when are PS2 games gonna phase out huh? well that's a very good question. a lot of people are saying that God of War II was the last hurrah for PS2, and right now it's looking like they're pretty much right. here's a list of what's coming out from IGN:
http://ps2.ign.com/index/release.html
now, if you notice, there's pretty much 2 types of games coming out on the PS2 - original RPGs and dumbed-down versions of next-gen games (hell even the new Indiana Jones game is on there, but how will it be, will the "endorphine" engine even run on PS2?). oh, and franchise titles (like tied in with movies or tv shows), but those probably fall under the category of having a next-gen counterpart.
the RPGs that are coming out are looking pretty nice - Dawn of Mana, Odin Sphere, and Persona 3 are three that i'm looking forward to - but yeah, they're all RPGs. all the dumbed-down versions of next-gen games are probably going to go the way of Spidey 3 on the PS2 - well, hopefully they won't be THAT bad, but they sure won't get the loving that their next-gen counterparts get.
also, almost all the release dates on the list have a date of 2007, with a few 2008s thrown in as well. this also seems to support the theory that the PS2 is near the end of its life.
so, is the PS2 dead? nobody really wants to say it, but i think it might be, yeah... which is sad because it's a console with SUCH a huge install base - and PS2 still sells well to this day, beating out next-gen systems almost every month! but nobody wants to develop for a current-gen system, it's time has passed. well, actually, they'll develop for it, but only as a side thing - they'll have their next-gen game to showcase and then a current-gen version on the PS2. and don't expect them to be as good as the next-gen counterpart.
rockstar's actually doing an interesting thing (*editorial note* they were ATTEMPTING to do an interesting thing... i wrote this before the Manhunt 2 debacle, a post for another time) - since the Wii is graphically a current-gen system (not next-gen like the 360 or the PS3), they are developing their Manhunt 2 game for the Wii and PS2, since they're graphically similar. if more developers did something like that, the PS2 could have some more good games on it before it's time is up... the problem is, most developers are developing on the Wii because of its unique control scheme, which the PS2 doesn't have. a game like Manhunt will be fine on both systems since it was originally on a dual-analog and the Wii controls are the ones actually being added on to the game - but if you're out to make unique content w/ unique controls for the Wii, porting to the PS2 would be a problem.
to sum it up: it would be smart to continue to develop original titles for the PS2 since it has such a huge install base and next-gen development costs are high, but the fact of the matter is, next-gen is here and nobody wants to look back. i'm one that really didn't think we needed next-gen yet, but the console life cycle was due for another generation of systems right about now. so start saving up for that 360, PS3, or Wii... or you won’t be playing many more new, original games.
- kawitchate
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