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Live In Your World. Play In Ours.
The second generation of Sony's PlayStation console, which continued Sony's lead as the top console maker. Instead of the ordinary gray color scheme and top-loading CD drive of the original, the Play Station 2 featured a sleek black body, a front-loading disc tray, and a much more substantial cooling system.
It also made use of the emerging DVD format, which was still in its infancy. These factors, coupled with backward compatibility (the games, controllers, and memory cards released for the original PlayStation could be used with the new system) and a relatively-low pricetag, made the Play Station 2 an extremely attractive system for both players and developers. What certainly didn't hurt was that it was the most powerful gaming console on Earth at the time of its release (or at least the most powerful gaming console people cared about) and one of the first to truly compete with the processing power of PCs, which helped to generate a ton of excitement on its own, especially for those too young or too technophobic to understand the significance of the DVD format and just cared about gaming. The machine had the highest consumer anticipation in the history of video games at the time — its mere announcement two whole years before release effectively killed the Dreamcast in its infancy.
Of particular note was Squaresoft's continued presence in Sony's lineup — since the days of the original PlayStation, Square had devoted itself to the CD-ROM format, and the Play Station 2's new DVD-ROM capabilities proved even more versatile.
The system proved popular among consumers. In fact, the only substantial lasting complaints about the console itself appeared to be the apparent "noisiness" of the large cooling fan, which would later be corrected during a re-release featuring a redesigned, much slimmer PlayStation 2 console. There was also the "Disc Read Error" issues which affected the first-run consoles, and that prompted a class-action lawsuit.
The most important part of the system was its longevity — there were still games being made for it well into the next generation, and after a great deal of thought Sony decided to continue making the system (now available in white). This is mostly because both Play Station Portable and Wii games can be ported to and from the old console with minimal effort, and that in Japan both systems were doing better than the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.
The early 2010s marked the death of the PS2, with only seven games released in North America in 2011 and one in 2012. The only America-released games during the 2010s with enough reviews to make it on Metacritic were Sakura Wars: So Long My Love and Silent Hill Shattered Memories. The final game released for the PS2, barring any unexpected future releases, was Major League Baseball 2K12.
As with many consoles some years after original release, there exists a spirited community of modders and hackers who have written various pieces of homebrew software for the console, including a handful that exploit the untapped potential of the Expansion Bay to allow installing titles onto a compatible hard drive of capacities up to and including 2TB. This can significantly decrease loading times and is especially useful on older consoles which have aging DVD drives that skip or don't function at all. The most popular and compatible is currently Open PS2 Loader, which supersedes HDLoader. In addition, some titles can be forced into HD resolutions (720p and 1080i) using GS Mode Selector, which can drastically improve the visuals on certain games such as Out Run 2006, Fight Night Round 3, Bully and God of War.
The abbreviation PS2 should never be confused with IBM's attempted successor to the IBM PC, the PS/2 (note the slash), or the mini-DIN keyboard/mouse interface it popularized.
Late in the systems' life, it got a pink colored version in some regions.
Specifications:[]
Processors[]
- A 64-bit "Emotion Engine" RISC CPU at 294.912 MHz. (Most of the time, this was misadvertised as a 128-bit CPU to give Sony a lead in the console-bit-wars as the common thought at the time was "higher bit count equals more realistic graphics", and to counter Sega, who also advertised the competing Dreamcast console as 128-bit. This was only partially true, as the memory bus width was indeed 128-bit, but internally the CPU is 64-bit).
- Two Vector Units are built inside the CPU.
- The "Graphics Synthesizer", clocked at 147 MHz.
- Two audio processors, SPU1 and SPU2.
- A MIPS R3000A (the main CPU of the original Play Station) as the I/O processor.
Memory[]
- 32 MB main RAM, and 4 MB Video RAM. (Bandwidth has a maximum of 3.2 GB/s.)
- 2 MB for sound memory.
