It was a good run. After 12 years, Sony has ended worldwide production for its incredibly successful PlayStation 2 video game console.
Affectionately called the PS2 by fans, Sony’s second system dominated the market even though it was less powerful than its competitors, the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. How? With games. The PS2 (warning, opinion incoming) had one of the best gaming libraries ever, including Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy X and bloody action titles like God of War.
So let’s not mourn the end of an era. Instead, GamesBeat is going to celebrate this magnificent machine by sharing our favorite PS2 memories.
Contributor Stephanie Carmichael
I remember going from GameStop to GameStop before a cashier finally told me that my copy of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy wouldn’t work on my PS2 because it was a blue-backed, CD-based disc, and those could cause problems. Also, my original PlayStation games would skip all the time on my PS2, but I still loved that console, especially for games like the Jak series, Final Fantasy X, Prince of Persia, and Silent Hill 2.
Staff writer Jeff Grubb
I held off on getting a PlayStation 2 because I was young and stupid — like so stupid. I kept close tabs on Shadow of the Colossus though, and when it finally came out I picked up a system with that game. I had an amazing time playing through the incredible battles. When I beat the game, I made a list of PS2 classics that I missed out on but wanted to go back and finally try. One day, I got my check from my job at the time, went out, and bought three games (Maximo, Sly Cooper, and God of War.)
When I got home, all of my game systems were gone. Someone opened my front door, which was never locked since I lived with a couple of other cretins, and they walked in and stole my stuff. I couldn’t afford to replace my consoles, so I just returned the games and started saving up again to buy new hardware.
I eventually got a PS2 again a few years later, but I’ve still never played Maximo, Sly Cooper, or God of War. Still, I loved the time I had with the system and feel like now is the time to go back and dig into the stuff I missed.
Contributor Jason Lomberg
I was working at Electronics Boutique when the PS2 came out and — along with the rest of the gaming world — weathered the insane shortages. I distinctly remember one customer offering my manager $500 to “move up on the list.” But that was nothing compared to the secondary market.
Intern Sam Barsanti
I have a similar story to Jeff (though not as bad): In highschool, once a year they would let nerds (like me) hang out in the library on a Saturday and play video games on the school TVs and projectors. One year, I brought my PS2 and one of the Grand Theft Auto games (which had come out maybe a week or so before). At some point while I was there, somebody stole my PS2 and swapped it with a broken one, which I figured out the next day by breaking the PS2 open and realizing my GTA disc wasn’t inside. Of course, nobody believed me, and they thought I had just broken my PS2, including the teacher that was in charge of the event (who I’m pretty sure was in on it).
A few days later I went to the store and bought a new PS2, cause it was such a rad system and I didn’t want to go without it.
Oh, wait … favorite PS2 memories ….
Intern Jasmine Maleficent Rea
My favorite memory is actually the great memory card shortage. Remember that?
I got a PS2 around that time and picked up a copy of Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance. Since I didn’t have a memory card, I had to set aside seven hours to rush through the story. A month later, when my dad finally found a card, I could burn through the game in less than five hours.
I’m really good at Dark Alliance, you guys.
Intern Giancarlo Valdes
The PS2 shortage was especially memorable/painful for me:
I was so hyped for the console after reading the news in my PSM and OPM magazine subscriptions, but I always came up empty-handed when I would visit EB and other stores. Around three months after its launch, I finally came across a big blue PS2 box behind the cash register at a KB Toys store, and I was stoked. I barely managed to convince my mom to buy it at the time, but she told me we didn’t have enough to get any PS2 games. I got it anyway — I was more in love with the idea of owning the console itself than playing any of its new games just yet.
So, for a few months after that, I played nothing but old PS1 demo discs and role-playing games, geeking out over how much smoother some of them looked (heck even Final Fantasy VIII looked like a totally different game to me). I didn’t get a PS2 game until Zone of the Enders came out, mostly for that gorgeous Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. I must have played that like a million times before actually starting ZOE.