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Let's say you have a friend who wanted to start gaming. They gave you $500 to spend on gaming stuff, any way you like. Alternatively, imagine you're making a gaming setup for your guest room, or a club or other public space; not composed of your PERSONAL favorites, but what you think would appeal to a wide range of people, and get people who previously haven't been interested in games playing them.
Would you spend your $500 on a more modern console, and get fewer games? Go with cheaper, downloadable/bargain bin games? Go with a classic console, like an SNES? A handheld system?
For the purposes of this exercise, computers and piracy aren't allowed, because they simply open up far far too much without any cost. Also assume that everything is bought new. Try to use accurate prices. See http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/vid...ain-games.html and amazon.com for reference. Don't worry about S&H and tax. Assume that you nothing about the person's preferences, and you have to make it with a lump purchase (no going back later to see what they prefer, and then buying based on that). Keep hardware limitations in mind-- if you get a PS3 without backwards compatibility, don't pick out PS2 games, or if you get a PS2 without a hard drive slot, don't think of FFXI.
Personally, I'd go with:
$130 PlayStation 2 -- Still has plenty of must-play games, and works fine. Also very cheap, compared to any current gen. Huge library, and in my opinion games which are generally more playable, compared to the PS1. The biggest downside is honestly not having Nintendo games, which like them or not are largely associated with gaming in general; Mario especially.
$17 PS2 memory card -- overpriced, but whatchagonnado.
$4 PS1 memory card -- See above. Also, Sony, you dumbasses, why couldn't you make a partition on the PS2 memory card or something?
$18 DualShock 2 -- For multiplayer.
$20 Final Fantasy XII -- I think this is about the perfect first game. Simple surface, but with plenty of depth. Can be rather slow paced and controlled if you want, or can be more fast paced and chaotic. Beautiful, mostly great story, and the music's not bad. Also the closest a game can really come to being an MMO without any online content.
$10 Katamari Damacy -- if you don't understand this, you CLEARLY have not played it.
$30 GTA: The Trilogy -- So much to do here. Quite possibly the most influential series in gaming in the past decade. Clearly one of if not the best example of an open world game, not counting MMOs.
$30 MGS: Essential collection -- I honestly think this is one of the best stories told in gaming, and the gameplay itself is pretty good if hard on newcomers. Very replayable to boot.
$30 Persona 3: FES -- For all the depth, the gameplay is entirely turn based so it's not too hard to play. (Learning how is another matter). There is an unbelievable amount of content on the disk; it could give GTA a run for its money in terms of game length.
$18 Shadow of the Colossus -- If none of the above do, this is THE game that clearly proves this medium is a form of art.
$30 Rachet and Clank/Sly Cooper -- Walmart.com - Always Low Prices! ; I've actually not played these, but they look like fine platformers from everything I've seen and played (demos).
$30 Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec/Dynasty Warriors 4 -- Again, the Wal-mart bundle dealy. I personally don't like sim racers, but Gran Turismo is always a good tech demo; and some people will like it. I've only played Dynasty Warriors 5 on Xbox, but I haven't seen any real change in the series. Not for everyone, but not bad.
$11 Last Year's Madden -- Again, not a fan of sports games, but some are. And there's not much of a point getting the newest Madden, unless you're really, really interested in making your own fantasy roster.
$40 DDR SuperNova2 -- With dance pad. DDR is very underappreciated, and after getting someone into gaming it's only polite to give them a way to work off all the weight they're doomed to gain.
$20 Burnout Revenge -- Burnout is the one racing game I enjoy playing. Clearly, a driving game where half the point is driving badly is doing something very right.
$20 Tony Hawk's Underground -- "Extreme Sports" games have died off somewhat, and would probably be completely forgotten about by now were it not for EA and Skate. That doesn't mean they were any less good BEFORE we got bored with them, though.
$10 Soul Calibur 2 -- Not a fan personally, but fighting games are another important genre.
I think this leaves me with around $20-40 in change (I closed my calculator without thinking about it, and am far too lazy to check again), which I would probably use on the below:
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Resident Evil 4 -- A great game, surely, but I just cannot recommend it to anyone who might ever think about considering buying a Wii. RE4Wii is simply incredible, and the best version.
