25 Years Of The PlayStation 2

October 26th, 2000. The PlayStation 2 launched in the United States. Sony marched forward, following the success of their virgin voyage with the original PlayStation, and earning favor with a new generation of fans. With its strong library of first person and third person software, backwards compatibility, and multimedia functionality, the PS2 was one of the driving forces that pushed video games into mainstream culture, in a country that had only seen Nintendo and Sega as major successes in the hardware department.

THE RECORD

The PlayStation 2's record of over 160 million units sold worldwide will likely not be broken. The Nintendo DS and the Switch have come very close to beating that number, but the PS2's total was lightning in a bottle, a time that can never be recreated in today's landscape. It was a very conventional platform that appealed to the casual entertainment fan and gaming enthusiasts.

The Library

PS2 had a lot of everything for any kind of video game fan. The sports games like the Madden franchise and 2K's NFL series, a regular showcase for new hardware visuals were increasing in popularity. Action titles like Devil May Cry redefined the genre. Role-playing games were getting bigger and breaking the boundaries of cinematic presentation, like the Xenosaga trilogy of games developed by Monolith Soft. The Gran Tursimo franchise also earned itself as a foothold of Sony's signature racing series. Fighting games like Tekken Tag Tournament and Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore (based on the definitive version of the arcade game), excelled at bringing the arcade experience home with a plethora of extras that enhanced the replay value.

Its appeal was aided by its strong line of launch titles. While some games were a little rough around the edges, as the new technology was being explored, the day one releases offered a great deal of variety. Sure, there may have been some hyped duds, such as Square Enix's The Bouncer (an over-promising attempt at a full 3D brawler game), upcoming third party software that would follow in short succession like Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Kingdom Hearts, and Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy would be household names early in the system's life.

Everyone's First DVD Player

A big part of the PS2's success was the ability to play DVDs. DVD technology was still fairly new, and players were pricey for many average households. Being able to watch movies on your video game console made the price point of $299.99USD for the PlayStation 2 a very viable option to double as a gaming platform, AND the luxury of watching the Fullscreen version of Death Becomes Her. There were some precautions, as the PS2's disc reader wasn't of the finest quality for the heavy task of playing both movies AND games in the first year of the console (and would be an issue that affected it throughout many models in its lifespan. The slims improved a bit), but the appeal was definitely a unit mover that made it more viable than the Nintendo GameCube.

PlayStation 2's Top 10 Selling Games

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 17.33 million copies

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec - 4.89 million

Gran Turismo 4 - 11.75 million

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - 11.24 million

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10.25 million

Grand Theft Auto III - 8.5 million

Final Fantasy X - 6.37 million

Kingdom Hearts - 5.55 million

Final Fantasy XII - 5.4 million

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 4.84 million

The PlayStation 2 launched the Sony brand into the success it sees today. I remember I saved my allowances in high school for two years to buy it, making it the first video game console I would purchase with my own money. I was looking forward to the JRPGs and fighting games, and it was definitely worth it. I even did some breakdowns indie magazine PSM, which marketed the hype leading towards the consoles release, anticipating what its hypothetical prospects for online gaming, visuals, sound etc. would mean for video game genres of the present at the time, and the future. It was quite a fascinating endeavor to explore.

Happy 25 years, PlayStation 2. You've earned your place in history.