So sit back, pour yourself a nice beverage and have a read.
Jeremy Dunham | Blog Editor-in-Chief Joined IGN: March 2002 06 Highlight: Spawned first heir to throne of the galaxy.
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State of the Platform
2006 marked the sixth year of the PS2 out on the market, and while a large amount of its thunder was stolen with the impending launch of its successor, the PS3, it still held its own. More than 110 million PS2s had been sold by the end of the year, with no signs of sales significantly dropping off. In fact, some regions found an increase in the number of purchased consoles: at one point, European and PAL territories were selling more than one hundred thousand systems a week.
Part of this could be due to the lack of the ability to purchase a PS3, but the other part of it could be due to the substantially reduced price scheme for the venerable console. Sony dropped the price of the slim PS2 to $129.99 in North America in April ($139.99 in Canada and 129 Euros in Europe), with price adjustments in other regions that followed. This made it easier for the company to retain its now 11-year hold as the leader of the current gen gaming industry.
Lower prices weren't the only augmentation to the system, as North American gamers were introduced to a limited edition silver version of the PS2 in October. European countries received a limited edition pink version of the system in November, and Japan slowly rolled out pink, silver and blue PS2 units. The announcement of the limited editions didn't indicate that colorful systems were the future of the console, nor did it indicate that future color variants of the PS2 would migrate from region to region. It did, however, indicate that Sony was willing to change up their handling of their successful system.
While the PS3 might've been hard to find and the UMD format may be going the way of the dodo, the PS2 soldiered on with an extremely solid lineup of games. A number of remakes of pre-existing games, such as Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Special Edition, substantially improved the gameplay of the original title. Long anticipated games, like Okami and the controversial Bully, provided enjoyable experiences on the system. Need we even mention the release of the awaited Final Fantasy XII?
Whether it was a sequel to a pre-existing franchise, like Guitar Hero II or a new series like Scarface: The World is Yours, the PS2 still proved that it had the power to deliver compelling game experiences on aging hardware. It also demonstrated what developers could do with a console once they were fully used to a system. The visuals of Black and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria were just two examples of how programmers squeezed every bit of power out of the system, with beautiful titles as a result of their efforts.
Even though the PS2 may be going into its twilight years, it's not going gentle into that good night. The quality of titles from 2006 alone proves that it's a good time to be a PS2 owner, and the system shows no signs of slowing down yet.
Games of 2006
2006 saw the release of numerous strong PS2 titles. Here are the 10 highest-rated games of the year.
Konami
IGN Rating: 9.8
2004's Snake Eater was a fantastic but slightly-flawed game. Alternatively, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence goes a long way towards remedying the few problems of that acclaimed title with a brand new camera system that literally rejuvenates the gameplay. The online mode adds a ton of replay value as well, and has dozens of options to keep you returning to blow away friends late into the night. For fans of the series, the additional extras, including the two theater modes and original Metal Gear games are bonuses that are simply not to be missed. For the price and the extras, you can't go wrong with Subsistence -- even for those that have played and beaten the first game once or several more times, it still can't be missed.
Take a look at our video review by clicking here.
RedOctane
IGN Rating: 9.5
Guitar Hero II takes everything that made the original game great and cranks it up to 11, maybe even 12. The Practice mode and ability to set individual difficulty levels in multiplayer are fantastic additions that really were our two biggest sticking points last time out. The Cooperative multiplayer is a huge amount of fun, and three buttons chords help take the game's challenge to the next level. RedOctane once again nailed down a fantastic song list, Wave Group Studio again recreated them expertly and Harmonix implemented the tracks perfectly. This is the nearly-perfect sequel to one of our favorite games in basically forever, and it's an absolute must-buy.
To see the game in action and watch our video review, rock this link..
Square Enix
IGN Rating: 9.5
Final Fantasy XII is a fantastic RPG. It blows all of its PS2 competition this year right out of the water and is among the all time elite role-players ever made for the system. Kingdom Hearts, Devil Summoner, Xenosaga III, Tales of the Abyss... none of them are on the same level as Square Enix's bold and riveting move in a new direction. Whether you're a fan of the genre or not, FF12 most certainly deserves a special spot on your PS2 game shelf... put it in the front.
Don't miss our FFXII videos of the game in action.
Capcom
IGN Rating: 9.1
Okami is a game we've been waiting on for a long, long time, and for the most part it has lived up to our extremely high expectations. It's beautiful, charismatic, engaging and one of the most original games you'll play anytime soon. Sure, it's not perfect, and we may have picked on some of its flaws a bit more than usual simply because they're a little more obvious when everything around them is so great. All in all, Okami is a game that any self-respecting PlayStation 2 owner should pick up simply because you've never played anything like it before.
