History Platform / PlayStation2

*** DVD±R(W) Video (officially supported on SCPH-500xx and later models only)

The end of the line for the [=PS2=]'s lifespan finally came on January 2, 2013, when production and distribution of the console ceased in Japan. Sony announced on January 4th, 2013, that production had stopped worldwide, making it the fourth-longest lasting console of all time (the third being the Platform/{{Atari 2600}}, the second being the Platform/NeoGeo, and the first being the [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]]) in terms of its production timeframe[[note]]The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis has been in constant production in one form or another since 1988 (mainly in Brazil, where it still remains hugely popular), though Sega themselves stopped manufacturing it in 1996[[/note]].

** ''Sengoku Basara X''

** ''VideoGame/BountyHunter''

After managing to dethrone Creator/{{Nintendo}} as the top console manufacturer with the Platform/PlayStation, Creator/{{Sony}} set out to make lightning strike twice with their entry into UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames, the '''[=PlayStation=] 2'''.

*** Part of what made the console hard to program was the processor was heavily reliant on the DMAC feeding the CPU and two [=VPUs=]. In addition, the developer had a lot of control over the [=VPUs=] and Sony's initial libraries didn't offer any help to developers on how to use them. Curiously, this has a lot of similarity with how the Cell Processor in the {{UsefulNotes/PlayStation3}} operates.
** The main CPU, [=VP0=], and [=VP1=] have 128-bit Single-Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions. However, these don't work on 128-bit values, but either 4 32-bit values, 8 16-bit values, or 16 8-bit values. For a while, Sony misadvertised the console as having a 128 bit CPU to give themselves a lead in the console-bit-wars as the common thought at the time was [[MediaNotes/HowVideoGameSpecsWork "higher bit count equals more realistic graphics,"]] and to counter Sega, who also (inaccurately) advertised the competing UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast console as 128-bit.

** The MIPS [=R3000A=] CPU would be replaced completely in the SCPH-7500X and SCPH-9000X revisions with a custom [=PowerPC 401=] based chip known as [="Deckard"=] which would emulate the IOP and make the [=PlayStation=] backwards compatibility completely software based at the cost of a much reduced compatibility rate of both UsefulNotes/PlayStation games ''AND'' [=PlayStation 2=] games due to how games abused the IOP outside of Sony's guidelines.

* 32 MB main UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory, and 4 MB UsefulNotes/VideoRAM, with a maximum bandwidth of 3.2 GB/s. This is one of the points where the [=PS2=] faltered, as it used more expensive [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDRAM Rambus DRAM]], and ended up with half the RAM, and half the bandwidth on it, of the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}'s SDRAM.

** A version of [[UsefulNotes/{{Unix}} Linux]] based on Red Hat was released early in the [=PS2=]'s lifecycle, mainly for enthusiasts. The kit required a hard drive, USB keyboard (with a USB mouse optional if running in the command line interface, and required if using the graphical shell), and a "sync-on-green" VGA monitor for higher resolutions.

** The main CPU, [=VP0=], and [=VP1=] have 128-bit Single-Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions. However, these don't work on 128-bit values, but either 4 32-bit values, 8 16-bit values, or 16 8-bit values. For a while, Sony misadvertised the console as having a 128 bit CPU to give themselves a lead in the console-bit-wars as the common thought at the time was [[UsefulNotes/HowVideoGameSpecsWork "higher bit count equals more realistic graphics,"]] and to counter Sega, who also (inaccurately) advertised the competing UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast console as 128-bit.

The most important part of the system was its longevity — there were still games being made for it well into the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3's life, and after a great deal of thought Sony decided to continue making the system (now available in white). This was due to the combination of its incredibly high install base and the ease of porting Platform/PlayStationPortable and Platform/{{Wii}} games to and from the console, and in Japan both systems were doing better than the [=PS2=]'s own successor and the Platform/Xbox360.

The [[TheNewTens early 2010s]] marked the death of the [=PS2=], with only seven games released in North America in 2011 and three in 2012. The only American-released games during the 2010s with enough reviews to make it on Metacritic were ''VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove'' and ''Videogame/SilentHillShatteredMemories''. The final title released for the [=PS2=] was ''[[VideoGame/FIFASoccer FIFA 14]]'' in ''September 2013'', three months ''after'' the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4's announcement. Around this time, Sony decided to market a Bravia TV with a [=PS2=] installed in the base; it was only released in Europe, however. Additionally, the final servers for the [=PS2=] [[note]] ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI''[='=]s servers [[/note]] weren't shut down until '''''March 31st, 2016''', 16 years after the system's release!''