- 2 MB I/O memory.
- 8 MB memory cards.
Graphics[]
- Theoretical polygon count is around 66,000,000 polygons per second. In real-time games, the count would be around 15-20 million per second, which is 500-650,000 polygons per frame at 30 fps and 250-325,000 at 60 fps.
- The GPU could output resolutions up to 1280x1024 pixels. However, Gran Turismo 4 and Tourist Trophy [1] were capable of 1080i output by essentially rendering half of each frame and then combining them together to create a 640x1080 image at 30fps. More detailed explanation here.
- Sony effectively took the opposite approach to Sega with regard to GPU design, as the Graphics Synthesiser excelled at generating lots and lots of polygons very quickly (even being competitive with the much more advanced GPU in the Xbox in that regard), but delivered absolutely horrible performance when any significant degree of anti-aliasing or texture filtering were involved. As a result, the console's games generally looked very similar to those on its two main competitors, albeit with a noticeably more "jagged" look and slightly blurrier textures.
Games:[]
- .hack//
- .hack//INFECTION
- .hack//MUTATION
- .hack//OUTBREAK
- .hack//QUARANTINE
- .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth
- .hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce
- .hack//G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption
- .hack//frägment
- Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies
- Age of Empires II
- Airforce Delta Strike
- Alien Hominid
- Alien vs. Predator: Extinction
- Alone in The Dark: The New Nightmare
- Alone in the Dark
- Altered Beast
- Amagami
- Angelique Trois
- Angelique Etoile
- Another Century's Episode
- Ape Escape 2
- Ape Escape 3
- Ar tonelico
- Ar Tonelico II
- Arc the Lad Twilight of the Spirits
- Arc the Lad: End of Darkness
- Arcana Heart
- Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2
- Armored Core 2
- Armored Core 2: Another Age
- Armored Core 3
- Silent Line: Armored Core
- Armored Core: Nexus
- Armored Core: Ninebreaker
- Armored Core: Last Raven
- Armored Core: Formula Front
- Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2
- Army Men: Green Rogue
- Army Men: Air Attack 2
- Portal Runner
- Army Men: RTS
- Army Men: Sarge's War
- Army Men: Major Malfunction
- Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
- Art of Fighting Anthology
- Assault Suits Valken
- Atelier Lilie: The Alchemist of Salburg 3
- Helmina & Culus: Atelier Lilie Another Story
- Atelier Judie: The Alchemist of Gramnad
- Atelier Viorate Violet: The Alchemist of Gramnad 2
- Atelier Iris Eternal Mana
- Atelier Iris 2 The Azoth of Destiny
- Atelier Iris 3
- Mana Khemia Alchemists of Al Revis
- Mana Khemia 2 Fall of Alchemy
- Backyard Sports
- Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
- Batman Rise of Sin Tzu
- Batman: Vengeance
- Battlefield 2
- Beatmania 3rd Style (+ 13 others)
- Beyond Good and Evil
- Black
- Black Matrix II
- Blood Rayne
- Bloodrayne 2
- Bloody Roar 2
- Bomberman Land 2
- Bomberman Land 3
- The Bouncer
- Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter
- Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
- Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
- Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
- Bujingai the Forsaken City
- Bully
- Burnout
- Burnout 2: Point of Impact
- Burnout 3: Takedown
- Burnout: Revenge
- Burnout: Dominator
- Call of Duty: Finest Hour
- Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
- Call of Duty 3
- Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
- Capcom Fighting Evolution
- Capcom vs. SNK 2 Mark of the Millennium
- Castle Shikigami II
- Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
- Champions: Return to Arms
- Chaos Legion
- Chaos Wars
- Chu Lip
- Clannad
- Clock Tower 3
- Cold Fear
- Colin McRae Rally 3
- Colin McRae Rally 04
- Colin McRae Rally 2005
- Commandos 2: Men of Courage
- Commandos: Strikeforce
- Contra: Shattered Soldier
- Neo Contra
- Crash Bandicoot the Wrath of Cortex
- Crash Twinsanity
- Crash Nitro Kart
- Crash Tag Team Racing
- Crash of the Titans
- Crash: Mind Over Mutant
- Crazy Taxi
- Culdcept
- Dark Cloud
- Dark Cloud 2 (aka Dark Chronicle)
- Darkwatch
- Dawn of Mana
- Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore
- Dead to Rights
- Dead to Rights II
- Def Jam: Vendetta
- Def Jam: Fight for NY
- Densha De Go! Professional
- Densha de Go! Final
- Destroy All Humans!
