In September of 1999, Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled it's latest console, the PlayStation 2, at the Tokyo Game Show. The announcement of a DVD player as well as a slew of titles captured the imaginations of gamers everywhere and would go onto create history by becoming the best selling home console of all-time.

As avid gamers, I thought it would be worthwhile to share our experiences with the console. From initial impressions, to when we got the system and finally our experiences with the console over the years.

It's been nearly 18 years since the PlayStation 2 became commercially available, so I look forward to sharing my memories with all of you.

Whenever I think about the PlayStation 2, my mind immediately begins with the Dreamcast. In 1998, SEGA beat everybody to the punch by being the first console manufacturer to release a 128 bit system. The SEGA Dreamcast appeared to be a direct response to the failure of the Saturn. Instead of being released at the same time as it's competitor, it was going to receive it's own launch window. It was also going to do more to stand out by including online features making it the first and for a few years, the only console planned around online play. Finally the console would see the debut of it's beloved mascot Sonic the Hedgehog in a 3D environment.

It seemed like SEGA was on the right track but there were concerns. Despite the success of the Mega Drive/Genesis, SEGA were guilty of releasing new hardware at an accelerated rate. Instead of understanding the needs of the consumers and their own developers, SEGA would rush out new and improved systems without having all their ducks in a row. What this meant for SEGA is that when they were ready to launch the Dreamcast in November of 1998, they only had four titles. Godzilla Generations, July, Pen Pen Trilceon & Virtua Fighter 3tb. With the exception of Virtua Fighter, these games did little to inspire gamers in Japan and abroad and the launch was decidedly mediocre. By the time the Dreamcast reached the USA, it had a better understanding of what it was and featured a far more compelling line-up of 19 titles. Initial shipments of the Dreamcast moved well in the States, thanks largely to titles like NFL 2K, Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur and Power Stone, but it wouldn't be too long before attention shifted to the PlayStation 2.

In fact, one week after the Dreamcast's launch, details of the PlayStation 2 were announced along with 12 titles such as Tekken Tag Tournament, Gran Turismo 2000 and Dark Cloud. The system looked fantastic and coverage for it began post haste with Sony going on a tour de force to woo the public and the media. One event was the PlayStation Festival 2000 at the Makuhari Messe Convention centre where journalists were able to get their hands on all the titles and could see them for themselves warts and all. While the press was mostly positive, concerns were raised over the bugs which would often see games crash and the relatively long loading times. Square Soft's gorgeous racing gaming Driving Emotion Type S in particular was criticised for these issues.

As concerning as those problems were, it didn't hurt Sony on launch day - March 4th 2000. Where as most consoles usually lead with one smash hit title, Sony used what worked for them in the previous generation and went with a scattergun approach, giving gamers a choice to pick from. In total, there were 10 games available on launch, mostly of different genres including racers, fighters, RPGs, rhythm, board games, simulators, action and strategy games. Despite Tekken Tag Tournament being delayed to the end of the month, there were still plenty of gamers to pick from with Ridge Racer V & Kessen being notable stand-outs.

As soon as the console was released in Japan, coverage for the console hit fever pitch. This was the first generation of consoles where the internet was common in most households and being able to see and hear about the next generation created a buzz. In a pre-E3 press conference, Sony announced their plans on the western launch which included the USA launch date of October 26th 2000.

As the months turned into weeks, weeks into days, gamers lined the street in anticipation for the latest Sony console. A manufacturing defect meant that Sony's shipment was way below estimate and only 500, 000 PS2s were available on launch day. This saw the PS2 become the hot ticket item for Christmas that year with consoles selling for thousands of dollars on Ebay from scalpers looking to turn a profit. For those fortunate enough to get their hands on a console on launch day, they paid a price of $299.99 for the console and had a choice of 27 titles. If there was a crown jewel of that initial launch, it would be Tekken Tag Tournament, but the most popular game in the States was none other than Madden 2001.

Not only was Madden a lot of gamers first experience of a 128-bit football game, it had some of the most impressive graphics on the market with weather effects, dynamic camera effects and state of the art textures. In comparison, SEGA had NFL 2K1, an enjoyable football title in it's own right, but the two games presented a clear contrast in what both systems were able to offer. The PS2 provided develepors the opportunity to make games with better graphics and more sophisticated gameplay systems. While NFL 2K1 had it's appeal, in the eyes of consumers it represented an inferior product.

But there were plenty of games for consumers to sink their teeth into. They could sit back and enjoy the fireworks in the puzzle game, Fantavision. They could helm a giant robot and duke it out with other mechs in Armored Core 2. They could even mow through armies of soldiers in the beat-em up Dynasty Warriors 2. There was so much variety and so many good looking games, the console was inescapable.

From my experience, the PS2 was a highly sort after console, but there was a catch. In Australia, the console was sold for $750 AUD. In American dollars, it was $137 more expensive and didn't factor into bundle deals. If my brother and I were going to get a console for Christmas, it would have set my parents back $1000 when you factor in memory cards, controllers and games. Understandably they settled on two N64 titles instead, but the PS2 had well and truly caught my attention.

