Dreamcast? GameCube? Xbox? They're cute and endearing to look back on now, because they really never stood a chance. Sony practically redefined what it meant to be dominant in a console generation with the
PlayStation 2, which was launched on March 4, 2000 in Japan (the US got it that October), went on to sell over 140 million units, and is still going strong. It's strange to think that for what many people was their
first DVD player turned out to be powerful enough to bring us the cinematic experiences of
Shadow of the Colossus,
God of War II and
Final Fantasy XII, and enough of a kicker to make it into the latest round of
Madden releases. Of course, its foray into online gaming took a second fiddle to Microsoft's Xbox, and many of Sony's high-minded, living room-invasion promises of the console (remember that FireWire port? The hard drive slot?) never really panned out. Still, we'd say it's been a pretty good 10 years for this thing. Feeling extra-nostalgic? Check out
Sony's own timeline of PlayStation it pumped out for the 15 year anniversary of the brand last year. Brings a tear to our eye every time.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted March 4th 2010 1:33PM
I remember first getting that beautiful machine, it's arguably one of the best consoles ever made.
@JustThatNerdyGuy
I remember it being a toss-up between the PS2 and the Dreamcast. We got the PS2.
ICO = best game ever
Agree. Thanks for the good times PS2!
@JustThatNerdyGuy
I wholeheartedly concur--I loved my PS2 as much as my cocaine
@JustThatNerdyGuy Beautiful on the inside maybe, the case was (and remains today) hideous
@Saad the other one
ICO = Second-best game ever
Shadow of the Colossus = Best game ever! :D
That being said, my roomie in college had a PS2 and I played ICO and was just blown away by it.
@JustThatNerdyGuy I remember I bought a GameCube. This is funny, because I owned a PS1 before this, but something about the GameCube appealed to me. Not anymore though, after one day of playing, I returned the console and bought the beautiful PS2 and thought to myself "Why did I buy a GameCube again?" lol
Still have my original PS2. She's still kicking ass like day one. I remember the epic fist fight over the PS2 at Fred Meyers. As much as I love my 360, the PS2 will always be a badass console (besides the SNES)
@JustThatNerdyGuy
and Engadget picked the 360 over the this for the console of the decade
@JeremyBenthem
Engadget is bias in may ways.
No, I want my backwards compatibility on PS3.
Backwards compatibility... is good for me...
@Saad the other one
ICO! YES, I agree, best game ever!!!
@JustThatNerdyGuy: Totally. I got my Ps2 after my Wii (graduating from NGC) and was completely blown away. I can only imagine what devs will be able to do with the PS3 hardware 3 years from now.
@JustThatNerdyGuy
I still use my slim ps2 and I'm planning into turning my old fat into a media center pc :D
@JustThatNerdyGuy
So true I spent about half a year on gran turismo 3-4 alone, but I actually preferred my Gamecube. So much time spent on windwaker, metroid, sunshine ect. Too bad it didn't get much of a break. Anyone has to admit that Nintendo makes quality games, without them you probably wouldn't have your playstation either.
Interestingly enough it's my Birthday too, and I got a PS2 for my 15 birthday.
Ca-Ching!
I still play the PS2 from time to time...it's getting about as much use as my Wii is.
Wait, that came out wrong.
X box never stood a chance? is this a joke?
@wavphile
No it's the truth, kthx
@wavphile
No it's not a joke. The PS2 launched a full year ahead of the original XBOX (in North America, even earlier for Japan) and already had the dominant marketplace position. The Dreamcast was fading and Nintendo and the Gamecube had a uphill battle after losing massive market share to Sony in the previous generation. The XBOX had no traction in Japan and was never going to catch up in NA and Europe. Sony pretty much dominated the market within the first year and the XBOX never really had a real chance.
@wavphile
24 million units compared to nearly 140+ million?
Plus, the PS2 got nearly every game as an exclusive.
@wavphile
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's not a joke. i never even new that there was a console called Xbox until i saw it somewhere don't remember where.
