Tell us about your greatest PS2 memories!

[StevenW]

What with the news that Sony Japan is no longer producing PS2 consoles, we've started to reminisce.

By the end of the week, we'll have a feature that includes the thoughts of PSU staff members on the PS2 era. What were our favourite games and fondest memories?

We'd love you to join in on the forums, but we'd also like to publish two of your responses within our article. We'll pick our favourite two among the team. Just a couple of paragraphs will do. Just write from the heart!

Here's mine...

"I put money aside for months to ensure I had a PS2 at launch. I think it cost around £300. As with the PSOne and the PS3, there’s something magical about unboxing a new console for the first time, booting it up and familiarising yourself with the dash before testing out some of the launch games. I can remember unpacking the PS2 with the enthusiasm of a 7-year-old at Christmas; I even ripped the box in the process.

My most potent memory comes from one of those launch games. The frantic first-person shooter gameplay and futuristic comic-book style setting of Timesplitters was right up my street and I spent hours upon hours in Arcade mode against bots and real players and then trying to complete all of the challenge modes. Timesplitters 2 was even more fun, and such are my fond memories of the franchise that I’m one of the many that has signed the petition to try and convince Crytek (formerly Free Radical Design) to bring the series back. Even if it does, I doubt it will ever be the same as those fantastic PS2 days."

[Silver_Knight]

My ps2 shined for me when i got FFX! It was the first boner i got from a virtual character.

[radgamer420]

My ps3 shined for me when i got FFX! It was the first boner i got from a virtual character.

You mean your PS2?

[Fijiandoce]

i wasn't all that bothered with PS2 to start off with. most of my friends had a PS2, i however was more interested in 'other' things to care. however, one Christmas day, a cousin of mine bought me a PS2 bundled with GTA: Vice City and i wasn't seen again until dinner. i had so much fun running around this fictitious city just doing 'stuff'. i was totally amazed at what could be done in a little black box.

this is where my love for the Sony brand began.

in retrospect, whilst Vice City was a phenomenal game, it wasn't 'THE' game i most remember.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a game i have extremely fond memories of. A friend and I lived in the same village in the UK, we were in high school at the time, and not all that up-to-date with our game libraries. he owned the game however, and i owned the memory card. we'd go round to each others houses with our respective pieces and game all day.
I was fond of magic, so i played as the female mage. he liked to be a trickster, so he played the male dwarf.
many, many times we ended up breaking "curfew" playing until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning trying to beat the game (on its hardest difficulty) there was so much to do, so much to customise, so many dungeons to crawl through. we'd crash on the couch and rage, curse, and laugh at the puzzles and obstacles the game presented.
when the sequel came around, we switched roles. he had the memory card, and i had the game. however, at this point, we were getting older and it didn't have that spark that the first had. it was quite a bit easier, and a lot more confusing. we enjoyed the game nonetheless but it couldn't compare to the first.

Primal, and Summoner 2 are also standout games from that period. both were quite difficult games, with surprisingly deep stories for their time.

[Lethal_NFS]

My greatest PS2 memory was when I sold it and bought the PS3......j/k

My favorite memory was release night. My friends and I brought the beast home and rocked out some serious SSX goodness. Beer, drugs, and PS2! Was a wonderful memory.

[Silver_Knight]

You mean your PS2?

That's what i meant.

[Blacksite]

My greatest PlayStation 2 moment would have to be getting a 100 percent completion rating on Rockstar Vancouver's Bully. I first played the game at a friend's house but later decided I would pick up a copy for myself. Next thing you know, I've accumulated 250-300 hours exploring every nook and cranny of Bullworth. I'm still patiently waiting for a sequel.

Naughty Dog's Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was another title I completed all the way through. I found the atmosphere really immersive; the colorful visuals, music and open-ended level design. Especially the Snowy Mountain level.

I also have fond memories of EA Black Box's Need for Speed: Underground. I know everyone likes to rave about the sequel but I would spend countless nights playing the original and it always made me feel like a badass.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Playing through KH1 for the first time not knowing what to expect and eventually liking it more than some of the FF games. Also San Andreas when it was released and everyone talking about it.

Was good times all round and I still own the phat which works just as well as it did when I first got it.

[robvandam111]

My most memorable moment is my first moment with the PS2. I had gotten the PS2 for christmas only to anticipate I had Final Fantasy X with the stratedgy guide under the christmas tree. While I also had 007 Agent Under Fire playable. The excitement of joy was at a level never before. Unforunately, I had to play the games without the memory card. I had to start over numerous times until I had a PS2 memory card.

Despite memory card, I was happy that the PS2 was backwards capatible. Atleast I was able to play the PS1 games I had gotten during that Christmas day. I had a great time going through Spiderman 2: Enter Electro and this game had actually peaked my Role Playing Game career. That game is Legend of the Dragoon. The moment I popped in the disc, started playing I was feeling a bit dull toward the graphics. Until I gave it another shot and felt in love with it. That was the saga when I started playing Final Fantasy. The eigth entry is my first and topped the that following generation console with FFX and Legend of the Dragoon.

[PeanutButterMunky]

After I had my knee surgery I pretty much played PS2 high off my ass on painkillers 24/7 for several months. Good times. Couldn't really do anything else but read and play games.

[Nitey]

Too many memories.

