RipTen Videogame Blog » Playstation 2

Sony is Porting Killzone to the PSN. Sorry, No HD

Catherine Cai — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:00:34 +0000

For those of you who have never experienced the original Killzone, Guerilla Games and Sony games is giving you another chance by porting it to the PSN. Do note that this isn’t a HD remaster or a remake, just a straight port, so you’ll be stuck with the same old standard-def PS2 graphics.

The port is slated for a January 24th release, to be priced at $9.99 for US players. Sorry, European gamers. You’re going to have to wait until Guerilla or Sony confirms that it’ll also be available in Europe.

[Via Eurogamer]

Ripten’s PlayStation 2 Tenth Anniversary Retrospective

Ripten Staff — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:25:04 +0000

The Sony PlayStation 2 hit North America on October 26th, 2000, making today’s its 10 year anniversary. In lieu of just shouting “happy anniversary” as loudly as we can, we here at Ripten bring you fond memories of a what’s widely considered one of the greatest consoles of all time.

Dylan Duarte

My mom and her boyfriend came to visit me in the Winter of 2000 and, in a quest to spoil me that continues to this day, bought me a PlayStation 2 for Christmas. My mom then let me pick out two games, one of which was Metal Gear Solid 2, which I had planned. Grand Theft Auto III I picked up on a whim upon learning that you could explore a living, breathing city. So what started out as a visit with my mom turned into a visit with Claude (though I wouldn’t learn his name until four years later) as I made camp in our hotel room and played the daylight away. Despite the fantastic games I had played prior, I had never experienced a game world like this, and with an amazing voice cast to boot. The game did magical things to my brain and I will forever cherish the memories we made.

Sam Naylor

I played Metal Gear Solid 2 through so many times I can’t count them. It’s a strange one, because I had never finished Metal Gear Solid at the time (although I had played a lot of it), and I would mostly skip the cutscenes. You’d expect, with a game like that, that I’d be interested in the story. I was actually far more interested in playing mindgames with guards, collecting dog tags, shooting up barrels of watermelons, and hiding in boxes. There had never been a game before Metal Gear Solid 2 with that level of detail packed into every room- there was just so much to enjoy about every step of the way through the game. Only the PS2 could have provided the amount of fun I got out of Metal Gear Solid 2; it was cheap enough for my brother and I to buy, but powerful enough to create a transfixing world.

Dan Landis

My fondest memory of the Playstation 2 was either the first time or maybe the third time that it broke. Sony refused to fix it (customer service told me, and I quote, “just buy another one”), and that lack of caring for the consumer and my learned mistrust of the company helped make my decision for the next round of consoles that much easier: I wasn’t buying Sony ever again. Thanks, PS2!

Chad Lakkis

My fondest PS2 memory would have to be the week I spent glued to my living room couch playing Final Fantasy X. I loved me some Blitzball and I’m pretty sure I didn’t shower very often that week.

David Ernst

Oddly enough, my fondest memory of the PS2 is during the time that Harmonix started making music games. My obsession with the genre started with a demo disc of Frequency, Harmonix’s first music-infused arcade shooter. The closest thing I could compare it to is Rez. By the time its sequel Amplitude came out, I had a job and was able to buy it. I took the day off of work to play and was completely sucked into the game for a good year. My friend bought a portable PS2 monitor and we toted it around everywhere we went. We spent countless hours beating each other’s scores and learning to master each song, even if it meant getting just ten more points than our last run.

Years later, Harmonix then went on to release the first Guitar Hero and a whole new obsession followed. I was working at Best Buy at the time and despite reading a lot of gaming sites, I had never heard of this game. Harmonix wasn’t the rock star company they are today and this was their big break. While the store was closed, we had permission from a manager to set up a display to show the game off. We played it for a good hour (making sure the manager didn’t see us) and I knew I had to have it. I purchased the bundle as soon as I clocked out and played it until the ass crack of the morning.

Honorable mention: Shadow of the Colossus!

