Retro Stall Out

 


I rose at 4 a.m. for the 1st time since I set up my old PS2 back in the living room so I could retro game when I was awake, and not keep the wife up gaming in bed with the 360.

I don't know if it was because it's a high pain day, or if it was my choice of games but it was a terrible fail that exacerbated by discomfort, and it's lead me to wonder if I've strayed so far out that there is truly no going home again.

It may well have been my choice of games. First off,  there are not many really good shooters on the PS2, and even good ones like Cold Winter and the SOCOM series show that the genre was still quite young when they were developed. Had they come out today, the control schemes would be very different than how they were set up then. The most intelligent setups can be found in the WWII shooters and of course Half Life.

I've never been a "team player" so the SOCOM games are not exactly home turf. Further, I had to give up on SOCOM 1 because the screen was much too dark to see, and there are no gamma options in game.

Cold Winter controls are not intuitive either, but I think it was my pain level that did me in for it. I just couldn't quite "get there".

The last game I tries was Armored Core 2. While I love mech games, I just can't get into that one. Again controls were at the heart of my struggle, but there is just something "off" about it as well that I hope will be shaken off as you get deeper into what is obviously a big game.

Since I'm making the decision to fully retro with the next generation of game systems coming out next year, I need to make an effort to see if I can get more acclimated to the ps2 controls and games. I hate to think I'll have to forsake such a large library because I have become so spoiled on tutorials, modern controls and other "bells and whistles" that are standard fare for modern gaming.

Of course I'll always have my true retro games of the arcade classics, and the well-worn hits of the PS2 I've played to death such a SotN, but I've invested in a lot of 'new' PS 2 games with all the sales of late with the plan of having lots to play that I have never done before, despite dedicating myself solely to retro systems.

As short as my life is expected to be, having a PSX, PS2, Xbox, an Xbox 360, and a  DS and  PSP to round them out, and, a moderate library for all of them. It should be more than enough to see me to my Endgame.

I just got to un-spoil myself.