Memoirs of the Playstation 2 – The End of an Era

Memoirs of the Playstation 2 - The End of an Era featured image

<p>In the darkest depths of BagoGames lurks the features department&comma; a collection of three legendary beings&comma; myself &lpar;Ben&rpar;&comma; Xander&comma; and Joseph&comma; who surface every now and then to deliver games-related banter&period; Most recently we have concerned ourselves with the departure of the much loved and critically acclaimed Playstation 2 which has ceased production after 12 years and over 150 million units sold worldwide&period; To say a fond farewell to this gaming behemoth&comma; the features department has collected their thoughts and memories on arguably the most important console Sony has ever produced&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;commons&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;File&colon;PlayStation&lowbar;2&lowbar;logo&period;svg" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer"><img class&equals;"zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" title&equals;"English&colon; Official wordmark and logo of the Pla&period;&period;&period;" alt&equals;"Memoirs of the Playstation 2 - The End of an Era screenshot 1" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;upload&period;wikimedia&period;org&sol;wikipedia&sol;commons&sol;7&sol;76&sol;PlayStation&lowbar;2&lowbar;logo&period;svg" width&equals;"640" height&equals;"190" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Ben<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>After starting off my gaming career with the <a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"Game Boy" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Game&lowbar;Boy" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"wikipedia noopener noreferrer">Gameboy<&sol;a>&comma; I only really began with consoles at the <a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"PlayStation &lpar;console&rpar;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;PlayStation&lowbar;&percnt;28console&percnt;29" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"wikipedia noopener noreferrer">original Playstation<&sol;a>&period; A few years later&comma; I remember the awe I felt when looking at its older brother&period; My best friend Ewan had a Playstation 2&comma; and some of my fondest memories are heading back to his house after school and playing Killzone or Metal Arms&colon; Glitch In The System&period; <a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"SSX Tricky" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;SSX&lowbar;Tricky" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"wikipedia noopener noreferrer">SSX Tricky<&sol;a> was another favorite—everyone knows the song to that one&excl; We&&num;8217&semi;d spend literally hours in his back room chilling&comma; playing whatever game we had picked up from town on the way there&period; It became sort of a routine that is honestly still making me grin to this day&period; The sense of nostalgia just writing this is rather overwhelming&period; This console was sleeker&comma; bigger and more powerful than my old Playstation&comma; and it played DVDs which was badass in itself at the time &lpar;God&comma; I feel old&rpar;&period; The games were also far deeper and prettier than its predecessor&comma; so I was naturally drawn to it&period; Obviously that can be said about any next generation console&comma; but the Playstation 2 really feels like a landmark in gaming history&period; Most of my all-time favorite games are on it&comma; and nearly all the best selling franchises on the PS3 today such as God of War and Killzone would be nowhere without the foundations they formed on this console&period; This is one of those consoles I&&num;8217&semi;ll be picking up from a second hand store for my own children one day just as my folks did with the Gameboys&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;memoirs-of-the-playstation-2&sol;174433-53282&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-34934"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-large wp-image-34934" alt&equals;"Memoirs of the Playstation 2 - The End of an Era screenshot 2" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2013&sol;01&sol;06062827&sol;174433-53282-1024x576&period;jpg" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"576" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Xander<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Looking back on the Playstation 2&comma; I realize that it was like a family member to me&period; When my older brother and sister grew up and moved out&comma; it was my PS2 that kept me company from late elementary school all the way up through my first years in college&period; And man&comma; did we have some sick sibling rivalry&period; It&&num;8217&semi;d push me around &lpar;Bully&rpar;&comma; we’d fight all the time &lpar;<a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"Virtua Fighter 4" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;virtua-fighter-4&period;com" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"homepage noopener noreferrer">Virtua Fighter 4&colon; Evolution<&sol;a>&rpar;&comma; and it’d keep me up way too late at night &lpar;Silent Hill 2&rpar;&period; But it was also the cool older sibling I wanted to be like &lpar;Devil May Cry&rpar;&period; And of course&comma; we both reveled in our childhood nostalgia &lpar;Kingdom Hearts&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In all seriousness&comma; I see the Playstation 2 as a