The PS2 Has Turned 25 Years Old Today - Share Your Favorite Memories
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Deerock71
Member
I'll always see it as the console that killed Dreamcast with...Fantavision.I was and still am a Sega fanboy - so even though I acknowledge PS2 as one of the greatest consoles ever, but it wasn't my favorite.
But this game (series, actually - from Winning Eleven 3 on PS1 to Winning Eleven 7), I had the most fond memories.
Me and bunch of my friends got together once a month for a get together and formed a small league amongst us with custom drafted teams, etc.
Each revision of the game, everyone was on the edge of how our players got rated, how gameplay has changed & traded with one another, discussed and played around the formations and all.
As we got older (married, children, etc) and PS3 days came by, our small league disintegrated, but with great memories.
nial
Member
Yeah, that's what I said. SIE barely acknowledges its 11/16 establishment date, anyway (outside of this one time).
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Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
I ended up getting a dream cast around this time. It was within maybe two months of having a dream cast that they announce that they will no longer be supporting it. I remember telling my parents and being so disappointed. They said they would help me out with trading in the Dreamcast and paying any extra leftover money for a PlayStation two.
This was amazing because I picked up dark cloud at lunch, which I had been so interested in and was not disappointed.
This and the PlayStation one are still my favorite consoles of all time.
This was amazing because I picked up dark cloud at lunch, which I had been so interested in and was not disappointed.
This and the PlayStation one are still my favorite consoles of all time.
Davevil
Late October Surprise
impossible.
Horseganador
Member
The best console in history PS2, Christmas 2001 was completely mind-blowing in quality and quantity of games released.
rubik's dude
Member
Playing FFXI, my first online game ever.
My little brain exploded at the sheer vastness of the world and all the different biomes, the amount of characters inhabiting it, and the fact that there were thousands of other people to interact with.
The game also had real time day/night cycles, weather cycles, character breathing animations, footprints in snow/sand, and water that splashed when you walked in it, whether that was from walking in a pond or from rain drops during stormy weather.
The game was a technical marvel, I couldn't believe this was possible on the PS2. That's when gaming peaked for me.
My little brain exploded at the sheer vastness of the world and all the different biomes, the amount of characters inhabiting it, and the fact that there were thousands of other people to interact with.
The game also had real time day/night cycles, weather cycles, character breathing animations, footprints in snow/sand, and water that splashed when you walked in it, whether that was from walking in a pond or from rain drops during stormy weather.
The game was a technical marvel, I couldn't believe this was possible on the PS2. That's when gaming peaked for me.
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protonion
Member
The hype leading to the release was unreal.
The first trailers of mgs2, gt3 felt that they came from the distant future.
I remember buying floppies and searching for file splitting software to transfer the trailers to my pc from a friend with internet!
Never before (and after) graphics wowed me that much.
I really feel blessed to have experienced this period as a teen. It's an unrepeatable event.
And still it's the best looking console imo with the best library. Give me a ps2 and all it's games and I wouldn't care about playing anything else in my life.
The first trailers of mgs2, gt3 felt that they came from the distant future.
I remember buying floppies and searching for file splitting software to transfer the trailers to my pc from a friend with internet!
Never before (and after) graphics wowed me that much.
I really feel blessed to have experienced this period as a teen. It's an unrepeatable event.
And still it's the best looking console imo with the best library. Give me a ps2 and all it's games and I wouldn't care about playing anything else in my life.
And I replied to you so I can check if you are gonna cry or not lol
Why do people react like this when joking about Sony, lol
Anyway, I'm sorry I offended you with my post.
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bender
What time is it?
With the shortages, I had to wait a few months after launch to get mine. A friend at work wanted to sell his and ten games and some accessories for $600 bucks. I loved the hell out of SSX. There are too many great games to list which made it a very special system but a big shoutout to Ico and Shadow of Colossus as well as MGS2 and MGS3. If I were the type to make ranking lists, those titles would occupy a lot of the top spots.
