#oneaday Day 136: My Favourite

The PS2 is my favourite console of all time.

I've gone back and forth on whether I really think this, because for sure there are lots of games I absolutely love on other platforms. The PSP-Vita-PS4-Switch era has been pretty consistently strong for RPGs, for example, so those platforms will always have a special place in my heart… but there's just something absolutely magical about the PlayStation 2 that I love, making it my favourite console to collect games for, and my favourite to bust out and play something on.

I think a big part of that is its simplicity compared to that which came after. There's no online fluff, no user profiles, no downloadable content… it's just a simple device for playing games. You put in a disc, you play a game. That's it.

What's more, the lack of digitally downloadable content meant that there were less obvious "strata" of games than there are now. I mean, sure, you could still tell the difference between a game from a big, affluent studio and something made on the cheap by a group of enthusiasts, but there was less of a feeling of… I don't know if I want to use the word "inferiority" to refer to cheap, digital-only games because there are many out there that are absolutely magnificent games, but the fact that every game was, in effect, treated "equally" on the PS2 in terms of packaging and physical presence is something I like very much indeed.

While the PS2 was part of the last generation where PAL vs NTSC made a difference — with NTSC inevitably being superior in most cases — one thing from PlayStation Europe that I like more than the American approach is the uniformity to game spines. For those unfamiliar, PS2 game spines over here are all the same: white background, black text in a clear, sans-serif font. (Platinum rereleases are the exception; they have a black background with silver text.)

A lot of people seem to dislike this, from a casual Google search, but I absolutely love it. It gives the PS2 library a look of classy consistency — and is part of how I consider all "tiers" of games from the era to have had equal treatment. A low-budget Simple Series release looks the same on a shelf as a bigger budget title; everything has an equal opportunity to grab your attention.

I've been talking about "tiers" a bit here, but another nice thing about the PS2 era is that there was much less disparity between what we now know as "triple-A" and lower-budget games. Sure, there was still a difference — particularly later in the console's lifespan — but it was less obvious. EA, for example, tended to flex its financial muscles with licensed soundtracks more than anything — making them a copyright nightmare to record and stream these days, incidentally — but the other aspects of their games' presentation wasn't necessarily significantly superior to something put out by a quirky little Japanese studio.

Basically, the long and short of it is that I can walk up to my PS2 shelf, pick pretty much anything at random and know I'm going to have an enjoyable time. I can walk into a CEX and happily wander out a few minutes later with an armful of random stuff that cost me pocket change to acquire. And even the more exciting, expensive and rare stuff doesn't break the bank to get hold of — Rule of Rose aside, of course.

The only thing I wish were different about this wonderful platform is its region-locking. There are a number of games that didn't come to Europe that I'd really like to play, but right now it's a case of hooking up an NTSC PS2 (which I thankfully have one of), emulating or getting hold of a chipped system. I haven't taken the plunge with the latter option as yet, but it's quite appealing, if only so I can play all of Xenosaga without having to swap cables around!

Anyway. I love ya, PS2; you've provided good times for nearly 20 years now, and I suspect there are many more still yet to come. I salute you.