Exactly 20 years ago, I was in line to get my PlayStation 2

[VirtuaModel]

It was October 25, 2000 at exactly this time (11:30 PM Central as I write this). I was 12 years old, waiting in line at the Software Etc. at the Manhattan, Kansas mall with my mom to get my PlayStation 2. It was a Wednesday, and I luckily had the next two days of school off, giving me a four-day weekend to play my new console. Before the employees knew this, they joked that I should put a penny under my tongue to fool a thermometer into thinking I had a fever so I could miss school that way.

A couple of games were available to buy before the PS2 actually released, meaning I had days to constantly read the manuals for my copies of SSX and Smuggler's Run. I would pick up a copy of X-Squad on launch night, which I would return within a few days in exchange for Summoner (the right decision!).

I went on eBay recently and got the launch titles I originally had, along with a copy of Silent Scope, a launch title I never bothered with because the arcade game was far superior due to the physical sniper rifle you get to maneuver.

I want to hear about your first experiences getting the PlayStation 2! Were you there at launch? What do you remember?

 

[Ryengeku]

And now you're at home unable to relive that experience due to covid-19.

 

[Okabe]

And now you're at home unable to relive that experience due to covid-19.

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[Finaika]

And now you're at home unable to relive that experience due to covid-19.

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Holy shit!

 

[Hippopuncher12]

I was also in line right now at my Best Buy, I was 18, 5th in line and someone brought a football so a bunch of us had a 2 hand touch game in the parking lot for like 4 hours. I eventually fell asleep lol but got my PS2 in the morning with like 5 games and immediately had to put it in my trunk and proceed to go back into Best Buy to work, haha.

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

I was like 3 when I first played PS2, it was the first console we had in our home. My brother had gotten it for his birthday and had games like Simpsons Hit and Run, which I played loads of.

I played a lot of superhero stuff, 007 Nightfire, Destroy All Humans, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Battlefront 2, and all those classics... and then my brother got Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. I wasn't allowed to watch him play it but I just remember hearing the gunfire, artillery, and explosions. I caught glimpses of it even though I wasn't supposed to and was blown away by it.

All this was my intro to video games.

 

[Whitemex]

Oh shit. Majora's Mask came out the same day too

 

[Xeonidus]

I was like 18 in 2003 and got the bundle with the network adapter and ATV racing 2. Never could get the damn adapter to work at the time. My ISP didn't support it or something lol. Still, a terrific console with so many wonderful games. Some great memories with it. Picked up a slim later on.

 

[Rosebud]

I want to hear about your first experiences getting the PlayStation 2! Were you there at launch? What do you remember?

Click to shrink...

I first saw a PS2 on my neighbor's house, since his parents had more money than mine lol

And it was years after release, we played this




I bought it on PS4 for nostalgia

 

[Wubby]

I remember being in the basement of Activision Q&A when our first TEST units for the PS2 came in. First game we used them on was Orphen: Scion of Sorcery. Next game was Sky Odyssey and I liked working on that game being a plane enthusiast. It was a fun game too. Wish there were more games like Sky Odyssey being made.

 

[Arex]

Smugglers Run and Silent Scope woah, beings back memory :p

I think I got my PS2 with Gran Turismo 3. Played that for quite some time lol

 

[WhtR88t]

I didn't get a PS2 until really late in the generation- I started with a Slim (after only owning a GameCube) and it was incredible.

The library of PlayStation Hits was amazing and converted me into a PlayStation person for life. I couldn't believe what I was missing out on with the GameCube and the PS2 Slim really reinvigorated my interest in video games.

God of War
FFX
Burnout
SSX
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Jack and Daxter
MGS2
Katamari… the list goes on and on and on.

 

[molnizzle]

I had it pre-ordered at EB Games so I just picked mine up after school on launch day. Before I opened the box, my mom mentioned she had seen something on the news about eBay prices for PS2's. I looked and couldn't believe people were paying those prices for a $299 console. I didn't need mine right away. I listed it as a 3-day auction and sold it for $556.

2 days later, my mom was picking something up from Sears and saw they had some. She called me to ask "if it was the one in the blue box." Bingo. She brought one home for me. I still got my PS2 during the first week despite selling my pre-order, and I made $250 for being slightly patient.