HRK69
Gold Member
Playing San Andreas for the first time with my nephew was an unforgettable experience
Back then, I had only played PS1 and Nintendo games. I couldn't believe the sheer scale, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Ultimately, I got to borrow his PS2 for a couple of weeks and I played the heck out of San Andreas
Back then, I had only played PS1 and Nintendo games. I couldn't believe the sheer scale, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Ultimately, I got to borrow his PS2 for a couple of weeks and I played the heck out of San Andreas
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EerieArcade
Member
I remember wandering into town with my dad and a school friend, going into Game, and buying a title I had been looking forward to for a long time: RE Code Veronica. It came with a demo disc of Devil May Cry, which I played more than Resident Evil for weeks. Loved my PS2. That thing got me through some shitty times when I was younger.
mafon2
Neo Member
PS2 never grabbed me, It was more like a curiosity to me — I mainly used it to play THPS games. Its exclusives, like God of War, or Gran Turismo, left no impression on me. I realy liked the Sly trilogy, though, but I played it on PS3 later. This giant breadbox, on the other hand, is my second best stationary console after Dreamcast, I think. Or maybe third. In top 5 surely!
My favorite memory is the ps2 is a piece of tech for experiments, you could have fun like any devs and understand how games are made and how to program 3d models and objects. It's games are a whole different story, I could talk for hours about games. The ceo back then was Kaz and he trolls the Xbox and GameCube professionally. I made real friends because of Playstation, today I prefer playing online on pc cause they behave and want to hang for years, on consoles the online community are a bunch of trolls, they don't behave and if you're better than them they cancel you immediately, they literally behave like they don't want this shit to last forever.
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semiconscious
Member
unfortunately, it wasn't available when i got my copy...Please use the good cover art instead.
Hunter 99
Member
Mgs 2 first game, was a friday and the weekend was about to start.
I set it up in the early evening of a warm summer in the UK with my dad.
Absolutely engrossed and amazed at the gameplay and the graphics.played till about 11pm and couldn't wait to wake up in the morning to continue playing.
Ps2 was a incredible experience all round.and a dvd player too!!
I set it up in the early evening of a warm summer in the UK with my dad.
Absolutely engrossed and amazed at the gameplay and the graphics.played till about 11pm and couldn't wait to wake up in the morning to continue playing.
Ps2 was a incredible experience all round.and a dvd player too!!
Impotaku
Member
My time with PS2 was short lived as soon as the gamecube was released in Japan i ended up offloading my PS2 collection to CEX to grab an import cube however i did love the PS2 it continued the amazing rhythm game legacy of PS1 with Konami absolutely tearing it up by releasing a lot of their arcade rhythm bemani stuff. DDR as well as pop n music and beatmania all were crazily well supported through the PS2s lifespan but they also brought some of the others like drum mania & keyboardmania to the home market for the very first time. Then there was this the peak of home arcade awesomness Parapara paradise the prototype that would eventually evolve into what dance evolution is nowadays. They decided to bring the IR sensor array to home PS2 users to totally replicate the arcade machine & it was awesome i used to play ungodly amounts of hours learning all the dance routines till i had them down to memory it was an amazing time to be an import gamer.
Kind of regret in later years i missed out on the later PS2 library when i jumped to gamecube as like with it's PS1 originator the PS2 has a crazy amount of weird & wonderful Japanese games, still would love to start a small focused collection like i did with PS1 grabbing the odd stuff i missed out on sadly unlike on PS1 the PS2 rhythm game stuff is really valuable now the beatmania games had super low print runs with many now having 3 figure price tags.
Kind of regret in later years i missed out on the later PS2 library when i jumped to gamecube as like with it's PS1 originator the PS2 has a crazy amount of weird & wonderful Japanese games, still would love to start a small focused collection like i did with PS1 grabbing the odd stuff i missed out on sadly unlike on PS1 the PS2 rhythm game stuff is really valuable now the beatmania games had super low print runs with many now having 3 figure price tags.
ReBurn
Gold Member
My launch console died from DRE's about 6 months after I got it. It was when Sony's warranty was only 90 days. But I had so many games that it was worth the money to have it fixed. When they changed their warranty policy to one year they refunded my repair costs. After that everything was great until I wore the thing out from use.
PS1 was still my favorite PlayStation, but I have a ton of great PS2 memories, too. I played GTA 3 so much that whenever I saw a garbage truck in real life my brain superimposed the word Trashmaster over real life.
