PS2

PLAY STATION 2


 * __#10__ __ICO__**

September 25, 2001 - Ico is a bit of a difficult study. Well, honestly, why beat around the bush? This is the damnedest game to come down the pike in a long while, and not just in the Buchigire Kongou/Drum Mania "ain't that goofy?" sense. In gameplay terms, it is an extremely simple piece of work. On the most basic level, the challenge is just to move from point A to point B, overcoming the inanimate obstacles in between. As an experience, though, it's almost impossible to describe. Ico is short, Ico is quiet, and Ico is in fact nearly incomprehensible.
 * [[image:ico-north-american-cover.jpg width="360" height="432" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="WuQW-xYUelw" height="437" width="366" align="left" ||


 * __#-9__ __Metal__ __Gear__ __Solid__ __2:__ __Sons__ __Of__ __Liberty__**

Snake's dead! No, Snake's alive! Wait, Snake's the enemy. But I'm Snake? Oh, now I'm somebody else. Now I'm the enemy and Snake's the hero. Snake's on my side. Snake's on their side. Who's who? Help me! Arrgghh! Did you really expect the most anticipated videogame of the millennium to have a straightforward plot? Actually, everything about this game is pretty unconventional. You could argue against this qualifying as a videogame at all: MGS2 is what happens when videogames and movies meet, and you spend almost as much time watching as you do playing. The cutscenes here show off PS2's much underestimated graphical grunt, imagining up a twist-laden espionage thriller in which you are the star.
 * [[image:913941_front.jpg width="352" height="480" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="LjbyYqPZ2Mc" height="492" width="394" align="left" ||


 * __#-8__ __Grand__ __Theft__ __Auto:__ __Vice__ __City__**

October 28, 2002 - I've been reminiscing about the past recently. Last year's onslaught of AAA games had us staggering with delight -- and exhaustion -- when the year finally came to a close. In comparison, this year's lineup of games, well, it initially looked stunning, before the delays anyway. But now it's clear what 2002 is all about. Like a co-worker of mine said a few weeks ago, there's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and there's everything else. The biggest, most anticipated game of 2002 is upon us, and a large population of the gaming public has come to a halt as Rockstar North has slaved away to finish its second massive blockbuster just one year after GTAIII lit the videogame world on fire. And now it's here. It's finally here.
 * [[image:PS2%20GTA%20Vice%20City%20Stories%20(Bild1).jpg width="375" height="497" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="MpmDawqOfqs" height="493" width="408" align="left" ||


 * __#-7__ __Need__ __For__ __Speed:__ __Undercover__**

November 19, 2008 - Need for Speed has long been one of EA's bread and butter franchises, though the ratio of bread to butter has changed a number of times over the years. In other words, it's almost constantly changing from one iteration to the next, sometimes for the betterment of the series, and sometimes not. The latter is the case for Need for Speed Undercover, a game that feels a little lost in its focus and design. Whereas last year's Need for Speed ProStreet moved away from open world racing and focused entirely on multiple event-based showdowns, its less than stellar final showing sent Black Box back to the drawing board, so Undercover heads back to open city racing replete with cop chases.
 * [[image:35c1ym8.jpg width="395" height="482" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="A3etMPG5sXM" height="484" width="375" align="left" ||


 * __#-6__ __NBA__ __09:__ __The__ __Inside__ __Jacks__ __Up__ __an__ __Airball__**

October 17, 2008 - Every basketball player dreams of hoisting up that last-second bomb from deep beyond the three-point arc, down two with a hand in his face. When touches nothing but the bottom of the net, he's the man. When it clangs off the side of the tin and trickles out of bounds as the final buzzer sounds, he's anything but the man. NBA 09: The Inside on PS2 not only misses the big shot, it doesn't even catch backboard. Simply put, NBA 09 is simply a repackaging of NBA 08. The folks at Sony didn't do much to enhance this year's offering, with the notable exception of making the Main Menu easier to navigate. You'll find all the same features and problems in NBA 09 as you did in previous editions of the series, and it's obvious that the game's developers have completely forgone the opportunity to improve the basic mechanics of gameplay, add depth to this year's version of The Life, or introduce new mini-games to a lackluster lineup.
 * [[image:eea7a99baeb57668726ca1.jpg align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="4H4HFUsSy3g" height="509" width="436" align="left" ||

