PlayStation 2 For Christmas: Game Suggestions

[BuckeyeChris]

I have bought the new slim-line Sony PlayStation 2 console as a Christmas gift for my five year old daughter and me. I would like your suggestions for some video game titles that are entertaining.

Please consider the following with your suggestions: both of us are video game novices (I haven't played for years and the last system I played was the Super Nintendo system), and it shouldn't be very violent and no offensive language.

Here are some titles I am considering:

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom
Shrek 2 (we liked the movie)
Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights
Polar Express (we liked the movie)
Finding Nemo (we liked the movie)
DDR Extreme Bundle (she loves to dance!)
Worms 3D

Thank you in advance for your feedback on these and other titles!

[sikma]

I too will be watching for suggestions. My wife and I have finally decided to get the boys an x-box. (Our youngest finally made the honor roll) By the way, the last video game I played was 'pong' in about 1978.

[Steve Mehs]

I might actually get an X Box too post Christmas. I only had one video game system in my life and that was Sega Genesis back in the early '90s. $150 is pretty good for the X Box, but it's the cost of the games that will kill me. I always liked the PS2 for GTA but a friend of mine has X Box and was playing Halo 2, I have the original for PC but the graphics suck. Other then Halo and Grand Theft Auto there are not many other games that I've seen that strike me for X Box.

[mre_2001]

Just like anything else, my opinion is just that, and might not reflect your or your daughter's interests. What I would do is go to one of the popular gaming sites and read a few reviews. To streamline your reading I would do a search based on the rating as well as the game type:

http://www.gamespot.com/user/advsearch.html?tag=gs_lnav_advsearch

For example, on the page above, check off PS2 as your system, genre, ESRB rating, and then I would set the search to only include games that got a 7 rating or above. For example, I did a search that encompassed all PS2 games, games for kids, and only games that rated 7 or greater. This search turned up 47 games (Rayman 2 Revolution being the highest rated). Another thing, don't restrict the search to a certain year because old games don't mean they're bad games. Not only that, you can get some good deals on old games.

[markh]

I haven't played any of those games. I have a suggestion anyway:) Is there any place that rents video games and systems around you? Before you plunk the money down for a game it might be helpful to actually play the game a bit to see what you think of it. I rented an X Box before I bought one for my kids just to see what it was like. They often rent games before we buy one.

[cdru]

Here are some titles I am considering:

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom
Shrek 2 (we liked the movie)
Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights
Polar Express (we liked the movie)
Finding Nemo (we liked the movie)
DDR Extreme Bundle (she loves to dance!)
Worms 3D
I would shy away from games that are based after a movie or TV show. From experience, I found that they aren't nearly as enjoyable as games that have original content. Depending on what types of games you like, there are several choices I'd recommend for initial games. Kingdom Hearts is a Disney based game that does have some violence, but definitely not at the level that many FPS have these days. Grand Turismo 3 (or 4) are also highly rated. If you want to go with sporting games, the current year (or past year if you want to save a few bucks) of Tiger Woods and ESPN Football are my choices. Remember to rent/borrow games before you buy them. Many games get hyped up, only to be disappointing once you start to play them. I found that with Finding Nemo.

[BFG]

You can always pick up frogger for the ps2 :)

[SAEMike]

I have heard that Spiderman 2 is quite a bit of fun, but I have not yet purchased it, so I do not know the level of violence. If you are into sports games at all, some of the EA Sports titles (Madden 2005, NCAA Football 2005, NHL 2005, and a couple others) have been knocked down to $29.99 from the usual $49.99. The ESPN games are always $19.99. I tend to enjoy the EA Sports games more, some others are very loyal to the ESPN games.

I have also heard good things about the Finding Nemo game. I agree with cdru on Kingdom Hearts, it may very well be a game both of you would like. Another thing to do is look in the PS2 greatest hits collection they are all $20, and find the Midway, and Atari arcade classics games, they have multiple games from the old Atari system and games that were in the arcade years ago, they are a lot of fun, and I think they are all around $20 too.

I have a PS2 and an X-Box so I play a lot of games, but many of them violate your non-violent requirement :)

[spanishannouncetable]

Go to www.gamerankings.com and click "The Rankings" on the left side of the page . Set your search criteria to your liking and read some reviews. The gamerankings score is decided by members who have played the games, not reviewers whose bottom line is directly affected by advertising $$$ and hype. Don't buy anything that scores less than an 80 on this site - trust me. What cdru says it very true - 99% of games that are based on TV and movies really, REALLY suck.

A quick search shows that some good titles for a 5-year-old would be -

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 or 4
SSX, SSX Tricky or SSX3 (snowboarding)
Sly Cooper 1 or 2
Katamari Damacy
Kingdom Hearts

And even better, all these games (except Sly Cooper 2, which has only been out a month) can be had for less $20 each. At that price, Santa can leave a handful of them under the tree :)

[BuckeyeChris]

Thank you, everyone, for your recommendations. I purchased Shrek 2, Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights, NickToons Movin' with SpongeBog, and DDR Extreme Bundle.