PS1 was still my favorite PlayStation, but I have a ton of great PS2 memories, too. I played GTA 3 so much that whenever I saw a garbage truck in real life my brain superimposed the word Trashmaster over real life.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
To be honest, I don't have many fond memories of PS2.
I had a PAL system, which meant visibly slower games. At the time I was aware of what using PAL systems meant, and I could never shake off the feeling that I was playing factually inferior versions of the games. But I couldn't afford to import. Games like DMC were a disaster on the PAL PS2, but even stuff like FFX looked worse and felt so slow compared to the original. Later on I'd mod the console and start playing… imports, so to speak. But the party had already been spoilt.
It didn't help that I bought my PS2 with RE: Code Veronica. I had bought my PS1 with the original RE, one of my favorite games. Code Veronica was simply bad, a parody of RE. It didn't warm me on the system, I can tell ya.
PS2 had visibly the worse graphics of its generation, and the games that were releasing back then mostly felt like tired rehashes of the previous gen with a nice coat of paint. Cinematic ambitions were starting to creep into games, and this made so many games much less fun. English VA was bad way more than it was good. Cutscenes were becoming too long. Gameplay was becoming increasingly convoluted. JRPGs were being hijacked by anime big time.
I did have some fun with the system, but I appreciate it more now that I have softmodded mine to run games from HDD.
I can finally understand the value of simpler games that I snubbed back in the day because money was tight and there were bigger releases coming. Contra: Shattered Soldier, for example, is amazing. I'd never have spent my money for such a game back then.
TLDR: I never felt the PS2 was magic. It felt more like an iteration than a revolution.
I had a PAL system, which meant visibly slower games. At the time I was aware of what using PAL systems meant, and I could never shake off the feeling that I was playing factually inferior versions of the games. But I couldn't afford to import. Games like DMC were a disaster on the PAL PS2, but even stuff like FFX looked worse and felt so slow compared to the original. Later on I'd mod the console and start playing… imports, so to speak. But the party had already been spoilt.
It didn't help that I bought my PS2 with RE: Code Veronica. I had bought my PS1 with the original RE, one of my favorite games. Code Veronica was simply bad, a parody of RE. It didn't warm me on the system, I can tell ya.
PS2 had visibly the worse graphics of its generation, and the games that were releasing back then mostly felt like tired rehashes of the previous gen with a nice coat of paint. Cinematic ambitions were starting to creep into games, and this made so many games much less fun. English VA was bad way more than it was good. Cutscenes were becoming too long. Gameplay was becoming increasingly convoluted. JRPGs were being hijacked by anime big time.
I did have some fun with the system, but I appreciate it more now that I have softmodded mine to run games from HDD.
I can finally understand the value of simpler games that I snubbed back in the day because money was tight and there were bigger releases coming. Contra: Shattered Soldier, for example, is amazing. I'd never have spent my money for such a game back then.
TLDR: I never felt the PS2 was magic. It felt more like an iteration than a revolution.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I used it mostly for JRPGs but going back to the PS2 using Emulation/ROMS, I've been playing through JRPGs I missed out on and Non JRPGs I haven't played
SimTourist
Banned
This generation doesn't even have these many cool games after 5 years
Erebus
Member
I feel fortunate that the PS2 was released during my teenage years when I was carefree enough to fully enjoy gaming. A couple of months after the European launch, I bought the console, and my first game was Tekken Tag Tournament, which felt visually unreal compared to Tekken 3. Later that summer, I picked up Gran Turismo 3, which, at the time, seemed like the most realistic video game I had ever seen. That said, nostalgia aside, I truly believe the PS2 was the greatest console ever, and I doubt it will ever be surpassed.
I mean what followed with DMC, Silent Hill 2, ICO, FFX, SSX Tricky, GTA III, MGS2 shaped up the industry for the coming years.
I mean what followed with DMC, Silent Hill 2, ICO, FFX, SSX Tricky, GTA III, MGS2 shaped up the industry for the coming years.
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FewRope
Member
The day/night cycles in early gaming was so impressive, I remember shitting my pants at the start screen of the first Jak and Daxter because it had a full night and day cycle, coming from a PS1 you cannot put into words how much of a leap this generation was. It will never happen again
Gamerfan81
Member
Greatest console ever for me and first console I bought with my own money. Very fond of it.