Okami -- An incredible game, but as with RE4 I would have a hard time recommending it with the possibility of the Wii version. However, the Wii version is far less of an improvement here, with there being a strong argument for the PS2 version being better. It depends on your preferences.
Would you spend your $500 on a more modern console, and get fewer games? Go with cheaper, downloadable/bargain bin games? Go with a classic console, like an SNES? A handheld system?
For the purposes of this exercise, computers and piracy aren't allowed, because they simply open up far far too much without any cost. Also assume that everything is bought new. Try to use accurate prices. See http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/vid...ain-games.html and amazon.com for reference. Don't worry about S&H and tax. Assume that you nothing about the person's preferences, and you have to make it with a lump purchase (no going back later to see what they prefer, and then buying based on that). Keep hardware limitations in mind-- if you get a PS3 without backwards compatibility, don't pick out PS2 games, or if you get a PS2 without a hard drive slot, don't think of FFXI.
Personally, I'd go with:
$130 PlayStation 2 -- Still has plenty of must-play games, and works fine. Also very cheap, compared to any current gen. Huge library, and in my opinion games which are generally more playable, compared to the PS1. The biggest downside is honestly not having Nintendo games, which like them or not are largely associated with gaming in general; Mario especially.
$17 PS2 memory card -- overpriced, but whatchagonnado.
$4 PS1 memory card -- See above. Also, Sony, you dumbasses, why couldn't you make a partition on the PS2 memory card or something?
$18 DualShock 2 -- For multiplayer.
$20 Final Fantasy XII -- I think this is about the perfect first game. Simple surface, but with plenty of depth. Can be rather slow paced and controlled if you want, or can be more fast paced and chaotic. Beautiful, mostly great story, and the music's not bad. Also the closest a game can really come to being an MMO without any online content.
$10 Katamari Damacy -- if you don't understand this, you CLEARLY have not played it.
$30 GTA: The Trilogy -- So much to do here. Quite possibly the most influential series in gaming in the past decade. Clearly one of if not the best example of an open world game, not counting MMOs.
$30 MGS: Essential collection -- I honestly think this is one of the best stories told in gaming, and the gameplay itself is pretty good if hard on newcomers. Very replayable to boot.
$30 Persona 3: FES -- For all the depth, the gameplay is entirely turn based so it's not too hard to play. (Learning how is another matter). There is an unbelievable amount of content on the disk; it could give GTA a run for its money in terms of game length.
$18 Shadow of the Colossus -- If none of the above do, this is THE game that clearly proves this medium is a form of art.
$30 Rachet and Clank/Sly Cooper -- Walmart.com - Always Low Prices! ; I've actually not played these, but they look like fine platformers from everything I've seen and played (demos).
$30 Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec/Dynasty Warriors 4 -- Again, the Wal-mart bundle dealy. I personally don't like sim racers, but Gran Turismo is always a good tech demo; and some people will like it. I've only played Dynasty Warriors 5 on Xbox, but I haven't seen any real change in the series. Not for everyone, but not bad.
$11 Last Year's Madden -- Again, not a fan of sports games, but some are. And there's not much of a point getting the newest Madden, unless you're really, really interested in making your own fantasy roster.
$40 DDR SuperNova2 -- With dance pad. DDR is very underappreciated, and after getting someone into gaming it's only polite to give them a way to work off all the weight they're doomed to gain.
$20 Burnout Revenge -- Burnout is the one racing game I enjoy playing. Clearly, a driving game where half the point is driving badly is doing something very right.
$20 Tony Hawk's Underground -- "Extreme Sports" games have died off somewhat, and would probably be completely forgotten about by now were it not for EA and Skate. That doesn't mean they were any less good BEFORE we got bored with them, though.
$10 Soul Calibur 2 -- Not a fan personally, but fighting games are another important genre.
I think this leaves me with around $20-40 in change (I closed my calculator without thinking about it, and am far too lazy to check again), which I would probably use on the below:
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Resident Evil 4 -- A great game, surely, but I just cannot recommend it to anyone who might ever think about considering buying a Wii. RE4Wii is simply incredible, and the best version.
Okami -- An incredible game, but as with RE4 I would have a hard time recommending it with the possibility of the Wii version. However, the Wii version is far less of an improvement here, with there being a strong argument for the PS2 version being better. It depends on your preferences.
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