As impressive as the PS2 was, it was still lacking the killer app. Games like Madden 2001, SSX, Tekken Tag Tournament etc. were impressive titles, but they weren't games you could include in the same conversation as Final Fantasy VII or Metal Gear Solid. While we were aware that sequel to those games were on their way the immediate future looked uncertain. Games like Dark Cloud, The Bouncer & Onimusha stirred gamers curiosity, but it remained to be seen whether the PS2 could maintain it's lead over the X Box and Nintendo's upcoming project Dolphin.

Got into ps2 late. Got it for X-mas in 2002. Kingdom Hearts and DBZ Budokai finally made me jump back after leaving ps1 for n64 and gamecube. It renewed my love platformers. Ratchet Jak and even iNinja made appearances in my library. It is also where I played through all the non-7 Final Fantasys. Gotta love dat backwards compatibility.

Remembering the PS2? What's there to remember? The Playstation 2 is super current! I have one less than five feet away from me! I can turn 90 degrees and look at it, switch it on, have a good time. "Remember"! Bah!

OK, enough of my old-man-gamer routine.

My Playstation 2 adventure starts on a somewhat somber note. My parents are the money saving sort, which in my book is a very good thing, but in this case it didn't work out so well. When the Playstation 2 was released, instead of purchasing one and that's that, they traded in my PSX along with all its games to save some cash. I have no idea how much was saved, because I was still at that innocent age where I wasn't told about financial matters, and didn't really have any reason to care. It seemed reasonable to me, because it's an upgrade. Why would old, obsolete PSX games be of any use to me with a shiny new Playstation 2 and all its awesome power? I don't know how long it took me to find out the PS2 was backwards compatible (at least a couple of years), but when I did, I remember having an insatiable craving to play FFIX again. That said, I don't have any memory of other PSX games I enjoyed at that stage in my life, although I surely must have played a lot more games than FFIX.

In fact, there's a lot I don't remember about my early PS2 days. I'm not even sure I got it on launch, and I don't have the faintest idea what the first games I played for it were. It might be the case that I was so eager to get the PS2 just because of Final Fantasy X, my most anticipated game ever. That game released some time after the PS2, maybe a year later? I do sort of remember playing Onimusha: Warlords and its sequel. The obscure games Primal and Shadow of Rome were also games I enjoyed in the early years of the console.

My collection was never particularly large until the last couple of years, where my collection grew threefold or more in size. Not only did I purchase games that I had yet to play, but games that I had traded in long ago and I thought I would never want to play again. Some of these games I will never play again, but as a video game enthusiast I still value having them.

After the Sega Genesis, I went on a bit of a video game hiatus. I suppose I became somewhat of a video game moocher, getting my fix at friends houses. I played some N64 that way, GoldenEye and wrestling video games mostly, but never came close to owning one. I barely played the original Playstation at all. I don't know what the fuck I was doing 1997-2001. Not playing video games, apparently.

Around 2001, I started playing a lot of Sega Dreamcast, Crazy Taxi almost exclusively. My memory is the Dreamcast was already done by then, but the Dreamcast was what made me fall in love with video games again, and I actually went to a store to try and score a used Dreamcast. There were none, and I somehow made a spontaneous PS2 buy instead. This was insane. I had never played PS2 before. I bought Madden with it, and made due, but I almost immediately regretted not waiting for a Dreamcast to show up so I could Crazy Taxi myself into the wee hours of the night. A month or two later, GTA III came out, and the buy finally seemed worth it.

GTA III came out my senior year of high school and it's the last video game I fell in love with. I saw it for video games what I saw ECW to wrestling, changing the industry with not only beautiful vulgarity, but perfect execution of what it was trying to accomplish. I just remember coming out of the haze of 9/11, listening to the radio and playing GTA, having the exciting unknown of life after high school quickly approaching and feeling pretty good. Pretty good for me, anyway. It was The Strokes and GTA coming out of the rubble for me.

I also equate the PS2 in adulthood. I got my first apartment in 2002, and I remember having used the "family" DVD player while living at home for all my DVDs, being relieved I didn't have to buy my own. The PS2 doubling for that is something that is expected now, but was a huge selling point back then. Your gaming console used to be another thing to hook up to your TV that served no other purpose than a receptacle for cartridges. Now I could watch Pulp Fiction on the thing I played GTA III on! I even bought a special remote!

Because of that, I can't separate movies and video games from that period. I got a Netflix subscription at the start of 2003, and all the movies that I had always wanted to watch (that dogshit Blockbuster didn't carry) were only two mailing days away. Being 18/19, I ended up seeing some of the most impressionable films of my life in that apartment, on that console.

2004, my beloved PS2 died. I bought the PS2 slimline just in time for GTA San Andreas. I don't remember what happened to that. Did that die too? I didn't sell it. I wouldn't have just thrown out a working PS2. It must have died. Anyway, I'm a terrible gamer. I've used mostly every console I've ever owned to boringly play sports games while listening to music, or podcasts in recent years. So minus the GTA's, I've played few of the PS2 classics. I will always have fond memories of the PS2 for GTA III and the peak DVD Era, though.

I remember I had friends in 1999 that got the Dreamcast brand new on launch day and then I had friends that passed on it waiting for the PS2. The hype for the thing was fucking unreal, all these crazy rumors about what it could do, somebody told me once back around this time that you could use it as an amplifier for your car stereo system. WTF!?