huge stepping stone for which the game industry should be very thankful&period; The PS2 was the midpoint between the early age of the third dimension and the current breakthroughs of interactive storytelling that we all take for granted&period; Early favorites like Dark Cloud and SSX updated classic genres with newer technology&period; But it wasn&&num;8217&semi;t until heavy hitters like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X when we really saw the capabilities of the sixth generation of consoles&period; Other AAA juggernauts like Grand Theft Auto and God of War wouldn’t have the huge audiences they do today without the fan base built by the PS2&period; Smaller developers such as <a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"Team Ico" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Team&lowbar;Ico" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"wikipedia noopener noreferrer">Team ICO<&sol;a>&comma; Harmonix&comma; and Suda 51 used the PS2 as a platform for their experiments&comma; and it paid off&period; Sony fully welcomed the entire spectrum of gaming&comma; including niche developers that preceded the modern indie games market&period; And of course&comma; who can forget when Katamari Damacy first rolled into our hearts&quest; That spark of genius alone makes the PS2 worthy of its spot in history&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;memoirs-of-the-playstation-2&sol;oxcgn-metal-gear-4&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-34933"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34933" alt&equals;"Memoirs of the Playstation 2 - The End of an Era screenshot 3" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2013&sol;01&sol;oxcgn-metal-gear-4&period;jpg" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Joseph<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The <a class&equals;"zem&lowbar;slink" title&equals;"PlayStation 2" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;PlayStation&lowbar;2" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"wikipedia noopener noreferrer">PlayStation 2<&sol;a> holds a special place in my heart for being the first console to really personalize video games for me&period; As far back as I can remember&comma; I&&num;8217&semi;ve been a gamer&period; I started out on my dad’s old Atari 2600&comma; then my brother and I shared an SNES and Nintendo 64&comma; but the PS2 was the first system that I could truly call mine&period; I saved up petty birthday cash and Toys &&num;8216&semi;R&&num;8217&semi; Us gift cards for more than a year&comma; and to walk out of the store holding that box is a moment I’ll never forget&period; From there&comma; my future investments in the system only strengthened my bond with it&period; In my barely pubescent independence&comma; I saved up every cent of my spare change for games&period; I&&num;8217&semi;d especially go for ones I’d never heard of&comma; which ultimately shaped me into the gamer I am today&period; At the time&comma; I didn’t think much of buying the likes of <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Ico">Ico<&sol;a> and the entire <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;&period;hack&lowbar;&lpar;video&lowbar;game&lowbar;series&rpar;">&period;Hack<&sol;a> series&period; At the time they were a fun diversion&comma; but I look back and realize how valuable such titles were&comma; not just monetarily but to the gaming industry as a whole&period; I couldn’t be happier that I stumbled upon them&period; What I suppose I’m getting at here is that the PS2 was one of the first systems to turn gaming into a legitimate art form&period; If I hadn’t taken the plunge and decided to commit myself fully to the console&comma; I wouldn’t have gotten to experience the majesty of that art&comma; and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here writing this&period; So here’s to you&comma; our sharp rectangular friend&period; Rest in peace&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;memoirs-of-the-playstation-2&sol;ico-wallpaper&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-34935"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34935" alt&equals;"Memoirs of the Playstation 2 - The End of an Era screenshot 4" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2013&sol;01&sol;ico-wallpaper&period;jpg" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"798" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you guys have your own memories regarding the Playstation 2 then please share them below as everyone here in the features department and the rest of BagoGames would love to read them&period; Other articles shedding more light on the closure of the PS2 can be found below&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Similar articles<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul class&equals;"zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style&equals;"margin&colon; 0&semi; padding&colon; 0&semi; overflow&colon; hidden&semi;">&NewLine;<li class&equals;"zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; background&colon; none&semi; list-style&colon; none&semi; display&colon; block&semi; float&colon; left&semi; vertical-align&colon; top&semi; text-align&colon; left&semi; width&colon; 84px&semi; font-size&colon; 11px&semi; margin&colon; 2px 10px 10px 2px&semi;"><a style&equals;"box-shadow&colon; 0px 0px 4px &num;999&semi; padding&colon; 2px&semi; display&colon; block&semi; border-radius&colon; 