One of the greatest has to be the day we got it from Toys'R'us. We went to pick up our pre-order but they said they had run out :/ pricks. I wasn't surprised though, the pre-release hype was incredible worldwide, I could feel it even as a kiddo . They rang us a couple days later saying they've got ours in and yeah we picked it up with Tekken Tag and SSX. My dad played Tekken Tag on the first boot lol, I think that's the last time he ever played a video game - I guess he was just intrigued with all the hype that was going on

Another would be playing Timesplitters 4 player with dat multi-tap, and also PES3-4-5 with multitap 4 player. Such great memories!

[Kuro]

I remember I used to have these game sessions with my uncle and cousins playing TDM in James Bond: Nightfire playing agains bots on hard. Man those were some good times!

[AaronSOLDIER]

I got mine from Toys R Us as well lol

[radgamer420]

That's what i meant.

lol I know I'm just kidding with you. FFX was a big one for me on PS2. Also Champions of Norrath and GT3 and GT4.

[PeanutButterMunky]

lol I know I'm just kidding with you. FFX was a big one for me on PS2. Also Champions of Norrath and GT3 and GT4.

Same here... friggin' loved that game.

[Sir_Scud]

Sooo many memories, tbh.

I'll pick a more random memory to share. One of my favorite games on PS2 was Romance of the Three Kingdoms X. A game I picked up with very little knowledge because it was an SRPG. At first I regretted it, because the graphics were so bad. I played it a bit and ended up falling in love with it. I made a bunch of different officers and even would have my friend over where we would share playing a scenario together.

[Fijiandoce]

Sooo many memories, tbh.

I'll pick a more random memory to share. One of my favorite games on PS2 was Romance of the Three Kingdoms X. A game I picked up with very little knowledge because it was an SRPG. At first I regretted it, because the graphics were so bad. I played it a bit and ended up falling in love with it. I made a bunch of different officers and even would have my friend over where we would share playing a scenario together.

i can relate to that. i had summoner 2 for years. i considered it a broken mess. so difficult it bordered on masochism. i had chalked it up as the worst game i had ever bought.
however, one particularly rainy summer, and on a whim, i put the disc back into my PS2 and started it up again.
the game opened up in a big way after the first grueling stage. after that, i could not stop playing it. i cared for the princesses role as ruler of her land, and i passed what i thought were fair and just judgments, even turning away emissaries from foreign lands.

PS2 games had a tendency to do this. a friend of mine had a similar story with armored core 2.

[Nitey]

The first time I played MGS3. Expectations extremely high of course after the spectacular MGS2 but even so, the game just blew me away. The production values were incredible. I didn't think graphics could look better

I loved how you could speed up/down background of the press start screen, that had Big Boss CQCing in the back. I enjoy little things like that lol

[Foraeli]

I loved Final Fantasy X. The game was so grand in story and music for a 70-hour long game. Also, I loved damsel-in-distress games like Ico and Resident Evil 4 were awesome too.

[PeanutButterMunky]

I loved Final Fantasy X. The game was so grand in story and music for a 70-hour long game. Also, I loved damsel-in-distress games like Ico and Resident Evil 4 were awesome too.

ICO was amazing. Forgot about that one. I need to play it again.

[Foraeli]

Get it in HD on the PS3. It is only $20 and the visuals are outstanding.

[PhillyPhreak]

I still remember the PS2 launch like it was yesterday. I was 15 years old, it was summer, and I needed money to buy one. My cousin in-law was able to get me a job working at her employer. I worked for a couple months and saved up enough money to pre-order a PS2. After my last paycheck, I went to a local EBGames to pre-order the system, an 8MB memory card, DOA2: Hardcore, SSX, and Madden '01. I was very fortunate to have been able to pre-order the system (Sony had slashed the initial NA shipment by half a million); two people had taken their name off the pre-order list so paid for everything in full right then and there.

On launch day, my mom and I went to the EBGames to pick my system. I was pumped as heck, as was everyone else in line. The store clerks made announcements to people lining up that they only had systems for people who pre-ordered. That didn't go over too well with some people in the back of the line. I watched two idiots get arrested for being disorderly because they were angry about the pre-order policy. Good times.

It was a great system, easily my favorite console of all time. I can't believe it's finally going the way of the PSX.

[Yuuichi]

There is one game that stood out for me on PS2, well one series, Fatal Frame. I enjoy horror games and being scared while playing them. Well Fatal Frame took away the guns, the ability for you to see the mobs reg, and added in some J-Horror to bring a unique experience. I was scared playing it, I mean a camera that is it. Around ever corner I could feel danger yet not be able to see it with out my camera. When the camera was raised you had extremely limited movement which made the game more challenging. With the move craze going on this gen I do not see why there was not more horror games that took advantage of this. Sure we got The Grudge, and a Fatal Frame that was JPN only, but Nintendo not releasing Fatal Frame outside of JPN was a mistake. The DS version was good, but with WII U they have the potential to bring the franchise outside of US. The PS2 I see it as the last game system that the horror game genre was alive. Siren(they had a PS3 one but NA did not get a disc base and I feel this hurt sales), Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Resident Evil(before turning into action), these will forever be horror classic.

[PeanutButterMunky]

Get it in HD on the PS3. It is only $20 and the visuals are outstanding.

Will do. Worth it.

[Sir_Scud]

PS2 games had a tendency to do this. a friend of mine had a similar story with armored core 2.

Yeah they did. Now I would never put up with a game unless I knew I would like it to be a worthwhile investment (or incredibly cheap). I did a lot more "blind buying" with PS2. More often than not I ended up pretty happy with whatever game I had.