Are you thinking of getting into PS2 collecting? This video explains the different models of Playstation 2, what to look for that tends to fail, some different controllers and 10 games we highly recommend to get you started!

What are the 10 PS2 Games a new collector should buy Day 1?

Video Transcription:

Metal Jesus: Metal Jesus here and I am back again with Kinsey.

Kinsey: Hello, great to back everybody. Today we’re going to be talking about an intro buyer’s guide to the PlayStation 2.

Metal Jesus: This is going to be a great video if you are just getting into collecting for the Playstation 2. Let’s say you’re at a retro gaming store or maybe at a garage sale and you’re wondering, like, what do you get? What do you need to know about the PS2 in order to start collecting for it. So we’re going to cover the different models, we’re going to cover the accessories, and we’re going to cover our top 10 games that you should just get day one.

Kinsey: Yup.

Metal Jesus: Let’s take a look. So let’s talk about the very first model of PlayStation 2. This is the original.

Kinsey: The PS2 fat.

Metal Jesus: And I have to say a little bit of commentary, I think this is, I want to say, one of the ugliest consoles. It’s weird. It’s weird looking.

Kinsey: It is weird, I do like their nice blue gradients on the USB panel though.

Metal Jesus: That’s funny.

Kinsey: It’s sexy.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, so this is obviously the first version of it and it’s very heavy with some of the interesting things about it is that the tray opens, so it actually has a tray that opens like a DVD player. Because for a lot of people this was their first DVD player. Right? Their first movie player.

Kinsey: It was my first in my bedroom DVD player.

Metal Jesus: For a lot of people actually. It was a big selling point for this console. So know that that’s how that opens there, and it also tends to wear out. I think this one actually won’t even open anymore. I know, it’s so sad. Also there’s a big fan in this one which is, it can be a little bit louder. So if you’re buying it used you may ask him if they ever noticed it, or when you buy it you may have to actually clean this with a little bit of canned air. So I had to do that with this.

Kinsey: A lot of dust will collect back here, so you’ve gotta keep it clean.

Metal Jesus: Yeah. One of the interesting things about this and the reason why it’s so big is because it has this huge expansion port, and what is this used for?

Kinsey: This is for a hard drive, actually, you could get and it was really only used mainly for Final Fantasy 11 online.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, I think originally what Sony did with this if I remember right is that if you got the hard drive you could also install Linux on it at one point. Yeah I don’t know if, and then I think they took that ability away at some point. Maybe because people were pirating games, I have no idea but just know that this version of it has an expansion port and it doesn’t have, I don’t think it has network out. I don’t think it does because I think if I remember right when I first got the Playstation and SOCOM 2 came out Sony sent me, because I was reviewing stuff at the time, they sent me the wall adapter for a network plug.

Kinsey: It looks a little bit like the hard drive.

Metal Jesus: That’s right, that’s right. So this is the first one and you can find these everywhere, but they’re a little bit unreliable aren’t they?

Kinsey: Yeah, actually the lasers in here tend to go out and sometimes it goes out a sneaky way where it’ll still play a lot of PS2 games, but not the ones out of the blue bottom discs.

Metal Jesus: Oh, okay.

Kinsey: So that happens a lot.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, it’s true. Actually that’s a good point, is that when the PlayStation first came out there were different colored destitute, and I think it’s because of the density or something like that. There was blue and then black was PlayStation One, right?

Kinsey: Yes.

Metal Jesus: Okay, cool, but yeah, and so actually this one doesn’t play any of those blue ones.

Kinsey: Yeah, It has trouble sometimes. Like, it’s designed to be able to play them but it’s usually what’s going to go out first and then there’s also a few duel-layer disks like God of War, and sometimes those wont work either on the PS2 fats.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, so just something to keep in mind, But the good news is is that Sony released a slim model which is, you have what version is this?

Kinsey: This is the sing star edition, it’s my beautiful pearly white.

Metal Jesus: It’s actually pretty cool looking, mine is black but this is the white obviously and then they have like red, they’ve got a bunch of different colors.

Kinsey: They’ve got a silver, too, that’s really nice.

Metal Jesus: That’s cool. So this is the model that I use the most is the slim. For a number of reasons one, they got rid of the drawer, so basically it’s just pops open like this. Which means that there’s less parts to break.