Until it went under, Sears was always the secret best place to get a new console. No one ever thought to look there.

 

[VirtuaModel]

And now you're at home unable to relive that experience due to covid-19.

Click to shrink...

I haven't waited in line to get a console since the Nintendo Wii in 2007. I've had them all delivered to me on launch day since and am doing the same this year, COVID-19 or not.

I was also in line right now at my Best Buy, I was 18, 5th in line and someone brought a football so a bunch of us had a 2 hand touch game in the parking lot for like 4 hours. I eventually fell asleep lol but got my PS2 in the morning with like 5 games and immediately had to put it in my trunk and proceed to go back into Best Buy to work, haha.

Click to shrink...

You had to wait in line even though you worked there?

I was like 3 when I first played PS2, it was the first console we had in our home. My brother had gotten it for his birthday and had games like Simpsons Hit and Run, which I played loads of.

I played a lot of superhero stuff, 007 Nightfire, Destroy All Humans, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Battlefront 2, and all those classics... and then my brother got Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. I wasn't allowed to watch him play it but I just remember hearing the gunfire, artillery, and explosions. I caught glimpses of it even though I wasn't supposed to and was blown away by it.

All this was my intro to video games.

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A pretty good list of games there! And being introduced to video games via one of the best consoles of all time is a great way to get into them. When I was 3, I was playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES:

I first saw a PS2 on my neighbor's house, since his parents had more money than mine lol

And it was years after release, we played this




I bought it on PS4 for nostalgia

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I don't know if I've ever heard of that game, but it seems like something I would have been into at the time!

 

[bluexy]

I was 15. I can't remember if I had started working at the local pizza place yet, but I definitely couldn't afford to buy a new console at that point. Surprisingly, Santa came through that Christmas. My dad apparently had spent the better part of the time between launch and Christmas waiting in lines and calling stores to find out when new stock would arrive. Ended up getting one around mid-December.

I recall being incredibly happy. PS2 launch is regarded as one of the shittiest launch line-ups, but I was head over heels. I'd gotten Dynasty Warriors 2, Kessen, SSX, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Timesplitters. Other than Kessen, which I played through and dropped, I played the rest of those games endlessly. SSX in particular was a favorite, as I'd played a ton of Coolboarders on PS1, though I played TTT all the time with friends, too. Even got an adapter for four-player.

Good times, good times.

 

[Rosebud]

I don't know if I've ever heard of that gam

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It's fun. Same dev from Twisted Metal and Warhawk.

 

[JaseC64]

I first saw a PS2 on my neighbor's house, since his parents had more money than mine lol

And it was years after release, we played this




I bought it on PS4 for nostalgia

Click to shrink...

I camt believe I will be able to enjoy this classic and Twisted Metal Black on ps5. These are some of the most fun ps2 games of my childhood. Shame more ps2 classics never came. They would have been so awesome this generation for nostalgia purposes haha.

 

[catpurrcat]

I had it pre-ordered at EB Games so I just picked mine up after school on launch day. Before I opened the box, my mom mentioned she had seen something on the news about eBay prices for PS2's. I looked and couldn't believe people were paying those prices for a $299 console. I didn't need mine right away. I listed it as a 3-day auction and sold it for $556.

2 days later, my mom was picking something up from Sears and saw they had some. She called me to ask "if it was the one in the blue box." Bingo. She brought one home for me. I still got my PS2 during the first week despite selling my pre-order, and I made $250 for being slightly patient.

Until it went under, Sears was always the secret best place to get a new console. No one ever thought to look there.

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This is so awesome. Love it.

 

[VirtuaModel]

It's fun. Same dev from Twisted Metal and Warhawk.

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Whoops! My post got cut off. I was trying to say, I don't know if I've ever heard of it, but it looks like something I would have been into at the time, especially by those developers.

I think I got my PS2 with Gran Turismo 3. Played that for quite some time lol

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A series I have still, somehow, yet to play! I always looked forward to seeing new releases though since it was a graphical benchmark for new consoles.

The library of PlayStation Hits was amazing and converted me into a PlayStation person for life. I couldn't believe what I was missing out on with the GameCube and the PS2 Slim really reinvigorated my interest in video games.

God of War
FFX
Burnout
SSX
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Jack and Daxter
MGS2
Katamari… the list goes on and on and on.