We got one Christmas 2001. We initially went to get a Gamecube but ended up changing our minds, it was down to PS2 or Xbox and when we found out you had to buy something extra to watch DVD's on the Xbox we said fuck that shit and got the PS2. We got it with NFL 2K2 and some kind of Daredevil racing game that sucked balls hardcore(it was a bargain bin game) plus over the next week or two we picked up a few PS1 games from the bargain bin, one of the 007 games and some kind of army game, Special Ops or some shit(my brothers loved it, it sucked though) and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit(awesome, we probably played this more than anything). We also got Planet of the Apes DVD with Mark Wahlberg, our very first DVD(the next week we got Scary Movie 2). Interesting coincidence when I finally got around to picking up the 4K Blu Ray player for my 55 inch 4K Curve last year the first 4K blu ray I bought was War For The Planet Of The Apes!

We played NFL 2K2 and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit(PS1) a lot that winter but by that spring of 2002 I had kind of lost interest in video games, we mostly used it to watch DVD's. I never really got into the really good games for the system until I started collecting video games as an old video game collector with a receding hairline.

The library of games for the PS2 is really something. Still a lot of games I would like to try out, like the X-Files game I've heard about.

I still have a slim PS2 hooked up in my den and I play it once in a blue moon. The Pride Fighting Championships game is really excellent and still holds up well. A couple of thanksgivings ago I played it with my little brothers and they had an epic fight with Don Frye vs Ken Shamrock, it was just a crazy back and forth war that had us marking out. I actually prefer it over the newer UFC/MMA games, GOAT MMA video game.

The K-1 game that came out around 2002 was also really excellent. Also love Virtua Fighter 4, Contra Shattered Soldier, and the Metal Gear Solid games are some of my favorites.

@big Pete interesting that you covered NFL 2K1 vs Madden 2001. I actually seen a video on Youtube a long time ago where somebody said that NFL 2K1 on the Dreamcast outsold Madden that year because of the online gameplay feature. I never could find anything to back that up but a quick google search brought me this

In the US, NFL 2K1 out-sold the PlayStation 2 release of Madden NFL 2001 during the first two weeks of sale, selling 139,000 units (versus 126,000) in its first week, and 208,000 (versus 159,000) by the end of week two. 410,000 units had been sold by the first week of November 2000

Insert the BJ Penn head nod gif

As much as I love the Sega NFL 2K games, as much as I WANT to prefer them over Madden, I just can't. Madden 2001 has better controls and gameplay than NFL 2K1. I'm not really sure that the graphics of Madden were really all that much better than NFL 2K1, it's been a while since I played Madden 2001. NFL 2K1 though it's almost like the game moves a little too fast, like Benny Hill fast motion stuff. NFL 2K1 also had this NFL Blitz/arcade thing going on while Madden feels more like a sim, plus Madden 2001 has the classic retro teams all with all the players having their real numbers(this was the last time they did that I believe). Also the difficulty in Madden 2001 is much more balanced, with the NFL 2K games they were way too easy on regular difficulty but WAY too hard if you bumped it up any.

I had completely forgot about the Madden vs. 2K debate of that time. I preferred 2K, but I can't for the life of me remember why.

I'm not surprised by the sales figures because of the initial PS2 shortage. In the end the PS2 version of Madden sold 1.21 million while NFL 2K1 sold 1.02 million. (VGChartz). It certainly demonstrates how receptive the US market was to the Dreamcast initially and justified the value SEGA put into multiplayer gaming. Not only was the Dreamcast the only console to launch with internet connectivity, the 4 controller ports meant that you could enjoy the pleasures of LAN gaming.

Usually sports games are taken for granted, but the PS2 version of Madden was the most anticipated game on the console and I'm sure it's one that would be familiar to most on here. I also think it's a great example of a launch game where graphics and presentation were paramount. Reading through previews and reviews, those were the features that received the most attention and helped set the console apart from the Dreamcast.

it was an interesting time in history, and I'm looking forward to covering 2001 in more depth. That seems to be the year most of us got into the console. The most interesting thing so far looking back at the PS2 is remembering how luxurious it seemed at the time. $750 wasn't child's money and with DVDs ranging from the $30-50 price range, it didn't feel obtainable to a 10-year-old. Nowadays, I have 3 of them from different generations. 2 of them barely work and the last one was one of those late generation cheapo models.

Madden 2001 is really great. I played through a season of it probably 6 or 7 years ago and kept notes because I'm a nerd like that. I played with the Browns, finished 9-7 and had a pretty awesome run in the playoffs. I had Warren Moon as a backup but never really used him until the Wild Card game. I was down by like 13 points and couldn't complete a pass with Tim Couch to save my life(and had no running game whatsoever, my leading rusher averaged like 2.8 yards per carry on the season), I figured it was the last time I would play the game for a while so might as well put in Moon and fuck around a little. Ended up pulling off a comeback and winning it on a punt return for a TD at the last second. I ended up making it to the Super Bowl with Moon, all 3 playoff games I won were ridiculous last second finishes, it was great. Got destroyed by the Rams in the Super Bowl though, like 38-7, Kurt Warner can not be stopped in Madden 2001(he smoked me in the Pro Bowl too, 40-37).

