PS2 News
News Final Fantasy X Was the 'Ultimate Perfection' of the Series, Says Dragon Quest Creator
Ob-Jecht-tion
Opinions will always be split on the best iteration of Final Fantasy, and so it's interesting to hear that living industry legend and Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has shared his own thoughts on the franchise. Once upon a time, Dragon Quest was in direct competition with Final Fantasy; the two properties vying for the RPG crown back...
News Open Source PS2 Emulator Now Plays Almost Entire Console's Library
A remarkable feat
In what can only be deemed a win for future preservation, the popular open-source emulator PCSX2 is now compatible with more than 99.5% of the PS2’s gigantic library. The only games still exhibiting noteworthy issues include: DRIV3R, Final Fantasy 11, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, and World Series Baseball 2K3
News PS2 Set to Remain King of Consoles as Nintendo Switch Sales Start to Stall
For now, at least
For years, it's seemed as though the Nintendo Switch was destined to overtake the PS2 in terms of lifetime sales — but right now, it's no longer looking like such a formality. For the first time since it hit the market, the Switch has failed to break 1 million console sales within the latest quarter, suggesting that the hybrid...
Shadows of the Colossus
In this era of controversial Sony live service disasters, it seems almost sacrilege to suggest PS2 classic Shadow of the Colossus could have been an online game. But that was what auteur Fumito Ueda originally had in mind. An interview with the ex-Sony man on the 20th anniversary of the game’s release reminds us of the...
News Sony's Social Media Tribute to the PS2 Borders on Insulting
You can do better
The legendary PS2 celebrated its 25th anniversary in North America over the weekend, and Sony’s social media tribute bordered on insulting. The company took the opportunity to promote its PS Plus Premium retro games, which makes sense, until you realise it’s missing many of the system’s most memorable releases. The...
News For a Fleeting Moment, It Felt Like PS2 Gangster Game Scarface Could Be Getting a Re-Release
But it all went up in flames
Oh, how we loved Scarface: The World Is Yours on PS2. This PS2 crime caper first launched in 2006, about a month prior to the PS3 in the United States, and it was an awesome send-off for the system in our opinion. While it was, in many ways, a GTA clone, we really loved building up our criminal empire and simply...
News Tomb Raider: Anniversary Will Not Be Part of Next Week's PS Plus Update
Mystery solved
We know Tomb Raider: Anniversary will be added to PS Plus Premium at some point, as Sony already confirmed that during a recent State of Play. But there’s confusion after uber-reliable rumour-monger billbil-kun touted it for next week’s update, scheduled for 21st October. Ultimately, it wasn’t includ
News There's Even More Classic Tomb Raider Coming to PS5, PS4
That's a lot o' Lara
Between the two remastered compilations, the PS5 and PS4 are already great systems for classic Tomb Raider games. But they’re about to get even better, because Trophies for Tomb Raider: Anniversary appear to have hit Sony’s servers. It’s highly likely this game will be added to the PS Store as an emulated effort as part...
News USA's Top 20 PlayStation Games of All Time May Surprise You
Modernity has not failed us
Did you know PlayStation is enjoying its 30th anniversary in USA today? These celebrations do tend to drag on forever due to the lag that used to exist between hardware launches. You may recall, we already commemorated PlayStation’s 30th anniversary last year, as it deployed a year earlier in its native Japan. Anyway,...
News These New PS1 Toy Capsules Are Worth the Price of a Flight to Tokyo
"Changed my mind"
Why book a flight to Tokyo? Sure, the katsu curry is delicious and the historical landmarks are fascinating – but let’s be honest, these new PlayStation gashapons look like the real reason to make the trip. The miniature PS1 and PS2 game cases double as keyrings, and can be opened with a removable disc and manual inside. Hey,...
News New PS2 'Super Big' Plush Has No Right to Be This Cool
Dream machine
A plush of the PS2? Of the actual console? You better believe it. That's right, Sony's record-breaking system will soon be available to buy in plush form. Just to be clear, this really is just a pillow — it's not hiding a disc drive or anything like that. The plush is a rather large 16.5 inches tall, and it's going to be priced at...
News Publishers Pitch Sony on Adding Retro Classics to PS Plus
That's how Battle Engine Aquila got released
Exactly how do new retro titles get selected for PS Plus Premium? It’s a question we’ve been pondering for a while, as the rollout has been mixed since the service started a few years ago. While we’ve seen obvious first-party titles like Sly Cooper and Ape Escape added to the service, there’s so...
Guide Metal Gear Solid Series: How to Get Started and All Games Ranked
The ultimate Metal Gear Solid beginner's guide
One of the best and most important video game franchises ever made, Metal Gear Solid is famed for its stealth action and cinematic storytelling. Its narrative advancements in the PS1 days and the risks it took during the PS2 era are why the franchise is so beloved, and are what put Hideo Kojima truly on...