- Destroy All Humans! 2
- Deus Ex: The Conspiracy
- Devil Kings
- Devil May Cry
- Devil May Cry 2
- Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
- Digimon World 4
- Dino Stalker
- Dirge of Cerberus
- Disaster Report
- Disgaea Hour of Darkness
- DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou
- Dragon Quest V
- Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
- Drakengard
- Drakengard 2
- Dual Hearts
- Dynasty Warriors 2
- Dynasty Warriors 3
- Dynasty Warriors 4
- Dynasty Warriors 5
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2
- Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
- Enter the Matrix
- EOE Eve of Extinction
- Ephemeral Fantasia
- Escape from Monkey Island
- Esp Galuda
- Eternal Poison
- Evil Twin Cypriens Chronicles
- Extermination
- Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy)
- Fallout Brotherhood of Steel
- Fatal Frame
- Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
- Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
- Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 1
- Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 2
- Final Fantasy X
- Final Fight: Streetwise
- Fire Pro Wrestling Z
- Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
- Flat Out
- FlatOut 2
- Flower, Sun, and Rain
- Freaky Flyers
- Freedom Fighters
- Front Mission 4
- Front Mission 5
- Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge
- Galerians: Ash
- Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
- Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
- Genji: Dawn of the Samurai
- The Getaway
- The Getaway: Black Monday
- Ghost Hunter
- Ghost Master
- Ghostbusters the Video Game
- Giants: Citizen Kabuto
- Gitaroo Man
- Gladius
- The Godfather: The Game
- God Hand
- God of War
- God of War II
- Golden Eye Rogue Agent
- Gradius II and IV
- Gradius V
- Graffiti Kingdom
- Gran Turismo 3
- Gran Turismo 4
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grandia II
- Gregory Horror Show
- Grim Grimoire
- Guilty Gear X
- Guilty Gear X2
- Guilty Gear Isuka
- Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
- Guitar Hero
- Guitar Hero II
- Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
- Guitar Hero World Tour
- Guitar Hero: Metallica
- Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
- Guitar Hero: Van Halen
- Guitar Hero 5
- Band Hero
- DJ Hero
- Guitar Hero II
- Gun
- Gungrave
- Gungrave: Overdose
- Half-Life 1
- The Haunted Mansion
- Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
- Haunting Ground
- Hello Kitty Roller Rescue
- Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
- Hitman: Contracts
- Hitman: Blood Money
- Hulk
- Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
- I-Ninja
- Ibara
- Ico
- In the Groove
- The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
- Indiana Jones and The Emperors Tomb
- Jade Cocoon 2
- Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy
- James Bond 007: Nightfire
- Jaws Unleashed
- Jurassic Park Operation Genesis
- Just Cause
- Kamen Rider Climax Heroes
- Katamari Damacy
- Kanon
- Kessen
- Kessen II
- Kessen III
- Killer 7
- Killzone
- The King of Fighters 2000
- The King of Fighters 2001
- The King of Fighters 2002
- The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
- The King of Fighters 2003
- The King of Fighters XI
- Kingdom Hearts
- Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts II
- Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
- Kuon
- Kya Dark Lineage
- La Pucelle
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
- Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
- Legacy of Kain: Defiance
- Legaia II: Duel Saga
- Legend of Kay
- The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
- The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
- The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
- Legends of Wrestling
- Legends Of Wrestling 2
- Showdown: Legends Of Wrestling
- Lego Adaptation Game
- Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
- Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
- Lego Batman: The Video Game
- Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
- Lemmings
- Lord of the Rings The Third Age
- LOTR: Return Of The King
- LOTR: Fellowship Of The Ring
- LOTR: Two Towers
- Lumines Plus
- Mafia the City of Lost Heaven
- Magna Carta
- Makai Kingdom
- Malice
- Manhunt
- Manhunt 2
- Marvel Nemesis Rise of the Imperfects
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2
- Max Payne
- Max Payne 2
- Maximo
- Maximo Vs. The Army of Zin
- Medal of Honor: Frontline
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
- Medal of Honor: European Assault
- Medal of Honor: Vanguard
- Mega Man Anniversary Collection
- Mega Man X7
- Mega Man X Command Mission
- Mega Man X8
- Mega Man X Collection
- Melty Blood: Act Cadenza
- Melty Blood: Actress Again
- Mercenaries
- Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
- Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
- Metal Saga
- Metal Slug 3
- Metal Slug 4
- Metal Slug 5
- Metal Slug 6
- Metal Slug Anthology
- Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty
- Micro Machines V4
- Midnight Club
- Midnight Club II
- Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
- Mister Mosquito
- Monopoly
- Monster Hunter
- Monster Hunter G
- Monster Rancher 3
- Monster Rancher 4
- Monster Rancher Evo
- Monster World: Complete Collection
- Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
- MS Saga a New Dawn
- Musashi: Samurai Legend
- Mushihime-sama
- Myst III: Exile
- Namco X Capcom
- NARC
- Naval Ops series
- Naval Ops: Warship Gunner
- Naval Ops: Commander
- (Naval Ops) Warship Gunner 2
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
- Need for Speed: Underground
- Need for Speed: Underground 2
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted
- Need for Speed: Carbon
- Need for Speed: ProStreet
- Need for Speed: Undercover
- Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
- Neopets: The Darkest Fairie
- Nicktoons Unite!
- Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island
- The Nightmare Before Christmas Oogies Revenge
- Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power
- Nobunaga's Ambition: Iron Triangle
- Obs Cure
- ObsCure 2
- Odin Sphere
- Okage: Shadow King
- Okami
- OneChanbara
- Oni
- Onimusha
- Onimusha 2
- Onimusha Blade Warriors
- Onimusha 3
- Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
- The Operative: No One Lives Forever
- Operators Side (aka Lifeline)
- Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
- Out Run 2006: Coast 2 Coast
- Pac-Man Fever
- Pac-Man World 2
- Pac-Man World 3
- Pac-Man World Rally
- Parappa the Rapper 2
- Phantasy Star Universe
- Phantom Brave
- Pitfall!: The Lost Expedition
- Planetarian
- Pop N Music 7 (+ 7 sequels)
- Primal
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
- Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- Project Eden
- Psi Ops the Mindgate Conspiracy
- Psychonauts
- Pump It Up: Exceed
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
- Quake III Arena
- R-Type Final
- Radiata Stories
- Raiden III
- Rampage: Total Destruction
- Ratchet and Clank
- Rayman 2: Revolution
- Rayman M (aka Rayman Arena)
- Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
- Red Dead Revolver
- Red Faction
- Red Faction II
- Reservoir Dogs
- Resident Evil Code Veronica
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- Rez
- Ridge Racer V
- Ring of Red
- Rise of the Kasai
- Road Kill
- Robot Alchemic Drive
- Rock Band
- Rock Band 2
- Rogue Galaxy
- Rogue: Hearts Dungeon
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms X
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI
- Romancing Sa Ga: Minstrel Song
- Rule of Rose
- Rumble Roses
- Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
- Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
- Samurai Shodown V
- Samurai Shodown VI
- Samurai Shodown Anthology
- Samurai Warriors
- Samurai Warriors 2
- Scaler
- Scarface the World Is Yours
- Second Sight
