Why Did I Preorder a PS2?

I've had my PS2 pre-ordered since Easter, knowing that it would be the end all be all of videogame consoles. Sony had made great waves with the original Playstation, which I consider to have the greatest gaming lineup of any home system ever.

Imagine my shock and dismay when, at the eleventh hour, I look through the PS2 release list and see NOTHING I want. Sure, a game here and there looks to be somewhat interesting, but overall I find this lineup incredibly lacking. Let's examine what Electronics Boutique (ebworld.com) has listed for the launch, shall we?

There's Madden 2001, which looks by all accounts to be very good. Having said that, is there anyone out there who would trade NFL2K1 with online play for slightly superior graphics? Do I really need two football games? And does anyone really think that the first iteration of any football series on a new console will be bugless? Look at NFL2K, for example - a good game to be sure, revolutionary even, but for all practical purposes, there was no running game. I hope Madden can be the flawless game that they hype is making it out to be, but past experience shows us this is unlikely.

Then there's Dynasty Warriors 2, which looks like it might be interesting. And after that there's well, not a whole heck of a lot. I guess Ridge Racer and Tekken Tag might be ok if I hadn't played them to death for the past five years and grown bored with them long ago. Ready 2 Rumble 2 might be ok if they give it any depth, which the first one was seriously lacking. Unreal Tournament won't be much of a tournament without online play. Dead or Alive 2? Been there, done that on Dreamcast, - a revamped version isn't going to hold interest. Silent Scope without a gun isn't Silent Scope. Smuggler's Run might be ok; the jury is still out. From the movies I've seen of it, though, it looks to leave a lot to be desired. Fantavision looks cool, but import reviews state you can beat the game within a day. Driving Emotion has been called one of the worst games ever made. The World is Not Enough reportedly won't be ready for launch, as the developers are having problems with the hard to program for PS2 hardware. And what else? A bunch of games that I've not seen a single screenshot for.

How sad is it that with the biggest, most overhyped launch in the history of videogames nearly upon us, I can't find a single item I want to buy?

Well, save for the DVD remote control, of course.