This week marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the PlayStation 2, so let's take a couple of minutes to reminisce.
Some may remember the people of the UK had to wait 8 months for their chance to get their hands on the PS2 after it's March 2000 launch in Japan. I was working in Greece at the time and had ordered my console online for my arrival home, which was one day after it officially launched in Europe. I still remember unboxing the unit in my room, deciding to stand it on its side, upright, which was groundbreaking in itself. One twist of the PS badge on the front and it went from looking perfect flat to perfect upright. I loaded Ridge Racer V and was blown away.
The PS2 has sold 158million units, making it the highest selling console of all time, it practically put Sega out of business, the mighty Dreamcast was discontinued 18 months after the PS2 release. It was the first console to have a DVD player, which was a relativley new technology at the time. The system also had full backward compatibility for PS1 games which was a massive feature. The Dualshock 2 controller had pressure sensitive buttons for more accurate gameplay and everything was packaged in black. Slick. As. Fuck!
There are too many stellar titles for the PS2 to mention in such a short blog, I could easily do a top 50 countdown but I'll be honest I haven't got enough hours in the day, stand outs were Grand Theft Auto III and San Andreas, the legendary Simpsons Hit and Run, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, GT3, Metal Gear Solid 2 (a title that paved the way for storytelling games), God Of War and Timesplitters 2 (which should get a remake as it had everything a good games needs from comedy to fast action). Sport games advanced drastically with PES, FIFA and Madden all propelling themselves both graphically and with innovative gameplay. There was even the now banned Manhunt.
The title that really defined the console was Grand Theft Auto III a game that caused such critical acclaim and controversy in equal amounts when it was launched, stealing cars and shooting people had never felt so real, from the moment you jumped out of the prison van with 8 Ball at the beginning you were immersed. Open world games had never been framed like this before, over 100 hours of game play and then do what you want, without the whole thing feeling over done. Hands down, one of the best games ever made.
I'll wrap this up with this, it was only 8 years ago that Sony finished manufacturing the PS2, Sony only stopped their repair service for it 3 years ago. The system defined all systems and we owe alot to the team behind the PS2 for where we are today. I am pretty sure that no matter what gaming shop you walk into, they will either have traded PS2 games or a PS2 system for sale, and that's worldwide. Happy 20th anniversary PlayStation 2, we owe a lot to you!