Angry_Megalodon
Member
I was a Nintendo-only guy (I'd had the GameCube since the start of the generation), and I "converted" after a friend lent me the console with Devil May Cry, which became one of my favorite games.
Unknown?
Member
Seems you're posting about yourself.
Why do people react like this when joking about Sony, lol
Anyway, I'm sorry I offended you with my post.
Aldynes
Member
Same boat but back then I didn't knew 50/60 hertz was a thing, I've discovered it on VF4 evo when i toggled the option, man it was a day and night difference, people don't realise how butchered amazing games were on PAL, Devil May Cry is a travesty on 50 hertz Dante moves like he's underwater the all game!
nordique
Member
Great memories throughout its life
Highlights for me:
- When I picked one up early 2001 with tekken Tag tournament
- Owning FF10 and GT3 but sucking at both. FF10 was the first FF game I ever beat
- GTA 3 that fall. Revolutionary experience
- Metal Gear Solid 2. Reason I got a ps2
- GTA Vice city. Turned on the civilians shoot each other cheat and did not know it was irreversible
- Shadow of the colossus
- Sly Cooper trilogy
- MGS 3
- God of War
- GTA San Andreas. Glued to that game until I beat it. Map size blew me away.
PS2 swan song for me was God of War 2
Highlights for me:
- When I picked one up early 2001 with tekken Tag tournament
- Owning FF10 and GT3 but sucking at both. FF10 was the first FF game I ever beat
- GTA 3 that fall. Revolutionary experience
- Metal Gear Solid 2. Reason I got a ps2
- GTA Vice city. Turned on the civilians shoot each other cheat and did not know it was irreversible
- Shadow of the colossus
- Sly Cooper trilogy
- MGS 3
- God of War
- GTA San Andreas. Glued to that game until I beat it. Map size blew me away.
PS2 swan song for me was God of War 2
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TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I remember playing Ridge Racer V & Tekken Tag all night until 12 the next day. Keeping in mind I collected it at 8am
Good times.
Good times.
Was a digi pack tooPlease use the good cover art instead.
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Unknown?
Member
Did 2001 cement itself as the worst year in PlayStation history? Look how weak their 1st party offering is, it's supported almost entirely by 3rd party.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
I forget that Japan's ahead by like 12 hours so the 4th for them was the 3rd for us.
Anyway, absolutely god-tier console, and arguably the GOAT. It didn't have the fastest start software-wise going by the Japanese launch, but that would start to quickly resolve itself after 8 or so months. If Dreamcast didn't botch Japan maybe they could've taken better advantage of the initial software situation for PS2 but, the fact it lacked DVD playback is what actually hurt it tremendously there and only a new Dreamcast model with a built-in DVD player (and maybe bundling their best games at the time) would've had any chance.
It's also crazy to see how quickly PS2 distanced itself not only from Dreamcast (selling almost as many units in 9 months as Dreamcast did between 1998 - 2000 combined), but later on the Gamecube and Xbox. By the time those systems were nearing 10 million, PS2 was already at 50 million and this is late 2002 IIRC. That generation was decided rather early, even faster than this current one (which IMO would've been decided in same time span if it weren't for COVID and supply shortages).
Anyhow, some documentaries to enjoy the trip back in time:
Moving the goalpost to apply a modern-day talking point to a 25-year old console?
Point is, ALL of those games were exclusive. If you wanted to play them, you had to get a PS2. That's just how much market strength the brand had at that point.
EDIT: I don't know if you're actually being sarcastic or not. Hard to tell online. If so, apologies in advance
Anyway, absolutely god-tier console, and arguably the GOAT. It didn't have the fastest start software-wise going by the Japanese launch, but that would start to quickly resolve itself after 8 or so months. If Dreamcast didn't botch Japan maybe they could've taken better advantage of the initial software situation for PS2 but, the fact it lacked DVD playback is what actually hurt it tremendously there and only a new Dreamcast model with a built-in DVD player (and maybe bundling their best games at the time) would've had any chance.
It's also crazy to see how quickly PS2 distanced itself not only from Dreamcast (selling almost as many units in 9 months as Dreamcast did between 1998 - 2000 combined), but later on the Gamecube and Xbox. By the time those systems were nearing 10 million, PS2 was already at 50 million and this is late 2002 IIRC. That generation was decided rather early, even faster than this current one (which IMO would've been decided in same time span if it weren't for COVID and supply shortages).
