GamerNode: Latest PlayStation 2 News

NiGHTS: Into Dreams coming to PS2

Sega has announced that in the original Saturn classic NiGHTS: Into Dreams will be flying onto the Playstation 2 early next year. Set for a February 21st release in Japan, the port will feature graphical improvements, and possibly a few gameplay features not found in the original game.

It's been quite a while - 11 years, in fact - since the gaming community has gotten a taste of NiGHTs, and now, with Journey of Dreams hitting the Wii in mid-December and Into Dreams following in just a few months, it's looking to be a veritable NiGHTS fiesta pretty soon.

Fans of the series must be jumping for joy right about now, but be aware that no U.S. release date has been announced for the PS2 game as of yet. GamerNode will be sure to keep you posted as we learn more.

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Sony launching new and slimmer PS2 in Japan

Last week, we ran a story saying Sony was planning to release a new and slimmer PS2 model state-side in 2008. But the new and slimmer PS2 will debut earlier in Japan on November 22nd.

The new model, which has a built-in AC adaptor, is much lighter and much more compact due to the streamlined power cord. As for the price, it'll retail for 16,000 yen, which is around $139 USD. There was no mention of a North American release, yet.

Even though Sony is focusing their efforts on the PS3, they can't deny the continual success of the PS2. Since its launch 7 years ago, the console has sold over 120 million units worldwide. Also, since the new PS2 will have a reduced production price, it's expected that Sony will generate a larger profit from each new unit sold.

Sony aims to sell 12 million PS2 units ...

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ESRB keeps M rating for Manhunt 2

In response to the news that some hackers uncovered some adult content within Manhunt 2, the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) remained firm in their decision to keep the M rating for Manhunt 2.

Simply put, the ESRB said that there's not enough unlocked adult content to warrant an AO rating. What was unlocked in the PSP version was not everything that was originally going to be put into Manhunt 2; it was just a tiny amount.

From the press release:

"We have investigated the matter and concluded that unauthorized versions of the game have been released on the Internet along with instructions on how to modify the code to remove the special effects.

"Once numerous changes to the game's code have been made and other unauthorized software programs have been downloaded to the hardware dev...

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Newer and cheaper PS2 coming in 2008?

You might have done a double-take when reading the headline of this story. Yes, it says a new low price for the PlayStation 2, not the PS3.

According to mcvuk.com, Sony is in the midst of formulating and releasing a new PS2 model that will be a "compact" edition and will be heading to store shelves sometime in early 2008.

The new PS2 will retail for only $99 in the US, which is a full $30 off of the present price of $129.99. Our cousins across the sea can expect this new, sleek model for around £75.

The next version's lower price is partially due to its build-in power supply, which cuts the cost of manufacturing.

If this story proves to be true, it is a reaffirmation that not only is the PS2 still alive and well, it continues to buoy up Sony's PlayStation division while its flagship PS3 cont...

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PlayStation 2 turned 7 years old, yay!

Light up a cigar because the PlayStation 2 turned 7 years old yesterday! Since its release in North America on October 26, 2000, the PS2 has sold over 120 million units worldwide.

The PS2 has over 1,500 titles and SCEA will introduce 160 new games by the end of March 2008. Some of these new games include Guitar Hero III, High School Musical: Sing It, Madden NFL 08, Manhunt 2, NBA '08, Rock Band and Buzz.

Also celebrate the 7th anniversary by picking up a shiny white PS2 package with SingStar Pop! Come on, you can't pass up the white!

Jack Tretton, president and CEO for SCEA, said, "While today's anniversary celebrates PlayStation 2's past, we're very excited for its future. We look forward to the platform's continued growth and expect to sell approximately 12 million units worldwide by the en...

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Former Sony employee leaked Manhunt 2

Late last month, a leaked PS2 copy of Manhunt 2 made its way around the Internet and Take-Two Interactive wasn't too pleased about it. According to GamePolitics, it was revealed today that the leak came from a former Sony Europe employee. Yikes.

Take-Two released a brief statement today regarding the situation:

"Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that a former employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has acknowledged his responsibility for the unauthorized online distribution of an unrated play-test version of Manhunt 2 submitted for the European PAL PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system."

There are still details that haven't been revealed, such as who the person is, how he stole Manhunt 2's code and his punishment. But releasing copyrighted material, especially for unrelea...

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SNK loves the PS2 and fighting games

There are two things that just don't ever seem to quit: 2D fighting games and the Playstation 2. It is for that reason that SNK Playmore will be bringing two new fighting games to the console this month.