Kinsey: Yeah which is great. Yeah.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, and it also has the network out in it and it’s also much, much quieter. I don’t even know if, there is a fan but again it’s like…

Kinsey: It’s a baby fan.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, it’s just more optimized, so it’s definitely a better version of it and pretty much everything works on it. Although do you know if the multi tab?

Kinsey: You have to get a different version of the multi tab because the way the plugs are designed they’re kind of a fixed, so it goes into the memory card slot and the controllers slot. So you have to get a special one.

Metal Jesus: Okay, cool. So one of the really neat things about the PS2 fitting I mentioned is that it plays Playstation One games, so there are lots and lots of PS2 games to play and collect But again this opens up a whole other console to collect for. It’s awesome. So I use mine for both.

Kinsey: Yeah. So not only does the PS2 have one of the biggest libraries of any system ever, but you have this other new whole wonderful world to explore. It’s great.

Metal Jesus: And it’s super small, I love how Sony does that. That they really slim down their consoles and make them better, essentially. So let’s talk about a couple things. So the controller.

Kinsey: This is just the standard Dualshock 2 but in a beautiful yellow.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, that’s awesome.

Kinsey: So it came in a whole bunch of color varieties like most controller do nowadays. So this is just the regular Dualshock 2 which is basically the same as the Dualshock 1, but beautiful.

Metal Jesus: Yes it is. So then and I have the Logitech Wireless, so this has a little receiver in it that you plug in and then you can basically, this is a fantastic wireless controller. I’m really impressed with this.

Kinsey: Logitech knows their stuff.

Metal Jesus: They really do. It’s comfortable, there’s no, like, noticeable lag in it, the batteries last forever. I always forget like the last time I put new batteries in it. It just just seem to last for months and months and months. Definitely a really cool controller to get, although they can be kind of expensive, so I’m kind of surprised. There was a time when you could buy these for nothing, while the PS2 was kind of going out. But now if you see them, snag them because they’re awesome.

Kinsey: Yeah, definitely.

Metal Jesus: So then you have the memory cards. I have a memory card here with a little stamp on it, that’s what helps remind me like what games are on here.

Kinsey: You just want to mail it too.

Metal Jesus: That’s right, to a friend. I can mail it to you. So the standard came in 8 megabytes, and it stores a ton of save games. Usually it can have anywhere from 12 to 20, say, games on there depending on how large they are. But if you are going to play PlayStation One games you do need a PlayStation One memory card.

Kinsey: Yes, which is great to know because I’m sure a lot of people got home and couldn’t save.

Metal Jesus: And that’s another thing, too, a lot of people forget is that you need a memory card to save, and it’s funny because people forget. Like they get all excited, they get home, and it’s like you can’t save. And so back in the day you needed a memory card. So very important pick up. Thankfully these aren’t too expensive and you can find them everywhere and usually you have like two or three around just in case.

Kinsey: Yeah, and there’s tons of third party ones for the memory cards as well.

Metal Jesus: Right. A couple of other things I want to mention is that if you want you can actually do HD out on the PlayStation 2, but you do need those component cables. So basically they’re cables you can get on Amazon, they output to I think 4EDI, or 4ADP, not super high resolution, but it does look a lot better on a modern television. So you’re definitely going to want to do that. I think you can get them for like four or eight bucks, not super expensive and that’s pretty much it I think for the hardware.

Kinsey: I think so. All right so now we’re going through our 10 must have games for the system.

Metal Jesus: That’s right. These are games that we think anybody who’s starting to collect for the PlayStation 2 will enjoy. It’s not just like a top 10, it’s just, again, a must have like these games are awesome on the Playstation 2.

Kinsey: So first up we have Katamari Damacy, and all the Katamari games are amazing. They’re kind of a fun, quirky, platformer puzzle type game. You’re basically rolling around collecting stuff to replace the stars in the cosmos.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, and initially these were exclusive to the PlayStation 2 and I played a ton of it. So these are awesome.

Kinsey: So good.

Metal Jesus: Next up is another amazing game, Shadow of the Colossus. Great game. Now, this actually pushed the PlayStation 2 quite a bit with amazing graphics. It’s basically boss after boss after boss. It’s really, really good.

Kinsey: Beautiful.

Metal Jesus: Very much so.

Kinsey: And next we have Final Fantasy 12, and you know we did talk a little bit about this 12, or 10?

