It stands tall as the smash hit reassure ever – and this week – the PlayStation 2 commends its twentieth commemoration.
“It was my first ever console and introduced me to gaming,” building understudy, and gamer, Victoria Powell discloses to Radio 1 Newsbeat.
Victoria, 22, is one of the 158 million individuals who claimed a PS2 after it was discharged in 2000.
It was initially discharged on 4 March in Japan, with the UK being the third piece of the world to get hold of it on 24 November 2000.
“I remember Dad brought it home and me being confused thinking ‘what is this big black box thing?’,” they says.
Yet, it took only a couple of long stretches of playing a Peter Pan game on the support for Victoria to acknowledge she truly delighted in gaming.
For what reason was the PS2 so effective?
Alex Wiltshire is an essayist for games magazine Edge, and he says the PS2 is “an important part of gaming and console history.”
The DVD player in the comfort made it open to individuals at the time who could get “two things for a cheaper price”.
Alex accepts the support pulled in individuals who probably won’t have played computer games, and put controllers in the hands of another influx of gamers.
“It was home to games which elevated creativity and expanded the games market – like Singstar and Guitar Hero,” they says.
Singstar let people contend with companions at singing while Guitar Hero was a guitar-based computer games that was played on a major plastic instrument.
“It gave people who weren’t self-identifying as gamers a chance to play things like karaoke and music games.”
As indicated by Guinness World Records, 157.68 million individuals have possessed a PlayStation 2 in the course of their life.
That is in front of the 154.90 million who played on a Nintendo DS and the 118.69 million Game Boy proprietors.
The first PlayStation was claimed by 104.25 million, PlayStation 3 had 86.90 million and current comfort PlayStation 4 has had somewhat more at 88.06 million proprietors.
‘A friendly support’
Victoria says the PS2 was liable for uniting individuals, and it caused their to feel like they was a piece of a network.
“It gave you an easy topic of conversation. If you were into it, there was always flowing conversation,” they says.
They includes there was a harmony at whatever point there was a two player game – and furthermore in the event that people were only an onlooker.
“Even when you were watching someone play, it felt like you were the one playing.”
Victoria played PS2 parts with their loved ones.
“My friends used to come over, really excited after school and be like ‘let’s sit and play this for hours.'”
Victoria says they wound up having some protracted gaming meetings that kept going “probably five or six hours at a stretch.”
‘I probably wasn’t old enough to play GTA’
Their preferred titles were wrongdoing game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Vice City and stage game, Ratchet and Clank.
They’re not the only one in cherishing GTA – the two most well known PS2 games are GTA: San Andreas and Vice City – selling in excess of 36 million duplicates between them.
“I probably wasn’t old enough for GTA,” they says. “But I loved stealing things and driving around for hours.”
Furthermore, in the same way as other gamers during the 2000s, Victoria had a “battered and torn” sheet of cheat codes prepared when she played.
“It was a big list that you’d bring out when you needed it,” they recalls.
Victoria’s recollections are recognizable to numerous around the globe, especially via web-based networking media and individuals have been paying tribute to the PlayStation 2 on its twentieth birthday celebration.
For Alex, the PS2 has earned its place in gaming history.
“It had the best games – the kind that people were most excited about in that era,” they says.
Alex names stealth game Metal Gear Solid and Victoria’s preferred title, Grand Theft Auto, as two of these defining moments.
“It maintained the momentum of the original PlayStation and went way beyond that,” they says.
“It was the dominating console for its time,” they adds.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.