Don't miss our Okami video review.
Capcom
IGN Rating: 9.0
The first version of Devil May Cry 3 was one of the best PlayStation 2 games of last year and seeing it come out again with a bunch of extra features and a price of only twenty bucks is definitely hard to resist... That is, unless you've already played the hell out of 2005's disc. Great upgrade that this might be, it's hard to justify picking it up again unless you're a diehard fan of the series or someone who has never played it before. Happy gaming to those that qualify!
Awaken to our DMC3:SE video review right here.
Rockstar Games
IGN Rating: 8.9
Bully is an interesting game. Leading up to its release, it didn't receive the gameplay coverage or high-end expectations from insiders that Grand Theft Auto usually does, and yet, somehow kept that franchise's reputation for excessive violence and adult behavior. That's why I think that, in a lot of ways, Bully is going to surprise people with what it is -- ie: much better and funnier than most were giving it credit for, while coming across as much tamer than those who feared it expected it to be. Regardless, Bully is a great, well-crafted action game that has one of the best senses of humor around and dozens and dozens of hours of fun.
Don't miss our video review or the Bully Holiday Special or we'll beat you up.
Namco Bandai
IGN Rating: 8.8
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War doesn't change the formula established by its predecessors. It does, however, add yet another layer of polish and refinement to a series that's near perfect at what it sets out to do. Plus, the addition of a rewarding multiplayer mode, not to mention improvements in AI and mission variety, make it a worthy successor. So while it doesn't feel revolutionary, fans and non- fans will have a hard time caring.
Check out some air combat right this way.
Rockstar Games
IGN Rating: 8.8
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is an insanely fast, choatic and progressive racing game that betters the second in the series with more accessible racing, without losing its competitive edge. The single-player campaign is sophisticated with a working open city, customizable interiors and exteriors, and crazy new special moves that become crucial to winning later on in the game.
While graphically MC3 doesn't have the chops of Criterion's Burnout (which runs at 60 FPS), Rockstar's game does offer open city courses, more cars on screen simultaneously, a custom feature, special moves, and what appears to be a more robust and much deeper online component than its opponents. It's a tough game to beat in many respects. And, on PS2, the game is especially respectable in visuals, framerate, and all other things technical. Oh yeah, the soundtrack is adjustable at any time on both consoles, and this time around Rockstar enables Xbox users to burn their own soundtracks. Nice.
The Remix version gives gamers the chance to expand their Midnight Club fun, especially if they missed MC2 the first time around. And for $20, it's a steal.
Onimusha: Dawn of DreamsCapcom
IGN Rating: 8.8
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams definitely exceeds our expectations. It manages to overcome a couple of AI flaws and some dopey environmental complications to continue the franchise's trend of perpetual improvement. What's particularly impressive about it, though, is that it's hard to imagine a gamer that won't enjoy it on some level. Action hounds, for instance, should go crazy over its combat, cool combos, and boss battles, while proper Onimusha fans should dig it because of improvements to the puzzle and camera systems. Likewise, RPG nuts should enjoy the adventure because of its deep customization and a determination to tell a good story, while graphics snobs should get a big kick out of its stellar visuals and excellent artistic design.
Regardless of which group you may consider yourself a part of, however, just be sure to do the right thing and don't pass it up. Onimusha 5, here we come!
Get a look at the game in action on our video page.
Konami
IGN Rating: 8.8
Winning Eleven 9 is a gem of a soccer title, but it feels like "Winning Eleven 8 Online." That's not a dig at Konami -- the gameplay of the WE franchise is the best that has every graced videogame consoles. In fact, it's amazing that the development team is able to continually refine and tweak the title to continually improve our virtual soccer experience. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement in terms of visuals, audio and presentation. The graphic and sound quality is virtually the same as last season, and presentation continues to improve slightly with more user-friendly menus and team licenses, but there is still a long way to go.
The addition of online play is fantastic, but that's a feature that should have been added last season, if not earlier. Master League continues to shine, mostly because of the challenge of inking marquee players. Instead of the generic first and second divisions, why not start a team in national league play and then get promoted to an unlicensed Champion's League? There is really no reason why crap teams like Livorno should be matched in the same division as Arsenal. All of that being said, WE9 is still the undisputed champ of videogame soccer. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll scream "GOAL" until you go blue in the face. It's that fun.
Take a look at our footastic video review.