Metal Jesus: Yeah, that’s a tough one for me because I do like 10 a lot. It’s one of the first games I got for my PS2 back in the day, played it a ton, but I do think this is the better game.

Kinsey: I agree. The dialogue’s better, it’s beautiful, definitely recommended.

Metal Jesus: Here’s a game that, I love this game, it only came out on the PlayStation 2 as far as I know. SplashDown Rides Gone Wild, I feel like I talk about this game a lot on my channel and that’s because it’s so awesome. It is sea-doo racing on water but it has crazy level that change every lap.

Kinsey: Oh, that’s awesome.

Metal Jesus: So, it’s cool. And you have trick system, so much fun.

Kinsey: Next up, we have Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal.

Metal Jesus: Another game where I was like “Which one do I choose?” because the trilogy, especially on the PlayStation 2, was amazing. I really like Up Your Arsenal which I think is the third one and then they also had a Going Commando which I think was the second one. Both of those games are just, I mean just buy on day one.

Kinsey: Yeah, they’re amazing platformers, they’re not very expensive, they’re perfect for your collection.

Metal Jesus: Yeah, this was one that you chose.

Kinsey: Next up is Oden Sphere. It’s a little bit of a niche title, but it’s a 2D beat-em-up is how you would say it, but…

Metal: Beautiful.

Kinsey: It’s so beautiful. It’s all hand drawn art, Vanillaware does amazing games, this one’s definitely my favorite on the PS2.

Metal Jesus: Cool. Next up is a game that’s close to both of our hearts that’s the Burnout series and you have Burnout Revenge here, which we were talking before, this is like, “Oh man, Burnout 3 or Burnout Revenge?” In my opinion I think really, just, you can play them both although this is the pinnacle of the series.

Kinsey: It’s so good. You can do attacks from the back which makes it even better.

Metal Jesus: Crash mode. There’s also, what’s the one where you’re battling? Road Rage.

Kinsey: Road rage, yeah. Yeah you get take downs, you get your…

Metal Jesus: Dude, I start raging when I play that I literally hate those other cars.

Kinsey: You literally get road rage during Road Rage.

Metal Jesus: So good.

Kinsey: Next up we have Persona 3. We wanted to make sure we threw an RPG in here because PlayStation is known for having wonderful RPGs, and there’s not many that are better than Persona 3 in my opinion. Like, the anime style is fantastic, all the social links and almost like a dating sim aspect to it as well. Dungeon crawling, it’s all wonderful in this game.

Metal Jesus: And we almost picked Persona 4, which I know a lot of people also like. So if you like these pick up both.

Kinsey: Yeah, definitely.

Metal Jesus: Next up is a series that a lot of people feel like this defined the PlayStation 2 and that is the God of War series. We have the first two right here because we couldn’t choose. So amazing, these are kind of platforming beat-em-up games but they just really redefined the genre. Not only was the gameplay really perfected, but also the story was really interesting and adult and gory and violence. So good, so good.

Kinsey: Definitely worth picking up.

Metal Jesus: And then finally here, again it’s hard to come up with this list, but I saw this and I was like Amplitude.

Kinsey: Yes definitely.

Metal Jesus: Dude, when this game first came out me and DrunkenMasterPaul played this a ton. A ton. This was before they went on to make the Rockman Series or even the Guitar Hero Series, I believe. So it’s basically a rhythm game, a lot of people recognize it where you’re going down the paths that are coming towards you, then you have little gems that you crush, but what makes this amazing is the soundtrack.

Kinsey: It’s so good.

Metal Jesus: So good. It’s remix versions, kind of electronic versions, of a bunch of pop songs.

Kinsey: It’s got David Bowie.

Metal Jesus: Yeah it has Blink 182, it has P!nk, it has a bunch of stuff on here it’s really, really good versions of all that stuff. All right Kinsey, well thanks for coming on.

Kinsey: Of course.

Metal Jesus: Thanks for bringing your expertise with the PlayStation 2. As always guys I want to thank you for watching my channel and thanks for subscribing. Take care. What sort of advice would you give a new Playstation 2 collector, both with the hardware and also the games? I’d love to hear about it so please post down in the comments below. Also I want to give a big shout out to my Patreon contributors, you guys rock and help support this show and these videos and I greatly appreciate it. It’s also good to know that my Patreon contributors get to see every video early. That’s often really handy if you’re collecting, so go to Patreon.com/MetalJesusRocks if you would like to help us as well.