What made this so popular and not just a legacy for Sony but gaming as a whole...

Price was low for the tech.
Cheap for a DVD player, which was to make a massive improvement over VHS.
Extremely strong first year titles, few other consoles have managed this.
Great first party support (RIP Sony Japan studio)
Top 3 third party support for any console/handheld.

Like just 3-5 years into it, you had hundreds of great games available, lots of them cheap, the console at that point was like $150.

GC had better first party, but because of Nintendo previously being poor to third party a lot of them were still sore. Along with the low capacity and more expensive discs, a lot of companies didn't want to bother lowering the filesize. Personally All 3 consoles of that gen have their own merits, and are worth owning.

I would say you are wrong on the PS3 part. Although PS3 was a cheap blu-ray player, the difference of DVD to blu-ray wasn't as big as VHS to DVD. Mind you DVDs still sell about as well as blu-rays, and things like redbox people just grab DVD over the blu-ray.
The price and first year launch of the PS3 was also among one of the worst in history.

I could go on, but long story short around 09 Sony totally rebranded the PS3, greatly lowered the price, and got some good first party and third party stuff come out. It took a long fucking time for them to overtake the 360, and even then that's almost not saying much since MS dropped 360 early, and it was only really ever selling in the US anyway.

Talking about the Xbone. Although it was more then just the TV TV TV thing. IT cost more then the PS4, was weaker, had the botched DRM drama, among many other things completely ruined their possible momentum, and the PS4 took it and stormed. Honestly MS was just going for the future, they just tried too early, but DRM online only crap is sadly the future the industry wants, both SONY and MS.

Nintendo has never done well selling consoles, the revenue and units sold they made for each console got worse and worse until the wii which only made money because it appealed to normies and old people. They have always made money off of selling portables and after the switch's lifespan is up I don't see Nintendo making another portable, it will probably sell itself out to phones as it's already doing and in 10-15 years Nintendo will be Sega.

I know, right? I thought the same until I looked it up. Everyone around me had n64s. All my friends now are nostalgic for that time period, but somehow Sony was whupping that Nintendo ass.

And the 70's, don't forget walk-mans.

yeah pretty much, they started declining when apple introduced the ipod. weird how their only known for playstation now...

For multiplays what was typically the best version excluding any potential PC version of a game?

yeah it was less "blu ray made ps3 a success" and more "blu-ray stopped ps3 from being a complete disaster".

>sony pretty much dominated that era of gaming because sega and even nintendo fucked up the saturn and n64 respectively.
it wasn't just because of sega and nintendo fucking up. there were no shortage of other competitors at the time like atari and 3do that all failed miserably.
the ps1 was successful because sony offered a fair deal (unlike nintendo), a stable platform (unlike sega), and made it easy to program for. they earned the success by making a better product for the consumers, the developers and the publishers.

>MS dropped 360 early, and it was only really ever selling in the US anyway.
I prefered 360 for multiplats personally, I thought a lot of games ran better and looked better to. (GTA IV for example)

Cheapest DVD player on the market.
Also it plays games.

>original xbox didnt have good japanese support
>gamecube didnt have good western support
>ps2 had both
same reason as to why ps4 is winning, its really that simple

I think it's an american thing, in australia everyone had a PS1, people had N64s too but it wasn't nearly as popular.

youtu.be/KbWgUO-Rqcw?t=7

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>Everyone around me had n64s.

Same here, I barely knew anyone who had s PS1. Most of the PS1 games don't really interest me which is why I prefer the tight-knit library of the N64.

what about nes and snes

Amazing piece of tech sold at a loss to penetrate the market. DVD tech eventually became ultra cheap as well allowing massive price cuts later in its life

It seemed about 70-30 PS1-N64 at my school.

