I have absolutely no idea what monster rancher is. Anyone care to elaborate? Cheers
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If the rumour is true then would this work on a PS3 with the memory card reader? I have put off buying one so far because they are rediculously overpriced but this may swing things the other way.
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Does that mean I CAN 'bin' my PS2???

Whoo, more free space...

MONSTER RANCHER is a breeder game (the same genre as Pokemon, Digimon and others), but unlike the other games it takes a more adult look at the genre.

Its other HUGE factor is how you can get new monsters. The game reads a small portion (I believe it is the header file) of any CD you put into your PlayStation, and uses that data to generate a monster. Some CDs will yield dragons (although you cannot get these or some of the other monsters at the beginning of the game), while others will give you smaller and less threatening beasts (these are usually the core creatures).

The great part is how some discs generate monsters that fit the source disc, examples include: Poison Pixie (female fairy dressed in tight black clothing) - Madonna's 'Ray of Light'; Tombstone Joker - Theme Park (PC). It also is a great reason not to get rid of some of your old discs. I have got some quite rare monsters off Amiga CD32 discs and Dreamcast discs.

After you create a monster, you then must train it so that it can succeed, not only in the dueling arena, but also for various quests that can occur. You control every aspect of the monster's training, from what it eats to what attributes it will be focus on improving, but you must also be careful as monsters can become seriously injured or even killed (certainly nothing that Pokemon considered doing).

You can also freeze monsters for later use, or even combine two monsters to form hybrid creatures that possess different abilities. The point of the game is to become the champion monster breeder, and there are rankings that give you an idea as to where you stand.

The game consists mainly of point-and-click menus, with the exception of the fights themselves. There are two different options for fighting: you can let the computer control your beast or you can take manual control of it yourself. As your monster succeeds or fails in the fights, their stats are affected, as is their mood towards you as a trainer. As their mood improves or worsens, they become more obedient or more disruptive accordingly, sometimes to the point where they will run away.

The game is a huge game that unfortunately saw only one release for the PS consoles in the UK, and that was Monster Rancher 2 (released as Monster Rancher here). The game has attained a cult following and second hand copies would sell for a fair bit on eBay.


Hope this helps a little bit.
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Nice explanation of the game.

Using CDs and DVDs to generate monsters is the one element that keeps these games going for a long time. Not knowing what you might get, and then wanting to see how much you can develop the monster you create.

It is a shame the three PS2 games in the series were never released in Europe as I think they would have done well. Other similar monster raising games have always seems to, although as you say the Monster Rancher games do take on a slightly more adult theme compared to others such as Digimon and Pokemon.

I don't think it would work in a PS3 because the system is very different and the way it handles PS2 memory cards isn't the same. The reason this works on the PS2 is because it accesses the contents of the memory card as the system boots.
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Maxconsole have released a video showing VAST working:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjDu6c3WAB4

VAST is the plug and play memory card mod chip first mentioned in this thread. And although the guy in the video is using a very butchered looking PS2 (no case and switches hanging by thier cable), the VAST mod memory card definitely looks like the real deal and works just like a proper mod chip.

They have also posted a video showing a prototype of another memory card mod chip in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XogKE-pGkMM

The only query regarding this one is mention of patched game discs. I hope this isn't the case as it won't make this memory card mod chip as popular or useful for all of us who currently use unpatched games and proper mod chips.

At least this video does show both seem to be real and working.

There is also a big rumour going around at the moment that the developers of VAST will be releasing FreeVAST straight after the card. This will be a software one version which can be used to turn a normal PS2 memory card in a VAST card. This will be even greater if this is true. I wonder if this is using a similar exploit to the recent PSP Pandora battery method.

It's all looking great. Everyone is also hoping these will work on the PS3. If they turn out to then we can expect huge sale increases of the PS3 over night. Who ever said piracy hurts console sales!
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That looks awesome. Price it at about £25 and I'd definitely buy one.
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For that price I think I'd go for one too. £40 or more, no way for me. The last PS2 game I bought was Guitar Hero 2 - before that...... Outrun 2006 C2C for a tenner. I don't buy much for it anymore, and haven't for quite a while (especially not full price).
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@JT
You're right, but if you don't have to pay for the games, you surely would test out and play more, as there are a lot of good games still released for the PS2. And if it were only to play the God of War series, or some great RPGs.
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That's why I would want one

Problem is, sometimes it's too tempting to give something a trial and only stick with it for a few minutes before moving on to the next thing - or to leave a gave unfinished after a few hours play because something newer has taken my fancy.

Like you say, I would like to try to God of War games for sure, Katamari too. No RPGs for me though, I just don't have the time or the inclination for them any more.

My post was more just to indicate that (GH2 aside) all of my PS2 purchases for aaaages have been budget/second hand deals. Haven't had much PS2 interest for quite a while I have to admit.
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This is very true. Even now that the PS3 has been out for some time, new games are still in development for the PS2, and not just low quality third party titles either. Developers and Sony both know that the installed userbase for the PS2 is huge, with many people still using them, so it is a market that can still be very profitable.

And this final generation of PS2 games has really been getting as much as it can from the system, with their graphics looking 100 times better than we thought possible at the launch of the system.

I have a feeling that the PS2 could still be seeing some game releases for at least the next couple of years.

I can guarantee that once you start playing God of War you won't want to put it down. The speed of the combat and how quickly you move through the game is greater than most other games and makes the whole experience quite intense and addictive.
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