25 Years Later And Nothing Has Lived Up To The PlayStation 2

I apologise profusely for how old I’m about to make you feel, but the PlayStation 2 celebrates its 25th birthday today. It has been a quarter of a century since Sony’s second-generation console launched in Japan and changed video games forever.

From the very beginning, PS2 dominated the generation, single-handedly booting Sega from the console market before leaving Xbox in the dust. Throughout its lifetime, the console would sell 160 million units and keep releasing software well into the PlayStation 4 era, showcasing exactly how culturally significant this machine was. But it wasn’t just a financial success, it also played a pivotal role in creating several new series, genres, and foundational classics that, in the years that followed, would become common household names. Without the PS2, I wouldn’t be sitting here penning this article right now.

PS2 Was The Arbiter Of Modern Video Games

During the PS1, Sega, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 days, now known as the fifth generation, it was clear that video games were in a state of transition. While some developers and publishers still relied on 2D, those with an inkling of what the future held began to embrace the third dimension.

Most of the games during this time were laughably primitive, and in hindsight they look charming yet utterly terrible in how they piece together characters and environments. But back then, we knew no better. Final Fantasy 7, Super Mario 64, and Crash Bandicoot felt like the future, even as we saw textures fall apart at the seams and human characters pieced together with random bits and bobs. We knew, deep down, that this was the start of something.

During the final years of the 20th century, we watched visuals mature and developers started to grow in ambition with the games they were creating. Metal Gear Solid was the first gaming blockbuster that could rival the silver screen, while Resident Evil threw us into a building ripe with undead mysteries that could match up with the best zombie flicks. Existing genres bloomed while new ones burst from the ground, and throughout this generation we were on the edge of our seats wondering what would come next. Sony not only delivered, it changed the entire industry with the PS2.

The console launched out of the gate with a number of excellent games, even if the classics that would come to define it didn’t arrive until later. Dynasty Warriors 2 was a graphical powerhouse that featured more enemies on screen than we’d ever seen before, while offering a decent roster of characters that, at the time, all felt distinctly unique in the fledgling musou genre. TimeSplitters built upon the ambitious console shooter formula pioneered by Rare with the release of GoldenEye. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore was the most photorealistic fighting game we’d ever seen, and Midnight Club allowed us to race through streets filled with utterly wild levels of detail that no home console had ever been capable of before. This launch line-up offered something for everyone, and felt like a statement of intent from Sony of the things it had in the pipeline.

No Game Library Can Ever Live Up To The PS2

During its lifespan, the PlayStation 2 became the default console for third-party developers and publishers due to its ease of development and unending popularity. Many would soon pull support for the Xbox and GameCube because they weren’t worth the resources, leading most games to sell and look best on Sony’s console no matter who made them. Combined with an industry-leading slate of exclusives, I have to imagine others looking upon the PS2 with envious eyes during its historic run.

One of its earliest successes came in the form of Grand Theft Auto 3, and I doubt I need to recount how Rockstar’s open-world crime adventure changed the fabric of video games for good. It showed us what an open-world experience should look like, and exactly how much freedom could be offered to the player while still offering an engrossing narrative and major sense of place. The fact these were followed up by Vice City and San Andreas, two titles that would continue to expand on the formula and change the video game landscape, is a historic trio of bangers that just isn’t possible anymore.

The same goes for Metal Gear Solid, with Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater being two very different but equally groundbreaking games that saw the hardware used in magical ways. I will never forget playing these games for the first time and being floored by how every little thing in the environment reacted to my actions, whether pieces of ice on a random bar or a snake waiting to bite me in the bushes.

Burnout, Tony Hawk’s, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Onimusha, God of War, SSX, Final Fantasy, Guitar Hero, Ratchet & Clank, Call of Duty, and Persona are just a few of the properties that hit their stride and then some on PS2. We found ourselves in an era where games didn’t take especially long to make, nor break the bank, while technology was still advancing at such a fast rate that it was beneficial for developers to be daring and experimental at every turn.

And We Will Never Get A Console Like It Again

But we have long left this period behind, replaced by a landscape of live-service, remasters, and console giants unwilling to take risks because of the cost and time investment needed. It was an inevitable plateau we were always going to hit, but looking back on the PS2 makes it hard to feel nostalgic for a video game industry that now seems impossible.

The medium has never looked or played better, but is this level of quality a worthy trade-off for games that are undeniably flawed yet experimental? I’m not sure, and there’s a massive reason why we are still remaking and remastering so many of the masterpieces from this era instead of daring to tackle new ideas. The PS2 was so good that Sony has spent the past 25 years desperate to relive its magic, and I’m not sure it ever will.

PS2

Brand

PlayStation

Original Release Date

October 26, 2000

Original MSRP (USD)

$299

Weight

4.85 lb