Few topics divide gamers as much as the question of what is the best gaming console. And whilst the debates between Sega and Nintendo took up much of the 1990s, at the moment it’s still all about the Xbox versus the PlayStation.
And whilst Microsoft fans may enjoy bragging about the alleged six teraflops of processing power in the upcoming Xbox Scorpio, for those of us who actually enjoy playing games rather than reading technical data, it’s clear that the PlayStation 2 was the pinnacle of gaming entertainment.
OK so we might be looking back at the PS2 through rose-tinted glasses. But with over 155 million gamers having bought the console, it’s clear that these numbers attest to the glory of Sony’s groundbreaking product.
When it was launched in 2000, few people would have realised that Sony would still be producing the console no less than 13 years later. With backwards compatibility, simple-but-futuristic Dualshock controllers, and complete lack of fancy extra features like streaming that clog up many modern consoles, it was a pure gaming dream.
In terms of the games catalogue for the PS2, it’s hard to beat such a list of iconic titles. How many of us have lost entire years of our lives playing classic games like Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, May Payne, and Burnout 3?
Even compared to later incarnations of the PlayStation, it’s the PS2 that still manages to stand up as a reliable and failsafe gaming delight. The PS3 suffered from a high price tag and lack of decent games. And although the PS4 is an incredible machine and Lucky Nugget Casino’s blog have shown that it has opened the doors to mainstream VR gaming, it’s looking like it’ll never match the phenomenal sales figures of the PS2.
Much of this could be down to the fact that people are now switching to their smartphones as a way of playing anything from Pokémon Go to Canadian casino games. And as the traditional console life cycle is dying, we may never see the high-profile launches of new consoles like we’ve enjoyed for the past couple of decades.
This is especially so as the PlayStation 4 Pro was seen as a bit of a stop-gap, and with still no news about we can see the PlayStation 5, it’s clear that the PS2 is still the most iconic gaming console!