The [=PS2=] was powered by a proprietary processor known as the Emotion Engine. While impressive and complex for its time period, it caused a lot of headaches due to the system's non-standard hardware setup and lack of documentation. Several developers would vocally lambaste Sony over the [=PS2=]'s hardware design, though they learned to live with the issues due to the console's clear market lead making it difficult to ignore. This lack of foresight on Sony's part would [[FranchiseOriginalSin end up heralding the problems]] that most developers had with the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and its Cell processor.

The most important part of the system was its longevity — there were still games being made for it well into the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3's life, and after a great deal of thought Sony decided to continue making the system (now available in white). This was due to the combination of its incredibly high install base and the ease of porting UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} games to and from the console, and in Japan both systems were doing better than the [=PS2=]'s own successor and the UsefulNotes/Xbox360.

The end of the line for the [=PS2=]'s lifespan finally came on January 2, 2013, when production and distribution of the console ceased in Japan. Sony announced on January 4th, 2013, that production had stopped worldwide, making it the fourth-longest lasting console of all time (the third being the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, the second being the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo, and the first being the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]]) in terms of its production timeframe[[note]]The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis has been in constant production in one form or another since 1988 (mainly in Brazil, where it still remains hugely popular), though Sega themselves stopped manufacturing it in 1996[[/note]].

One of the system's biggest features was its use of the emerging UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} format.[[note]][=PS2=] games made use of both the CD and the DVD format, which were ColorCodedForYourConvenience: CD-based games had blue backings (compared to the black [=CDs=] used for [=PS1=] games) and DVD-based games were silver.[[/note]] While [=DVD=]s were first commercially available in 1996, when the [=PS2=] launched in 2000 the world was still in the process of transitioning to it from VHS as the home media standard. The [=PS2=] worked as a DVD player right out of the box -- an ''incredibly'' affordable one for its time, and that was before taking into account the fact it was a game system. This, coupled with near-complete backwards compatibility with the original [=PlayStation=], made the [=PS2=] an extremely attractive system for both players and developers (the system was actually the ''hardest'' of its generation to develop for, but offset that by also being the most commercially enticing platform). What certainly didn't hurt was that it was the most powerful gaming console on Earth at the time of its release (or at least the most powerful gaming console people cared about; the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, released a year later, was ''more'' powerful than the [=PS2=] but set back by its use of a lower-capacity storage format) and one of the first to truly compete with the processing power of [=PCs=], which helped to generate a '''ton''' of excitement on its own, especially for those too young or too technophobic to understand the significance of the DVD format and just cared about gaming. The machine had the highest consumer anticipation in the history of video games at the time — its mere announcement ''two whole years before release'' was one of the causes of the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast's death (and by proxy, the end of Creator/{{Sega}}'s console business) in its infancy.

After managing to dethrone Creator/{{Nintendo}} as the top console manufacturer with the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, Creator/{{Sony}} set out to make lightning strike twice with their entry into UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames, the '''[=PlayStation=] 2'''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}''
** ''Siren 2''

** ''Gungrave: Overdose''

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''

* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon''

* ''VideoGame/{{Heatseeker}}

* ''VideoGame/{{Angelique}} Trois''

The [=PS2=] was powered by a proprietary processor known as the Emotion Engine. While impressive and complex for its time period, it caused a lot of headaches due to the system's non-standard hardware setup and lack of documentation. Several developers would vocally lambaste Sony over the [=PS2=]'s hardware design, though they learned to live with the issues due to the console's clear market lead making it difficult to ignore. This lack of foresight on Sony's part would end up heralding the problems that most developers had with the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and its Cell processor.

* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast''

* ''VideoGame/SpyFiction''

* ''[=DualShock=] 2'': The controller used in the console's entire lifespan, it is nearly identical to the original [=DualShock=] in almost every way, except it's black and all four face buttons and the shoulder buttons are pressure sensitive.

** ''VideoGame/LEGOBatman: The Video Game''

* ''VideoGame/Police911''