Those did sell well but the SNES still sold worse than the NES, Nintendo has had decline in sales for their consoles every generation except the wii, then failed with the wii U again. If you count the virtual boy, gamecube,n64,wii U, Nintendo are complete inate retards who constantly had hostile attitudes towards third parties and they thought that bing bing yahoo could just let them remain king forever. That's why it's hilarious to see Sony absolutely destroy Nintendo in almost every gen. And I don't even count last gen because of how gimmicky the wii was.

Outside of the WiiU, Nintendo has always made a profit since day 1 on their hardware. That's one of their things, while other companies almost always lose money, and hope to make it up with software.

64 might have sold more, but Nintendo only supported it for like 5 years. Sony always ends up winning because they support their consoles for up to 10 years (even if it just ends up being third party releasing games, they still release the hardware and stuff). They were still supporting the PS1 in like 2003, even with the PS2 out dominating. It's a nice thing Sony does that since at like 2003 you could easily buy a cheap PS1, buy a shit ton of cheap good games, and by the time you got bored you could do the same thing with the PS2, and so on.

Are you talking about the PS2/GC/XBOXHUEG era?
Xbox > Gamecube (some exceptions because the filesize on disc) > PS2.
Funny thing was, the GC was about 50% more powerful compared to the PS2, and the XBOXHUEG was almost 100% that. The PS2 was actually not that powerful (hell in some ways the Dreamcast had better versions of games, and it was practically dead before the PS2 hit).
The Xbox was amazing hardware, the best MS ever released. It was basically a PC in a box.
Another good way of looking at the consoles.
The PS2 supports like 10 worthwhile games in 480p, with only SotC first party game in that list.
On the Gamecube and Xbox? Every single first party game, and assloads of third party supported it. Hell there was even some Xbox games that supported 720p (I think a gran turismo title did support 1080i or something, but it looks like shit).

360 is to PS3, as XBOXHUEG is to PS2. Literally every single (sans like 1 game) looks and runs better on the 360. FF13 is the only game that looks better on PS3, and even then it's only the CGI cutscenes (in game scenes, and gameplay are exactly the same).

It's a fucking crime that the SNES sold worse than the NES, The NES I consider a overrated prehistoric fossil that should just be forgotten about already, it has as much shovelwear as the wii and despite having a huge library maybe 20-50 games tops are worth playing, and all of the signature franchises like Mario and Zelda were done a million times better on the SNES.

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>gamecube was more powerful than the PS2

Shit really? I never would have figured, Nintendo must have cared a lot more about visuals back then then.

>Wii U

holy shit that was a flop

18 year old millenialcuck?

>boomer thinks that the slow,shitty, cryptic in an unfair way (hey guys burn this bush even though it looks like every other bush in the game LMAO) piece of shit games like zelda 1 were actually fun or good.

LMAOing at your life.

that thing was the last thoroughbred games powerhouse ever made. I bought mine nearly 3 years after it released, Vice City was the first ever game I bought for it. Just a god-tier library of games, back when each one seemed like a new idea bursting with potential and creativity. It truly felt like every other month we were getting 3-5 original, new games that had mechanics that were never seen before, or solid entries into long running series. Probably the last true "video game" console if that makes any sense, everything that came after it paled in comparison or focused on BS fads like wagglan or eye toy/kinect. PS3 was slated to be it's true successor but ultimately Sony shot themselves in the foot with the Cell processor.

>do good
>fuck up
>fuck up REALLY bad
>fuck up REALLY REALLY bad
>Unfuck yourself
>Fuck up more than you could have possibly imagined.

What the fuck is wrong with this company?

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This, it was truly the last console and era that focused mainly on games and wasn't overshadowed by it's "features" the PS2 had a DVD player sure, but it wasn't the main focus. Because who would be retarded enough to make it's features outside of games the focus?

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Pretty much every Nintendo home console after the SNES (with the notable exception of the Wii) didn't perform spectacularly well. It's crazy to realize that the Switch has sold more in 2 years than either the Gamecube or the N64 did in their entire lives. Then again that's probably why the Switch is what it is, Nintendo's playing to their strength (handheld gaming) to offset their weak home console gaming

This is why I am worried about Nintendo's future, they can't support the switch forever and they're not like Sony and are known to support their hardware for more than 5-6 years at max.