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Hilary Goldstein | Blog Chief Posting Stuff Joined IGN: Oct '01 '06 Haricut: Jew Fro
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News of 2006
Alas, E3 -- while it was the bane of every new games journalist, it was the Mecca of every gamer. For better or for worse, E3 (as we know it) is no more. After 12 years of loud, crowded extravaganzas, the Entertainment Software Association announced it was pulling the plug on the convention and re-imagining it as a smaller, quieter…more boring event. And here, in the first months of 2006, we thought the biggest E3 news this year would be the booth babes ban. E3 was a landmark for every gamer each year, and its closure is without a doubt the biggest overall news story of 2006.
While the PS3 hogged most of Sony's spotlight this year, the PlayStation 2 remained the most popular console on the planet and dumped a ton of great games on us. Just before E3, Sony announced it would cut the price of the PS2 from $150 to $130.
Gamers were stricken with Guitar Hero fever the entire year, and the original bundle ended up being the third best-selling game on the PS2 for 2006. Activision scored a major coup when it announced at E3 it would buy Red Octane, Guitar Hero's publisher.
Take-Two and Rockstar were finally able to settle the Hot Coffee case with the Federal Trade Commission. The controversy originally erupted in 2005 over an explicit mini-game that was unlockable in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The settlement ended up being little more than a slap on the wrist for the companies, requiring them to disclose any adult content included in future games.
Long before its release, long before anyone knew any details about the game, politicians and media watch groups were up in arms about Rockstar's Bully. In an unprecedented order, a judge in Florida even demanded Rockstar provide him with a copy of the game prior to release, so that he could determine whether or not it could be sold in the state. In the end, the controversy proved to be much ado about nothing, as the game doesn't include any of the risqu¿ material Rockstar has become known for. The Florida judge deemed the game suitable for sale, and Bully was released to good reviews.
A news story that came and went without enough notice was Capcom's announcement that it was closing Clover Studios, makers of Viewtiful Joe and Okami, one of the best games on the PS2 (or any console, for that matter) this year. Here's hoping Capcom isn't ditching these franchises altogether.
Gamers in Europe and Japan were treated to a blinding pink version of the PS2, while North America received a sleek, limited edition silver console.
Even though two new consoles launched in November and the Xbox 360 is readily available, the PS2 outsold them all, moving an impressive 663,000 units in November alone -- over six years after its release.
People in the News
Ted Price, Pres. of Insomniac (Ratchet & Clank) - Ted Price stepped into the ring with politicians in Louisiana who were trying to criminalize the sale of violent videogames to minors. Price filed a legal brief in support of the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) lawsuit to overturn the law, and the judge eventually ruled in the ESA's favor.
Events of 2006
The PlayStation 2 was easily the least pushed system in Sony's family with the PlayStation 3 launching later in the year and the PSP still somewhat new.
The 2006 Biz Brief, which took the place/form of the former PlayStation Meeting, had lots of info about the PlayStation 3 and even some PSP stuff, but the only PS2-related news was regarding a price drop. Or more specifically, the lack thereof as the company announced that it wouldn't be dropping the price of the console anytime soon. Granted, the US price drop to the current $129 happened about a month later, but true to its word the price in Japan stayed put until September. So yeah, the PS2 was practically non-existent at this event. Game Developer's Conference 2006
There was really only one PlayStation 2 announcement at this year's GDC, but it was a big one. David Jaffe was brought on-stage during Sony's press conference to formally unveil God of War II, and with the announcement the first trailer was shown. It easily garnered more applause than anything else at the conference, though for good reason. E3
Sony's E3 2006 presence was obviously largely focused on the then-unreleased PlayStation 3, though the aging PS2 did have a reasonably strong, if quiet, showing. Highly anticipated sequels like Final Fantasy XII, God of War II and Guitar Hero II were on display for all to see, with hardly anything related to the system shown behind closed doors. Still though, aside from the handful of big-name releases, much of what was at the show was to be expected. It was a strong show, but somewhat unexciting. German Games Convention
Sony didn't have a significant PS2 presence at the German Games Convention in Leipzig, thanks to their curious mixer "press conference." Many of the titles that were on display at the booth during the show were titles that had been shown during E3, such as the God of War 2 demo, SOCOM 3, and Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. There was also a playable build of B-Boy in a break dancing themed area. The price drop for the system to 129 Euros was released at GC, as was the announcement that the pink PS2 would be released in November. Tokyo Game Show
Sony's TGS 2006 showing was rather lackluster to say the least. There were a number of Japanese-based titles on display, like KOEI's lineup, but most of the excitement was focused on the PlayStation 3 and PSP. Square Enix did show off a few titles and provided most of the PS2 excitement, but again, many of the show's biggest titles were found on other Sony platforms.