Darren Mauler

My fondest memory was getting the PS2 less than a month after launch from Target. I was so psyched, as supplies were very limited. Bringing it home and opening the box was epic. The system was designed to look like the monolith from 2001 and it was a great look. When I first the the PS2 boot up, I almost cried.

I quickly became the envy of many of my freinds. Not only did I have the best video game system available, I had a DVD player. and that was a big deal at the time.

Stephanie Gutowski

My fondest memory of the PS2 was opening it up on Christmas in 2002 and nearly keeling over with joy. I hadn’t had a new console since the N64 and my parents had wrapped up a collection of games that would later become some of my all-time favorites: Ace Combat 4 and Dark Cloud. That was the first RPG I ever invested any real time in. The PS2 was the console that gave life to my gaming obsession. I spent that whole week sucking down hot chocolate and leveling up swords, re-watching the opening cut scene so I could hear the festival song again. The game was plenty flawed and I was embarrassingly unskilled, but that game became part of my foundation. Ace Combat was just awesome. Pew pew.

Dave Oshry

In my freshman year of college, I really wanted to do well and prove to the world I was not just another pot smokin’ hippie liberal 17-year-old east coast asshat.

Unfortunately, GTA: Vice City came out during my first semester. Not surprisingly, a few months later I had to withdraw from the University and transfer to a school closer to home after earning a GPA of 0.67.

Looking back, GTA: Vice City is one of my all time favorite games and by far my favorite in the GTA series. I have no regrets, that school sucked anyway :-)

This is a true story. I went on to earn an MBA and now manage this gaming site where I get to review games that are given to us by Rockstar. Ain’t that a kick in the head?

Rangebar Merani

My fondest PS2 moment had to be when SOCOM came out. It was my first real experience playing online with a gaming console and the series is still one of my favorites. Playing countless hours online with some of my high school buddies at the time and going to bed past 2am and having to wake up at 6am was oh-so worth it. And when SOCOM II came out, it was even more incredible. Those times with my PS2 and SOCOM really introduced me to the online gaming space, as I was never much of a PC gamer, and now I’m playing games online more than I am offline. Thanks PS2!

David Oxford

My fondest PlayStation 2 memory probably comes from when I worked at Blockbuster. We didn’t have a PlayStation 2 of our own at the time, and would not wind up getting one until sometime after the PlayStation 3 launch (would have just held out for a PS3 to play both systems’ games, but Sony made sure that wouldn’t be very feasible).

Anyway, we didn’t have our own PlayStation 2, so I wound up perpetually “renting” one from the store (as well as an Xbox). I was able to try out a pretty good number of games during that time, and developed an affinity for some new games and franchises on the platform, two which immediately spring to mind being Maximo and Ratchet & Clank.

Of course, for a long-time Nintendo fan like me, part of the draw was getting to play certain games which continued long-favorite franchises, including the 3D Castlevanias, Contra: Shattered Soldier and Neo Contra, the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, and of course, Mega Man. In particular, Mega Man X8, despite its horrible vehicle sections, still remains one of my favorites in the series.

Prior to all of this, I remember my dad– a PlayStation fan himself– went out and managed to purchase one of the first units available, which was quite a feat, given the demand for them at launch. The only game from around launch time I remember getting to play before moving out was Dead Or Alive 2, in which I naturally took up the mantle of Ninja Gaiden hero Ryu Hayabusa against a friend of mine.

All in all, good times were had.

Dan Hynes

My fondest memory was not having a PS2, as I was too busy studying in college while everyone else was slacking off. I got my degree and a good job so I could spend money on the PS3 and beyond.

Get Off My Lawn!

Happy Tenth, PlayStation 2!

Sony Drops the PS2 Price to $99

Demi Adejuyigbe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:57:33 +0000

A week ago,we reported the rumor that Sony was going to make an announcement on March 31st/April 1st, and now we know what that announcement is. Fortunately, it wasn’t a crudely made April Fool’s joke, (we hope) it was a price drop for the PlayStation 2.

Although the chances are that anyone that was going to hop on the PlayStation 2 bandwagon has done so already, the fact that Sony isn’t discarding the PS2 yet is still comforting. If you have been waiting for the PS2 to drop in price before picking one up, starting tomorrow, April 1st, you can pick one up at your nearest retailer for $100, 30 dollars less than the previous price.