I usually preferred Madden, but 2K5 was the best football game for about 5 years before Madden finally surpassed it, though if All-Pro Football is any indication, if 2K had continued, Madden would have still surpassed it.

I don't think All Pro Football was a good indicator. All the progress the 2K series had made was lost when Madden got the exclusive license. NFL 2K5 was really amazing, I still think it's better than new Madden games, had they been able to keep refining it for a few more years lord knows how great of a series it could have been. I think that Madden was on it's way to being Myspaced had the 2K series kept going, the NFL saved EA's ass and fuck them for doing it. I bought the new Madden 18 last year and took it back a week or so later, NFL 2K5 with updated rosters and the right difficulty sliders is far superior, ball physics, controls, momentum, presentation, gameplay all significantly better in 2K5.

I’ll elaborate when I’m less tired, but simply put, it’s the greatest console of all time

I'm also on the mindset, that there would be too much to type and I'm just lazy. But the amount of hours I spent on the PS2 is unhumanly back in the days playing through games like SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, the GTA Trilogy, Final Fantasy X, Shadow of the Colossus, GoW I & II, Bully, the Ratchet, Jak & Sly series and so, so, so many more games. I would play those games multiple times too, back when I couldn't afford as much, but hell I was in high school and I was okay with replaying these gems.

On SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, I took every wrestler I could (you couldn't take divas) and got the up to the max stats, so me and my friends can play them on the highest stats they could get. Man...great times.

By the turn of the century, the PlayStation 2 had already out-sold the Dreamcast. The combination of backwards compatibility and home media struck a chord with consumers and the PS2 became the fastest selling console in history. It was another feather in the cap for Sony, but they still had plenty of room to generate more momentum. For one thing, as good as games like SSX, Madden NFL 2002 & Fantavision were they didn't rank among the greatest or technically impressive games of 2000. When you look back at the year, it was games like Deus Ex, Counter Strike, Perfect Dark, Jet Grind Radio, Majora's Mask, Final Fantasy IX that dominated the narrative, not Kessen or Ridge Racer V.

For about a year, there was a real drought for quality content and games that had potential invariably failed to live up to them. I can give you three great examples that not only prove this but are also great examples of early console game design: Oni, The Bouncer & Ephemeral Fantasia.

Oni was basically a Ghost in a Shell licensed game under a different name. It was a third-person beat-em-up/shooter hybrid where you played as a female officer and would have to complete all these missions. The concept of the game was brilliant and it seemed to be riding the wave of momentum shows like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z had generated for Japanese animation. However, the reason why nobody talks about it is because it plays like a PS1 game on PS2. The level design is lacking with large dark rooms with really bad acoustics. You'd imagine a game inspired by Ghost in a Shell would have a killer soundtrack, but often all you'll hear is the low quality voice animation on repeat. The combat also leaves a lot to be desired, with poor animations and hit detection. It wasn't an awful game by any means, but you'd expect more from a Rockstar produced game. It wasn't like they assigned a poor development team either, as Bungie would quickly be scooped up by Microsoft so they could have exclusive rights to Halo for their upcoming home console release.

Before the release of the Final Fantasy movie, Square were one of the premier developers of the industry. Not only were they making some of the greatest RPG adventures of all-time, they were branching out to other genres and giving us cult classics like Brave Fencer Musashi, Racing Lagoon & Parasite Eve. The Bouncer was set to be their forth PS2 game, after their NJPW licensed game, a racing sim and a baseball sim, which looked amazing. It was supposed to revolutionise the beat-em-up genre with multiple characters on screen, amazing graphics that made you feel like you were fighting in a Pixar movie. It was like the opposite of Oni in that it very much felt like a game of the future, but it proved to be too big a handful. The combat wasn't as smooth as it ought to have been, the camera couldn't keep up with the action and the story was about as silly as Final Fantasy VIII. It was one of those games that looked gorgeous inside a magazine, but if you saw it in motion, knew it wasn't worth the full RRP and it was mostly ignored. It's only in recent times, where more and more people reflect on the PS2, where you see the game used as an early example of the PS2 meagre offering of quality games around the launch window.

Finally there's the Konami JRPG, Ephemeral Fantasia, a game that has a lot in common with Majora's Mask. In Majora's Mask, you were on a 3-day loop in order to save the world, but in Ephemeral Fantasia, you get five days and mastering the events allows you to build an awesome party. It still sounds like a great idea for a game, but it plays like something that had a quarter of the budget of Majora's Mask. All the designs in the game are bland, giving the game a flat feeling that you only get from a cheap JRPG. Combat isn't that thrilling and the real time mechanic ends up becoming an exercise in boredom. Reading up on the game, I wasn't surprised to learn it was slated for the Dreamcast and then was switched over to the PS2 and hastily released to capitilise on gamers looking to play something on their PS2.

It wouldn't be long until PlayStation 2 owners would get their hands on quality releases, but the initial launch didn't have much of a follow through.

The PS2 was the first console I really fell in love with. I had previously had a SNES, and still do, and a PS1 - this was the first console I bought with my own money Yet, it was the PS2 I really got into around 2003.

The Smackdown games were the real driver. I also spent a lot of time invested in NFS Underground, GTA SA, and later guitar hero.