- Seek and Destroy 2002
- Sega Rally 2006
- Sega Superstars
- Sega Superstars Tennis
- Serious Sam: The Next Encounter
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Shadow of Rome
- Shadow Hearts
- Shadow Hearts: Covenant
- Shadow Hearts: From the New World
- Shadow Man: 2econd Coming
- Shadow of Destiny
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Shin Megami Tensei
- Shining Force
- Shining Force Neo
- Shining Force EXA
- Shining Wind
- Shinobi
- Shinobido: Way of the Ninja
- Silent Hill 2
- Silent Scope
- The Simpsons Road Rage
- The Sims
- The Sims 2
- Siren
- Siren 2
- Sky Gunner
- Sly Cooper
- Sly 2: Band of Thieves
- Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
- Sniper Elite
- SOCOM
- Soldier of Fortune: Gold Edition
- Sonic Heroes
- Sonic Riders
- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
- Sonic Unleashed
- SoulCalibur 2
- SoulCalibur 3
- Soul Nomad and The World Eaters
- Space Channel 5
- Space Channel 5 Part 2
- Space Invaders: Invasion Day
- Spartan Total Warrior
- Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
- Spider-Man Friend or Foe
- Spy Fiction
- Spy Hunter
- Spy Hunter 2
- Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run
- SSX
- SSX Tricky
- SSX 3
- SSX On Tour
- Star Ocean Till the End of Time
- Steambot Chronicles
- Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
- Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
- Street Fighter EX3
- Suikoden III
- Summon Night 3
- Summon Night Ex-These: Yoake no Tsubasa
- Summon Night 4
- Summon Night Gran-These: Horobi no Tsurugi to Yakusoku no Kishi
- Summoner
- Super Robot Wars Impact
- Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
- Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
- Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
- Tales of Destiny 2
- Tales of Legendia remake
- Tales of Legendia
- Tales of Rebirth
- Tales of Symphonia
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash Up
- Tekken Tag Tournament
- Tekken 4
- Tekken 5
- Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven
- Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
- Tetris Worlds
- The Thing
- Thunder Force VI
- Time Crisis II
- Time Crisis 3
- Time Crisis: Crisis Zone
- Time Splitters
- TimeSplitters 2
- TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
- To Heart 2
- Tokimeki Memorial series:
- Tokimeki Memorial 2 Music Video Clips: Circus de Aimashou
- Tokimeki Memorial 3
- Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 1 and 2
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
- Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
- Tomb Raider: Legend
- Tomb Raider: Anniversary
- Tomb Raider: Underworld
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
- Tony Hawks Under Ground
- Tony Hawk's Underground 2
- Total Overdose
- Trapt
- Tribes: Aerial Assault
- True Crime: Streets of LA
- Turok: Evolution
- Twinkle Star Sprites
- Twisted Metal: Black
- Twisted Metal Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan
- Ultimate Spider Man
- Unlimited Saga
- Unreal Tournament
- Urban Reign
- Utawarerumono
- Valkyrie Profile Silmeria
- Vampire Night
- Vexx
- Viewtiful Joe
- Viewfiful Joe 2
- Virtua Cop: Elite Edition
- Virtua Fighter 4
- War of the Monsters
- The Warriors
- Warriors Orochi
- Warriors Orochi 2
- Way of the Samurai
- Way Of The Samurai 2
- Whiplash
- Wild Arms
- Wipeout Fusion
- Wipeout Pulse
- Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land
- Worms 3D
- Worms Forts: Under Siege
- Worms 4
- Wrath Unleashed
- X Men Legends
- X-Men Legends II
- X-Men Next Dimension
- Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
- Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
- Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra
- XIII
- Yakuza
- Yakuza 2
- Yarudora
- Scandal
- Blood the Last Vampire
- Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
- Zone of the Enders
- Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
- ↑ the latter is essentially the former WITH MOTORCYCLES!