Both Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and The King of Fighters XI (11? Wow, that number is getting UP there) are headed to the biggest selling console of all time later in the coming weeks.

The King of Fighters XI is basically the next increment in the series, but Neo Geo Battle Coliseum is a Smash Bros -esque conglomeration of intellectual properties, featuring characters from across the entire Neo Geo game library. It sounds like it could be pretty awesome, especially for Neo Geo fans.

We'll have to wait until October 23rd for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, but The King of Fighter XI hits stores on Octobe...

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Shadow of the Colossus tattoo

The videogame world has inspired many-a-work of oh-so-fabulous body art, from Sephiroth on a dude's back to Amaterasu on another guy's calf to Mario...all over the place. The Zelda logo is extremely popular, and Peter Moore himself even got a Halo 2 tattoo. My point is that videogame-related tattoos are not uncommon.

This one, however, is at least unique among the others. You see, while the other designs contain their artistic value within the lines of ink, this tattoo of a "weak point" from Shadow of the Colossus incorporates the man's entire body into a large poetic masterpiece.

Let us consider its meaning: Is the tattoo an attempt to convey the notion that he is nothing but a tormented soul, posessed by a small portion of an evil god, just waiting to be slayed brutally and without provoc...

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Manhunt 2 pirated

According to GamesRadar, an unfinished version of Rockstar's Manhunt 2 dated from two months ago has surfaced online.

It's a PAL version of the game, meaning European, but in English. This despite the fact that the game was leaked from a German source. According to preliminary reports, the game works just fine, although it is older code and may be prone to errors.

Should the game turn out to be totally functional, it would be interesting to analyze exactly what changes Rockstar made in order to get the game re-rated. Hopefully we'll be seeing a side-by-side comparison at some point.

Further, the implications of this release on the process of getting the game re-rated and unbanned in the UK is yet unseen. Hopefully the game will make it out to all of our European friends just fine.

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White PS2 coming to U.S.

In a clear example that the PS2 is not dead, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced plans to release a white limited edition PS2 in North America. But there's a catch: it'll come bundled with karaoke game SingStar Pop and two microphones. For the low price of $149.99, perspective PS2 buyers can nab the package sometime in November.

Even though the PS2 has had a heck of a run, Sony is not planning to stop production. In the month of June, 42% of all console gaming time was done on the PS2. Even though Sony is spending most of their development time on the PS3, the PS2 is still alive and kicking.

Jack Tretton, President of SCEA, said, "With our expansive library of titles for PlayStation, led by social gaming experiences such as SingStar, and Buzz!, we have an incredible offering for fi...

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PlayStation 2 still as popular as ever

According to a report from Nielsen Media Research, the PlayStation 2 is still getting the most playing hours out of gamers. Even with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii out for close to a year (in the Xbox 360's case, close to two years), gamers are still clinging to the PlayStation 2.

For the month of June and from a survey of 33,000 people, 42% used the PlayStation 2 for gaming. Coming in second place is Microsoft's Xbox at 17%, third place is Microsoft's Xbox 360 at 8%, fourth place is Nintendo's GameCube at 5.8%, fifth place is Nintendo's Wii at 4% and last place is Sony's PlayStation 3 at 1.5%.

It's interesting to note that even today, PlayStation 2 games are still being readily developed and released while GameCube and Xbox games are slowly being phased out. The continual releases of...

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Help Make The Twisted Metal Documentary

Think you're the ultimate Twisted Metal fan? Then David Jaffe himself wants to hear from you. As you may have heard, Jaffe left SCEA to form his own studio, and their first game to be released is a PS2 version of the PSP launch title Twisted Metal Head On.

Think of it as a sort of fundraiser for their next big project.

Anyway, the team is putting together a Twisted Metal documentary and they want their fans to be a part of it. The interested parties should get out their finest video recording equipment and video tape themselves answering the following questions:

1- Which Twisted Metal game is your favorite and why? 2- Why do you like/love Twisted Metal, as a series? 3- Who is your favorite car/character and why? 4- What is your favorite Twisted Metal level and why? 5- If you could ask one qu...

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4 new Guitar Hero III tracks revealed. Cool!

The folks at ScoreHero managed to snag four new songs from the upcoming Guitar Hero III. I'm definitely excited for the four new tracks; heck, one of them looks like a doozy. So here they are for your viewing pleasure (bold indicates a master track):

The four tracks join the already revealed 20+ tracks:

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Persona 3 gets a new release date

Just a day after the announcement that he game would be delayed, our friends over at Atlus have rescheduled the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 for August 14th. Here is what the publisher's PR rep had to say:

"The new scheduled ship date for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is August 14th, 2007. This is the very soonest that manufacturing of the Persona 3 art book can be completed, and also takes into account the time required for assembly of the final package.

