PS2 Price Drop Confirmed

[fitbabits]

Next Generation (http://www.next-gen.biz) is reporting that the recent rumors of an impending PS2 price drop have been confirmed. New price - $129.

You can read the full article here (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2778&Itemid=2).

Two-and-a-half weeks prior to E3, Sony has dropped the price of the PlayStation 2 from $149.99 to $129.99; heavy print and online support for the new pricing to follow.

Even though SCE boss Ken Kutaragi said a month ago that Sony wouldn't be dropping the price of the PS2 in the foreseeable future, the company went ahead and dropped the price of the system today by $20.

Since its launch, the console has shipped a mind-blowing 101 million units along with 1 billion pieces of software. According to Sony, its the fastest-selling gaming platform on Earth.
An absolute bargain!

[bapenguin]

$99. That's what it should be and I would have picked it up for the 3rd time.

[fitbabits]

$99. That's what it should be and I would have picked it up for the 3rd time.
Yeah, $129 is an odd price - it's almost like a compromise between $150 and $99. Still, it's a steal at the price.

[Oddmaker]

Still doesnt make me wonna go rush out to buy one :p

[fitbabits]

Still doesnt make me wonna go rush out to buy one :p
It should! Every self-respecting 'gamer' should own a PS2 for games like God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, a million RPGs, etc.

[Borys]

$129 or $99 it doesn't really matter. Still the best selling console April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2006.
If I were Sony I'd drop the price to $99 this Christmas. It would outsell PS3 3:1 then.

I thank The Greater God of Gaming that my original PS2 works like a charm, daily.

[Nim]

It should! Every self-respecting 'gamer' should own a PS2 for games like God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, a million RPGs, etc.

Well, I've been wanting an Xbox 360, but the relative dearth of titles has made it hard to justify the $400. So maybe a PS2 is a good timekiller while some more titles get made for the 360.

What are others (particularly the RPGs you mentioned) that are worth getting, if I plunk down the $130?
Maybe it's heresy, but I haven't paid any attention to the PS2 =o

[fitbabits]

$129 or $99 it doesn't really matter.

Still the best selling console April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2006.

If I were Sony I'd drop the price to $99 this Christmas. It would outsell PS3 3:1 then.
I'll pose the obvious question before someone else does:

Are these new purchases or repeat ones due to the overwhelming failure rate of the PS2?

[Oddmaker]

Well ive always owned an xbox and now a xbox360, so yeah call me a microsoft lover :p

[Cool AN]

Hope this effects the European PS 2 price to. I really want to play God of War and a lot of other games.

[fitbabits]

Well, I've been wanting an Xbox 360, but the relative dearth of titles has made it hard to justify the $400. So maybe a PS2 is a good timekiller while some more titles get made for the 360.

What are others (particularly the RPGs you mentioned) that are worth getting, if I plunk down the $130?
Maybe it's heresy, but I haven't paid any attention to the PS2 =o
Kingdom Hearts - 87%
Xenosaga - 87%
Final Fantasy X - 92%
Dark Cloud - 90%
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - 83%
Final Fantasy X-2 - 88%
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance - 83%
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - 88%
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II - 81%
Suikoden III - 91%
Champions of Norrath - 86%
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - 87%
Kingdom Hearts II - 87%
La Pucelle: Tactics - 82%
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - 83%
Phantom Brave - 82%
Summoner 2 - 81%
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga S - 82%
Growlanser: Generations - 82%
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - 86%
X-Men Legends - 84%
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 93%
Dark Cloud - 81%
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse - 84%
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 - 87%
Shadow Hearts: From the New World - 80%
Suikoden V - 81%

Percentages from GameTab (http://www.gametab.com).

Note - I only included games that averaged 80% or higher.

[Cupelix]

This honestly is a great price point for this system. Now, no one has an excuse to not rock out with Guitar Hero.

[bone_matrix]

I feel $129 is a slap in the face. After buying a memory card, its the same price as an Xbox now (well, depending on what brand, but you get my point). Wow Sony, thanks for not charging me that $20. Thats very sweet of you. But, I already bought 3, because one crapped out, and the one after that won't read cd based games. Can I get a voucher for every system I already bought? Because, well, that would be nice.

