PiSt 2 Where is it?
Written: Oct 28 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cool system
Cons: Non-Existent
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| samadust's Full Review: Sony PlayStation 2 Slimline Console |
PIST That's the best word to describe me right now.
October 25th 2000
I left my Greek and Latin Roots class and made my way on foot down to the Time Square area. As usual it was hectic, vendors, tourists, electronic shops, thieves, bums, porno shops. I strode through in search of a store, any store, that would be selling the PS 2 at mid-night. It was already 10 O'clock so I had to hurry. I walked down 7th to 34th street where all of the punks who pre-ordered their consoles were standing out front of Software Etc. waiting. I was told that I could forget it unless I was on the reserved list. Discouraged and despondent, I walked away. It was getting late, I had to work in the morning and I was getting tired.
I went home and played my guitar.
So upsetting this is. I remember back when the PS 2 launched in Japan and screenshots of Japanese men and children sleeping in front of the stores were everywhere. They waited all night and when the PS 2's finally came bursting out of the stores like a broken pinada, it seemed that the whole country was rejoicing. Everyone in Japan was smiling. Consoles were everywhere, people were happy. The launch was beautiful.
There I was in the commercial center of the United States, Time Square, and no one seemed to be into the hype. The huge Virgin Mega Store on 44th street was closing and they weren't going to be selling it at 12. None of the small electronic store owners seemed to know what the h*ll a PS 2 was, and no one was waiting outside of any of the hardware/software stores. I felt like the only one.
Where's the PS 2 hype? I thought. It was upsetting. I went home vowing to return in the morning to Virgin. One of the employees told me they would be selling it at 9am, first come first serve.
6 am I peel myself from beneath my warm and cozy blanket, shower and find my way into the bowels of the city (the subway) clutching my copy of the latest issue of NextGen with the run down on all of the launch titles. Back at Virgin Mega store I find a line of about 40 people. I wait on the end from 7am to 9am. The line gets longer, the crowd gets juiced up and yells loudly in unison at anyone trying to hop the line. Great!! Finally a little PS 2 spirit. As more people gather we all begin to build up our anticipation, the morning mist rises from the city, the tall shiny buildings come into view.
I can't wait. The doors begin to open and luckily the line files in relatively orderly, down the escalator and into the software dept. My money is clutched in my pocket (money I made on Epinions actually) and the first person is at the counter.
After about a minute or two we all realize that the line isn't moving and there are loud voices coming from the front. An angry person comes from the front saying:
"They don't even have it!! This place sucks, the guy at the counter is acting like a douche bag!"
My heart sinks. This has to be a joke!! What do they mean they don't have it??!! We have all been waiting for hours and they don't even have it. I need to get to work. Why did they tell us to come back in the morning if they didn't even have them??!!
The store manager announces that Sony has been cutting their orders for weeks now. They just haven't been sending them in. We all waited on the line inside the building for another hour before they told us to write our phone numbers down and they will call us in a week or so.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Big mistake Sony. They had the chance to have the biggest console launch in history, captivating millions of people and they spoiled it. Do you understand how infuriating it is to wait for a console for two years, read about it every day, then wait on a line in filthy stinking Time Square for hours just to be told "Sorry, Screw you, we don't have it and we might not for a while".? Meanwhile, my beatiful, faithful Dreamcast is purring and glowing on my desk "casting" crystal sharp images on my monitor via a VGA box. Shenmue is coming out it two weeks, Skies of Arcadia is on its way, Jet Grind Radio, Grandia 2, Halflife, Quake, NBA 2K1...the list goes on.
I am so upset with Sony right now. If you hype the hell out of a system, it should be easier to find than a little boy at Michael Jackson's house. Thousands and thousands of PS 2 fans are walking home with nothing in their hands and sorrow in their eyes today. This launch was a flop, a failure, nothing like the festive, happy launches in Japan where games are overflowing and gamers have consoles to spare. No. It was sad, redundant and incompetent. It makes me lose some of my trust for Sony.
They have been preparing us for the supposed "launch" of the PS 2 for nearly two years now and this is what we get. Even people who have pre-ordered theres are going home crying today. But now that I have been forced to remove myself from the hype, come back down to Earth and look at the console for what it really is and not for the lofty, dreamlike images they have been projecting I realize that it isn't really as revolutionary as they make it out to be. The launch titles are a little more than mediocre and the line-up for the next three months is anemic at best. If you don't believe me, check it out.
Launch titles
DOA 2
SSX
Armored Core
Fantavision
Kessen
Moto GP
Ridge Race V
Unreal
Summoner
Timesplitters
Q ball
NHL 2001
Midnight Club Street Racing
Gun Griffon
Dynasty Warriors
Tekken Tag
Madden 2001
Eternal Ring
Evergrace
Silent Scope
Real Pool
Street Fighter
Ready 2 Rumble 2
Only a few of these are of any real note. The rest are just filler. I have seen the list for those to come this year and they are also just filler except for Ubi Soft's Donald Duck game. I still want one but I am very disappointed and I am sure that many people around the country are just as PiSt (2) as I am. Bad job Sony.
It might seem that I am being too hard on them but you have to understand this from the point of view of the hardcore gamer. It's seems that Sony's well constructed, heavily oiled hype machine has broken down. God Bless the Dreamcast.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
samadust
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Member: Douglas Flowe
Location: USA
Reviews written: 182
Trusted by: 94 members
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