Source: Destructoid

PS2 Version 4 Is Coming October 2008

Kev Lochun — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:19:07 +0000

It was released in Japan last November; now the fourth version of PS2 is coming to Europe and India. That’s according to SCE India country manager Atindriya Bose, who claims it will launch simultaneously in the two regions at some point before this year’s Diwali festival on 28 October.

This may be why Sony has appeared hitherto incapable of putting PS2 titles – hell even PSOne titles – on PSN, let alone provide backward compatibility. In an interview with India’s Economic Times, Bose described this fourth iteration as being sleeker and slimmer than ever, even though the previously external AC adapter is now going to be built into the main unit. But you have to wonder what the point is.

PS2 is already a cheap, reliable console with a large selection of good and readily available titles – perfect for anyone looking for something entry-level, on a budget, or wanting to indulge in a few of gaming’s past treasures. The gains from remodeling the PS2 for no new functionality at this stage will be few, especially if price remains the same as the third model as planned – something already confirmed in India.

Source: Economic Times

PS2 Review: Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

Donovan Bradford — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:17:37 +0000

Harvey Birdman is the latest of the edgy Adult Swim videogames following the Aqua Teen Hunger Force game. A former superhero turned defense attorney, Harvey Birdman, and all of his super-villains, have decided to make an amusing career change. Now Birdman finds himself in several weird cases, putting on trial the people who were blackmailed into trying to murder him.

The game itself plays like a videogame version of Law & Order. Birdman has his trusty friends to help him not look like an idiot, like his pet eagle Avenger and sidekicks Peanut and Birdgirl.

The people you battle in court are weird and crazy, like a man with a shrink gun, a robot with freezing powers, and a man with a strange speech impediment. One of the judges is a caveman with a Texas accent. A tall green person who can read your mind gets annoying when he says what you’re going to say it before you can even say it.

The game itself has its frustrating moments where it’s hard to say the right thing or present the right piece of evidence. If you have this happen too many times, you have to start the level all over again, but this can also add a nice bit of difficulty at times.

I watch this show whenever I can on Adult Swim, which is why I bought the game. If you watch or like this show I would have to recommend you take a look at this game. However, if you know nothing of Harvey Birdman, I really can’t say you should buy this game, unless you want to waste an afternoon’s worth of time and have a few laughs in the process.

Plug Pulled on Monster Hunter U.S. Servers

Cavin Smith — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:38:40 +0000

Apparently three long years of service were enough for the small community of gamers that still played Monster Hunter on their Western Playstation 2s.

Of course, it’s amazing that the love affair lasted as long as it did. Still serious business in Japan, sales of Monster Hunter games have been remained flat in the U.S. since their respective debuts. To date, the Playstation 2 version is the only one to feature actual online play, a major draw of the series in the first place (PSP releases only allowed ad hoc multiplayer in the same room).

For the seventy-or-so gamers logged on when the servers were shut off for good at approximately 12:25 PM EST, the departure must have been bittersweet. It wasn’t Capcom’s fault, though. According to a blog post on their community site a little over a month ago, the online capabilities of the game were outsourced to a company that no longer wants to remain in the business of networking Playstation 2 games (and really, what kind of business is that anyway?).

Ever the vanguard for its fans, Capcom even petitioned the nameless provider for a contract extension, but they weren’t having any of it.

It’s always kind of sad to see these small gaming communities disrupted — there’s something intriguing about having that sort of dedication to a game that most people have moved on from or completely ignored in the first place.

But progress must be made, and the pool of money to be made from providing support for a failed online platform must look more like a half-dried puddle these days, with everyone moving on to newer consoles.

Since they belonged to the same company, the servers for Resident Evil: Outbreak have been permanently removed, as well.

Impossible Mission DS Exclusive at Gamestop

Dylan Duarte — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 07:52:41 +0000

A Steampunk Version of Sam Fisher’s Goggles

Fans of the old Commodore 64 classic Impossible Mission might be interested in the new DS version, available now exclusively at Gamestop stores.

