Did the last PS2 game just get released?

[Shulamana]

I know that all the Targets around here clearanced out the last of their PS2 stock around the middle of last year. But you can still find systems in Toys R Us and Best Buy.

When I heard on Reddit that somebody had found some at a Toys R Us on clearance for $50 I ran down to mine for the first time in a decade or so. They didn't have anything PS2 related outside of the bargain bin and I got the impression they hadn't had consoles in stock at that location for a while.

[Jorpho]

I'd pay $50 for a new PS2 at this point, but I wouldn't know where to find one.

[MarioMania]

Why Sports Games?? Bring out a Good Game that people will buy..

[The 1 2 P]

When I heard on Reddit that somebody had found some at a Toys R Us on clearance for $50 I ran down to mine for the first time in a decade or so. They didn't have anything PS2 related outside of the bargain bin and I got the impression they hadn't had consoles in stock at that location for a while.

I'd pay $50 for a new PS2 at this point, but I wouldn't know where to find one.

You two should have tried Target last year. My Targets clearanced theirs out for $50 after they wouldn't sell at $80 or $70. This is exactly how they clearanced their Gamecubes several years ago, although those made it all the way down to $25 before I picked one up. I was going to get a black slim on clearance to compliment my silver one but then I decided to hold off since I really want a Japanese system to play my imports on.

[Leo_A]

Why Sports Games?? Bring out a Good Game that people will buy..

Because it's the casual fans keeping the platform alive.

Sports are a huge genre for that segment of fans, they typically will buy each annual update, and easy to port projects in that genre are still produced for the Wii and PSP which makes a PS2 release that much more economical to develop. Combined with sports games traditionally utilizing the previous year's game as a starting basis and it's extremely cheap to release a new sports game on the PS2 that will still sell thousands of copies.

[Leo_A]

I don't know if PS2 systems are still being produced. They're not stocked any longer at many places like Wal-Mart and GameStop.

Uh, my local Wal-Mart still sells PS2s and gets stock regularly.

Is no longer stocked at Wal-Mart's website and none of the Wal-Mart's around here have gotten any stock since well before Christmas I discovered when I went to buy a spare system recently.

The PS2 is still big down here. Maybe it's old stock, I dunno, but families from down in Mexico still buy the systems and their games.

To my surprise and despite what I was told, my local Wal-Mart had a single new PS2 in the cabinet tonight after that spot had been empty since Christmas.

It's empty again.

Edit - And for what it's worth, it hasn't been restocked since I bought that one, the PS2 price sticker is removed from the shelving, and different items are now stocked where they had carried slim PS2's in recent years.

They certainly don't appear to have any intentions of restocking.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I'm bumping my own thread because the original question has been answered. No, the last game hasn't been released. FIFA Soccer 13 has been announced for a bunch of systems, including the PS2, and will come out in September 2012.

[Cloud121]

There must be a niche of causal sports gamers out there who don't care to upgrade, but like to get new rosters. To be honest, I actually worked with a guy who is exactly like this. He bought every NCAA Football on PS2, even well after the game became irrelevant. He was adamant about not upgrading to next-gen until he absolutely had to. Of course, he still hasn't...

*Waves* I'm guilty as such. Well, I still purchase my sports games for my PS2, as the gameplay is so much better than the current generation consoles. The last good Madden on PS3/360 was Madden 08.

[SparTonberry]

Pretty sure those are Japanese sales.

It's pretty incredible that the PS2 still has a new game after 11+ years. The NES, Genesis, and PSX all only reached 9.

The Famicom was just shy of 11 (launch in July 1983, last licensed game in June 1994).

I remember the last GBA game ended up being an anime-based game that was only released as a pack-in with a DVD.

[theclaw]

It looks PES 2013 will also hit PS2.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I wonder how much work it actually takes to release a sports game on the PS2. Do they just dump the code from the PS3 version onto a PS2 disc and accept whatever downgraded graphics happen as a result? I'm sure it's not that simplistic, but maybe it is just a dump.

[Edmond Dantes]

I wonder how much work it actually takes to release a sports game on the PS2. Do they just dump the code from the PS3 version onto a PS2 disc and accept whatever downgraded graphics happen as a result? I'm sure it's not that simplistic, but maybe it is just a dump.

