A new PS2 with Wii features?

Originally Posted by bkchurch

Even if they do I don't see it being that successful. With the Wii developers know all Wii owners have a motion sensitive controller/remote and a nunchuck. If Sony released a peripheral for the PS2 to give it those capabilities developers would be developing for a small audience of people who have a PS2 and that peripheral. That won't spur a lot of game sale, remember the original Eyetoy? Great idea but not a huge attach rate, thus not a lot of great games. Or not a lot of great games and thus not a high attach rate.

Besides if I'm a developer who wants to make a game on a last gen hardware with motion sensing controls what's there to make me want to develop on the PS2 instead of the ridiculously popular Wii?

Originally Posted by Goatse

Not if they pack in the controller in with a game like Wii play.

Originally Posted by awx

There were reports of a rumour (how definitive is that?!) that Sony was doing exactly what you're suggesting. But they were doing this using similar tech to the GunCon. Which is putting actual sensors around the TV and letting the WiiMote type thing just send out an IR beam.

Originally Posted by wierdo

The sensor is, like the Wiimote, in the GunCon.

Originally Posted by PJ_Rage

I would think they would be much more successful if they either used the sixaxis, or created a new controller, and marketed this technology for the ps3 - as "also able to have wii like games." HVB sort of started this, but if Sony is seriously interested in this particular market, I personally think the ps3 is the way to go. The PS2 is dead, and everyone, including the general public, knows it. I don't think they would embrace a "new" system based on old technology. I know I wouldn't.

Originally Posted by Union0015

I just took an online survey regarding videogame hardware. Halfway through the survey, I started getting questions about what I thought of a PS2 that had a Wii-mote type controller.

Now having worked in market research and online surveying specificaly, I thought this could be several things:

1) Sony is the client of the survey, and they're considering a new console that uses PS2 hardware and a motion-controlled interface
2) Sony is the client and is merely asking hypothetical questions
3) The client is another videogame company is simply tracking opinions toward videogame hardware

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony was at least investigating #1. Afterall, Wii has turned out to be extremely profitable for Nintendo and with the PS2 hardware costs streamlined about as much as they can be, it'd be a smart way for Sony to turn an old product into a new one.

Of course, it could be #2 and it's nothing.

Sure would be interesting if Sony was going to run after Nintendo with a new product, though.

Originally Posted by Union0015

The way I see, if Sony released a "PS2 Wii," it would attract lots of developer attention. First, Sony wouldn't have to modify the hardware much. It's widely known that the Wii is barely more powerful than the GameCube, so a slightly upgraded PS2 would work fine.

Second, developers have PLENTY of experience developing for the PS2 by now. It's cheap to make games for the system.

And how many households wouldn't buy a Sony "PS2 Wii"? The casual audience is certainly eating the Wii up and I don't see why they wouldn't go after a similar Sony device, provided the games were there and the hardware was competitively priced. In fact, it would create a completely different offshoot of the console wars--the battle of the budget consoles. The PS3 and 360 would battle for the high-end console sales.

Either way, it's just rumor and speculation.

Originally Posted by bkchurch

Actually the Wii has at least twice the horsepower the Gamecube had and the Gamecube was a fair bit more powerful than the PS2. I think a good comparison between the GC and PS2 hardware would be RE4. Google the comparison screenshots and you'll see the PS2 had some lower res textures and character models and the lighting wasn't quite as good as the GC version.

Anyway horsepower aside the general public knows about the Wii now, gamers and nongamers alike are flocking to it because it's something different and it's built around being something different. They don't and probably won't look at the 7 year old PS2 the same way even if Sony does create a similar control scheme. The gamer community would most likely scoff at it as a tacked on sort of gimmick like many have with the Sixaxis and the non-gamers aren't going to really care because they know about the Wii, and they know how popular it is, and they want one. If they see a PS2 sitting on the shelf with a Wii-like controller they're probably going to think it's a cheap knockoff.

Back to my developer argument I think it makes more sense to program for the Wii, you have more power should you desire to use it (admittedly many devs have not) and a platform where the focus is on the motion controller and large and ever growing audience to market it to. On the other hand the PS2 would be less horsepower to work with and a small audience limited to those who still play their PS2s and actually have this motion sensitive controller. There wouldn't be any hype behind it in the mainstream public like their is for the Wii.

Also as previously mentioned the PS2 is on it's last breath, that steady stream of good games that kept coming in seems to have finally shut off and the current gen really has it's claws in the market now. People with PS3s and 360 want next-gen games, people with PS2s want PS3s or 360s not more games for their outdated hardware. And of course people with Wii's just want more arm flailing fun, unless you're among the core gamer crowd in which case you just want SSBB to hurry up and get out ASAP.