Best gaming console?

crazy,

It's not a region code, it's the parental control password, which will kick in depending on the programming in the disc of the movie being played. Anyway, this should do the trick:

Enter 7444 in the password section. If your PS2 displays "invalid password", re-enter the password screen and press the "select" button followed by 7444. This will delete any password in your PS2's memory. Your PS2 will then ask you to enter a new password. Enter a new password - "0000" is easy. You will then be asked to "confirm new password". After confirming this new password you will then be allowed to enter the parental control menu. Set the parental lock level to off. Ejecting and closing the disk tray will then save the DVD menu options. (If you don't eject the tray, it won't save the "off" setting.)

Which console to buy? Well, I'm a little biased. Any of you I've emailed from work will know why... That being said, we do have a GameCube. And an XBox, a Dreamcast, a Japanese Dreamcast, a GameBoy Advance, an N64, SNES and Atari 2600. They fill up the cabinet next to the three PS2s (one Japanese) and the original gray PlayStation and the mini white "PS one". My husband's the gamer. I just obsess over puzzle games, but really, neither of us play enough to justify even half that hardware... *shrug*

Just to note, a lot of popular games, such as Enter the Matrix or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or the Tom Clancy games, are available on all consoles - PS2, GameCube and Xbox, so you should choose based on games that are exclusive to the console, such as the Mario and Zelda series, Halo, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider etc.

Thanks Jadian, Ersby, and everyone else.

Okay, so it looks like we're down to either GameCube or PS2. Here's a little more info:

Oakley's too young to actually play the games himself. However, I downloaded MAME recently, so we've been playing tons of '80s arcade games on the PC. If I set the fire button to the space bar, we can play Galaga, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and a bunch of others where I handle most of the controls and he just pounds on the fire button. He loves that. So my first question is: which system offers the ability to play simple arcade-style games?

I also would like to get games that he can enjoy just by watching. It doesn't have to be totally cartoony or lightweight (I would like to enjoy the games too), but there should be no blood, gore, or extreme violence, and nothing that includes realistic looking guns. So, for example, those military combat games would be out, but something like a Spider-Man game would be okay. Even something that had creepy monsters would be fine as long as they're not severing each others heads or something.

Third, I have Oakley every Friday, and every other Saturday, which means I can't go out on those nights, but I do have people over sometimes. Usually, it's a ladyfriend of some sort, but with Oakley here, there can't be any uh... well... you know... I'm kind of getting sick of watching movies, so it would be nice to have a game or something that we could both play at the same time. But it can't be anything ultra-complicated. So some simultaneous, 2-person games that can be learned quickly would also be good.

Any more advice, anyone?

take care

---Patrick

ps. Thanks also to GeekGirl. I didn't see your message when I first posted this. Very informative.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 24, 2003 02:38 PM: Message edited by: jones ]</font>

Thanks, GG & Jadian. Will see what happens.

Well, for Oakley, I'd say the best Playstation 2 game is probably Kingdom Hearts, a Disney/Square game that rips off cartoons and Final Fantasies. It's not difficult at all, and your kid will probably recognise half the characters. There is zero gore and the plot is pretty straightforward, you choose worlds like Alice In Wonderland or The Little Mermaid and there's a little story in each one. There's also sub quest and challenges for the adults who inevitably end up playing. And the controls for fighting enemies are basically mashing the button as fast as you can, no skill there.

As for the Cube - Personally I think Zelda is a little too advanced yet, it's set in a world where you have to solve a lot of puzzles and conduct music to change the course of the wind depending on where you want to sail. But - Super Mario Party is set up like a gigantic board game, and you can set the mini games to Easy or All. Since it's Gamecube you can have up to four players, but any less and you can play the computer.

If I were you I'd rent them both for a weekend and rent a bunch of games and see what works best.

Quote:

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Originally posted by jones:
Okay, so it looks like we're down to either GameCube or PS2.

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<font size="2" face="Comic sans ms, Helvetica, sans-serif">Video games ? to play with a lady friend ? while acceptable visually for a toddler. No 1st person shooters or survival/horror games for you, then.

But actually, there?s a lot of other fun stuff. First of all, the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) definitions. All the games on the PS2 and GameCube fall into these categories.