The manufacturing issue with the art book was brought to our attention mere days prior to the initial ship date, and was a scenario both unforeseen and beyond our control. Our disappointment and frustration is tempered by the knowledge that the final product will live up to our standard of quality and also the expectations of ...

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Persona 3 delayed

You may have already seen our review of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, or you may not have. If you're one of the Persona faithful visiting this site, though, chances are you read it, have the game pre-ordered, and were awaiting tomorrow to come so you could pick it up from GameStop, EB, Best Buy, or wherever you buy your games.

I'm sorry to say, you won't be. According to a recent email just sent out by Atlus, Persona 3 is being delayed. There's no word on how long of a delay it will be, but they did say it would be "slight." Why is it delayed? The binding in the art book was manufactured incorrectly.

An Atlus PR person stated, "Presented with the choice of compromising on the quality of the art book, or shipping the game without said extra, we decided to have the art book redone with a hig...

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eBayer finds a BIG surprise with his PS2

People who use eBay know the risks involved in bidding for items that they want. You never know just what you may get after you win the bid. In one particular case, a 16-year-old boy in the UK got something more than he'd ever bargained for.

He won a bid to purchase a PlayStation 2 for about 95 GBP (about $195 US) plus two games. However, when he received the package, he thought he had been swindled. All he found was the PS2 without the advertised games.

But what he did find instead was a box crammed full of money. How much money? Oh, let's just say it was more than the PS2...about 44,000 GPB (over $95,000 US.)

(Not a bad trade off for the missing games, eh?)

At the moment, police authorities are holding the cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act while they are investigating the matter. The boy...

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GH: Rocks the 80s full song list; July 24th releas...

Guitar Hero enthusiasts should get ready to don their axes and crazy hair wigs because Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s will be hitting stores on July 24th for the PlayStation 2.

In addition, Activision announced the last of the game's tracks, which brings the total to 30.

The complete list is as followed (bold tracks will be performed by the original artist):

1. Opening Licks

* "(Bang Your Head) Metal Health" - Quiet Riot* "We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go's* "I Ran (So Far Away)" - A Flock of Seagulls* "Balls to the Wall" - Accept* "18 and Life" - Skid Row (encore)

2. Amp Warmers

* "No One Like You" - Scorpions* "Shakin'" - Eddie Money* "Heat of the Moment" - Asia* "Radar Love" - White Lion* "Because, It's Midnite" - Limozeen (encore)

3. String Snappers

* "Holy Diver" - Dio* "Turning Japanese" -...

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PS2 RE triple game bundle coming. PS2 is alive!

PS2, rise from your...er...grave?

According to an EBGames posting, the Resident Evil Bundle Pack will be coming out for the PS2 on September 4, 2007. The pack includes Resident Evil 4, Code Veronica and Outbreak.

Coincidentally, the next film in the Resident Evil massacre trilogy, Resident Evil: Extinction, has release date of September 7, 2007.

Details are slim on this one. Will it feature all the titles and their original boxes? Will it come in a gee-whiz neato case? Will they be on chocolate discs that melt in your PS2 and not in your hands? Will cats and dogs ever live together? Who knows?

Most of the knee-jerk reactions to this one are negative, and mine was no different. Then I thought about it for awhile. The PS2 has an installed user base of 115 million. This package features 3 games...

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New 80s tracks for Guitar Hero II

Activision has expanded the list of songs that will be included in the Rock the 80s add-on pack for Guitar Hero II. The seven newly revealed tracks still may not get you jumping for joy, but it's great to see Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time" on the list.

Rock the 80s will be coming exclusively to the Playstation 2, and will feature a total of around 30 songs to add to your Guitar Hero II library.

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Man pees on PS2 and gets a big charge out of it

We're not totally sure if this story is real or not, but it's such a funny one that it merits some news space around here. According to LiveJournal.com, a campus party near the University of Wyoming almost turned into a tragedy because someone couldn't hold his water.

Gary Wells decided to celebrate the purchase of his brand new PS3 by inviting 20 of his friends over. And what was the highlight of the evening -- a raffle to determine who would destroy his old PlayStation 2 console. The honor fell to Mike Post, who was thoroughly drunk and barely able to stand.

He walked over to the PS2 and started to wee on it. Not Wii, we're talking urination here. The crowd laughed and cheered until the PS2 shorted out (it was plugged in) and the resulting fireworks produced a serious case of electrocution...

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