In this FandomWire Video, we examine why PlayStation 2 was the best console ever.
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The PlayStation 2 still remains the best?
The Sony PlayStation 2 was a huge success when it launched in the new millennium. As the years passed, the console only grew stronger. After selling 155,000,000 units, the PS2 became the best-selling console in video games history. Over the course of its life, a whopping 1,5 billion games were sold. The machine was in development for a record-breaking 13 years.
Looking back, the question is… why? What made this machine special?
As is the case with any great piece of hardware, it’s only ever as good as the software made available for it. Even the most powerful machine can only be as good as the software developed for it. The PlayStation 2 is living proof of this as the console itself didn’t even boast the most powerful hardware of the era.
Both the Nintendo GameCube and the original Xbox were more powerful than the PlayStation 2 on paper, but ultimately that didn’t matter. It’s when you review the list of titles released for the console, that the reason for its long-term, sustained success becomes more apparent.
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The PlayStation 2 came out in an age when the middle tier of video game development was still very active. The mid-tier, for those who don’t remember the era, was the segment between independent game development and triple-A releases.
Mid-tier game developers such as Midway, THQ and Codemasters thrived during this time due to a lower budget needed to create a new game. Modern video games are expensive to produce, so game publishers will not take on more risky game ideas. This tends to result in more generic, formulaic titles dominating the market, due to publishers wanting to invest in a “sure thing.”
The reason that so many gaming fans love and miss the mid-tier section of the market is due to the fact that it allowed creative developers to create unique, boundary-pushing experiences without having to worry about such a monumental risk factor if the said project didn’t work out. Publishers today are not as willing to allow their studios to take the same risks.
The mid-tier would have never been allowed to flourish and existed in those days. This is why we got so many cult classics. Things like the brilliantly bizarre Twin Caliber The violent, stylized slasher or from Rage Bloodrayne Terminal Reality is a film that would never have been released in modern times. Modern publishers are not willing to take a risk on titles like this.
Midway was the sole publisher responsible for the release of a number of double-A games that cemented their place as one of gaming’s greatest publishers. Titles like The Suffering, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, Area 51. Mindgate Conspiracy: Psi-Ops Here are some great examples of unique and interesting titles that the publisher gambled on and which have gone on to innovate in their genre and become favorites among fans.
Acclaim Entertainment, another similar company to Midway, published mid-tier games with huge success. Franchises like Crazy Taxi, Burnout. Turok Acclaim Entertainment is where all of them got their start. Acclaim Entertainment was also responsible for the publication of Headhunter, a science fiction thriller that is underrated and deserves to be revisited as a remake.
Many people are surprised when they realize that The Simpsons – Hit and Run was developed by a mid-tier company and it is understandable given the game’s iconic status. This beloved modern classic is a great example of this. Scarface: The World Is Yours Prototype. The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction Radical Entertainment was another mid-tier, but sadly now defunct company.
While some of the previously mentioned games are available on modern consoles in some form or another, there is nothing quite like digging out your old PlayStation 2 console and hooking it up with a SCART adaptor in order to re-experience the glory days of gaming, – even in 2023! Couch co-op is a concept that is nearly impossible to recreate without a PlayStation 2.
Modern multiplayer modes do not offer the same enjoyment as in the early 2000s. Modern console manufacturers can’t recreate the magic that comes with sitting next to your friend and simultaneously beating them to death in Mortal Kombat. Couch co-op, another feature that has been sadly missing from the gaming landscape of today, is also in desperate need of a return.
Its value at launch was one of the reasons why the PlayStation 2 was so popular. At launch, it was cheaper than the Xbox and most DVD players of the time. It is important to note that at that time, there was no streaming services and DVD players were very popular. Even if you weren’t interested in gaming, the PlayStation 2 was worth buying simply for the fact that it was one of the cheapest DVD players on the market.
In May of 2002, just two years after the console’s launch, Sony made the decision to cut the price of the console considerably. The console would no longer be sold for $299. Instead, it will now be sold for $199. That is the same price of the Xbox and 100 dollars less than the GameCube.