Hot Game Tips of 2006
With big releases throughout the year, 2006 gave birth to great game tips and strategies. As always, IGN's resident game sages went to work providing the best game tips available. Our massive cheats database, comprehensive FAQs site and exclusive strategy guides cover every aspect of 2006's best games. Here's a collection of some of the hottest and most popular game tips of the year.
TIPS :: CHEATS - FAQs - GUIDE
Final Fantasy games consistently rank among the most popular for game tips and strategy on IGN, and Final Fantasy XII is no different. Readers flooded us with hint submissions and secrets—you can find them here—and our loyal FAQ writers went to town, detailing every aspect of this very complicated fantasy.
Of course, we at IGN have our own strategy guide for Final Fantasy XII. The massive collection of item lists, hunts and more is easily among the hottest of game tips of the year—not just for PlayStation 2, but for all of gaming in 2006.
OkamiTIPS :: CHEATS - FAQs - GUIDE
Perhaps the biggest challenger to Final Fantasy's impressive scale is Okami. That scale made Okami a popular game for tips and strategies as players sought direction in the non-linear world of Nippon. Our Okami cheats got lots of reader submissions detailing hints and secrets, and our positively massive strategy guide continues the tips with a complete walkthrough, boss tips, and sidequest info.
You know a game's original when it gives you the option to urinate on your opponents and drop turds of mass destruction. And that originality captured the attention of our pool of game sages, generating an encylopedic collection of tips and strategies.
BullyTIPS :: CHEATS - FAQs - GUIDE
The urge to avoid living out highschool nightmares may have contributed to the popularity of Bully and IGN's collection of game tips. Whatever their motivation, readers came to IGN both seeking and giving help. As you'd expect from a game by Rockstar, Bully is packed with unlockables and secrets—we've collected the lot in one easy-to-ready page.
As well, you expect a Rockstar game to be massive and packed with lots of extra stuff to do. Bully satisfies that expectation, and our in-depth strategy guide makes sense of it all with a complete walkthrough and tips for extracurricular activities.
As always, IGN welcomes (WITH OPEN ARMS) user contributions and game tips. If you've got a secret or cheat we don't have listed, send it to us! We'll publish it and give credit where credit's due (THAT MEANS TO YOU). For more comprehensive game tips and strategy, we also want your FAQs and walkthroughs—submit them here. Use us to host your goods and help out fellow gamers around the world. Remember, it's up to us!
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Special Edition Capcom January 2006 BLACK Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War Hitman: Blood Money Street Fighter Alpha Anthology NCAA Football 07 Disgaea 2 Okami Final Fantasy XII Guitar Hero II |
Midterm Corrections?
Here's where we look back at a special time of the year and review our past opinions. In other words, we're going to go over our picks for the best PS2 games of E3 2006 and see how those games turned out in their final form and whether or not we were dead-on or way off base. As you'll see when you go over our platform awards, we were pretty damn accurate with picking the best PS2 games of the year.
Our award for the best action game went to God of War II. Yeah, this was basically the most hands-down win any nominee has ever snatched up. It's not out yet, but everything we've played points to a fantastic sequel, so we're going to say we were dead-on. Similarly, our pick for the best adventure game went to Okami. The game turned out to be almost everything we'd hoped for, so again we chose correctly.
Our pick for the best fighting game of the show went to Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, and rightly so. The game wound up with a strong 8.0 when it was released in June, which is especially nice for a series that's been around forever.
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs -- Combined Assault picked up our award for the best multiplayer game. This was an easy choice as the game directly builds on SOCOM 3, a fantastic online experience, and Combined Assault's four-player online co-op ensured its victory.
Best Music Game went to Guitar Hero II. Yep.
Our pick for the best racing game of the show went to ATV Offroad Fury 4, a title that we later scored an even 8.0. It definitely turned out to be an impressive racer, so we're quite happy with our pick here, though in hindsight we did wind up liking FlatOut 2 just a little more in the end. Still, ATV was a great pick.
Best Role-Playing Game went to Final Fantasy XII. Yep.
We wound up picking NCAA Football 07 as the best sports game, and with good reason. It managed to run down an 8.7 from us upon release, proving that this was indeed a fine selection.
Clover Studio's Okami picked up the best artistic design award from us at this year's E3, and really, what other game was in contention? It's a beautiful piece of work with an art style like we've never seen before. Okami also picked up our award for most innovative game, which can be attributed directly to its celestial brush. Fantastic stuff.
The awards for best graphics and award for technological achievement went to God of War II. The game is quite simply a showpiece for the system and these awards were, and still are, much deserved.