2px&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi;" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;playstation-2-production-ceased&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer"><img style&equals;"padding&colon; 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0&semi; background&colon; none&semi; list-style&colon; none&semi; display&colon; block&semi; float&colon; left&semi; vertical-align&colon; top&semi; text-align&colon; left&semi; width&colon; 84px&semi; font-size&colon; 11px&semi; margin&colon; 2px 10px 10px 2px&semi;"><a style&equals;"box-shadow&colon; 0px 0px 4px &num;999&semi; padding&colon; 2px&semi; display&colon; block&semi; border-radius&colon; 2px&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi;" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;browser-version-playstation-store-coming-north-america&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer"><img style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; margin&colon; 0&semi; border&colon; 0&semi; display&colon; block&semi; width&colon; 80px&semi; max-width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;i&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;137323875&lowbar;80&lowbar;80&period;jpg" &sol;><&sol;a><a style&equals;"display&colon; block&semi; overflow&colon; hidden&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; line-height&colon; 12pt&semi; height&colon; 80px&semi; padding&colon; 5px 2px 0 2px&semi;" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;browser-version-playstation-store-coming-north-america&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">Browser Version of PlayStation Store Coming to North America<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; background&colon; none&semi; list-style&colon; none&semi; display&colon; block&semi; float&colon; left&semi; vertical-align&colon; top&semi; text-align&colon; left&semi; width&colon; 84px&semi; font-size&colon; 11px&semi; margin&colon; 2px 10px 10px 2px&semi;"><a style&equals;"box-shadow&colon; 0px 0px 4px &num;999&semi; padding&colon; 2px&semi; display&colon; block&semi; border-radius&colon; 2px&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;metro&period;co&period;uk&sol;2013&sol;01&sol;07&sol;playstation-2-production-ends-after-12-years-3341130&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer"><img style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; margin&colon; 0&semi; border&colon; 0&semi; display&colon; block&semi; width&colon; 80px&semi; max-width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;i&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;136331465&lowbar;80&lowbar;80&period;jpg" &sol;><&sol;a><a style&equals;"display&colon; block&semi; overflow&colon; hidden&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; line-height&colon; 12pt&semi; height&colon; 80px&semi; padding&colon; 5px 2px 0 2px&semi;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;metro&period;co&period;uk&sol;2013&sol;01&sol;07&sol;playstation-2-production-ends-after-12-years-3341130&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">PlayStation 2 production ends after 12 years<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; background&colon; none&semi; list-style&colon; none&semi; display&colon; block&semi; float&colon; left&semi; vertical-align&colon; top&semi; text-align&colon; left&semi; width&colon; 84px&semi; font-size&colon; 11px&semi; margin&colon; 2px 10px 10px 2px&semi;"><a style&equals;"box-shadow&colon; 0px 0px 4px &num;999&semi; padding&colon; 2px&semi; display&colon; block&semi; border-radius&colon; 2px&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;r&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;&quest;u&equals;http&percnt;3A&sol;&sol;www&period;cbsnews&period;com&sol;8301-205&lowbar;162-57561513&sol;sony-japan-stops-production-of-playstation-2&sol;&amp&semi;a&equals;135205876&amp&semi;rid&equals;520dc29d-53db-4cf9-b344-587b10cd176e&amp&semi;e&equals;8652c460ae3ddcccd120dc9c930bbaef" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer"><img style&equals;"padding&colon; 0&semi; margin&colon; 0&semi; border&colon; 0&semi; display&colon; block&semi; width&colon; 80px&semi; max-width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;i&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;135205876&lowbar;80&lowbar;80&period;jpg" &sol;><&sol;a><a style&equals;"display&colon; block&semi; overflow&colon; hidden&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; line-height&colon; 12pt&semi; height&colon; 80px&semi; padding&colon; 5px 2px 0 2px&semi;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;r&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;&quest;u&equals;http&percnt;3A&sol;&sol;www&period;cbsnews&period;com&sol;8301-205&lowbar;162-57561513&sol;sony-japan-stops-production-of-playstation-2&sol;&amp&semi;a&equals;135205876&amp&semi;rid&equals;520dc29d-53db-4cf9-b344-587b10cd176e&amp&semi;e&equals;8652c460ae3ddcccd120dc9c930bbaef" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">Sony Japan stops production of PlayStation 2<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"zemanta-related-title" style&equals;"font-size&colon; 1em&semi;"><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"zemanta-pixie" style&equals;"margin-top&colon; 10px&semi; height&colon; 15px&semi;"><img class&equals;"zemanta-pixie-img" style&equals;"border&colon; none&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;img&period;zemanta&period;com&sol;pixy&period;gif&quest;x-id&equals;520dc29d-53db-4cf9-b344-587b10cd176e" &sol;><&sol;div>&NewLine;

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