My New Years Low-Resolution

Having an Xbox 360 is really great – it comes with its own shiny green light (red for those of you who are very unlucky), it has a wireless disposition (handy – no more am I accidentally yanking the console off the shelf) and now it even comes with its own ickle and cute pug puppy avatar pet. But I often find the 360s big ol’ American allure gets to me with shock tactics (OOH! New Dead Space avatar clothes!) and subliminal messages (press A to download full game…OK!) – all this to take over the whole wide gaming world! This then leads me to forget some of my other gaming allies ,and just because they are not all shiny and new doesn’t mean they should be forgotten.

The original Xbox had some great games, most of which are not compatible with the 360 (Booo!), but there are still many great titles that are. For example, Outrun 2006, Coast 2 Coast, Psychonauts, Crimson Skies and Panza Dragoon Orta. These days, Xbox games are as cheap as Iceland own brand chips (and with probably a similar texture) so they are worth picking up. I always take the Xbox games compatiblity list if I go shopping for games too, because I can guarantee the staff in Gamestation won’t have one. If you’ve never had an Xbox before, you could probably pick up copies of Halo 2, Jet Set Radio Future, Star Wars KOTOR II and even the original (and best) Super Monkey Ball in a four for a tenner deal. And that’s a bloody lot of good gaming for the price of an Xbox Live Arcade release. I even managed to pick up a copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (which is awesomazing) for £2 in a Gamestation, perfect playing seeing as the new POP game is set after Sands of Time.

With the Xbox 360 trying to lure me in once again with DJ Hero, I have opted to play the PlayStation 2 as it has some of the most diverse gaming out there, (including B-Boy, the game the creators of DJ Hero made before they devoted themselves to expensively excellent lumps of shiny plastic) and is home to some of the best games ever made. Unfortunately,there are compatibility issues with the PS3.  The first PS3’s had hardware PS2 emulation built in, later PS3’s had software emulation, and the Slim versions have no PS2 backwards compatibility (although they can play PS1 Micro Machines discs… thanks Tony).  Luckily PS2s are almost as cheap as a DVD player themselves now, and they play DVDs, and PS2 games, and PS1 games – and they’re square, so you can balance your curvy PS3 precariously on top of it – so it is worth it.

Most people already know games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, Jak and Daxter but there are so many PS2 games that a lot just get forgotten. Global Defense Force (which came out in the UK after Earth Defense Force) is actually better than EDF… OK… but I’m talking gameplay rather than the pavement rails that pop up in front of your character. Same type of crazy shooty monster/bug/flying robot thing but with more civilians that pop out of thin air and less of a frame rate. Another game that now has 2 sequels, Yakuza, is set in a realistic Tokyo. With its slightly renamed exterior, Yakuza oddly enough follows a former Yakuza after his release from prison and it’s a really good game if you don’t think that it could have been Shenmue 3 instead. But, if that sounds a little boring you can always head to a Club Sega, try and win some cute plush toys and even drink Japanese Boss Coffee bought from the local Family Mart.

Other gems such as Zone of the Enders 1 and 2, Beyond Good and Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Fantavision (not what you see after drinking too much orange soda) and even Space Channel 5 was ported onto the PS2, and they are all really cheap to buy, if you are lucky enough to find them. There is also plenty of crap for the PS2, for instance there is a DOA clone called Fighting Angels except you mainly just slap each other about a bit… repeatedly… with exactly the same vocal clip… over and over again. I found it in a Cash Converters and paid probably more than it was worth. (£2 actually, I was intrigued, I knew it was going to be bad when I bought it, so it’s allowed.)

My poor Wii – believe me, it is more than just an expensive BBC iPlayer, though I will admit that sometimes I forget it it even exists. Oh so tiny and white… with a Lara Croft figure balancing on top, it fits in too well with its surroundings and, err, gets lost (yes that’s my excuse). But a Wii isn’t just a Wii, it is also a Gamecube. I won my Gamecube from Nintendo mag back in the day – I sent them a photo of me dressed as Princes Zelda and boom, one Gamecube. So, as long as you have a GC controller you will be able to play all the fantastic GC games on the Wii.

There wasn’t a bad Mario game on the GC, in fact all of Nintendos franchises were catered for and all were pretty good, (or in Chibi Robo’s case, just the best game ever), even Pokémon Channel some how managed to amused me (No Pikachu! You’re not watching anymore TV!), but there were also some really good third party gems that are must plays!

Skies of Arcadia and Baten Kaitos, two very different RPG games. Baten Kaitos is a beautiful game but isn’t one to pop into a Gamestation that often and goes for quite a bit on eBay, but I was lucky enough to buy it on release in 2005. Your role in the game is playing a Guardian Spirit who guides the main character, Kalas, with all his decisions.  And if you can keep a good relationship with Kalas (who can be quite grumpy at times) it can help you do better during combat, by letting loose ‘Spirit Attacks’. The game is set on floating islands so everyone grew wings to compensate for the lack of roads caused by an evil demon ripping the place apart. Nice.

Skies of Arcadia was originally a Dreamcast game but was ported over to the GC in 2002 with an enhanced version with shorter loading times and additional content. The game is about a young pirate called Vyse and his friends who are trying stop an evil empire from reviving an ancient weapon that has the potential to destroy the whole bloody world. The game is set on floating… islands… wait a minute! I like this game because it’s more gritty and less cute than a lot of today’s RPGs and plus you get to play as sky pirates.

It really is worth having a look at some of the older gems that can still be played on this generation of games consoles, mainly because they are still so many great games and they are most likely very cheap. So this year I’m going to give my Wii some classic RPG attention, I will stop buying virtual clothing for my spoilt avatar and spend some time on the games that new consoles forgot… and I forgot. I forgot a back catalog of 10 years worth of games (and that may include Fighting Angels) but to be honest I am already on the  look out for another game to add to the crap collection. Demolition Girl on PS2, giant sexy models invade a city and it’s up to you to sort it out by firing missiles at her pert backside. How could you not want it?

(Ha, just found it, £4.20 on Play.com – about the same price as a Madden NFL Minnesota Vikings avatar shirt.)