@wavphile
Yeah, seriously. I always liked the Xbox more. It had way better graphics! People all loved the PS2 and it was the more popular console, but I always liked the Xbox more.
-Taylor
@wavphile Not to mention they are still moving lots of PS2's and MS is shutting down the Xbox
@wavphile
what kept the xbox back then is the same thing that is happening/happened with the ps3
product the public didn't understand(or weren't ready for) at launch(mcsft console in general vs blu ray)
and the most importantly the later release!
Isn't the Wii smashing the records this veteran once held?
But can it play Shenmue??
@pcwzrd13
Hahaha, I loved my PS2 but I loved the Dreamcast more...too bad it had a limited game selection and it wasn't very durable (mine broke within two months of purchase...)
@bigcow05
I love the Dreamcast. Just bought one on the Dreamcast 10th Anniversary. Lots of great games! Shenmue 1 & 2, Power Stone 2, Hydro Thunder, Soul Calibur, Toy Commander, Crazy Taxi, Dynamite Cop, Virtua Tennis, and the list goes on. It's a system that everyone needs to play at least once!
@pcwzrd13 that was a great game to bad the Dreamcast didn't have more traction it had some potential
@pcwzrd13 I didn't have a chance to play with the Dreamcast but I played with both PS1 and PS2 and I have to say that even though PS2 improved everything that was realeased on PS1, the first playstation was the best to me. PS2 coudn't generate such levels of novelty factor as PS1 had; FFVII & FFVIII, Parasite Eve, Metal Gear Solid, Wipeout, Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo and many more.
I still play some PS1 games ocassionaly.
ahhh...the memories...
luckily, i can still enjoy those games on my 60gb launch "fatty".
don't hate.
@iroq d mullet
on a side note: wtf is up with these NuvaRing ads!? talk about misdirected advertising.
@iroq d mullet
I got a Chevy Malibu add.
If NuvaRing could see your avatar, I'm sure they'd stop advertising to you.
@iroq d mullet
Because more kids = less gadgets.
@Smart People Play Tuba
i would hope!
Shame on you for the photoshopped picture, I'm sure you guys have a PS2 laying around that could use a cupcake. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years though...
@fischju My own useless comment: The PS2's matte surface wouldn't reflect the cupcake like that.
I loved my ps2! Shadow of the collosus/gta vice city. Daaaaamn. Who has played freedom
fighters?
wow, was that really 10 years ago... i agree, one of the best consoles ever made.
Ah, PS2. The first game system I had that made me go "wow, this IS the future!"
Umm excuse me but the hard drive slot came in VERY handy for hacking the system and loading ISOs directly from there. Thanks Sony!
my first and last ps2 was at launch. the broken laser in the brand new thing turned me off.
An incredible machine to be sure to have lasted so long, and sold so many.
And yet, I feel I'm probably the only person who never owned one. Got an Xbox, and played Morrowind and Phantom Crash on it all the live long day. Thing was built like a tank too. Salute to Sony though.
The first time we got one was when we rented it because we could not afford one at the time so my dad rented it and we never stopped playing. It was definitely one of the best consoles I had most fun on!
I still use my PS2 as a DVD player, and occasionally I'll still break out Fighting Force and play one of the greatest co-op games ever made! Still sweet for an original PS game...
I guess my point is the Xbox evolved into the 360, the Dreamcast and GameCube died, so why is it grouped with them?
No longer have the console but I still have the box for nostalgia reasons. Amazing system. Totally worth standing in line for on launch day.
It still going, but I don't know if I would consider it still going strong. It's basically on life support and in decline. Sure people still have PS2s, but you're not seeing a lot of new PS2 software these days. And it's basically scrapping the bottom of the charts both in software and hardware. I think it did decent last year, but it's definitely selling less and less as time goes on.
I've had several PS2s and remember the system fondly-- there were A LOT of great games, but I really don't consider it necessarily visable after 10 years. By now it's more nostalgia and bargin bin.
@Starcade
It sold 330k units in December, and many of the best Japanese RPG's are still being released on it (they're slowly switching to PS3.) Add in a massive game library and it's still a great value today.