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[RoboFu]

SInce there seems to but a lot of negative air around PS right now .. I would like to take a quick look back on one of my most favorite console designs of all trime.

Every decision about the design and marketing of the PS2 was a master class in the fields. One of the most beautiful consoles ever both the launch and slim model and superb. The only consoles I think I have ever just held and looked at many times.


The design was actually taken from an unreleased Atari Falcon micro box computer. This is not a rumor it is actually in old design documents. But of course they added that sony design elegance to really make it striking.

The Black on Blue was cool enough but tying it all in from the highlights to the bottom of the disks themselves was pure genius. And it all stemmed from the most perfect logo to ever be created....

the deep blue with the angular morden font wa simple yet so powerful.
The whole marketing package was just one awesome concept after another. I dont think I have since seen a product tied together so perfectly as the ps2. Just look at the box it came in!

Just seeing a stack of these on a floor at circuit city made you take notice. You wanted to buy it without even knowing what it was lol.





I do not know the person or people who nailed that look and marketing but I hope they got the props they deserved.

 

[sono]

100percent!

 

[AGRacing]

What a machine.

I spent an hour once looking for a way to put a PS2 styled PS5 logo on the side of the dbrand blacked our PS5.

Those days were the greatest.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I love my PlayStation 2 (and even use it as a DVD player when not playing on it), but I feel like that honor should go to the Nintendo Wii.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Rose-tinted glasses about the design part. I don't remember anyone in my offline circle and local gaming magazines claiming that PS2 was "beautiful." It was mostly just unflattering comparisons to the monolith from 2001 or bars of chocolate.

The logo was cool, though.

 

[mortal]

The PS2 start-up sounds so futuristic. Quite fitting for the Y2K era. Loved the ads too.

 

[NeverYouMind]

PS1 startup was better.

 

[bender]

Slim is a sexy beast.

 

[NeverYouMind]

What I hate about PS2 is the tiny memory card and saving screens having tons of text.

 

[mortal]

PS1 startup was better.

I'd argue different vibes, but equally as good. PS1's THX styled start-up is forever nostalgic.

 

[skit_data]

It’s very sleek. Sony could’ve easily just went on with the exact same design throughout all gens with minor variations to the exterior and it would’ve worked great. Timeless design.

 

[SeraphJan]

6th gen was great, Game Cube was amazing too

 

[Deft Beck]

One of my favorite consoles of all time. Almost flawless.

 

[Loke]

Probably the best looking console ever. The black and blue goes so well together.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I still consider the PlayStation 2 to be one of the best, if not the best console of all time.

I say this is somebody who grew up with a Magnavox Odyssey 2 and Atari 2600.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Thanks Atari for letting Sony use your design template for the PS2.

PS1 startup was better.

Disagree, because people combine the disc loading start-up screen with the console start-up screen which is cheating imo. If there's no disc in the console the disc boot doesn't happen iirc. It's iconic to have both next to each other but it's not fair to call the whole thing the startup screen.

 

[March Climber]

Slim is a sexy beast.

PSX version too.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Amazing console. It was so hard to get here back in the days. Times before the internet. Annoying as shit it was but quite exciting too.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Sigh

 

[FunkMiller]

No lies detected.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Thanks Atari for letting Sony use your design template for the PS2.

Disagree, because people combine the disc loading start-up screen with the console start-up screen which is cheating imo. If there's no disc in the console the disc boot doesn't happen iirc. It's iconic to have both next to each other but it's not fair to call the whole thing the startup screen.

Believe me, if the console only had the first half you were not starting up anything without turning the console off and giving the disc a good cleaning.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Believe me, if the console only had the first half you were not starting up anything without turning the console off and giving the disc a good cleaning.

Or if you were one of those few people who wanted to hear the soundtrack instead of playing the game which some games let you do with the built-in CD Rom player. That is also one reason to not see that second screen.

 

[NeverYouMind]

PSX version too.

I genuinely prefer the PS1 Slim over any other console design by Sony. I love that it looks like a toy and has rounded edges.

P.S. Who would want to play music on the television instead of a CD Player or Boombox?

 

[SegaManAU]

 

[nial]

Sigh

PS4 must be on Aero, also the Saturn and PS1 are 1994.

 

[cartman414]

PS1 startup was better.

Overrated. Dynamic Range 0.

 

[ReBurn]

Mine got DRE's 4 months after I bought it and Sony made me pay $139 to fix it. Just like launch PS1, the GOAT of cheap disc drives.

At least they gave me my money back when they settled the class action lawsuit. They eventually got it right with the slim.

 

[Captain Toad]

And if GAF was around at the time, we'd be saying how gaming is crap now and how it was so much better in the SNES and PS1 days.

Just like people 10-20 years from now will be calling this period a great time in gaming with stuff like Elden Ring, Tears of the Kingdom, God of War.

 

[Unknown?]

Don't forget the lovely horizontal stand! The first and only one of two consoles to have a horizontal stand(other being PS5).

 

[Captain Toad]

Don't forget the lovely horizontal stand! The first and only one of two consoles to have a horizontal stand(other being PS5).

The Wii had one.

Well, a vertical one, which I assume you meant.

 

[yet_another_alt]

How many slim PS2s can fit inside the PS5?

 

[SirTerry-T]

By "Sony design elegance", do you mean needless ridges that served no purpose other than to be really awkward dust collectors?

The Slim, on the other hand, was pure elegance.

 

[Unknown?]

The Wii had one.

Well, a vertical one, which I assume you meant.

 

[Ozzie666]

The slim model is one of the most amazing technical marvels I've ever seen in terms of shrinking down a console. It's amazing and cute at the same time, proudly display under the TV.

The color blue being introduced to everything and the Playstation line was also very clever. I never knew it was somehow inspired by the Atari Falcon, always reminded me of the Sharp 68K a little when standing up.

 

[German Hops]

OP is on point. You can disagree, but you're really just agreeing.

 

[DEAD ORIGINAL]

I love my PlayStation 2 (and even use it as a DVD player when not playing on it), but I feel like that honor should go to the Nintendo Wii.

Goat design Wii

 

[TexMex]

I remember

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

here a goat furr ya

 

[Demigod Mac]

Footage from a Playstation 2 launch event.
When a staffer pulls out one of those blue boxes, all hell breaks loose.


Only one month before launch, Sony announced that the expected inventory of 1 million units would be cut in half, so they were extremely hard to come by.
I got extremely lucky - was in my school's computer lab and came across the news that a small Canadian electronics retailer had just put pre-orders on sale.
That was a Halloween to remember.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

The most satisfying thing about the PS2 was way the disc tray slide out slowly. Felt like such a premium experience.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I genuinely prefer the PS1 Slim over any other console design by Sony. I love that it looks like a toy and has rounded edges.

P.S. Who would want to play music on the television instead of a CD Player or Boombox?

 

[Sgt.Asher]

I think the lesson here is that the slim versions are miles better than the original console.

 

[Unknown?]

I think the lesson here is that the slim versions are miles better than the original console.

In the case of the PS2, not quite as much. It no longer had a bay for an HDD. Everything else was better though.

 

[RoboFu]

And if GAF was around at the time, we'd be saying how gaming is crap now and how it was so much better in the SNES and PS1 days.

Just like people 10-20 years from now will be calling this period a great time in gaming with stuff like Elden Ring, Tears of the Kingdom, God of War.

Gaming was better the snes / genesis days but this thread is about design and marketing.