Babbys first DVD player and marketing with Sony threatening retailers.

this image gets thrown around here a lot, but I think there's no better example of a completely gargantuan library that dwarfed its contemporaries. At the time this ad came out I think all of these games except BG were exclusives. We've never seen anything like it since, and if that's not a sign of a creatively bankrupt AAA industry I don't know what is.

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I'm not a fan of most of those games or franchises but I could definitely see why it would be popular. I prefer Nintendo consoles and had a gamecube back then but the third party thing was a big issue I could see why was a problem with Nintendo.

It would really be stupid to stray from the Switch's core concept, and I think they realize that. The Switch is the best of both worlds and separating back into pure handhelds and home consoles is suicidal

>ds
I would have put psp but even that would be a stretch. But ds? Cmon, man. It's a shovelware machine with some random good games here and there.

>but ds?

you mean but psp right?

One thing I remember from those days is how all major players in the game had exclusives that really showed off the potential of their hardware. Halo, MGS2, Mario Sunshine, all looked amazing and were great examples of exclusives, they gave their consoles a sense of identity. Now with the XB1 and PS4 they seem like different boxes and UI with the same internal hardware and same library except for a handful of games.

Retards don't understand the importance of charts like this.

It's not that Nintendo was doing worse, it's that the game industry as a while has been selling fewer and fewer newer hardware units.

Consider why the fuck Sony and Microsofts stance was to avoid backwards compatability. Most house holds in America are poor. Most already have one "video game box". So most families don't see the importance of buying new hardware.

Another reason why mobile shit has been hyper popular. Your kids can get a new shitty smartphone yet all the software they've accrued can be carried over.

>most people have one "video game box"

A better reason to have backwards compatibility then, poorfags can sell their old console and get the new one. I would have sold my PS3 much sooner if the PS4 had backwards compatibility with PS3 games.

It's partially due to how bloated AAA development has gotten. The AAA scene is like Hollywood now, so much money goes into these projects that they do everything in their power to lower risk and they do that with aggressive advertising, monetization, and homogenization

Also I'd argue that the Gamecube had a great library too, nearly equal to the PS2's. I think that generation was the peak of video games in general. Tech had evolved to the point where ambitious 3D games were possible but before that bloat I mentioned had creeped in so we just had an explosion of creativity and fine craftsmanship

Nah, man, i own both, and psp was such a miracle. I actually think that 3ds is better than ds. Too much reliance on touch screen and stylus gimmicks. But it has much better rpgs in my opinion.

Nintendo has mascots and fan service, since the wii Nintendo has put a lot of effort into selling stuff to "retro" Nintendo fans, Sony has been paying more attention to their legacy consoles but not nearly as much as Nintendo has. One of the biggest selling points of the wii was the virtual console. I think the reason why Nintendo stuff can keep printing money is due to children and people who don't mind buying the same mediocre experience 100 times over and over(like Mario Kart for example)

PSP is literally only "ok" at most if it's modded. Most of the games were watered down ports or just inferior games in general to their console counterparts. And there's not a lot of original IP's that are even worth remembering or mentioning.

> PS2 (157 Million)
> DS (155 Million)
Nintendo would have passed it if they kept it around for another year

I agree. Hell, even the OG Xbox had a decent library by the end of it's life. Crimson Skies, Panzer Dragoon Orta, JSRF, and the Ninja Gaiden games? definitely worth the price of admission. Sometimes I wish we could have a few new hardware devs enter the race, with powerful hardware and exclusives based on all new original IP's to shake up the industry but I know it' ll never happen.

