Would you say the PS2 had better first party support than the GameCube?

[Veknoid_Outcast]

Zippy6 said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:

I think it’s really close. The PS2 is such a legendary console because it has an abundance of great third-party and great first-party games. Titles like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War II, Precursor Legacy, Going Commando, and Up Your Arsenal really elevate the library. And don’t forget games like Twisted Metal Black, Sly Cooper, and even Killzone — which I still say is unfairly maligned.

I would argue the PS2 was the first (and last) PlayStation console where the collection of Sony-published games actually competed with that of third-party publishers.

I'm not sure really. I feel like Sony titles were just as prominent on the other consoles. Looking at it I feel like PS1 Sony games did a better job, at least from a critical standpoint and in terms of having Sony titles as the best selling titles on the platform I think PS4 was stronger than PS2 there. PS4 was when Sony started putting out 20m sellers.

Sony titles in top 50 on metacritic:

PS1 - 10
PS2 - 8
PS3 - 9
PS4 - 7
PS5 - 6

I ignored remasters (EG. God of War Collection PS3/TLOU Remastered Part 2) but included full remakes (EG. Demon's Souls PS5).

That criteria is totally fair! But I wasn’t talking about sales figures or the critical consensus; I was referring to my own subjective tastes. For me, Sony’s output on PS2, in terms of depth, breadth, and overall quality, hasn't been matched on other PlayStation platforms. I think the company was still sort of finding itself in the PS1 days and then it went down a different path toward the end of the 7th gen.

For me, PS consoles are always worth it for the third-party libraries, including both multiplats and exclusives. The PS2 is that rare time when it was worth it for first-party games alone — which is one of the main reasons I’d argue it’s the best (or second best, depending on my mood ) video game system ever.