I still have the thing today, and for a long time I had a line up of the PS2, 3 and 4 on display in the lounge.

It's time to bump this thread back up.

Originally I was going to go through all the major releases that came out in 2001, but after playing through some of the releases and taking notes on others, I realised I was never going to be ready to add my own experience.

So hitting the fast-forward button, Sony's new console was tearing up the sales chart, but lacked that killer app gamers could point to. Certain games would pop up like Star Wars: Star Fighter which reviewed extremely well, but didn't catch on because it didn't have that broad appeal. If one was to make an argument for Sony's first killer app, then spare a thought for Onimusha: Warlords. One of Capcom's earliest forays on the console, Onimusha was a sight to behold with it's impressive graphical fidelity and amazing score which was performed by the Japanese Philharmonic orchestra. Combined with Capcom's classic well-paced gameplay and a nice marketing budget and Onimusha became the first PS2 game to crack a million sales.

It was an impressive moment in the PS2's lifespan, but they were going to have to follow it up quickly. Microsoft had officially unveiled their first home console, the X Box, the most powerful system on the market. Meanwhile Nintendo were gearing up for the launch of the GameCube, their first global disc-based system which was also more powerful than the PS2. If Sony wanted to stay ahead of the game, they needed to keep those quality releases pouring in.

Which is exactly what ended up happening. It seemed like every week, game developers were releasing must-play games on Sony's hardware, making it the console of choice in it's generation. Games like Twisted Metal: Black, Gran Turismo 3, Klonoa 2, ICO, Devil May Cry, Grand Theft Auto III, SSX Tricky, Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarder 3, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X were released in close proximity of one another, giving gamers more than they could handle.

This saturation of quality titles proved too much for me. Despite only joining the Sony family in March of 2001, by Christmas of 2001, I was ready to make the upgrade. So on December 25th 2001, on the hottest Christmas Day I've ever experienced, I unwrapped my PS2 along with a copy of WWF SmackDown: Just Bring It. I've written about it before, but I was so excited to play through this game. SmackDown 2 was close to the best Pro Wrestling game I'd played and with the power of the PS2 and the WCW & ECW wrestlers on board, I thought I was on the cusp of gaming greatness.

What I received instead was a downgrade of SmackDown 2, with barely any former ECW & WCW wrestlers and a much shorter campaign mode. I tried to make the most of the game, but it wasn't long before I hunted down a copy of WWF No Mercy to wash the taste out. Fortunately, my brother received a copy of Jak & Daxter which I quickly gravitated towards. Coming off Crash Team Racing, it seemed like Naughty Dog would ape whatever IP Rareware came up with and put their own spin on it. In this case, we got Naughty Dog's take on a Banjo Kazooie game. Their vision focused more intently on the personalities of the character and the flow of platforming. Whereas Rare were making their games bigger and more diverse than ever, Naughty Dog scaled it down and made a much better follow-up game to Banjo Kazooie. It was the first game I ever completed 100% and I feel I'm not alone in that. The game feels like such a breeze to play through and while it's a touch on the easy side, it's an enjoyable romp throughout.

From there, I made an effort to buy games from different genres. I picked up 007: Agent Under Fire under the foolish expectation it would be a GoldenEye-tier game. It wasn't a bad game, but it didn't have the replayability of Rare's classic shooter. From my experience, all the 007 games during that era followed the same boat. They were OK Shoot Em Ups, but compared to Halo or TimeSplitters they paled in comparison. Both 007 Agent Under Fire & WWF SmackDown: Just Bring It became the first and only games I ever traded in so I could buy something else. That game was WWE SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth, which was the game I wanted Just Bring It to be. To this day, Shut Your Mouth is the game I think about when it comes to the SmackDown series. Here Comes The Pain was a better game, but it didn't make the leap up that it's predecessor did or quite have that level of arcade wrestling fun. As a way to entertain my then 7-year old brother, I made CAWs as ourselves as Public Enemy-style gorillas who could hit all these insane dives. Through a use of an Action Replay, we were able to glitch the game out and brawl through the crowd and hit insane moves like teleportation DDTs which would send us to all parts of the arena. I also remember beating the campaign inside an entire weekend as Stone Cold Steve Austin, which was nuts because it's a two-year campaign mode. Awesome game, I need to bust it out again.

Outside of Pro Wrestling, Square left a big impression on me. PAL regions didn't receive Final Fantasy X until March of 2002, which meant there was a lot of anticipation surrounding the release. I was in the early days of my message board lurking, and was often trying to get impressions on the game from GameFAQs. Browing through their threads where they'd discuss the characters, the world of Spira, competing in Blitzball leagues and all this other information sent my head into a spin and I was looking forward to a proper sequel to Final Fantasy VIII. At least, that was my attitude at the time, IX was regarded as a throwback game and kind of a throw-away before the big FFX release. Playing through it, I was just blown away by the production. The way characters dressed, the music, the full motion videos, the story, the combat - I was hooked and yet I couldn't bring myself to buy it. I enjoyed the thrill of renting it and trying to make as much progress as I could over a weekend. I must have rented it about a half-a-dozen times and I just got up to the air-ship battle before the wedding. When it went platinum, I eventually succumbed and bought it, but ruined my experience. For whatever reason, I was really into using an Action Replay at the time, loaded the game up with cheats and just proceeded to play what had become a Visual Novel. It was a bummer, and I didn't legitimately beat the game until years later. Still, it remained a big part of my PS2 experience, so much so, I bought art-books and 12" figurines. It's a game I eventually want to go back and beat 100%, but it's just finding the time.