Anyhow, some documentaries to enjoy the trip back in time:
Moving the goalpost to apply a modern-day talking point to a 25-year old console?
Point is, ALL of those games were exclusive. If you wanted to play them, you had to get a PS2. That's just how much market strength the brand had at that point.
EDIT: I don't know if you're actually being sarcastic or not. Hard to tell online. If so, apologies in advance
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Unknown?
Member
I forget that Japan's ahead by like 12 hours so the 4th for them was the 3rd for us.
Anyway, absolutely god-tier console, and arguably the GOAT. It didn't have the fastest start software-wise going by the Japanese launch, but that would start to quickly resolve itself after 8 or so months. If Dreamcast didn't botch Japan maybe they could've taken better advantage of the initial software situation for PS2 but, the fact it lacked DVD playback is what actually hurt it tremendously there and only a new Dreamcast model with a built-in DVD player (and maybe bundling their best games at the time) would've had any chance.
It's also crazy to see how quickly PS2 distanced itself not only from Dreamcast (selling almost as many units in 9 months as Dreamcast did between 1998 - 2000 combined), but later on the Gamecube and Xbox. By the time those systems were nearing 10 million, PS2 was already at 50 million and this is late 2002 IIRC. That generation was decided rather early, even faster than this current one (which IMO would've been decided in same time span if it weren't for COVID and supply shortages).
Anyhow, some documentaries to enjoy the trip back in time:
Moving the goalpost to apply a modern-day talking point to a 25-year old console?
Point is, ALL of those games were exclusive. If you wanted to play them, you had to get a PS2. That's just how much market strength the brand had at that point.
EDIT: I don't know if you're actually being sarcastic or not. Hard to tell online. If so, apologies in advance
Being sarcastic. XD
Werewolf Jones
Member
I got a PS2 on my 12th birthday on August 29th 2002. I got Onimusha: Warlords already a Platinum title and GTA III. I played GTA III so much I broke the disc.
A lot of titles I've played on it throughout the years after Sony sent it off I'm even playing it now with Xenosaga. The best PlayStation.
A lot of titles I've played on it throughout the years after Sony sent it off I'm even playing it now with Xenosaga. The best PlayStation.
thismeinteil
Member
The first console I bought with my own money. Saved up a little each week one summer to afford it. One thing I'll never forget is my older brother was a big GT fan and wanted to know if I could get him GT3, but he only had $30 on him. I told him that wouldn't be enough and that I only had enough money to get the console (I was going to wait for the next Friday for a game, which ended up being Eternal Ring and the Hudson Hawk DVD.) I was kinda upset because when I got to Walmart, they had a GT3 bundle for $330, so I could have gotten it.
The thing I miss the most about the PS2 era was that demo disks were still a thing, as was a huge AA market. They were putting out a demo disk each season, which was only a couple bucks. And Walmart would put out a triple pack of AA games probably twice a year. If I remember correctly, it was $20 for 3 PS1 games. And $30 for 3 PS2 games. Found so many interesting smaller games that way. There's also just something a little special about inserting that new disc.
Ah, good times.
The thing I miss the most about the PS2 era was that demo disks were still a thing, as was a huge AA market. They were putting out a demo disk each season, which was only a couple bucks. And Walmart would put out a triple pack of AA games probably twice a year. If I remember correctly, it was $20 for 3 PS1 games. And $30 for 3 PS2 games. Found so many interesting smaller games that way. There's also just something a little special about inserting that new disc.
Ah, good times.
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{insert code here}
Member
One of my friends got FFX for Christmas so a bunch of us spent the weekend at his house and we all brought our games and an extra PS2. We had FFX, MGS2, Gran Turismo 3, Tekken Tag, Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, GTA 3, and a couple other games. We had one PS2 hooked up in his living room and another in his room. We had no idea that we were living through arguably one of the best years ever for games.
Someone also brought their Xbox over with Halo and four controllers. Don't think I need to say anymore on that lol.
Someone also brought their Xbox over with Halo and four controllers. Don't think I need to say anymore on that lol.