If you can't see how Mario Kart is fun than I don't know what to tell you. I've personally never been huge into the games but they aren't popular just because you play as Mario. Also the Switch is selling gangbusters despite (stupidly) having next to none of Nintendo's legacy content on it

>Most of the games were watered down ports or just inferior games in general to their console counterparts
It's clear that you didn't own the console. No one cares about watered down shit like resistance or jak and daxer, it had much better games than that. Even if it had ports, it still was amazing to play ps2/ps2 like games on psp.

Sony bloats numbers to appease investors.

A few months ago Nintendo released their Switch numbers, sold to customers, and then a few days later Sony revealed they sold 5k extra than whate bee Nintendo sold, of course shipped to stores.

The do this shit all the time so they get media headlines of "x Sony hardware was holidays best seller" and stock prices go up.

nintendo has the same handful of titles as always
xbox has nothing
and sony has all the exclusives, but they're a bit samey tps adventure games

You know I swear when I played the God of War Chains of Olympus Demo it had voice acting, but when I played the actual game it didn't Can anyone confirm this? it's been years and I honestly felt like the demo was better than the actual game. I remember getting really far in it and just quitting abruptly.

>sony has all the exclusives, but they're a bit samey tps adventure games

i think this is important to address. is the exclusivity worth it if the games all feel like variations on a theme? going back to the picture here EACH game is a different genre. I suppose you could argue that nowadays genres have blended and tastes have changed, but games don't FEEL like they used to. I want unique and original ideas that make me want to throw down my hard earned cash for a console, not the same bleak, grimey third person "cinematic experiences"

Mario Kart IS fun yes, but it's been the same game for years now and it's getting to the point now where they're literally recycling already recycled tracks from older games. Sometimes you get a new item in the game but overall the series hasn't really evolved or done anything really new, the bikes were really cool but then they were absent from MK8 for some reason.

I remember how refreshing Demon's Souls was when it was first on PS3, it felt completely different from any other game and i'd say it's even it's own sub-genre now. And i'm glad they stopped after 5 games because they very well could have milked it for like 10 years like COD has done.

It does have voice acting, of course, wtf.

>extreme hype from PS1's success
>"toy story graphics"
>played DVDs
Shit, there was even a shortage (USA IIRC) in 2000 that made it 'the thing' to get ahold of. This also weirdly allowed the Dreamcast to out-sell it that year. That whole generation had a little something for everyone on each system. Even the Dreamcast, despite Sega failing, had a very solid USA launch and the titles available then were great. I fucking loved that generation.

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Maybe it was just Kratos who was being a mute then, or maybe it was like Peace Walker where you could install the optional audio files?

I don't remember, mate, but it was the first god of war game i've played and i remember well that kratos was psised off all the time and and made angry remarks

DVD player. Seriously. Was a huge deal at the time. Only real way to watch movies other than VHS, and a video game console could play them.

Also the PS2 library was kino as fuck. Enormous. Basically took the PS1s similarly massive library (mostly of shitware, but still, huge fucking library) and built on it. Also had backwards compatibility.

Gamecube was pretty legit in its own right, but was marketed really poorly, lacked backward compatibility, and obviously didn't have the DVD bonus the PS2 had.

And then the XBox came out and diluted the market. Console pretty much launched on the back of Halo.

>Only real way to watch movies other than VHS, and a video game console could play them.

Too bad there wasn't a video game console with a VHS player.

cheap dvd player also it was alive for 10 years so it has shitloads of hidden gems

>(mostly of shitware, but still, huge fucking library)
What are you talking about exactly? Ps1 is the best console ever after ps2. Ps2, ps1 and snes are the best consoles ever.

It's all thanks to PS1 and great games it had. Fanbase was built in an instant and when PS2 came around it was a wet dream of every kid I knew. It was so popular that when given a choice between a brand new PC or PS2 everyone would pick a Sony console.

It was a DVD player and development for it was easy. The end.

Gamecube is nowhere near the Ps2. This is pure delusion. PS2 quality plus quantity is unmatched.