News Fans Can't Believe PS5 Has Made More Profit Than All Previous PlayStations Combined
It's true, though
A slide from a recent PlayStation investors presentation has gone viral, as it effectively confirms that the PS5 has made more profit than all of Sony’s previous consoles combined. The manufacturer pegs PS5’s operating income at $13 billion so far, while the PS1 era netted $3 billion, the PS2 era made $2 billion, the PS3 lost...
News Pocket a Platinum in PS Plus Premium's Seminal New Retro Release
Gong crazy
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, the PS2 port of Warren Spector’s seminal RPG, has a Platinum Trophy for you to unlock in its new PS Plus Premium emulated format. While this version of the game isn’t quite up to the same level as the PC original, it’s the version many people played due to the ubiquity of Sony’s console at the time...
Guide Deus Ex: The Conspiracy Cheats: All Cheat Codes
Master the conspiracy with a little helping hand
Like many of the great games from its era, Deus Ex: The Conspiracy has an easily accessible cheats list which you can use to upgrade your character and even enable God Mode. It takes no time at all to unlock this feature in the PS2 title, now playable on PS5 and PS4. So on this page, we’re going to...
News At Least Sony's New PS2 Classic Has a Platinum Trophy on PS5, PS4
But let's hope for PS Plus Premium improvements
It’s so frustrating what’s going on with PS Plus Premium and Sony’s push to bring classic games to PS5 and PS4, because the platform holder clearly now has the pieces in place – but it’s flunking the content. We have no issue with the release of Battle Engine Aquila this week, as it seems...
News PS Plus Re-Release Bags Much Better Trophy List
Monstrous
Sony has re-released underrated PS2 kaiju brawler War of the Monsters on both the PS5 and PS4, as part of its improved PS Plus Premium retro push. While this game was already available on the PS Store as part of the platform holder’s previous efforts, it’s now contained within the company’s new emulator, which comes with all sorts...
News EyeToy Era Gameplay Is Making a Comeback, And No One Really Noticed
The power of play
One of the lesser discussed Nintendo Switch 2 features took us back to our heady PS2 days, as the camera-based gameplay in the expanded version of Super Mario Jamboree sure reminded us of EyeToy. For those of you too young to remember the PS2 peripheral, it pre-dated both the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect, and ushered in an early...
News PS Plus Premium Plotting Superior Version of PS2's War of the Monsters for PS5, PS4
The kaijus are coming
Underrated PS2 kaiju game War of the Monsters, which was already ported to the PS4 a decade ago as part of Sony’s ill-fated emulation efforts, appears to be getting an updated re-release. Gematsu spotted listings on the Taiwanese ratings board for PS5 and PS4 versions of the classic, suggesting the game will be re-deployed...
News PS2, the Most Popular Console Ever, Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary
Live in your world, play in ours
25 years ago today, on the 4th March 2000 (we're going by Japan's current date here), the legendary PS2 was released. God, we're old. The successor to the already wildly popular PlayStation, the PS2 would go on to sell a staggering 160 million units over the course of its life cycle. It's still the best-selling...
News PS Plus Classics Patapon 3, Dropship Add Full Trophy Support
Trophy hunters on notice
One of the highlights of Sony’s refreshed PS Plus Classics approach is that all first-party games tend to include Trophy lists. And the platform holder’s maintained that commitment with the addition of PSP threequel Patapon 3 and PS2 curio Dropship: United Peace Force today. Both games have Platinums to earn, and you...
News Classic Indiana Jones Scavenges a PS5, PS4 Platinum Trophy
Unlock it before the Great Circle arrives
We’re huge fans of Sony’s retro game initiative, which has seen classic PS1, PSP, and PS2 titles re-released on PS5 and PS4 with upscaling and quality-of-life features. But we understand not all third-parties want to play ball, and certainly don’t want to invest in the addition of Trophies. We really...
News A Decade Later, Director Says Shadow of the Colossus Film Still Happening
Running up that hill
The first whispers of a film adaptation of the already cinematic Shadow of the Colossus began in 2010. After several creative reshuffles, The Flash director Andrés Muschietti was hired in 2014. Over a decade later, Muschietti claims it's still happening. Speaking on Radio TU's program
News This Awesome LEGO PS2 Set Will Be Officially Considered for Production
Getting emotional
A user-submitted LEGO PS2 set has gained enough support to be considered by LEGO to be made official and put on sale. This comes from the LEGO Ideas site, where anyone can submit their dream LEGO project and hope to gain supporters. If they get 10,000 within a certain time frame, the project moves into a review phase at the Danish...