As you can see, I don't believe I'm very 'casual' about games, but I don't think that a 20 dollar price drop will sell that many more units. If it was 99 bucks, I think it would. But, what do I know, I'm just posting on a message board. Even if it is the best board ever.

[Everlost_MI]

It should! Every self-respecting 'gamer' should own a PS2 for games like God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, a million RPGs, etc.

Wow. I feel less than adequate now.

[see colon]

I feel $129 is a slap in the face. After buying a memory card, its the same price as an Xbox now (well, depending on what brand, but you get my point). Wow Sony, thanks for not charging me that $20.
not anymore. new Xbox hardware only comes in the forza bundle for $179.99. i don't think microsoft is interested in selling the original xbox at all anymore, so i doubt they'll drop the price.

[fitbabits]

Wow. I feel less than adequate now.
You mean you DON'T own a PS2? Dude... :)

[Nim]

Percentages from GameTab (http://www.gametab.com).

Note - I only included games that averaged 80% or higher.

Thanks. I may have to sneak out and get one of them newfangled-PS2 things the kids are talking about, now.

If I can find a way to sneak it into the house without my fiancee beating me purple ^_^

[fitbabits]

Thanks. I may have to sneak out and get one of them newfangled-PS2 things the kids are talking about, now.

If I can find a way to sneak it into the house without my fiancee beating me purple ^_^
You're welcome.

If you can, get a refurbed original PS2, not the slim one. The slim PS2 is notoriously finicky.

[Paranoia]

$129? Meh..

[VTwenning]

I bought my first PS2 for $149 about a week before the first rumor of the price drop hit.

[Borys]

Thanks. I may have to sneak out and get one of them newfangled-PS2 things the kids are talking about, now.

If I can find a way to sneak it into the house without my fiancee beating me purple ^_^

Here's what you absolutely MUST OWN if you are a RPG fan and got a PS2:


Final Fantasy X - 92%
Dark Cloud - 90%
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 93%

Add Kingdom Hearts II to that list if you don't hate Disney themes.

[NightRain]

I have a V10 PS2 (thick one) and still play it, but I also have 2 Xboxes, Gamecube, Xbox 360 and PSP. Not to mention pretty much every other console released since about 1990 and some older ones too.

I would buy a slim PS2 to have another PS2 in another room for $99 for for $129 I wouldn't be bothered buying one. $129 is about $147 Canadian and it hasn't been difficult to get a PS2 for around that price here in Canada anyway for the past several months.
If it was $119.99 Canadian I'd buy one, but not for $147 ish..

[AntB]

When I start upgrading my home system I'm going to pick one up and mod it.
MS needs to make a cheap skinny xbox.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I actually had some games for the PS2 (Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter, Twisted Metal, ICO, and Katamari Damacy) that I bought new for cheap. I planned on buying a system to actually play them, but I never did. I ended up trading the games in for about $5 each. :( Oh well...

[Citizen Philip]

It should! Every self-respecting 'gamer' should own a PS2 for games like God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, a million RPGs, etc.

And if I hadn't just spent money on this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/7f1d/) I would get one too.

Alas. Maybe next month.

[Rafer]

Here's what you absolutely MUST OWN if you are a RPG fan and got a PS2:

Final Fantasy X - 92%
Dark Cloud - 90%
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 93%

Add Kingdom Hearts II to that list if you don't hate Disney themes.

I'd go with Dark Cloud 2 over Dark Cloud, though it's more of a Zelda-esque game than an RPG.

[protojack]

My original PS2 died out 8 months ago. I'll use the price drop as an excuse to get one, as well as Guitar Hero, Fatal Frame 3, Grandia 3, and Kingdom Hearts 2.

[zrikz]

I still have my think old ps2 from 2000-2001 I believe, have had to crack it open once and clean the lense, but it works perfect and I think it reads dvds better than my xbox does. Got the xbox last year and I hardly play it now, been at least 3 months. I need to get Kingdom Hearts II for PS2 for sure.

[Chameleo]

i think i want a white japanese slim PS2 - but i wont be able to play english games on that will i....