EVERYONE: Content may be suitable for persons ages 6 and older. May contain minimal violence and some comic mischief or crude language.

TEEN: Content may be suitable for persons ages 13 and older. May contain violent content, mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes.

MATURE: Content may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. May contain mature sexual themes or more intense violence or language.

I?d say that under six-year-olds could watch the E games, but probably don?t have the coordination/dexterity to play. (There is a EC "Early Childhood" rating, under which many PC games are published. None on the consoles, however.)

Here?s the basic genres I think would be a good start (all my examples are E rated):

*Action Oriented Racing and Sports Oriented Racing ? Racing around in various vehicles. Vs. the computer or another player. Examples: ATV OffRoad Fury, Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2, Wave Racer for GameCube. Nascar Thunder for both.

*Adventure ? wandering the environment, solving mini puzzles and getting around the environment with some strategy. Examples: Harry Potter and Finding Nemo on both PS2 and GameCube, Myst III on PS2.

*Platform/Scrolling Character: Think Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario. Like Adventure games, you wander through and solve puzzles, though a key feature is collecting tokens of some sort, and it requires a better sense of timing as you have to jump onto moving platforms, dodge turtles being thrown at you, that kind of thing. Examples: the classics mentioned above on GameCube (yes, Sonic is now on the cube) and Jak & Daxter and Crash Bandicoot on the PS2. Actually, this genre has many worthwhile games.

*Puzzle games: Tetris. Bust-A-Move. Supremely addictive, and dammit, you?ve made me think of them and now I may get no sleep tonight. Anyway, great for two players. (Different versions of both properties on both consoles)

*Music/Dance Games: Dance Dance Revolution and Parappa the Rapper. DDR is a hoot even without the floor pad, especially against another player. Again, addictive. You?ll look up and realize hours have passed.

*The various sports games: football, basketball, baseball, golf, hockey, and extreme sports.

*And of course, RPGs. The Zelda games (GameCube), Final Fantasy (PlayStation exclusive), and as Jadian mentioned, Kingdom Hearts on PS2. Very pretty to look at, but the intensive wandering of the map, interviewing of other characters, item collection and barter, and turn-based spellcasting combat is not for everyone.

As Jadian mentioned, PlayStation games can be played on the PS2 (while N64 or SNES games cannot be played on the GameCube).

Renting is a terrific idea.

Okay, my thoroughly detail-oriented side just emailed you a full list of E-rated games that have racked up a sale in 2003 on the PS2, GameCube and Xbox. With genre and publisher detail. It was just lying around, really. [img]wink.gif[/img] It?s in Windows MS Excel ? let me know if I need to send it as a text file, instead.

Hope this absolute overload of information is of some help...

I suppose I COULD read the instruction book.... [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

Thanks again, Jadian and GeekGirl. The front runner seems to be PlayStation 2. The games sound as good as GameCube's, and it also plays DVDs (which would allow me to give my DVD player to Oakley's mother so he can watch his Spider-Man cartoons at her place). I'm going to go see how much it costs to rent one.

I got the list, btw, and I have Office XP so it shouldn't be a problem.

take care

---jones()

jones,
I tried posting to this thread last night and ended up with some computer snafu of some sort. Anyway, what I basically wrote was that I've bought PS2 (a good deal, 200 dollars still but with a whole free month of video game rental from Blockbuster last summer here in Xenia) and I don't regret it one bit.

Of course, now we have to advise him on which games to buy.

I was thinking about your description of you doing the moving and him doing the shooting. You might want to try "Virtua Tennis". That might work in the same way. It's pretty simple, but deep, as they say.

As for games to watch as well as play, I'd go for "Ape Escape 2" and "Sly Racoon" as amusing platform type games.

Thanks Ersby and Dwim. Input definitely appreciated.

Guess what, everybody? You CAN'T rent game consoles at Blockbuster anymore! Can you believe that? Can't get 'em anywhere else around here either unless I drive about thirty miles!

So I'll probably end up buying a PS2 at some point, but I was pricing them yesterday and saw that Sony still makes PS1 and it goes for about $50 where the PS2 is $180-$200. So I do have one more question: is PlayStation 1 worth getting? Keep in mind that I'm not ultra-concerned about getting state-of-the-art hardware (I still like Super Mario World on the SNES if you can believe that).

take care

---jones()