News As the Switch Closes in, Sony Confirms PS2 Sold 160 Million Units
Up from the 155 million previously assumed
For over a decade, the PS2’s official sales total sat at 155 million units, as Sony stopped reporting sales of the system in 2012. It was always assumed the final number was higher, as the console wasn’t officially discontinued until a year later, and there would have been leftover inventory that...
News Outstanding PS2 RPG Dragon Quest 8 Is Now 20 Years Old
Remaster, anyone?
At the time of writing this article, it just turned 12am in Japan — and that means Dragon Quest 8 is officially 20 years old. The PS2 RPG first launched on the 27th November, 2004 — but the West didn't get to experience this franchise-defining adventure until later. Dragon Quest 8 dropped the following year in the US, but us...
Random PS2's Iconic Operating System Becomes Survival Horror in Upcoming Indie
Please insert disc
For everyone reading this article, PS2’s operating system will be a source of nostalgia. It also could be quite a frightening place – especially when your favourite game failed to boot. Usually a quick breath over the back of the DVD and a rub on the shirt could fix even the most scratched copy of GTA: San Andreas, but it was...
News Sony's Porting PS2 Horror Siren to Its New PS5, PS4 Emulator
And that's actually huge news
Sony is adding Siren to PS Plus Premium from 15th October, which is potentially huge news. This is because the PS2 survival horror is actually already part of the subscription, as it was ported to the PS4 in 2016. The Japanese giant pulled the plug on its ill-fated PS2 on PS4 programme after fans complained of shoddy...
News PS5, PS4 Fans Think Something May Be Afoot with Sony's Siren Series
But it's likely just better emulation
A mysterious rating for Sony’s underrated survival horror series Siren has emerged in Korea, prompting some PS5 fans to ponder whether the franchise could be making an unexpected comeback. In all likelihood, this pertains to an emulated PS2 version, which is already available in most regions and hasn’t...
Mini Review Mister Mosquito (PS2) - Sony Classic Sucks in All the Right Ways
Buzzin'
You only need to press the start button to know Mister Mosquito graduated from an era of PlayStation that’s long been lost. As the camera pans around the densely detailed exterior of the Yamada family’s estate, a dramatic voice over does its best David Attenborough impression, describing the precarious lifecycle of a mosquito. Your goal...
News Don't Sleep on PS2 Secret Gem Sky Gunner, Coming to PS5, PS4 Next Week
Anime-style dogfighting sim
Your eyes may have glossed right over Sky Gunner when you looked at next week’s PS Plus update. That’s understandable, as big-ticket titles Mister Mosquito and Secret Agent Clank were always going to attract greater attention. But don’t write off this PS2 gem from PixelArts, as it’s absolutely worth your time...
News Zany PS Plus Oddity Mister Mosquito Is an Unmissable PS5, PS4 Addition
Sucking your subscription dry
There’s been much reminiscing among PS5 owners of late, as Astro Bot stirred fond memories of a bygone PlayStation era for fans. Well, if you’re the kind of person raised on a diet of Vib-Ribbon and Ape Escape, you absolutely should be playing Mister Mosquito, an outright barmy PS2 exclusive developed by Japanese...
Mini Review TimeSplitters (PS2) - A Fantastic Foundation with Flaws
Running out of time
Despite releasing just two years prior to TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters finds itself noticeably lacking in a number of key areas. It’s not dissimilar to how the gap between 2 and Future Perfect felt, though that was of course three years. Just as Future Perfect pulled a lot of content from its predecessor, 2 would in turn...
Future imperfect
Despite launching just three years later and on the same hardware as TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect looks like a title from a completely different console generation. This is both a good and a bad thing. Visually, things are substantially better, with far cleaner textures, more complex environments, and so on...
News We're Already Mourning the GTA Tokyo Game on PS2 That Never Was
The Japanese dream
Did you know that Rockstar briefly considered releasing a Grand Theft Auto game set in Tokyo? Speculation about a Japanese edition of the crime sandbox caper has been rife for several years, especially after Take-Two famously filed trademarks for a game based in the city shortly after the release of GTA: San Andreas in 2004...
Make like a banana and split
The first-person shooter has gone through many changes over the years. It took a long time to perfect the formula on consoles; we didn’t receive Call of Duty right out of the gate, oh no. There were fundamental experiences that shaped the course of history for the genre, be it Wolfenstein 3D, GoldenEye, Halo, or...
Rob it Raccoon
Sly Cooper returns! Everyone's favourite kleptomaniac raccoon is finally here on PS5, albeit in port form rather than in a brand new title. Still, we'll take what we can get when it comes to Sly, and so it's a pleasure to see the first game in the series, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, as a PS2 Classic, available for a...
