Why PS2 Was The Best Console For Its Era

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2000-2014: The Golden Era Of PS2.

Story Highlights
  • The PS2 is regarded as one of the most iconic and memorable consoles. It gave birth to numerous masterpiece games such as God Of War.
  • Its affordable price in the later years made it very accessible to the masses, which generated many users who adored this console.
  • That era had limited technology, with zero to fewer smartphones and limited PC specifications, which made the games played on PS2 much more enjoyable.

Growing up in the era of PS2 is one of the greatest highlights for almost every gamer. The immersion in games of that time can not be topped now. Discover how Sony’s Playstation became iconic for its era and how many gamers loved it.   


One Of The Greatest Games Were Launched

One iconic game after another, this was the beauty of the PS2 era. These games ranged from Shadow of the Colossus, God Of War II, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, just to name a few. Apart from games, even its startup sequence is iconic.

YouTube video

Sony’s exclusive games for the PS2 further increased the love for this console. Some of these games were Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill 2 & 3, and Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3.

Moreover, the PlayStation 2 also gave birth to some of the most popular games such as God Of War, Splinter Cell, and Rachet & Clank. 

Numerous Need For Speed games were launched, which included NFS Hot Pursuit 2, NFS Carbon, NFS The Underground games, NFS Undercover, NFS Pro Street, and the infamous NFS Most Wanted. All three of the Prince of Persia series were available for the PS2.

Additionally, several Rockstar games were featured for the PlayStation 2. A few of these prominent games include the infamous GTA series till GTA San Andreas (which included Liberty City and Vice City stories as well), the underrated Midnight Club series, the iconic Max Payne series till Max Payne 2, and the popular Bully game.

Games for the PS2, GTA SA, VC, Mortal Kombat
Games Playable On The PlayStation 2

The makers of WWE were generous enough to drop twelve games for this console, where the WWE: SmackDown Vs. Raw 2011 and WWE: All Stars were the highlights among the twelve others. 

Furthermore, the Resident Evil series was also a part of this console with six of its games, where Resident Evil 4 was one of the most popular among the rest. This game was so well received that the developers had to remake it. After its release in 2023, the remake did incredibly well and sold over 7 million copies in just a year.

Affordable Console

Imagine tons of extremely popular games are released today and the console these games are meant to be played on costs only $99. This was the case for the PlayStation 2.

2000-2014 was the PS2 era when the console underwent a few changes. It was initially launched as a bulky machine. Then a slim version was launched in 2004. In 2008, this slimmer version cost only $99, the dollar rate was extremely lower for other countries.

PS2 Bulky And Slimmer Version
PS2 Original & Slim Version

To compare, the PS4 was released in 2013, and today, after almost ten years, a new one costs $329, and a refurbished one cost around $144 for the slim version.

Admittedly, good graphics require great hardware but back then what we now consider low graphics was considered high-end graphics as it was the stable of that era. This makes the era of the Playstation so lovable because every other person would get their hands on this console. 

Less Technology, More Fun

Those were the blissful times with limited technology. The PC requirements were not high, smartphones weren’t spread across the globe like the plague, and the internet wasn’t as available for most people as it is now, so people had to resort to consoles and TV for amusement.  

All of this limited our supply of entertainment and people had higher attention spans. This made the games played on the Playstation 2 much more enjoyable and memorable. Users would immerse themselves in games for hours and time seemed to slow down.

Playstation 2
PlayStation 2

The PCs at that time were also not high-end for most users. The PS2 shined bright with these circumstances as it became a stable console for most people who wanted to enjoy numerous games.  

Due to this limited technology, people enjoyed it a lot and made the most out of their PlayStation 2. It is possible that if the PS2 was launched in a different era that came later than this, it might not have left an impact as it did in the era it was launched in.


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