PS2 and PSP, worth owning both?

[in5ane]

Some EA GameCube games can be released quite sometime after, but they do get released eventually.

[Concept]

You tried Ape Escape or Klonoa yet, Kotatsu?
They're the next best thing to a Nintendo made game and really, really good. So bright and colourful graphically, yet deceptively tough if you want to get 100%.

Klonoa 2 is the business.

[bowser123]

Some EA GameCube games can be released quite sometime after, but they do get released eventually.

One thing to ponder is Nintendo's "sell out" to EA of late too.
NBA Street had Mario, Luigi and Peach. Fight Night has Super Punchout as an unlockable.

Not that it matters really, just found it amusing the lenghts EA will go to to snare us all.

[dataDave]

Urgh... EA... GET OUT!!

Why don't they just release their own console and make their games exclusive? They remind me of parasitic plants such as Ivy, only not as nice looking.

[Tom Salter]

Nothing wrong with rails, the Panzer Dragoon games are amongst my all time favs! I did like Gradius 5 a lot, but it never grabbed me like Ikaruga or RS did. Opinions you know, we can like different things.

Ikaruga and RSG remind me of Tomb Raider. Die once down a pit that you had no idea was coming, and then you know for next time. You can eventually finish the game by a learning which parts will kill you, and which parts won't kill you. Like electrocuting your dog when it doesn't fetch you your slippers, and it fetches a dead rabbit from outside instead.

[Baseley09]

I'm frightened that if I buy RSG its going to be as **** a game as Ikaruga.

[The Mole]

I don't think it is worth owning both but i do think it is worth owning atleast one.

The PS2 is cheaper and has a huge range of established games.

To me the PSP is yet to prove its self, it has a couple of nice games but nothing groundbreaking.

[dataDave]

I'm frightened that if I buy RSG its going to be as **** a game as Ikaruga.

Get Mars Matrix, Gigawing, a cheap PS2 and Gradius V instead for the same price.

...And send a letter to Taito asking for a home version of Raiden III.

[rjpageuk]

When I mean on the rails I mean your gameplay technique is on the rails, obviously most shooters are on the rails in a HotD sort of way, I'm talking about your path through the game, to the pixel, and when you fire. Too much 'follow previous path, die here, do it again, get further, die here instead, repeat, repeat, slight increase in score, repeat, mint, repeat, repeat, you're getting there, repeat, repeat, dead good this innit?, repeat, repeat, get pissed off, repeat, repeat, die at the start for the 1st time in ages, repeat, repeat, lose patience, never play again'.

I cant help it I have to drag myself into this (and to your comment Tom) .

Ikaruga and RSG are no more like this than any other shmup if you want to play for 1 credit or top score. Maybe it is more immediately obvious in Ikaruga and RS (more so in Ikaruga) but it doesnt change the fact every shmup is like this.

Psyvariar was the usual example heralded by this forum as not having the fixed paths of Ikaruga or RS but all this means is that people hadnt yet worked out the best paths. Believe me exactly the same happened in both Ikaruga and RS (and in fact still is) it is just more subtle.

Trying to throw GradV into the mix is hard because it is such a different type of game. It is not a score based game at all - the scoring system is almost non-existent. I have to say I quickly tired of having to do the first two levels over and over again which have very little challenge for the majority and lots of stretched out sections where not a lot happens.

Ikaruga and RS get far too much stick on this forum just because they are popular. Sure maybe they are more popular than they deserve to be but they are still fantastic games and the critisism they recieve is unfair IMO.

[Hodge]

Is it worth owning both? Depends what other consoles you have. If you have an xbox i wouldn`t bother. 3rd party wise, the xbox is matching the ps2 these days and don`t think the ps2 exclusives are good enough to warrent a purchase. And seeing that you have a psp arriving, GT4 mobile will be out sometime this year hopefully for it and with wipeout pure and ridge racers available from the off you won`t be short of games for the psp.

[baad bwoy]

I currently have a GC, which is decent and am really looking forward to the psp, but the ps2 does seem quite attractive.

[Tom Salter]

rjpageuk - Don't worry, I love RSG and Ikaruga as much as you, I'm a massive fan. However, as far as shooters go, in my opinion, the score attack elements are incredibly memory based. It's argued that all shooters are memory based, but in Ikaruga, I only feel like I'm getting better scores due to my memory of the game (since you have to remember exactly where the right enemies are, rather than a path through the game).

As a pure "Let's get through this game without losing a life" game, I think they both excel. But I just don't go chasing high scores like I do in Psyvariar, or Gradius.

[baad bwoy]

I think ikaruga is quite an unhealthy game to play, I have kept away from it after owning it previously, and finding myself continually reseting after making just one mistake in forming a chain, infuriating but very addictive, there is something just wrong about that game.

[Hodge]

If your thinking for something to go along side your GC, i`d look towards xbox especially if you have a broadband connection so you can hook yourself upto xbox live. As i said 3rd party support is pretty much the same, so it comes down to the exclusives seperating the two. It all boils down to what games you like, but with the xbox being cheaper (requires no memory card unlike ps2) and xbox live which is fantastic i would consider taking a second look at the xbox. At the end of the day if you have the money you can`t go wrong with either really at ?100 as they both have a great range of games.

[Geoff D]

Going off topic a bit, but when did everyone start to hate Ikaruga? I love that game - for the music alone it's well worth the price of admission.