I'm sorry, I'm going back in time here, but I feel like we should be sharing great video game memories together and what we had. The topic here I'm going to blab about is going to be taking us back in the old days. Now I'm sure we all had our own good old memories with a great epic game. Either if you played it at your friend's/relative's house for endless hours or just by yourself. On this blog, I'm going to be talking about the classic legendary PlayStation 2.
Now when the PS2 first came out back in 2000. That was fifth-teen years ago, 15!!! Everyone was so amazed by the performance of how powerful the system was. The graphics, the cool sliding disc tray, the new games. In fact, the system even played DVD movies, music and PlayStation 1 games. Just let that sink in... Phenomenal.
Now that I got some history spoken of it, I really want to talk about the games it had. The PlayStation 2 had such a huge library of games, that it is impossible(well for me at least) to pick one favorite game or even a top 20 game list of it. There were so many games that were fun to everyone that had owned the system, people didn't even care what the critics said about em. There would always be a fun game for someone out there either if the game had a low rating or not.
I remember the first time I got my PS2, which was a gift when I was a little kid. I had endless hours of fun with the system and with the games I had. I remember playing the first Spiderman game. That game was hilarious, fun and challenging for a little kid my age back in the day. Now that I think about the game, it's a very laughable and silly game to watch. Feel free to laugh that I actually had that game, I don't care, I had fun with it, haha.
Another game I bought, which was actually my very first PS2 game, "NeedForSpeed Underground". That game was a mother of mind blown. The graphics were so eye candy, the most appealing and beautiful graphics I've ever seen. Remember, back then those graphics looked pretty realistic. Not "REAL", but it gave us all an idea of it to be looking real. Especially when you're a person into cars and just want to customize a car and just drive it like a maniac.
I had so many other titles as well, such as
-Devil May Cry 1&3
-The Simpsons: Hit&Run(Best Simpsons game ever)
-Grand Theft Auto III
-NeedForSpeed Underground 1&2/Most Wanted
-True Crime: Streets of L.A
-Tony Hawk Underground 1&2/Wasteland
-Resident Evil 4
-Soul Caliber 3
-Mortal Kombat
-Socom
-Tom Clany's Ghost Recon(The very first one. AMAZING game)
-Tokyo Extreme Racer
I mean, I can just go on and on and on with the list of games I've owned. The system had so many varieties of games, there'd always be a game that someone would be interested in.
Like those fun beat-em-up games like Urban Reign, Def Jam and so many more. Those games would have you so addicted and would just have you to keep playing more and more.
The system also had online multiplayer, another addition to add on to the experiment. But to be honest, I don't think many people event bothered playing online, maybe some. But those days were still all one player experience and if the game had an option for co-op or some two-four player battle, that'd be the only thing most people were doing. Those days were still like that even though the system had online play.
Also don't forget about the horror genre of games. Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, classic Siren, Resident Evil. The system's library is just so huge, it'll keep you playing for years.
It is so great to play them again for the nostalgia. You think about it, back then when you had all those good fun games and want to play it again, but can't because you don't have them anymore is one of the worse things ever as a gamer.
One of the reasons why it's good to keep your old system even if it's collecting dust. It'll always be there for you to play those games again to bring back the good old memories if you take care of it or box it up and put it somewhere safe.
I actually still have my PHAT PS2. But have no idea where my games went... It's times like this... When you gotta acknowledge and realize it before it's all gone.
What about you guys? What was your most favorite moment with the PlayStation 2? And what games did you have for it?
I'd like to know your memories of it. We all would.
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TopSpin 2K25 Review - After a very long hiatus, TopSpin is back! Can Hangar 13 bring the venerable tennis series back to relevance?
Not really. The PS1 shattered the Nintendo/Sega era while stabilizing the introduction of 3D and CD tech where Atari and Phillips made them into jokes.
The PS2 may have lived up to the reputation of it's predecessor, exceeded it thanks to both its library and the use of DVD for media as well as games, but the PS1 gave it a foundation.
Not to forget all the amazing Burnout games and the best of all time Dragonball games. All the Cloverstudio games, Insomniac/ND games and some unique/one off games.
Too bad both of my PS2s are about to sht the bed soon. Slim is operational for now but the fat one... too much wear.
For me it was amazing to have a console that offer a lot for so little money. It was also the first platform to play games, movies, music on one system. Not even PC had that luxury but a few years later after the PS2 launched. The games that I enjoyed the most was the Dark Cloud series, twisted metal black, need for speed underground franchise. Midnight Club and the game that set the standards for today's games The Getaway (yes it had a low score and sales). First game with no hud, mini map and the now standard health system. Hide behind crates to heal yourself. The cinematic approach to story and it showed the power of mocap......
The console that changed everything for me was the Dreamcast. The visual jump from PS1/n64 to Dreamcast was huge. When PS2 came out it struggled to look as good. Soul Calibur and DOA2 wiped the floor with anything on PS2.
Sega Net. I spent hours with nfl2k1 and Phantasy star online. It was amazing.
Sega stopped Dreamcast and I bought a ps2 and couldn't help but feel like it was a step backwards. I had a blast with Vice City and Mgs2 but eventually I went to Xbox for Live. Then it had the hard drive and some games were 480p/720p and they looked amazing on my early HD tv. Ps2 games were blurry in comparison. So if a game came out for both consoles I'd grab the Xbox version.
In my opinion Sony was usually the one playing catch up with everyone else. The only time they were ahead was with PS1 and really that's what Sega of America wanted as well but Sega of Japan insisted on 2-D powered Saturn. Sega of Japan just were too stubborn even when Sega's own AM2 team (Yu Suzuki) was making great 3-D arcade cabinets.
Sony just had the right technology at the right time and ran with it. Sony's success is basically because of Sega's and Nintendo's fumbles in 1993-1995.
Sony was mostly interested in winning the bluray/hd DVD war than they were about gaming with the PS3. Microsoft moved on to pushing digital after bluray won. The problem with bluray drives are the lousy speeds. PS3 introduced us to giant game installs because streaming from a bluray drive was way too slow. Now we're used to it but that's what we're stuck with now. Both companies don't care because now they can charge insane prices for HDD space. Thanks Sony!
At least they're back to gaming with the PS4. It's refreshing to see how good Sony can be when they're not pushing a format war.
I think the PS1 is the system that changed everything. It ushered in a new philosophy for game design. We didn't have 3d worlds, voice acting, or cinematic games as a norm before then. No words are needed for the amazing platform the PS2 was, but in retrospect, it was a more powerful PlayStation that continued that evolution.
-Final Fantasy VII
-Metal Gear Solid
-Resident Evil
-Tekken
-Crash Bandicoot
-Soul Edge
-Gran Turismo
-Chrono Cross
-Tenchu
-Twisted Metal
-Ridge Racer
-Loaded
Just a few titles that had their coming out party. It was even the first PlayStation that inspired Hideo Kojima to come out of hiding and reinvigorate his love for game design, which resulted in Metal Gear Solid.