Surprisingly, the award for biggest surprise went to a game that we haven't seen since the show, Lemmings. The game made fantastic use of the EyeToy and had gamers using their arms, head, body and legs to create bridges and such for the poor, stupid lemmings to walk over. It was great stuff, and hopefully we'll see it hit store shelves in some form or another one day.
Last and most importantly, our award for the best game of E3 2006 went to God of War II. The game isn't set for release until March so we can't speak on its final form yet, but everything we've seen of the game so far looks absolutely spectacular. It's the follow-up to a title that we scored a 9.8, and it looks to trump its predecessor in every way. What other game could we possibly have given this award to?
Rogue Galaxy Release: 03/01/07 Dawn of Mana TNA iMPACT! Yakuza 2 |
A Glimpse at 2007
The PS2 is finally winding down. After years of leading the console race, Sony's venerable console is making way for next-generation systems, especially its newest sibling the PS3. Still, it had an excellent run by any stretch and saw the release of some truly great games. Indeed, 2006 saw some of PS2's greatest games ship to the marketplace, like Final Fantasy XII, Black and Guitar Hero II. Taken with the dozens of other noteworthy titles that shipped in 2006, the PS2 had a pretty good year. But where does this leave the aging system going into 2007? Where does it fit now that Sony has shifted its attention to the PSP and PS3?
First and foremost, Sony will not banish the PS2 from its dinner table just yet. Just think of the insanely huge install base of the PS2 - that's a lot of potential sales to throw away, even with the PS3 launch. Sony shipped a very limited number of PS3s at launch, which means most dedicated Sony fans still only have a PS2. Unlike the Xbox 360 or Wii, the chances of these fans scoring a system before spring (maybe even summer) remain low. Sure, that's particularly sad news, but the PS2 will stay in the race long enough to keep gamers busy. Though, to be brutally honest, it looks as though it won't last much longer than that. It'll stick around for a good while, sure, because there's plenty of money there, but the number of AAA PS2 exclusive titles will drop dramatically.
Which, of course, sounds pretty obvious. Having said that, there's at least one lust-worthy game that will only ship for the PS2, and that's God of War 2. This upcoming sequel to IGN's Game of the Year of 2005 is reason alone to buy a PS2, at least from what we've seen so far. It should pack all the action and dramatic storytelling from the first game, as well as the puzzles, enemies and environments that made the first game such a hit. And it's a sure bet God of War 2 will make a huge sum of money for Sony, from the software itself but also a little from system sales as well. It sounds funny, but we personally know a bunch of people who sold their systems that need them back to play God of War 2, forcing them to head into their local games store and fork over the cash. Again, from what we know of the game, through demos and conversations with designer David Jaffe, it's an investment worth making.
That aside, what else do gamers have to look forward to in 2007? The noteworthy titles include Medal of Honor: Airborne and Burnout Dominator, both of which should sell very well. The latter will be just as awesome as previous games in the series, and it should keep players busy for months. One very interesting title scheduled to ship in Q2 2007 is Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary. It's a remake of the original Tomb Raider adventure, completely redesigned to make use of everything that made Tomb Raider Legend such a blast. This includes all the context sensitive actions, as well as the new jump and grapple mechanics. More importantly, it'll focus on exploration and puzzle solving, which is what the series special in the first place.
Then there's a collection of licensed properties, such as Arthur and the Invisibles, Ghostrider and Shrek the Third. We've played Arthur on several occasions and it looks like a fun and very well designed action title, though we can't say much about the other two. Later in 2007, the PS2 will score Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour and a videogame based off the upcoming Transformers movie. Both titles have the potential to make the end of 2007 less of a sad situation for the PS2, though by that time, things may start looking bleak. Again, Sony will continue to support it's killer system well into 2008, but the number of must-have titles will have dwindled considerably.
| PC 2006 Year in Review Dan, Steve, and Charles give you the rundown on the world's most venerable gaming platform. |
| 2006 Year in Review: PS2 | PSP | PS3 Jeremy, Chris, Juan, and Jeff take care of PlayStation's double-oh-six. |
| 2006 Year in Review: Xbox | Xbox 360 Doug, Jon, and Erik reveal the ghosts of Xbox's past, present, and future. |
| 2006 Year in Review: GameCube | Wii Matt and Mark discuss 2006's Nintendos and Nintendon'ts. |
| Nintendo DS 2006 Year in Review Craig breaks the year down for the dual-screen portable. |
| Wireless 2006 Year in Review Before 2007 rings in, Levi shows us what was up on cell phones in 2006. |
| IGN UK's 2006 Year in Review Alex and Matt discuss how the past year played out in Europe. |
| IGN Australia's 2006 Year in Review Bennett and Patch tell us what it was like down under in 2006. Or is that 6002? |