That appreciation for Final Fantasy X lent itself to the release of Kingdom Hearts. I was already high on Square and the combination of a Disney multi-verse was intriguing. As soon as the game booted up and Sora's on those painted glass panels of famous Disney characters with the orchestral music in the background, I was hooked. In fact this was the first game where I let him take the control and watched him play. This was going to be a birthday present, but then Kmart had it for half-priced so it became the game of the summer. Not only did he beat it, I also watched him take down all the secret bosses, complete all the sidequests and unlock the secret preview ending. I was mostly a spectator through out the playthrough, giving advice based on things I'd read online but as soon as a sequel was hinted at, I couldn't wait to get my own hands on it. It's a game I've since gone back to and while I can remember why I was OK with letting my bro play (such a janky game) it's really charming. It also served as our introduction to the Nightmare Before Chistmas, which was the first DVD we ever bought. We must have watched that a dozen times during the holidays.

I'll leave it there, and will cover my 2003-2005 experiences.

I forgot to mention Tekken 4, which is unfortunate since it, Final Fantasy X & the SmackDown series were integral for me buying the console. Tekken 4 was the first game I followed via social media and everyday I'd log-in to find out new information from the Japanese arcade release. Ultimately it was a disappointment, but there were two notable moments. Firstly was the reveal of Jin who had been kept quiet through out the development of the game. It appeared that Kazuya had taken his place on the roster, so his return as an all-new fighter was sweet. The other was Violet, some weird 70s looking dude with purple hair who turned out to be Lee in a sweet twist. I could never play as that character, but since Trunks was one of my favourite characters in DBZ, I was excited to see him included.

I didn't bother reading the reviews or taking in the message board conversation, I was going to buy the game regardless. I picked it up upon release and after a solid year of expectation, the game was merely OK. In fact, it was sort of a step-down from Tekken 3 and the game made a lot of strange choices. The one that stood out the most was the anti-climatic final boss fight against Heihachi inside a cage where he's dressed in a sumo thong. We went from fighting the Devil, to an Ogre to fighting an old dude in a thong. The other issue was the story, which in previous games was usually skipped over, but here they took great joy sharing every detail. The problem is, the Tekken storyline is awful. They were better saying nothing than celebrating just how bat-shit dumb the whole thing was. There were other issues with the game that I never really noticed but mechanically it's considered the worst in the franchise. As disappointing as it was, the game still looked amazing and it fulfilled the role of being my 3D fighter for the console.

Onto 2003.

This was the year where I began to focus more on the Nintendo GameCube. Still, the GameCube had plenty of holes in it's library and that's where the PS2 was able to swoop in. Outside of another amazing SmackDown entry (arguably the best in the series), Rugby League received it's first video game adaptation in 7 years. It set pre-order records in Australia and finally I had a sports game where I cared about the team management system. It's a good thing too, because the rest of the game was hot garbage. It was a janky mess, with terribly unresponsive controls, PS1 level graphics and glitches that turned the dynamics of the game entirely. For instance, you'd never want the ball to go over the sideline, because scrums were way too easy to score off of. Still, it was a Rugby League game, so naturally I spent 100s of hours updating rosters, building custom competitions and playing out classic Grand Finals.

In 2005 they released a sequel Rugby League 2 which is the game I've spent the most amount of time on for the PS2. The gameplay was improved significantly over the original and the players were all scanned into the game, so it looked like a PS2 game. Still, it was the same developers as before, so it was nowhere near the levels of NFL 2K5 or anything of that level. The most notable issue with the game is how awful the AI was. Even on the hardest difficulty, it was easy to exploit them and I often found myself scoring 30+ tries in a 20 minute match. There were a few other bug bears as well, like the fullback being stuck at the back of play like a statue when they're typically the most hands on attacking player and there being no lower case letters in player customisation. So most of my teams would look like: Karmichael Hunt, DARIUS BOYD, Justin Hodges, JOEL MOON, FRASER ANDERSON, Darren Lockyer, SHANE PERRY etc. etc. Still I played the game for a solid 3 years, played through season with every club and made so many players I hit the limit and had to wait for a special 2008 World Cup edition to be released. So many fans were upset they were releasing a 3 year old game, but I was over the moon. Unfortunately the game had some bug that prevented players from saving season mode, but I still bought it Day 1.

The other notable purchase of 2003 was the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack for Christmas. While both games came out in 2001 and 2002 respectively, I thought I'd hold off on buying them until I was in my teens and was being exposed to way dirtier shit on a daily basis. I'm not sure if it's the right move, because Vice City got me hooked on really cheesy 80s music and my iPod wore the brunt of it. Still, there was something to driving around the streets of Vice City, listening to Human League's fascination and just taking in the coastal vibes. I didn't bother too much with the main campaign, I usually just zoned out, drove and soaked up the atmosphere. Moreso than any other game, it had a huge influece on me.

