funny, but all that video did was really make me want to play the original Medal of Honor again. Something about the gameplay really appealed to me.

 

[Jazoni89]

It saddens me to hear that, but i've always had a great experience with the cube.

I love the controller, and i feel it's better than the N64 in my opinion (except for the little crappy ass d-pad it had).

I should've realised it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i seriously thought you was being biased towards the console in your original post, so I'll apologise for that.

Hey not a problem. I've always been a strong proponent of "Play what you enjoy"

I love games like Xenosaga while many people think it's terrible. All in what you like.

Speaking of Xenosaga....

Interesting Fact: We only got the second one over here. O_O

 

[PxDn Ninja]

It saddens me to hear that, but i've always had a great experience with the cube.

I love the controller, and i feel it's better than the N64 in my opinion (except for the little crappy ass d-pad it had).

I should've realised it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i seriously thought you was being biased towards the console in your original post, so I'll apologise for that.

Hey not a problem. I've always been a strong proponent of "Play what you enjoy"

I love games like Xenosaga while many people think it's terrible. All in what you like.

Speaking of Xenosaga....

Interesting Fact: We only got the second one over here. O_O

Were you at? I thought they released 3 everywhere.

 

[Jazoni89]

It saddens me to hear that, but i've always had a great experience with the cube.

I love the controller, and i feel it's better than the N64 in my opinion (except for the little crappy ass d-pad it had).

I should've realised it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i seriously thought you was being biased towards the console in your original post, so I'll apologise for that.

Hey not a problem. I've always been a strong proponent of "Play what you enjoy"

I love games like Xenosaga while many people think it's terrible. All in what you like.

Speaking of Xenosaga....

Interesting Fact: We only got the second one over here. O_O

Were you at? I thought they released 3 everywhere.

UK, and episodes 1, and 3 were only released in Japan, Asia, and America.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/519264-xenosaga-episode-i-der-wille-zur-macht/data

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/929933-xenosaga-episode-iii-also-sprach-zarathustra/data

 

[PxDn Ninja]

UK, and episodes 1, and 3 were only released in Japan, Asia, and America.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/519264-xenosaga-episode-i-der-wille-zur-macht/data

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/929933-xenosaga-episode-iii-also-sprach-zarathustra/data

Wow, I was unaware of that. I'm glad we got it over here then (USA). Would have been pissed if they had left it without it's conclusion. Bad enough they cut it by two titles.

 

[monstersquad]

I think the difference is still remarkable, regardless of the game. But I get what you're trying to say about how things looked and felt and the similarities between games past and present. I had no problem with playing a ps2 for many years, even when the 360 was out and games were being released on both platforms. I played Just Cause on ps2, even though it froze occasionally, and enjoyed it immensely. But now I don't think I could go back, I'm spoiled by modern HD tvs and clarity of graphics that we have now.

 

[Dr. Feelgood]

It really depends on the game. Some older games don't age well at all, just like how some new games just look generally awful from the start (Gears of War).

Gears may not be the prettiest gal at the dance but she's the only one that can kick everybody elses ass

OT: I was okay with all graphics since the PS1, it was ground-breaking at the time and should be appreciated for its graphical kick-start.

 

[Liquid Ocelot]

Dear god. You're never the only effing one.

 

[penguindude42]

My most played game is one who's entire base graphics library is ASCII characters. How do you think I feel about graphics?

Miner cancels drink, interrupted by carp.

>A<

 

[GiantRaven]

I prefer the look of Twilight Princess, which the GameCube would not be able to acheive

Is this, by any chance, the same Gamecube that Twilight Princess was released on, alongside the Wii version?

 

[DustyDrB]

Dear god. You're never the only effing one.

Are you the only one who doesn't know what a figure of speech is?

 

[AgentNein]

The biggest problem with lots of PS2 games isn't really how realistic the graphics were, but rather the technical limitations of the console in general. Short draw distances, smaller levels, and poor framerate weren't uncommon on great many PS2 games.

The PS1 was even worse, here is a short gameplay clip from the original Medal of Honor on the PS1:


Notice how the draw distance is only like 10 meters and how the rest of the world just magically appears in front of the player as he moves? This is why I can no longer be bothered with most PS1 and PS2 games. Either the levels in the game were small enough for the engine to render everything you could see (Aka corridor shooter) or there was the rendering problem like the one in the above video.

It's funny, but all that video did was really make me want to play the original Medal of Honor again. Something about the gameplay really appealed to me.

You are saying that now, but odds are that is because you just don't remember how HORRIBLE the controls are for that game. You don't even use the analog sticks to aim. You just move around with the arrow buttons, and then hold down a "aim button" and then use the arrow buttons to aim and in the meantime you can't even move. I to was thinking about playing the original Medal of Honor some time ago, but decided not to once I remembered how terrible the controls were.

On a side note, I would have suggested you check it out (and MoH underground) on the PS Store, but then I remembered why that isn't possible

I don't know. I dug the gameplay. It was slow paced stealthy and methodical nature of the gameplay. Also it was always fun when the nazi's helmets went up in the air with the first shot.

I also get around to playing Goldeneye every now and then, so weird controls don't tend to bother me too terribly.

 

[Liquid Ocelot]

Dear god. You're never the only effing one.

Are you the only one who doesn't know what a figure of speech is?

No, seeing as I know what a figure of speech is. But honestly, people need to stop making threads with that title. Here is an applicable alternative to this title:
"Were you satisfied with the PS2/Xbox era graphics?"

See, right there. You look like less of an idiot.

 

[i7omahawki]

I think we've reached a good point in graphics now...while I liked games like GTA: San Andreas, and they did surpisingly well considering their now dated graphics, I feel like the modern graphics really bring a lot of realism to the games. GTA IV is an obvious example, the game was wayyy less cartoony, and I think the graphics helped with that.

That said, graphics is one of the least important factors in a game for me, gameplay and narrative come first, but good graphics are sometimes needed to set the atmosphere, but sometimes plain overused.

 

[Frankster]

This is one of the main reasons I still use my ps2 and prefer it to any of the current console gens.

Ps2 gen, and to a lesser extent ps1 gen, struck the right balance between technology being powerful enough to enable a dev's vision and not demanding too much ressources in doing so.

Nowadays graphics and the technical aspect of games need so much work...It's a wonder they even have much time to work on the gaming portion and the days when a new dev could come up with a great game concept and still have the means to produce it without millions invested is long gone, hence the massive divide between indie and AAA devs of today.