[Everlost_MI]

You mean you DON'T own a PS2? Dude... :)

Yeah, I never ponied up to get one. I play all on consoles, Xbox (given away), 360 and Cube on my monitor with a hi-def cable. I never found a good one for the PS2 and after the PS3 announcement I've been saving for that instead.

[Zanzibar]

I'll pose the obvious question before someone else does:

Are these new purchases or repeat ones due to the overwhelming failure rate of the PS2?

Sony fanboys can roll their eyes at this, but it's a legitimate question. Can we do a poll? Y'know what, screw it, I'll make my own poll.

[Entropy Effect]

This honestly is a great price point for this system. Now, no one has an excuse to not rock out with Guitar Hero.

I think $99 is the price point where I would run out and buy a PS2 + Guitar Hero without hesitation. I also have a few PS2 games I have picked up dirt cheap over the years without a PS2 to play them on so really I am just waiting for the price ($99) that I can no longer resist.

[The Continental]

I've got a first gen, launch PS2 (it doesn't even have an IR sensor, you need to buy an adapter) that is still working as well as the day I bought it. My Xbox on the other hand...

[TheBrainKills]

Once they bundle it with Guitar Hero then maybe I will get one. .... Nah, never.

[Soap]

I'm on the "Bundle it with Guitar Hero" bandwagon. Seriously, why can't Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo just include 1 free game with their system. I remember when the Atari 2600 came with Combat and Nintendo's Super Mario. Those were the days...

[Derella]

I've had two PS2s over the years. The second one was to replace the non-functioning original one. And my second one hasn't worked in almost a year :(

As much as I want to play some of 2005's PS2 games, I can't bring myself to give Sony more of my money.

[TRiLoGY]

I've got a first gen, launch PS2 (it doesn't even have an IR sensor, you need to buy an adapter) that is still working as well as the day I bought it. My Xbox on the other hand...

Yeah same here! Still got my Original Launch PS2 and I've never had a problem with it or any of my Peripherals :D

[Returner]

I'll pose the obvious question before someone else does:

Are these new purchases or repeat ones due to the overwhelming failure rate of the PS2?

Well I don't know about other people buy I'm on my fourth PS2. My first US PS2 and first Jpn PS2 broke down a long time ago so I replaced them.

[Metal Jesus]

Sorry Sony, but my next console purchase will be the Xbox 360. After seeing GRAW, Oblivion and even Tomb Raider: Legend on it, I want one BADLY!

[MajSheppard]

Uhhhh who cares. If you don't already have one, it will only get cheaper and very rapidly after the next gens are all out. That would be as dumb as paying full price for a N64 or PSX. If you need one wait until after christmas and I'll bet you can get one for like 30 bucks.

[danhoo]

Yeah same here! Still got my Original Launch PS2 and I've never had a problem with it or any of my Peripherals :D

Put another person down on the "still have a working launch-time PS2" (that's been used a lot, and even got knocked across the floor once) list. It's going on, what, five years now? Which ain't bad. Of course, it's noisy, and probably could go at any moment.

[dr_wily]

I'm on the "Bundle it with Guitar Hero" bandwagon. Seriously, why can't Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo just include 1 free game with their system. I remember when the Atari 2600 came with Combat and Nintendo's Super Mario. Those were the days...

dear fucking lord dont include nintendo on that rap.. they offer free games bundled in ALL THE TIME

pokemon, metroid prime, smash bros.. all bundle sets.

[Pumped'Up]

Stores bundle games with PS2 all the time. You just have to wait from week to week to see what the deals are.

I wished Nintendo had a RE4 GC version/bundle here in North America....to bad it was only local to Euro (and Japan?)

[Pumped'Up]

Btw, BestBuy in Canada has PStwo bundled w/ GT4 for $129.99CAN (~$112US).

freak'n awesome deal.

[Katsuro]

Lol yeah... bout the price drops we just got comfrimed to drop them today(Thursday) so we did... didnt sell a single one lol... 129.99 new 109.99used 119.99refurbished.(GS/EB) Now the thin ones are 119.99used...woot 10$ cheeper lol