2004 saw the release of Final Fantasy X-2, the first ever direct sequel to a FF game. I was sceptical but since it was a FFX game I picked it up Day 1, sneaking out of the house when I was supposed to be baby-sitting my younger brother (and getting caught for doing so). I wish I could say it was all worth it, but FFX-2 was a game I gave up on half-way through and only returned to a couple of years back. It was clearly a cash-grab game where Square felt like they could make more money out of pre-existing assets and the game is choc-loaded with all sorts of dumb fan-service. Sadly, the gameplay is actually pretty good, with an active time battles returning as well as a job system-like upgrade system. For whatever reason, I also bought the Prima Game Guide which I still have floating around. If memory serves, the main reason for me dropping the game was the ending system. In order to achieve the best ending, you've got to fulfill all these obligations and if you miss one conversation, or answer one question badly, you'll miss out. I went from being into the game to just turning it off because I knew it would take 3 playthroughs to clear properly.

Finally there was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which released around October of 2004. Overtime, San Andreas has seemingly lost out to Vice City as the premier PS2 entry, but at the time there was no mistaking that San Andreas was the king of the console. With new RPG elements and a more riverting story, San Andreas proved to be more than just a sex simulator, it was an engrossing game that made the open-world genre feel more alive than ever before. While Vice City left a bigger impression on me, for years I considered San Andreas the best game on the console. It's been 13 years since I last played it, but I'd imagine it'd still hold up well today.

Next: 2006-Present: Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus, Kingdom Hearts II and Persona.

I don't have anything more to contribute but please keep going. I'm enjoying the reads.

Actually, I do have one thing to contribute. San Andreas is the best PS2 GTA game. Vice City is the worst.

The year is 2006. 'Download This Song' is still culturally relevant, JT is bringing Sexy Back and everyone has a terrible Borat impression that can't wait to share. Very nice! It was also a new generation in gaming. The Nintendo DS was a year old, Sony had launched the PlayStation Portable and the X Box 360 was the hot ticket holiday item. Meanwhile the PlayStation 2 was still chugging away with games like Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy), The Warriors and the port of Resident Evil 4 receiving the most attention. By this point in time, I wasn't keeping up with PS2 releases and the system to me was primarily the place where I could get my Rugby League 2 & WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 fix. However, that was all about to change.

In October of 2005, Shadow of the Colossus launched in the United States and the hype for the game became unavoidable. It was the talk of every major gaming publication and in my own neck of the woods became the first PS2 exclusive in a long-time that was a must buy. The biggest obstacle was the release date. For whatever reason, Sony delayed the release until February of 2006, so I remember the bittersweet feelings of waiting for summer holidays to come to an end so I could finally play this amazing video game. To sweeten the pot, Sony also re-issued ICO which had become a collector's item around that time, so for the price of a full retail game, I was going to get my hands on two classics.

So you know that feeling you have when everybody tells you how amazing a game is you don't believe them? That was my initial impressions of Shadow of the Colossus. I played through the first three colossus and while there was nothing wrong about the game, it wasn't the type of game that captured my imagination or had me wanting to come back for more. Then the 4th Colossus comes around and I'm just completely stumped. For a good 10 minutes I'm running around the undercovers groves trying to decipher what the clues are trying to tell me. Very often the Colossus will stick it's head into the holes, and I thought it was just trying to convey how aggressive the beast was. I didn't think the AI was having these creatures interact in the environment for the players benefit and when I realised just how original the gameplay was, I was mesmerized. From there, the game struck the perfect balance for me. Some battles were thrilling as you'd have to hold onto dear life while in the air, making the most of your grip gauge to strike the wings of the enemy, others were more straight-forward and the game rarely felt boring. At 10 hours, it had just the right amount of gameplay and a lot of those fights in the game remain some of the best boss fights I've experienced in gaming. The only downside around this time is that Australia introduced a new colour-coded classification system. So we went from having these acceptable stickers that would tell you how age appropriate these games were to these giant bright monostrosieties that fill up the bottom half of every box. They're like a giant mole, you can't look away from them and half my PS2 collection looks like it has skittles tacked onto the side of it.

So Shadow of the Colossus somewhat lit the fire, but there's one game I had my eyes on. Kingdom Hearts had released in 2002 during a much more innocent time in my life. I had enjoyed watching my brother play through it and I was interested to get my hands on what lessons Square had learned from the original. In 2005, Square released Kingdom Hearts 2 in Japan and a US release was set for March around that year. I could feel the release coming and thought at most I'd have to wait until semester holidays to finally play through the sequel. I waited, and waited, and waited until Square revealed that the game wouldn't come out until September.

I needed something to satisfy that itch Shadow had given me. It was the end of semester which coincides with the end of the financial years sales where I was able to bolster my collection. I bought Dragon Quest VIII after reading a Let's Play on PalGN and this rhythm game that had some hype about it. It's name: Guitar Hero. When I bought it the clerk acted somewhat surprise that somebody had heard of it, it was like I had bought an obscure EP or something of the sort. Anyways I was hosting a party and I set Guitar Hero up as a side thing people could play as something to do. The game was so good, everyone was riveted and couldn't wait to get their hands on it. The few stragglers who ended up staying over played the damn thing all-night setting high-scores and just challenging one another to get better. I'm not sure what made Guitar Hero so much better than other rhythm games, but it was addictive. I can't remember the full set-list, but my favourite song in the game was Shaimus - All of This, which was clearly a song they through on there as a favour to a friend so they could get some notoriety.