The DDR dance game and dance mat that came with it I am hoping will not only provide hours of fun for my daughter who loves to dance, but will also provide her with lots of exercise as she grooves to the tunes in aerobic like workouts. With my PS2, I also purchased the Eye Toy camera. My daughter can use this with the DDR dance and SpongeBob game to insert her face and body movements into the game.

I am intrigued by the Kingdom Hearts game. I am going to rent this one first to see if she likes it; though it sounds like for sure that I will.

BTW, the new slim-line PS2 unit is tiny! I was amazed how small this unit is. It's literally the size of a slim book. You have no idea by looking at it that it's a video game system.

[kwajr]

I might actually get an X Box too post Christmas. I only had one video game system in my life and that was Sega Genesis back in the early '90s. $150 is pretty good for the X Box, but it's the cost of the games that will kill me. I always liked the PS2 for GTA but a friend of mine has X Box and was playing Halo 2, I have the original for PC but the graphics suck. Other then Halo and Grand Theft Auto there are not many other games that I've seen that strike me for X Box.
fable for more of a zelda type game and halo 2 but for sports get the espn lineups and shrek game is awfully bad

[kwajr]

Go to www.gamerankings.com and click "The Rankings" on the left side of the page . Set your search criteria to your liking and read some reviews. The gamerankings score is decided by members who have played the games, not reviewers whose bottom line is directly affected by advertising $$$ and hype. Don't buy anything that scores less than an 80 on this site - trust me. What cdru says it very true - 99% of games that are based on TV and movies really, REALLY suck.

A quick search shows that some good titles for a 5-year-old would be -

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 or 4
SSX, SSX Tricky or SSX3 (snowboarding)
Sly Cooper 1 or 2
Katamari Damacy
Kingdom Hearts

And even better, all these games (except Sly Cooper 2, which has only been out a month) can be had for less $20 each. At that price, Santa can leave a handful of them under the tree :)
the rayman games are great

[kwajr]

gamecube is a better choice for a kid though

[MarkA]

You'll love DDR! It's a great game, I bought a PS2 for it (for other stuff the GCN is much better - I have both)

[DonLandis]

I know little about play stations but this was my experience last summer-
Everyone who tried to play a DVD-R or DVD+R in a Playstation would not recognize it.
So, if you plan to use it for playing DVD's be sure to learn if the one you plan to buy will do DVD-R or DVD+r if that issue is important to you. Take a DVD-r with you to test it. Hopefully, they will have upgraded them now so I don't run into that problem here with DVD sales in the future.

[MarkA]

I know little about play stations but this was my experience last summer-
Everyone who tried to play a DVD-R or DVD+R in a Playstation would not recognize it.
So, if you plan to use it for playing DVD's be sure to learn if the one you plan to buy will do DVD-R or DVD+r if that issue is important to you. Take a DVD-r with you to test it. Hopefully, they will have upgraded them now so I don't run into that problem here with DVD sales in the future.

I've never tried one in mine, I should, but I'm pretty sure they can. And I'd really hope the one he'd buy today (the ultra thin one) would.

[SAEMike]

I know little about play stations but this was my experience last summer-
Everyone who tried to play a DVD-R or DVD+R in a Playstation would not recognize it.
So, if you plan to use it for playing DVD's be sure to learn if the one you plan to buy will do DVD-R or DVD+r if that issue is important to you. Take a DVD-r with you to test it. Hopefully, they will have upgraded them now so I don't run into that problem here with DVD sales in the future.

They'll have no problem with the newer Playstations. They might with the older Playstations, such as I have, that are out of circulation now.

[BuckeyeChris]

According to Sony (http://www.us.playstation.com/consoles.aspx?id=3/info/specs_70000.html), the new slim-line PS2 is compatible with the following:

PlayStation format CD-ROM
PlayStation 2 format CD-ROM
PlayStation 2 format DVD-ROM
Audio CD
DVD-Video*
DVD-RW (VR mode)

* The term "DVD-Video" is used to refer to DVD-R, DVD-RW (Video mode), DVD+R and DVD+RW discs.

The PS2 is wrapped up and hiding in the closet, waiting for Christmas to arrive. Of course, however, I had to test it out to make sure it functions; don't want to disappoint my little girl with a broken unit. :D I put in Shrek 2 and quickly had Shrek battling snails and merry men with his punches. The PQ is great and the sound is awesome. I can't wait!

[kwajr]

I know little about play stations but this was my experience last summer-
Everyone who tried to play a DVD-R or DVD+R in a Playstation would not recognize it.
So, if you plan to use it for playing DVD's be sure to learn if the one you plan to buy will do DVD-R or DVD+r if that issue is important to you. Take a DVD-r with you to test it. Hopefully, they will have upgraded them now so I don't run into that problem here with DVD sales in the future.
they dont really want the to play burnt disc just makes them easier to pirate there games

[spanishannouncetable]

I have never had a problem playing a DVD+R or DVD+RW video-format disc in my PS2. I make them all the time on my DVD recorder.

It will not play homemade CD-R or CD-RW discs at all, though.