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the original PS2 launch models (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000, and SCPH-18000) were only sold in Japan, and lacked the expansion bay of current PS2 models. These models included a PCMCIA slot instead of the expansion bay port of newer models. SCPH-10000 and SCPH-15000 did not have a built-in DVD movie playback and instead relied on encrypted playback software that was copied to a memory card from an included CD-ROM. (Normally, the PS2 will only execute encrypted software from its memory card, but see PS2 Independence Exploit.) V3 had a substantially different internal structure from the subsequent revisions, featuring several interconnected printed circuit boards. As of V4 everything was unified into one board, except the power supply. V5 introduced minor internal changes, and the only difference between V6 (sometimes called V5.1) and V5 is the orientation of the Power/Reset switch board connector, which was reversed to prevent the use of no-solder modchips. V7 and V8 included only minor revisions to V6. Assembly of the PS2 moved to the People's Republic of China during the development of V9 (model numbers SCPH-50000 and SCPH-50001). The upgraded console added an infrared port for the optional DVD remote control, removed the IEEE 1394 port, added the capability to read DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs, added progressive-scan output of DVD movies, and added a quieter fan. V10 and V11 were only minor revisions to V9. The PS2 standard color is matte black. Several different variations in color have been produced in different quantities and regions, including ceramic white, light yellow, metallic blue (aqua), metallic silver, navy (star blue), opaque blue (astral blue), opaque black (midnight black), pearl white, Sakura purple, satin gold, satin silver, snow white, super red, transparent blue (ocean blue) and also Limited Edition color Pink which was distributed in some regions such as Oceania, and parts of Asia. The small PlayStation logo on the front of the disc tray could be rotated ninety degrees, in order for the logo to be the right way up in both vertical and horizontal console orientations. This feature is also used in the slimlines.
PlayStation 2 Slimline In September 2004, Sony unveiled its third major hardware revision (V12, model number SCPH-70000). Available in late October 2004, it is smaller, thinner, and quieter than the older versions and includes a built-in Ethernet port (in some markets it also has an integrated modem). Due to its thinner profile, it does not contain the 3.5" expansion bay and therefore does not support the internal hard disk drive. It also lacks an internal power supply, similar to the GameCube, and has a modified Multitap expansion. The removal of the expansion bay has been criticized as a limitation due to the existence of titles such as Final Fantasy XI, which require the use of the HDD. The official PS2 Linux also requires an expansion bay to function. Currently only the modified Multitap is sold in stores, however these are also compatible with the older versions, and also added support for multiple memory cards on some games. Third-party connectors can be soldered into the unit giving hard drive support, however IDE connections were completely removed in the V14 revision, thereby eliminating this option. Certain mod chips enable the use of a USB hard drive or other mass storage device.
- Champions of Norrath
- Jack and Daxter 1
- Jack and Daxter 2
- Ape Escape 2
- Mark of Kri
- Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter
- Guitar Hero
- God Hand
- Haven: Call of the King
- Echo of the Eyes
- Odin Sphere
- The Red Star
- Okami
- Rez
- Dislike of Sony's later design aesthetic
- Jack and Daxter 2 (last Naughty Dog game liked)
- The Last of Us (disliked)
- Uncharted (disliked, compared to Tomb Raider)
- Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter (compared to rogue-lite games)
- God Hand (compared to Clover studio)
- The Red Star (compared to Gunstar Heroes)
- Okami (compared to Zelda)
- Odin Sphere (described as sidescrolling action RPG from Vanillaware)
- Rez (described as monumental achievement)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Rhythm Action — Guitar Hero was a rhythm action game where you played guitar.
- Rogue-lite Elements — Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter had rogue-lite elements, encouraging dying and repeating.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Nintendo fans, here it is. My number two favorite system of all time is the Nintendo Gamecube.
- Oh my god. God, the Gamecube is so good.
- Eternal Darkness, the best Lovecraftian horror game ever made.
- Zelda, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. By far my favorite Zelda game.
- Metroid Prime, my favorite Metroid game. So good. love that game. The atmosphere is great.
- I love the Gamecube. I wish Nintendo would have followed down that path, but I have a feeling if they would have, they probably wouldn't be around anymore.
- And finally, my number one system of all time, and that is the original Sony PlayStation.
- And uh that game reignited my passion for or that console reignited my passion for video games. And it's been ignited ever since.
- And the best thing about the Sony PlayStation 1 era was like this was a time before we had so much news coverage online about video games.
- And so I could go to a video game store and we had quite a few where I was from in Fresno, California, a local kind of chain called BR and then we had Software etc.
- you could go into a video game store and just look at the shelves and the shelves of the stores were huge and they had so many shelves and there were so many games for the PS1 and you could stumble upon games that you had no idea what they were because they weren't getting covered.