Admittedly I'm not a programming expert, but I can tell you it doesn't work that way. You have to tell the game's code how to interact with the hardware in the machine--you can't just dump the code and let everything figure itself out. That's a good way to get buggy software.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Admittedly I'm not a programming expert, but I can tell you it doesn't work that way. You have to tell the game's code how to interact with the hardware in the machine--you can't just dump the code and let everything figure itself out. That's a good way to get buggy software.

What I was trying to suggest is that they don't build the new PS2 sports games from the ground up (or maybe they do). At some point in the process, I imagine that they dump code from some device into a PS2 development kit. They would debug it, but wouldn't spend as much time on it as they would for other the other console releases.

I just figured it would be easy because of similarities between the PS2 and PS3 (or maybe they are not similar). Perhaps developers have a computer that converts the code from one system to another.

[j_factor]

What I was trying to suggest is that they don't build the new PS2 sports games from the ground up (or maybe they do). At some point in the process, I imagine that they dump code from some device into a PS2 development kit. They would debug it, but wouldn't spend as much time on it as they would for other the other console releases.

I just figured it would be easy because of similarities between the PS2 and PS3 (or maybe they are not similar). Perhaps developers have a computer that converts the code from one system to another.

PS2 and PS3 really have no similarities. The "shortcut" here would be re-using assets from the previous year's PS2 game -- which they do to varying degrees anyway. It will likely be little more than a roster update. For maximum cheapness, they could make it literally just a roster update.

[bangtango]

PS2 and PS3 really have no similarities. The "shortcut" here would be re-using assets from the previous year's PS2 game -- which they do to varying degrees anyway. It will likely be little more than a roster update. For maximum cheapness, they could make it literally just a roster update.

2K's PS2 releases over the past few years have been as autopilot as you can get. This coming from someone who kept on buying their basketball and baseball games right through this year.

New games do feature incoming rookies but since there is no way to cut and paste those player models from previous games (since they didn't exist in prior editions), they all look generic. They do nothing more than get the right skin color and basic body type for "new" players from that year. The free agents list for the recent NBA 2K and MLB 2K games on PS2 are chock full of people who haven't played in their respective sports for years (such as Shawn Kemp or Penny Hardaway) but keep on showing up as free agents in the 2011-2012 games because they were already there in 2K7-2K10 and it is just easier to keep them in there than remove them.

Some of the teams in the newer 2K games still have coaches and managers (i.e. Eric Wedge with Cleveland) who were fired or resigned a couple years prior.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Bump

The PS2 is still alive as far as game releases Here are the next two:

FIFA Soccer 13 -- September 25th, 2012

Pro Evolution Soccer 13 -- October 1st, 2012

Madden 2013 on the PS2 did not happen, as some were speculating. It's possible that PES will be the last game, but you never know.

Also, here's an article about PS2s at some Gamestops being removed to make space for the WiiU. I'm not sure if it refers to used PS2s, or new. Either way, they say it still sells.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57...rep-for-wii-u/

[Leo_A]

When Madden skips you over, the end can't be far away.

Interesting though, one could argue that the Playstation isn't even dead yet since that new Japanese Final Fantasy boxset includes some PS reprintings. So I could see reprintings of Japanese releases lasting for several more years after the system is commercially dead for the rest of the world,

[kupomogli]

The next Fifa game comes out 09/28 in Europe. European gamers love their Soccer. Or Football. Whatever.

[ice1605]

The Famicom was just shy of 11 (launch in July 1983, last licensed game in June 1994).

I remember the last GBA game ended up being an anime-based game that was only released as a pack-in with a DVD.

Actually, even though the last game came out in 1994, if I remember correctly, Nintendo produced AV Famicoms until 2003. (Even the NES wasn't officially discontinued until a little after the last game came out)

[BlastProcessing402]

Actually, even though the last game came out in 1994, if I remember correctly, Nintendo produced AV Famicoms until 2003. (Even the NES wasn't officially discontinued until a little after the last game came out)

How long was Brazil still pumping out various Sega systems?