Sony announced on Friday that its biggest selling video game console, the PlayStation 2, was being discontinued worldwide. This piece of news comes as a shock only to those that weren’t aware that Sony’s product was still in production. Most of us in America thought the classic console had been dead and buried for a long time already. In Japan and in other parts of the world like Brazil, the PlayStation 2 was still selling. However, all good things must come to an end. So, to quote “Dandy” Don Meredith on Monday Night Football, it’s time to “Turn out the lights, the party is over.”
Most gamers young and old have fond memories of the PlayStation 2. For some it was the system they played in college, or after a long day at work. For other gamers, it was the system they played in their youth after coming home from school. They’d rush over to the living room to play their favorite game after finishing up chores and homework. Either way, all of these gamers marveled at the technology involved in this masterful gaming excursion. No one can argue that the PS2 laid the groundwork for what all other consoles aspired to surpass. It paved the way for what we see now in gaming.
It pains me to say that I personally never owned a PlayStation 2 console during its heyday. I remember those days. The hype leading up to the console’s launch was out of this world. It was going to be much more grandiose than SEGA Dreamcast’s 9/9/99 launch. The entire video game community was abuzz. Internet radio shows (early versions of podcasts) couldn’t stop talking about the PS2, and Phil Harrison’s duck demo. The world was ready.
In my little corner of the world, my friends and I were also gearing up for Sony’s latest iteration. The system launched and they immediately flew off the shelves; They became very scarce, and you couldn’t find one anywhere. You would hear about stores that had them, but when you actually got there you’d discover that they just ran out, or that someone just walked out with the last one. It was hopeless. A couple of weeks later, we took a spur of the moment trip to New York. We walked around at 4 AM, and my friend actually saw one in a shop window. It was like the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Waiting list? We didn’t need any stinkin’ waiting list. He purchased the system and that was the end of that.
A month had passed and my other friend called me up one day to tell me he found a place that had plenty. I, having just walked out of my Jack in the Box graveyard shift job, unfortunately couldn’t afford one, but I was glad he found one. I visited him and he showed off the power and complete awesomeness that was the PlayStation 2. I was immediately taken by the cool green light in the front, the quick console intro screen when you first turned it on, the sound it made, the DVD player, and of course, the games.
You can have all the window dressing you want, but what makes a console sink or swim are its games. TurboGrafx 16 was a remarkable piece of technology. Its games lacked severely as, for the most part, they were merely cheap arcade game ports. SEGA CD boasted that it was the first video game console to use discs. It flopped big time because its games were unbelievably awful. To this day I still say that if Virtual Boy had made a halfway decent and playable game, it would have stood at the top of portable games and become the template for handheld gaming systems. Instead, Virtual Boy was seen as shameful and left its creator, the legendary Gunpei Yokoi, looking like the laughingstock of the industry.
PlayStation 2 games were innovative, cutting edge, and they pushed the boundaries of what a video game should be. PS2 games ushered in the next era of gaming. They redefined and reshaped what people thought of video games. The first time I played Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty at my friend’s house, I was in awe. I stopped in the middle of the action and took a look at the world around me. It was breathtaking. Not to be too overdramatic, but it felt as if I was using my eyes for the very first time. I watched as the rain drops fell so majestically across the screen as Solid Snake stood idle.
Series like Max Payne, Sly Cooper, Katamari, Devil May Cry, and God of War all made their mark on the PlayStation 2. They all helped shape what was to become a defining generation of video games. The Grand Theft Auto series started out on the original PlayStation, but it found its groove on the PS2. GTA was a system seller. The controversy kept people interested in the game; thus, people went out and bought the system to play this much discussed game.
The PlayStation 2’s staying power can be attributed to a lot of things including awesome games, affordability, and the DVD player that ostensibly killed the SEGA Dreamcast. But the fact of the matter is that since the system itself sold so many units during its glory days, mostly to casual gamers, these folks weren’t so quick to give up their game consoles once the new hotness came out. PS2 was still putting out great game and since these gamers already had a huge library of games to play, there was no way they were going to make that jump to the PlayStation 3. You can also say that PS2’s staying power came from the high price point that retailers were selling the PlayStation 3 during launch. Paying 600 dollars didn’t make sense to a lot of people who just wanted to play their games. Not everyone was a hardcore enough gamer to be willing to shell out that kind of dough on their hobby. Thus, PS2 remained king.
So, goodbye, PlayStation 2. I’ll always remember the fun we had when I eventually did get my hands on your console. Thank you for the great games, and the great fun. We’ll never forget you.
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I only bought it for the DVD player at the time. I think I only played maybe 10 games on it the whole time I owned it. I’ve played a lot more games on my PS3.
I didn’t get one until 2009. My brother was getting rid of his and he gave it to me, along with his big box of PS2 games.