- These totally bizarre almost non games.
- They had refund and exchange policies at their store, so you could go in and buy a game with a full guarantee that you would like it.
- And it just it gave us the chance to try things out at home and, you know, decide whether or not we like the game.
- And so that, you know, kind of gave me the freedom to experiment with a whole bunch of different kinds of games.
- And I think that's a I think that's a huge uh miss. I think not allowing gamers to exchange games and not allowing for, you know, that's why I like Steam so much because you can buy a game, you can play it for a couple hours, and if you don't like it, you can refund it.
References (from this video)
- Reignited passion for video games
- Abundance of games, including many obscure ones
- Allowed for experimentation with diverse genres
- Early refund/exchange policies facilitated trying new games
- Tales of the Sun was an open-world caveman game with a full planet to explore
- Aquanauts Holiday offered ocean exploration
- Vagrant Hearts and Suikoden 1 were fantastic JRPGs
- Point Blank was an incredible light gun game
- Tomb Raider was a favorite game for a long time
- Broken Helix is a fun action game voiced by Bruce Campbell
- Wild Arms is a favorite JRPG, blending sci-fi and western
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the best Metroidvania
- R-Type Delta is the best side-scrolling shmup
- Silhouette Mirage is a cool puzzly platformer
- Crash Team Racing and Wipeout XL were great racing games
- Parappa the Rappa is a beloved rhythm game
- Resident Evil 2 was amazing
- Alundra is a great Zelda-like game
- Some games were 'almost non-games' with unclear goals
- Silhouette Mirage was better on Saturn, but hard to get
- The exchange policy was eventually removed
- Steam Deck
- Switch
- Atari 2600
- Saturn
- Xbox 360
- PlayStation 3
- Demon's Souls
- Dark Souls
- Rage
- Gothic 1 remake
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action — Broken Helix. this kind of like Area 51 action game where the character is voiced by Bruce Campbell.
- Action-adventure — The first Tomb Raider up until Dark Souls. Tomb Raider was my favorite game of all time.
- exploration — Aquinauts Holiday was all about exploring the ocean without much of a goal.
- JRPG — Wild Arms, my favorite JRPG of all time, a mix of like a science fiction and western.
- Light gun shooter — light gun games like Point Blank. Incredible.
- Metroidvania — Castlevania, Symphony of the Night, my all-time favorite Metroid Vania.
- Open world — Tales of the Sun was like this game where you are playing as a tribe of of caveman and it was an openw world game on the PlayStation 1 with I think like a full kind of 360°ree planet that you could run around.
- Platformer — Silhouette Mirage, a really cool kind of puzzly platformer.
- racing — Crash Team Racing was great. Wipeout XL, man. just racing in Wipeout all fast with that techno music playing so cool.
- Rhythm game — Parappa the Rappa, another uh rhythm action game. Love it.
- Shmup — Raytorm and Ray Crisis, these schmups that were brought over to the United States by Working Design. Great games. Rype Delta, my favorite sidescrolling schmup of all time.
- Survival Horror — Resident Evil 2, amazing.
- Zelda-like — Alundra, a kind of Zelda style game, but just so many games.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Nintendo fans, here it is. My number two favorite system of all time is the Nintendo Gamecube.
- Oh my god. God, the Gamecube is so good.
- Eternal Darkness, the best Lovecraftian horror game ever made.
- Zelda, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. By far my favorite Zelda game.
- Metroid Prime, my favorite Metroid game. So good. love that game. The atmosphere is great.
- I love the Gamecube. I wish Nintendo would have followed down that path, but I have a feeling if they would have, they probably wouldn't be around anymore.
- And finally, my number one system of all time, and that is the original Sony PlayStation.
- And uh that game reignited my passion for or that console reignited my passion for video games. And it's been ignited ever since.
- And the best thing about the Sony PlayStation 1 era was like this was a time before we had so much news coverage online about video games.
- And so I could go to a video game store and we had quite a few where I was from in Fresno, California, a local kind of chain called BR and then we had Software etc.
- you could go into a video game store and just look at the shelves and the shelves of the stores were huge and they had so many shelves and there were so many games for the PS1 and you could stumble upon games that you had no idea what they were because they weren't getting covered.
- These totally bizarre almost non games.
- They had refund and exchange policies at their store, so you could go in and buy a game with a full guarantee that you would like it.
- And it just it gave us the chance to try things out at home and, you know, decide whether or not we like the game.
- And so that, you know, kind of gave me the freedom to experiment with a whole bunch of different kinds of games.
- And I think that's a I think that's a huge uh miss. I think not allowing gamers to exchange games and not allowing for, you know, that's why I like Steam so much because you can buy a game, you can play it for a couple hours, and if you don't like it, you can refund it.