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[Hyperborean]

I remember buying a PS2 to play FFIX because my PS1 had stopped working. My brother bought Tekken Tag Tournament which I thought was great looking.
PS2 probably cemented Sony as the King.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I remember going to Wal-Mart with my Pops around 10pm or so and getting in line. I think I was number 15 or so in line and they only had like 12 PS2's or some shit. And these sonsofbitches wouldn't even tell anyone how many they had until midnight. So heartbroken. To make it even worse, I had the bright idea of picking up Tekken Tag Tournament before I even had the console presuming I was about to get one. So then I had a PS2 game that I couldn't even play.

My Mom ended up renting a PS2 for a while for my buddies and I and I remember us playing a ton of SSX. Got a PS2 not too much later. One of the best consoles ever.

This was all because of Sega's incredibly stupid marketing of the Saturn, the PlayStation was so beloved that the hype for PS2 was going to kill the Dreamcast no matter what. Dreamcast is definitely a cooler piece of hardware in some ways and its sad that it died an early death but the PS2 was probably the perfect console for the perfect time. Its the greatest console of all time imo. The library is staggering and very quickly after launch many amazing games were releasing at what felt like a weekly pace for like 5 years straight. Its a totally different era I wish we could go back to.

Imo the Dreamcast wasn't even the weakest console of the gen, it was the GameCube. GC had a handful of great exclusives but everything else about it was a total afterthought and there was a pretty shocking amount of multi-plat games that even skipped the GC. Also I'm in the camp that does not really care for the GC controller aside from some games like Sunshine or Melee working well with it. Otherwise it feels tiny and uncomfortable.

PS2 >>> Xbox > Dreamcast > GC but they were all good in their own ways. PS2 just eclipsed the rest by how insanely successful it was in nearly every way, its definitive proof nobody gives a crap about hardware specs when you have the best software output in the business.

Sony made some really smart moves with the PS2. Making sure it could play DVD's was such a huge boon for them because that's right around the times DVD's started really picking up steam as the dominant media standard and it was way easier for a kid to convince their parents to pick one up.

I agree too that the Dreamcast should have gotten more love than it did and I ended up(at the time) loving the DC way more than the GC. Though, I would still say I hold my fondness for that generation with Xbox-->PS2-->DC-->GC myself. Still, it was a really great time to be a gamer though as the competition was so fierce and it felt like PS2 had some new crazy game constantly available.

 

[Lupin3]

Feels like it was 40 years ago.

 

[Fafalada]

its definitive proof nobody gives a crap about hardware specs when you have the best software output in the business.

I mean - specwise it was remarkably similar to comparing X1X (XBox) > PS4/XB1S (PS2 & GC) > Switch (DC).
And we all saw how that played out this gen too...

Anyway PS2 hw will always be dear to my heart from development perspective - but there's something about sheer variety PS1 library had that PS2 - IMO - never quite matched. Nothing really did until perhaps NDS...

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Still my GOAT

Sony hasn't surpassed the PS2 since

Paris Hilton approves lol

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Paris Hilton approves lol

She's a 2 out of 10 for me lol

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

She's a 2 out of 10 for me lol

I was joking lmao

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I was joking lmao

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Here's also some of the more creative adverts (also edgier) that Sony did back during the PS2 era:

bonus a fake/mock-up one:

 

[Spyxos]

I can still remember the Ps2 night launch in Sony Center(Berlin). They had a few test stations set up for demo purposes. I think I spent about 10 hours there. Tekken Tag Tournament was soooo good.

I could not find any ps2 launch images. This is from the ps4 launch.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

I skipped the PS2 at launch because I didn't really see a reason to get one at the time. I remember my friend had Madden and SSX something, and I wasn't impressed.

I was gifted an Xbox in 2003. Once I discovered that PS2 had true arcade versions of Dance Dance Revolution, I sold that Xbox and bought a PS2. My most played game on the system has to be Final Fantasy XI.

I still have a PS2 connected to a CRT in my bedroom! My most recently played game is Klonoa 2.

 

[Celcius]

I remember being so amazed by the graphics. I had a dreamcast but eventually the hype got to me so I sold it and bought a PS4 + Tekken 4.

 

[dreamcastluvr]

I just so happen to be playing some Vice City Stories on the PCSX2 before signing on to work today. It's absolutely wonderful what that emulator does for classic PS2 games.

 

[Cohetedor]

I remember I was working for Sears at the time of launch, we had a total of 6 consoles for launch day. We gave out tickets to the first six in line. When we went to get them for the customers there were only 5 in lockup.

Turned out the electronics manager had taken one the night before launch, they threatened to fire him on the spot if he didn't return it.

 

[Ceadeus]

if only we could still buy CRT's right

 

[Ozzie666]

If I recall EA had a decent launch, with Madden, NFL and SSX and PS1 backwards compatiablity. Probably the last time I put much stock in EA games overall.

 

[chinoXL]

Yeh buddy, me and my boy camped out at Best Buy on launch day. brought it to the college TV hall and had everyone hype to run it..the good ol days