Another major aspect that only added to the PlayStation 2’s value was the fact that it was backwards compatible, possessing the capability to play the vast majority of PlayStation 1 games. This meant that although the PlayStation 2’s launch lineup was fairly lackluster, as is often the case with any console’s launch lineup, there was still a plethora of fantastic games available to play on the machine, in the form of glorious previously released PS1 games.
The PlayStation 2 was able to play a large number of older games, which is a concept that has been relatively new in the gaming world. It also supported antiquated peripherals. The PlayStation 2 was compatible with old controllers. This meant that gamers who had both the PlayStation 1 as well as the PlayStation 2 already owned two controllers.
This in turn meant that players didn’t have to go out and buy another controller in order to experience couch co-op with a friend. Naturally, the friend was given a PS1 controller that was subpar to use, but the fact that couch co-op came with the game was amazing.
Although as previously mentioned, the PS1 controller was a slight downgrade in comparison with the PlayStation 2’s, the differences were negligible, – especially if you had a PS1 remote with analog sticks. The controllers could be interchanged, making the switch from one to the other a breeze. It was a simpler era.
The ability to simply plug-and-play any peripheral purchased for the system speaks volumes about the simplicity of the time. There were no day-one updates, driver upgrades, or downloads of content. It was possible to buy a game at the store, bring it home, install it on your computer, and start playing immediately without waiting half an hour.
This plug-and-play attitude didn’t only apply to games either. The PS2 game box mold included a plastic bracket above the space for the disc, which allowed players to insert their memory card and transport their saved data. The PS2 game box mold even included a plastic bracket that players could use to place their memory cards into above the space reserved for the disc. This encouraged the transport of saved data.
This meant that you could save a game halfway through a mission, switch off your console, leave your house with the memory card, travel to a friend’s house, put the memory card into the slot on their friend’s console, and pick up that mission right from where you left off. It was easier to share the experience of one game with another.
The way the saved data is displayed on the screen is another great feature of memory cards. Within the PlayStation 2’s start-up menu, players could access their memory card data in order to delete and manage individual saves. Each game’s saved data was visually represented by a tiny animated icon. It was always fun to look at them and some of them were very detailed. They would wave goodbye when you deleted them.
The console’s bootup UI in general was aesthetically pleasing in its own simple way. The first time the console was turned on, the grey blocks were visible from a bird’s-eye perspective. Before the camera zoomed in, the view changed to a closer look. Each of these blocks represented a piece of saved data; so if the player has lots of saved game data, there would be a ton of blocks, and if there wasn’t much saved on the memory card, then the blocks would be more sparse.
The console sounds, along with the visual elements of the UI are also very nostalgic. Upon hearing those whooshing, ambient sounds, one is immediately transported back two decades to an era where game file sizes were small and they actually shipped in a completed state, – at least for the most part.
The PlayStation 2 pioneered several aspects of gaming that are now considered second nature. The PlayStation 2 was one of first consoles with 1080p capabilities built in. However, it required a few extra steps to make this happen. This was one of the very first consoles with online play. It was not easy to get online, but it was possible. This set the precedent for all consoles that followed.
In a certain sense, you could say that the PS2 is also credited with helping to pioneer VR. Sony launched a peripheral that allowed gamers to immerse themselves in a game, which was pretty revolutionary at the time.
In 2003 the EyeToy launched and brought a level of interactiveness that was previously unimaginable. The EyeToy is the PlayStation camera to the uninitiated. The only difference would be a few minor technical improvements and that EyeToy had special software developed for it such as EyeToy Play. EyeToy Play was what Wii Sports is to the Nintendo Wii.
The PlayStation 2 is a great console. When you consider how many games were released during that time, it’s easy to understand why so many people think it was the best gaming console ever.
Do you think the PlayStation 2 was the best console released ever? Do you have a PlayStation 2 or did you buy one? Tell us in the comments. Subscribe and like the channel to get more nostalgia deep dives like this.
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