[ Retro Scan of the Week ] PlayStation 2 at Target
June 6th, 2011 by Benj Edwards
GET INTO THE GAME. YEEEEAAAAHHH
By golly. Has it really been 11 years since the PlayStation 2 came out? Sony launched the massively successful console in Japan on March 4th, 2000, making the platform one of the longest-lived in history. Games are still being made for it (one of its most recent releases, WWE All Stars, landed in March of this year), and the console hardware is still in production.
During this week of E3, which will include a new console announcement, it’s interesting to look back a decade to the launch of this massively successful machine. The early ad for the PS2 you see above was published not by Sony, but by Target to promote its availability in its stores. It just goes to show how closely hardware vendors and retailers must work together to make every new video game console launch a success.
Discussion Topic of the Week: When did you first get a PlayStation 2? What was the first game you bought for it?
June 6th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
I bought a PS2 slim back in 2006 with Soul Callibur III. I had some bad experiences with the PSX so I doubted the PS2 would be my thing but it’s been one happy love affair.
June 6th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
I got given a slim-line one for my birthday, so it must have been in 2005. Unfortunately, it came from a dodgy mod-shop in Perth (since I needed to play my US psx/ps2 games) and crashed continually until biting the dust well and truly little more than a year later. I guess the first game I got for it would have been Final Fantasy X, and I never got to finish it before the console died. We also played a heck of a lot of Disgaea. Shame about the premature death, since I always wanted to give Final Fantasy DoC a run.
One of the things I really did admire about the ps2 was the controller! Perfectly ergonomic for my hands, unlike the xbox’s, which felt like a brick in comparison. We even got a converter so I could use it on the xbox later for playing Marvel vs Capcom. 😀
June 6th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
I actually bought mine on launch day. I worked in a FuncoLand at the time, and we had a limited allocation of the system. Each and every one we received was already spoken for with pre-orders, so I thought I wouldn’t get one for weeks. Then, the last customer came in ten minutes before we closed to pay off and pick up his system. I ran his card … denied. I ran it again … denied. He gave me another card. Again, we received an error. Since we HAD TO sell the system that night and he couldn’t purchase it, I was able to buy it as soon as the store closed it’s doors. I bought SSX, (amazing), TimeSplitters, (one of my favorite series), and Fantavision, (worthless piece of crap).
I still have that original launch system, (hell, I still have my Sega CD and a Vectrex). Love games.
June 7th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Oh, as a retrogamer at heart (and mainly a PC player since around 99/00) I was late into the game. I bought a PS2 slim around 2008. I’m not sure but the first game I bought was probably Gran turismo 4 or Final fantasy X. The latest game bought for it was Sonic mega collection plus. So, at the moment I’m even using my not-that-old PS2 for some sweet retro gaming 🙂
June 7th, 2011 at 6:34 pm
I bought a ps2 off of ebay in march of 01. The Dreamcast was my primary console at the time. I also owned a PSX.
I wasn’t quite hyped by the PS2 during its launch and the months prior to my purchase. There weren’t enough titles at the time to really justify picking one up. Plus I already owned a DVD player.
The only real reason why I ended up with one so soon was because my friend got one and he would always make a big deal of it. So I got one just so he wouldn’t feel so special anymore.
The first game that I bought for it was Midnight Club. Mostly because it was one of the few titles that held any interest for me.
Shortly after I picked up Tekken Tag, NBA Live 2001, and some other forgettable titles (since I can’t remember them, but I know I got more games.)
I still stand by the Dreamcast having a better launch. I had way more fun with my Dreamcast in its first year, than I did with my PS2. NBA 2K and NBA 2k1 were far better than NBA Live 2001. Also the wow factor was far greater with the Dreamcast, since I went from a 32 bit PSX to the 128 bit Dreamcast. I’ll never forget the first time I booted up NBA 2k and was floored by its graphics. I had already gotten used to the next gen graphics by the time the PS2 showed up.
Luckily things picked up for the PS2 afterwards, and I never regretted the purchase.
June 7th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
I was working at a Wal-Mart Supercenter back in 2000 when the PS2 came out, and I was able to buy one the week after, when I got paid and had no other responsibilities with my money. The first game I got for it was FantaVision, which quickly got tossed aside and eventually sold in less than 2 months, because I then got Tekken Tag Tournament and Kessen. I don’t own either of those anymore, either, but I still have that original PS2, and as of late have been working on Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006 AGAIN.
June 15th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
I got my ps2 around 2001 and can not really remember my first title. I was a huge fan of psone so I continued on some of those at first. Most all of my games are purchased used but I do remember the first full price game I bought for ps2 which was SOCOM. I remember seeing the commercials on TV for it and going right after getting my Christmas bonus to buy it.