![]() ![]() Rather than simply feeling nostalgic (or old), though, I think that the PS2 launch and how the console and its market developed remain important things to study from a business perspective. Japan, North America and Europe all had distinct line-ups of software, and even the launch date for the PS2 hardware itself was staggered across territories to an extent that would attract consumer outrage today - the anniversary of the European launch, as a consequence, isn't for another nine months. ![]() It was also an era when territorial barriers were much higher in the industry. It's easy to be nostalgic for that simplicity, though it certainly had its downsides not least the high barriers to entry that effectively prevented anything like today's thriving indie development sector from taking root. Video games were all but synonymous with consoles at that point, and there was one business model to rule them all - packaged games at a largely consistent price point. The PS2 launch and how the console and its market developed remain important things to study from a business perspective It was an era when consoles ruled the roost smartphones weren't even a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye at that point, and the PC platform was going through one of the doom-and-gloom points in its cycle, as retailers reduced shelf space for PC games and digital distribution - awaiting the arrival of Steam some years later - remained an unfulfilled dream. The 20th anniversary of the PS2 mostly serves to make those of us who were working in the games business at the time feel very old, of course, but it also serves as an opportunity to reflect on how things have changed since the March of 2000. Around 1.5 billion units of PS2 software were sold over the years, and though various estimates float around for the number of software titles released on PS2 - complicated, I suspect, by different ways of counting SKUs and games with different names in various territories - Wikipedia currently curates a list of almost 4,500 entries. Less commonly cited but even more extraordinary in many ways are the software numbers for the platform. The PS2 ultimately sold 155 million units worldwide, a record-breaking total that seems unlikely to be rivalled by any other console platform in the near future. Here are our choices for the top 50 PlayStation 2 games of all time.This week saw the 20th anniversary of the launch of the PlayStation 2 in Japan - the beginning of a remarkable era for console gaming. We hope we have all moved on from those moments since then and have nothing but fond memories to look back on. We know some of these games might have resulted in a loss of some rather hefty yet “friendly” bet wages or some arguments that could have given our loved ones the steppin’. So what better way to walk down memory lane with this classic gamestation than making a list of the best PS2 games of all time? We are aware this can bring back some good and bad memories. If you were part of the generation that discovered video games through titles like Grand Theft Auto III and God of War, chances are the PS2 played a major role in your youth. Not only has it sold more units than any other home or handheld console ever since it came out in the year 2000, but it also supports thousands of titles and arrived at a time when video games were becoming more complex, artistic, and immersive. Sony’s PlayStation 2 is one of the greatest gaming systems of all time. ![]()
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