We finally entered the PS2 market with buying a slimline, satin silver Playstation 2 yesterday. For all the badwill Sony’s managed stir in me with the Playstation 3 PR fiascos, it was invigorating as ever to unpack and hook up a new console, watching the dashboard come to life for the first time.
And it’s so small I can’t believe it. And quiet. There’s something dominating about the massive bulk and hum of my Xbox 360 that pales in comparison to the unseeming… well, play the last gen offered. (Alright, the Xbox was huge to begin with.) Too bad, then, about the ugly memory cards you have to plug into the flawless front panel of the console. Almost makes me wish we’d dished out for a Sony official memory card at double the price and half the capacity – at least they’d be designed to smoothly integrate with the slimline PS2’s aesthetics.
Transformers
So I finally got to play the Transformers game my wife bought me something like one and a half years ago. It is a joy to play, too bad about the Dualshock control pad’s overall clumsy feel.
Considering how much its visuals have got praise, I was a little surprised to see how far behind Xbox standards they are. The art direction is absolutely spot on and it runs smoothly, but overall it reminds me more of the original Playstation’s reign than modern times. This is mostly due to the unstable textures, I think and their low resolution. Effects suffer somewhat from flatness. Nevertheless, I’ve been floored by the game’s stunning vistas more than once. The third level (Deep Amazon) is beauty to behold and yes, can measure up to next-gen experiences.
Gotta love the sheer physicality of Optimus Prime running in the Amazon in any case.
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