In Impossible Mission, you play as an unarmed spy trying to foil the plot of criminal genius Professor Elvin Atombender. The name Elvin Atombender should be enough to justify the $10 price tag on this baby.

The object of the game was to make your way through the Professor’s fortress, looking for puzzle pieces and trying to stay alive amidst various traps and evil robots. The premise sounds like standard platform puzzler fare, but the hook comes in the randomly generated content. Each time you play, the rooms are different and the robots all have different abilities.

As well as being available for Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii versions are also in the works, yet no specific release date has been announced sinced missing their August and September release dates in Europe.

Via Go Nintendo

Ripten Holiday Guide – Playstation 3 Edition

Patrick Steen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:50:05 +0000

So you’re having yourself a Playstation 3 Christmas, and it’s my job to make it the best it can be, extending your extending your fun all the way through to next year. Here is my list of recommendations to make you yo ho ho into 2008.

1. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune - This game is at the top of the list simply because this is THE game for your Playstation 3. Forget about your family and Christmas presents this year and put this baby in. I shall quote my review of the game:

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune succeeds in so many ways. It has the best console graphics to date, gob-smackingly good cutscenes, a modest yet twisting plot, an incredible soundtrack, perfect pacing, and combat that you’ll want to keep returning to.

It’s a blockbuster for Christmas Day, to play after you’ve gorged yourself on Turkey and Yorkshire puddings.

2. Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - Yes it’s the time for games with subtitles. I blame Insomniac. They started it with their humorous Ratchet series, and have since damned the industry! Grrr. Anyway, they can be forgiven because they’re subtitles are always so humorous and riske.

Ratchet and Clank Future is a must buy this Christmas. Full of family fun and humor, but also with incredible depth for those of us who are gaming fanatics. We here at Ripten gave the game 9.8/10 and if that isn’t reason enough, then lets just say that Ratchet and Clank Future is the sh*t!

3. DualShock3 - Oh it’s about time. A rumbling Sixaxis to invigorate all of your games, from Ratchet to Warhawk. Oh so satisfying, and the little controller comes in bone-white.

There is a catch, it hasn’t yet released outside of Japan. Ruh Roh! You can, however, import the beauty at little cost. Sadly I doubt you’ll get it before Christmas.

4. Multiplayer Gaming - You’re going to need some multiplayer action to play with your family and friends over the holidays. I couldn’t bring myself to pick our of Warhawk and Call of Duty 4, so you’ll have to do the honor instead.

A new downloadable pack will be coming to Warhawk (link to review) next week, making its community even more invigorated and taking its action further up the ranks. It’s fun multiplayer goodness that you can play with up to 4 player split-screen while showing off your skills online or offline.

Call of Duty 4, the game of the moment. We gave it 9.8/10 at Ripten (link to review), and is a joy to play both alone or with company. It’s a good thing that the single player isn’t going to keep you too long, because I doubt people are going to want to sit around watching you play.

5. Party Gaming - Now there are other games for honorable mention of course: Heavenly Sword, Assassin’s Creed and lots of downloadable PSN games. But what you really need now is a party game.

If you’re in Europe you can do no better than Singstar on the PS3 and come up with some singing magic, buying all your favorite songs and making your own music videos with the PSEye Camera:
[youtube width="425" height="335"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5LM1xmZmc[/youtube]

The PSEye is also a very good purchase for Christmas and is currently half price on Amazon.co.uk. If you do give it a shot there are plenty of innovative Eye games to buy off the Playstation Store, and the included Software is a sinch to use, and allows for some nifty stop motion animation:
[youtube width="425" height="335"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z38pKQqrSiM[/youtube]

If you’re not lucky enough to live in old blighty then you’ll have to settle for Guitar Hero 3 or Rock Band, both of which are going to see you competing like crazy with your family and having a ball while you’re at it. Rock Band just gets the nod with us, but the more simply Guitar Hero 3 is just as satisfying.

And there you have it, have yourself a very merry Playstation 3 Christmas.