__**#-5**__ **__Motor__ __Storm:__ __Arctic__ __Edge__**

October 22, 2009 - We've already heaped more than enough praise on MotorStorm: Arctic Edge when it hit PSPs a few weeks ago, and the PlayStation 2 version has finally arrived in fine form -- albeit a little lacking when compared to the PSP edition. This actually marks the first time in recent memory that a franchise that began on a current-gen console actually reached //back// to the previous gen to continue things. Sure, it's happened before on handhelds, but I honestly can't recall any other new IPs that have found a continuation on the previous console -- and certainly a console that's quickly heading into its 10th birthday.
 * [[image:MotorStormArcticEdge_ps2_pegi[1]_m.jpg width="393" height="518" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="5Ue27LkHFPw" height="529" width="394" align="left" ||


 * __#-4__ __Moto__ __GP__ __08__**

October 30, 2008 - Motorcycles are fast, sexy and dangerous, which is why the bad boy character in almost every '80s movie rode one. Capturing that attitude and sense of danger has proven difficult in videogames, however, which must be why most games focused on motorcycles tend to be built around professional racing rather than street riding. The premier outlet for such activity in the real world is the MotoGP Championship, which consists of 18 Grands Prix in 14 countries and features the top riders and manufacturers in the world. And historically, the videogame incarnation of the MotoGP racing franchise has been handled by THQ (with developer Climax Studios) and Namco Bandai. But in 2006, Disney bought the Climax racing studio and the MotoGP license later went exclusively to Capcom.
 * [[image:1604pt73d1ea4.jpg width="385" height="477" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="rdBujSIwEBo" height="487" width="398" align="left" ||


 * __#-3__ __Final__ __Fantasy__ __VIII__**

November 7, 2003 - For RPG fans that have been around since the beginning of Final Fantasy, it's not uncommon for them to wish for follow-ups to their favorite installments. Whether they wanted to know what became of the Kingdom of Baron in Final Fantasy IV or were curious about the future of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII, there's always somebody somewhere wishing that they could experience just a little bit more. Always hoping that they could go back to the world they spent so many hundreds of hours exploring to find out what happened next. Up until now, however, it's always been a wish that's never been fulfilled. Despite the begging, pleading, and letter-writing campaigns that has seen fans clamor for future episodes of their favorite stories, Square Enix has never humored any of them.
 * [[image:final_fantasy_xii_frontcover_large_4Fa8YOzL5gw8vAW.jpg width="389" height="486" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="IaFLvLarKxU" height="487" width="387" align="left" ||

__**#-2**__ **__God__ __of__ __War__ __II__**

February 12, 2007 - The original God of War was an action gaming masterpiece from start to finish. Its Greek mythology-derived storyline, blanketed with larger-than-life set pieces and timeless characters and themes, provided the perfect backdrop to an incredibly intense and engaging action romp. We dubbed it our pick for not only Best Action Game but overall Game of the Year for 2005, and to this day it stands as one of, if not the greatest, action games ever released. Though Kratos wound up sitting atop his throne as the God of War at the first game's finale, his tale was far from over. God of War II picks up right where the original left off and follows the anti-hero on his continued path of revenge. When the sequel was announced, fans wondered not if it would be a worthy follow-up but whether Sony's Santa Monica Studio would actually be able to outdo the original.
 * [[image:God_Of_War2.jpg width="380" height="484" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="uycTT_S2nH8" height="488" width="390" align="left" ||


 * And Finally __#-1__ __Gran__ __Turismo__ __3__ __A-spec__**

July 6, 2001 - As a tribute to Polyphony Digital's brilliant racing game, we've been doing a special "GT3 Car of the Day" spotlight every single weekday for the month leading up to the game's North American release. For the most recent car of the day feature, check out the spotlight on the Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec II and Calsonic Skyline. And don't forget to scroll to the bottom of that page to see all of the previously spotlighted cars from the game. And for those of you that are more interested in the tracks than the cars, we have movies of complete laps being run on each of the game's 18 tracks on IGNinsider. Those without a subscription to IGNinsider can stick check out full laps being raced on Cote d'Azure, Tokyo R246 and the Wet Track in one of our more recent features. Once thought of as a simple upgraded version of Gran Turismo 2, Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 3 A-spec has turned into so much more than that. media type="custom" key="5115473"
 * [[image:1247571587_gran-turismo-3-a-spec-ps2.jpg width="396" height="494" align="left"]] || media type="youtube" key="_vZR7LNJqg8" height="501" width="367" ||

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