"The Sony PlayStation 2 won the battle back in the day but what about today? Truth is that the past doesn’t matter and these consoles have evolved. Allow me to demonstrate. Now a days the PS2 has over 1,800 games. It’s the best time to own a PS2 and with all the exclusives and greatest hits. People are still playing Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo and the Metal Gear Solid series.
If you’re into retro the PS2 carries the greatest library of anthologies and compilations such as Metal Slug Anthology, Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Capcom Classics, SNK Classics and the SEGA Genesis Collection. The PS2 is also backwards compatible with PlayStation 1 games adding over 1,000 more games to the library. Being that the PS2 is very popular, there’s a huge fan base and new systems are still being sold today in 2012 and as such Sony still offers full support for the system.
The Microsoft Xbox might have lost the battle back then but today it’s a mighty contender. Halo 2 was still being played right before they shut down Xbox Live. Xbox opened the door for all the online FPS battles we have today. The shooters on Xbox have always been the best since Xbox Live was backing them up. Halo 2, Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six were some of the best shooters and the PS2 couldn’t compete because of the online multiplayer. Though the Xbox library isn’t as grand as the PS2’s, it still has exclusives some of which might never have another sequel such as Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue II. One of my favorite games was ESPN NFL 2K5 in which there is still a community to get the updated rosters even now in 2012. Gaming communities cease to amaze me, they go above and beyond which brings me to my next point.
Microsoft left a few loopholes in its design when the Xbox was released and now the Xbox can be hacked without even unscrewing it. The now popular XBMC started with the Xbox it’s a media center for modded Xbox’s that allows multimedia to be streamed to the TV. Additionally, the Xbox can play just about any video game from the 90’s or older and good thing there’s a 8GB hard drive installed.
When I first modded my Xbox I quickly installed a Super Nintendo emulator and it was off to the races. As I got more involved I had bought second Xbox and converted it into a computer for Internet use with keyboard and mouse. Most people don’t know the Xbox’s potential and disregard it. For this reason, you can find one on the cheap online and at the same time difficult to find locally. Microsoft no longer supports the system but there’s a large community supporting the Original Xbox Mod. With that said, the Xbox has become the underground system of this era but without the mod it would be a modern day Sega Saturn. Both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox can be found for $50 or less.
In 2012 both consoles are up to par. The PS2 expands on its countless library of games and the Xbox can become a media center and a retro gaming machine. The choice comes down to either American muscle or Japanese Import, it depends what you’re into. Since I’m a retro gamer I stick with the Xbox to play emulators and stream movies although the PS2 has exclusives that make it worthwhile.