>Mario Kart IS fun yes, but it's been the same game for years now
Stopped reading

>the bikes were really cool but then they were absent from MK8 for some reason.
what the fuck are you talking about? there are bikes in mario kart 8

It also helps because it doesn't look like a fucking rice cooker back in the day.

I think that may have been the peak of console gaming.

the PS2, Gamecube, and even Xbox to an extent were all pretty legendary.

i never realized that ps2 got bg:da, mgs2, gta3,so much earlier than xbox/gc. Silent hill 2 was only like a month or somethign earlier though

PS2 was God tier. I'm still buying PS1 and PS2 games I've never played to this day. Just got done Ridge Racer 4 and Silent Hill 3 is next.

If I ever learn japanese I'll have enough PS1/2 and SNES games to last me the rest of my life

same except for the buying part

Playstation's marketing as being 'cool' wasn't just marketing. Their effort and games legitimately were cool. The console's aesthetics like the PS2's intro, and the PS1's black inked disc bottoms. Business and art were working hand in hand to make something very genuine. Not sure it'll ever return to that niche feeling since the industry is bigger, but it's unique impact will last forever.

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The PS2 is dogshit hardware wise, but software was amazing. If the lens didn't fail and the slims didn't have shitty sensor failing errors, I'd consider getting another one to replay some games.

clean your house so that the lens doesnt get dirty
clean the lens
dont disk swap
use freemcboot to load from usb/hdd/smb

It was the cheapest DVD player you could get at the time.

It would also breakdown as a result of playing a lot of DVDs.

Sales were inflated because everyone had to buy a second PS2.

They released an awesome revision of the ps2 in the ps2 slim.

A lot more people bought the slim just because it was quieter and more reliable.

Many things actually.
>Riding on the wave from the MASSIVE success of PS1
>Sony was still a household name throughout the world
>Massive game developer support
>Competitive pricing
>Arcade quality hardware and performance
>Sega fucking up an releasing Dreamcast prematurely, so Sony did the right thing and delayed PS2 launch so they could do some last minute additions to the hardware to be more competitive against the Dreamcast like adding DVD movie playback among other things
>and more
It was "basically" a lot of things going just the right way for Sony at the time.

>Cheap for a DVD player

It fucking wasn't. the PS2 made the vast majority of its sales AFTER 2000. How long do you think dvd players were expensive? Protip: not even at launch

geek.com/news/99-dvd-players-dont-exist-542902/

>Cheapest DVD player on the market

It wasn't

geek.com/news/99-dvd-players-dont-exist-542902/

You aren't wrong but back in 2000 it was a vastly different time when it came to online shopping. Most people would go into a store to buy a DVD player where they were probably marked up to shit. Still not more expensive than a PS2 though, but to the point where if you were considering a new gaming console and a dvd player, would just go with ps2

salt and buttmad. The end.

>source: my ass

>easy to pirate
>coincided with the peak of rental stores

Thats a lot of "here is what i assume people just did" though user. Even i can anecdote for the opposite argument: my dad had a DVD player before i got a PS2 and he saw the PS2 as a toy that happened to play DVDs. The thinking being "if the DVD player is JUST a DVD player then its doing a better job."

>Sega fucking up an releasing Dreamcast prematurely

Even though I was a huge Segafag and had that thing during Christmas '99 I always forget it was part of that gen. It felt like an awkward 'in-between' system. It was great if you loved Sega getting creative with games, arcade stuff, etc. and your heart getting ripped out in 2001. Sega was just absolutely fucked at that time.

but did your dad know how good a PS1 was at playing cds?

If only there hasn't been animosity between Sega Japan and their American branch, things would have looked different.

I just bought to play 2nd Generation ARMORED CORE games

again: toys.

Not the user you replied to but I had a similar dad. I remember playing a CD on my PS1 and him walking in really confused at why I'd use my game system to play music. How far we've come where now all that shit is in your pocket.

but the first ps1 is supposedly really good at playing cds according to *cough* audiophiles