Review Ghosthunter (PS2) - Overlooked Supernatural Shooter Should Be a Cult Classic
The ghost with the most
What a difference a twenty years makes. When Ghosthunter released in 2004 for PS2 it was met with poor sales and mixed reviews from the critics of the time. Generally, reviewers thought it looked great, but it was too linear and at a mere ten hours or so in length it was far too brief. Today, Ghosthunter looks like a bag of...
Review Summoner (PS2) - Ambitious RPG Remains a Relic of the Past
They sure don't make 'em like this anymore
Summoner is a party-based CRPG that launched on PS2 in 2000, and it was recently given a new lease on life thanks to a re-release on PS5 and PS4 via PlayStation's Classics push. Developed by Volition (later Deep Silver, of Saint's Row fame), the studio's ambitious and expansive effort was marred by a lack...
News Cult PS2 Genre Blender Killer7 Could Be Resurrected for PS5, PS4
Make your voice heard
Killer7 is a game unlike any other. If you didn’t play the legendary PS2 shooter, then it’s almost impossible to introduce: it has elements of first-person shooter, rails shooter, and point-and-click gameplay. Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture in collaboration with Capcom, it perhaps deserves to be appreciated by a...
News One of the PS2's Most Overlooked Soundtracks Has Finally Arrived on Music Streaming Services
The Digital Devil Saga continues
The full soundtracks for Digital Devil Saga and Digital Devil Saga 2 are now on music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Both games are collected under one album called Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1&2 Original Soundtrack, which spans 139 songs. Search for...
News Forgotten PS2 Launch RPG Summoner Resurrected for PS5, PS4
You could say it's been summoned
What game did you get with your PS2? Tekken Tag Tournament, perhaps? Ridge Racer 5? FantaVision?! We’re going to go out on a limb and assume not many of you picked THQ’s Summoner, an ancient WRPG with a penchant for reams of text and some scruffy visuals. Developed by Volition, this is likely one of the forgotten...
News PS5, PS4's New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test
"A distinct lack of care"
Tech know-it-alls Digital Foundry are not impressed with the latest PS2 emulator on PS5 and PS4, which debuted earlier this month. It compares the experience to “someone booting up an emulator with default settings and handing you the controller”. The experts brutally conclude: “Sure, you can play the game, but...
News Sly Cooper PS2 Is PS Plus Premium's Biggest Classic Hit So Far
Really snuck in there
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus almost immediately became the most popular classic game released on PlayStation's PS Plus Premium service, quickly overtaking the previous PS1 champ, The Legend of Dragoon. Spotted by PSLS, Sucker Punch Production's 2002 action platformer took the top spot, according to gameplay analytics
News TimeSplitters PS5, PS4 Rated for Release, PS2 Classic Likely Slated for PS Plus Premium
Blast from the past
Free Radical Design's seminal shooter TimeSplitters looks like it's coming to PS5 and PS4, likely as part of the next phase of PS Plus Premium's classics push. Overnight, ratings for modern platforms appeared on the Taiwanese ratings board, which is good news for fans of the now-defunct developer.
News Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition Confirmed for Limited Run Games Showcase
Fancy that, a flying pig
We had a feeling Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition might rear its head soon (despite missing its anniversary year), reassured by the Trophy list that recently popped up online. Well, it's official now: Ubisoft has announced it will share news about the game during tomorrow's Limited Run Games showcase on 20th...
News Classic PS2, PSP Campaigns Ghosthunter, Daxter Add Platinum Trophies on PS5, PS4
The master of unlocking
As is commonly the case with first-party releases made available with Sony’s PS Plus Premium service, inventive PS2 shooter Ghosthunter and legendary PSP platformer Daxter will ship with Platinum Trophies. The former game will pack a total of 21 gongs, and will largely require you to beat a variety of bosses, and work your...
News Soon, All of the Main Jak and Daxter Games Will Be Playable on PS5, PS4
Eco-nomical
Platforming fans can rest assured knowing that from 18th June, you’ll be able to play every single mainline Jak and Daxter game on PS5 and PS4. The release of PSP platformer Daxter – arguably one of the best entries in the series – will round out the selection, with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3, and Jak X:...
News One of PS2's Most Overlooked First-Party Games Is Coming to PS5, PS4
No longer ghosted
You probably never played Ghosthunter, but you should have done. Developed by Cambridge Studio – the UK-based team that would later renamed Guerrilla Cambridge, before being shutdown following the release of PS Vita’s excellent Killzone Mercenary – was published in the United States by Namco, such was the mistreatment of the...