Guitar Hero was quality, but I was jonesing for some Kingdom Hearts 2. It got so bad, at one point I printed off images from google and glued them into my notebook like I was a Jesse McCartney fan. I'm surprised nobody mocked me for having Disney characters in my books, but I got to say, it really boosted my morale and actually enhanced my academic performance. The game eventually came out during our third term holidays and I remember having to wait until later in the night and pick it up during late night shopping. After years of anticipation and doing an unbelievable job of avoiding spoilers for the game, I sat down to one of the biggest disappointments I've played. I just didn't know it at the time. Originally the most appealing thing about KH was being able to explore the different worlds, in KH2 the worlds became far more linear and the gameplay would often stop so you could complete some specific objective. Furthermore, instead of picking up from KH, Chains of Memories was upgraded to sequel status and all the shallow clown looking guys became major characters. Furthermore, 20 hours into the game, they expected you to return to each world again and complete some new objective. I was so let-down by the game, I dropped it there and didn't finish it off until a year later.

Fortunately a month later, Guitar Hero II came out and the franchise exploded. The improved multiplayer made it an even bigger hit at parties, more of the tracks included original masters and a couple of the songs were so difficult, they became legitimate boasts. If you could beat Through The Fire and Flames or Jordan on Expert, you were a deity. Again, my memory of this game is mostly playing it at parties, especially at my 17th where one of my friends insisted on beating Message In A Bottle on Expert and took 3 hours to do it from around 2am. It's become our go-to song whenever we catch up at kareoke, those lyrics were burned into my brain. My other memory was my brother becoming a whizz at it and just beating anyone who would play him. He'd be playing people going to uni and real musicians and just smash them. As far as the rest of the series goes, I picked up Rock the 80s and 3 but left it there. When it became clear they were just going to release Guitar Hero 'Insert Band' I had enough. I was looking forward to Rock Band, but the original didn't come out here and by the time 2 came out, it was during the time I was out of gaming.

Heading into 2007 and the Guitar Hero series really breathed a lot of new interest into the PS2. Games like Okami, God of War 2, God Hand, Rogue Galaxy, Valkyrie Profile 2, Final Fantasy XII etc. came into my periphery and while I have a few of those in my collection, gaming was becoming less of a priority. Meanwhile my brother was only becoming more invested so we ended up with a modded PS2 for the express purpose of playing NTSC games we otherwise couldn't get our hands on. Even with the new system of games, the PS2 had such an exciting library, my only regret is that we didn't get our hands on the modded PS2 sooner.

The PS2 was officially old generation, but every now and then a new release would come out that would catch my eye. In 2009, I came across a GameTrailers review of Persona 4 that captured my interest right away. The concept of the game intrigued me and the visual style was right up my alley. It wasn't the type of game I was going to pre-order or buy online, but if I saw it at the shops and had the money, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up. Then one day, I clocked off uni and was set to meet a mate for the premier of the DBZ movie. I got there before they did, so I checked out EB and there it was. I picked that bad boy up...and then proceeded to ignore it for a fortnight. I had assessment, 18ths, 21sts and all that to distract me. Then one day I said why not and instantly got hooked. The game did a fantastic job of showing you the consequences of this phenomenon and watching the story play out was riveting. Persona 4 may have been the first game where I really binged sessions and if I couldn't, I'd somehow make time for it. It also made me look at life differently and how to be a better person. It's bad that it took a video game to teach me to study harder, exercise more, choose your responses more carefully, but that's where I was at.

Then both my PS2s stopped working which put a halt to proceedings. Unfortunately I was responsible for the Modded PS2s downfall as I left it outside during a party and it didn't forgive me. The original over-heated and the system can no longer read discs. So for awhile we had a large stack of games and no means to play them. Eventually I got antsy, bought one of those cheap PS2 slims as well as a copy of Persona 3 FES. Jumping back from 4 was difficult and there's sections of the game that are slogs to get through. However, the final third of the game was a blast to play through and I walked away from the game appreciating it more than 4. I feel thematically it's a stronger game and it does a good job of making the player feel isolated. Whereas in 4, you win people over by getting them through a difficult trial in their life, 3 you wander into a pre-established group and have to make your mark. Every moment feels earned in that game and it does a good job of putting you in the character's shoes. There were sections where I just felt emotionally drained, especially when I'd try and make the most of each Tartarus visit and be the only party member left grinding away for levels.

18 years after it's release, the PS2 is a console I find myself coming back to. I've barely scratched the surface of it's vast library and my experience has led me to believe these games still offer plenty of enjoyment in the years to come. What I enjoy most about this console is that so many people experience it differently. Unlike say Nintendo 64 where everyone played Mario 64, Goldeneye 007 & Ocarina of Time you could be like me and miss out on playing Devil May Cry, God of War, Gran Turismo IV and still gotten more than your moneys worth. With 3874 games, I find myself coming across titles I had never heard of before, but really wish I had. It's truly the greatest console I've ever played.

I enjoyed the PS2, it had good games.