Click to shrink...

I'm glad you were able to finally try them out! I bet they were a lot cheaper by that point, too.

I had it pre-ordered at EB Games so I just picked mine up after school on launch day. Before I opened the box, my mom mentioned she had seen something on the news about eBay prices for PS2's. I looked and couldn't believe people were paying those prices for a $299 console. I didn't need mine right away. I listed it as a 3-day auction and sold it for $556.

2 days later, my mom was picking something up from Sears and saw they had some. She called me to ask "if it was the one in the blue box." Bingo. She brought one home for me. I still got my PS2 during the first week despite selling my pre-order, and I made $250 for being slightly patient.

Until it went under, Sears was always the secret best place to get a new console. No one ever thought to look there.

Click to shrink...

That's awesome! Did you put that extra money toward launch titles? And I remember correctly, I used Sears to get games a couple of times when they weren't available anywhere else. I may have also gotten my Dreamcast there, though I can't remember.

 

[molnizzle]

That's awesome! Did you put that extra money toward launch titles? And I remember correctly, I used Sears to get games a couple of times when they weren't available anywhere else. I may have also gotten my Dreamcast there, though I can't remember.

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I got SSX and put the rest of the money towards my Xbox pre-order. lol

 

[Cess007]

By 2000 I was still a Nintendo fanboy that refused to ever think about any other systems. And by December of that year, I am sure I was happy still playing Perfect Dark tho.

I didn't get a PS2 until 2002. Which we bought because my brother wanted to play Gran Turismo 3, and I was dying to play FFX.

 

[Forkball]

My cousin got a PS2 near launch and all I did was play SSX and Madden when I would visit him. I wouldn't get one until 2002 where I picked up Ico, Devil May Cry, and Kingdom Hearts along with it. Those three wildly different and exclusive games really highlighted the variety of experiences only available on the PS2.

PS4 probably has a better library due to Sony having a stronger first party, indie titles, multi platforms, and rereleases, but the PS2 catalogue was so unique and no matter the niche there were titles for you.

 

[VirtuaModel]

I remember being in the basement of Activision Q&A when our first TEST units for the PS2 came in. First game we used them on was Orphen: Scion of Sorcery. Next game was Sky Odyssey and I liked working on that game being a plane enthusiast. It was a fun game too. Wish there were more games like Sky Odyssey being made.

Click to shrink...

Do you remember around what month you all got the test units that year? I rented Orphen and played it some. I was into it, though I don't remember much.

I was 15. I can't remember if I had started working at the local pizza place yet, but I definitely couldn't afford to buy a new console at that point. Surprisingly, Santa came through that Christmas. My dad apparently had spent the better part of the time between launch and Christmas waiting in lines and calling stores to find out when new stock would arrive. Ended up getting one around mid-December.

I recall being incredibly happy. PS2 launch is regarded as one of the shittiest launch line-ups, but I was head over heels. I'd gotten Dynasty Warriors 2, Kessen, SSX, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Timesplitters. Other than Kessen, which I played through and dropped, I played the rest of those games endlessly. SSX in particular was a favorite, as I'd played a ton of Coolboarders on PS1, though I played TTT all the time with friends, too. Even got an adapter for four-player.

Good times, good times.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that would have been an awesome Christmas. I still have never played Timesplitters, but I did get Kessen in Christmas of 2002 and beat it four days later on December 29th. I didn't bother trying to get the other endings, but I did enjoy my time with it.

I played SSX a little bit recently, and it holds up, unsurprisingly!

I got SSX and put the rest of the money towards my Xbox pre-order. lol

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I think you made the right choice there!

I didn't get a PS2 until 2002. Which we bought because my brother wanted to play Gran Turismo 2, and I was dying to play FFX.

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The first Final Fantasy game I ever beat! My mom and her boyfriend at the time came home during the ending being real loud, so I turned off my console and re-did the last boss fight the next day so I could watch the final cutscene in peace! I cried!

 

[bloodyroarx]

It was a rainy morning and my 14 year old self had just over $800 in cash and was inline to get my PS2 bundle at Toys R Us.

They had some games boxes with a couple staff out front and I picked my games before I went in so I could sip the ling I picked SSX and Orphen cause it said it was an RPG and they hadn't received all the launch games yet since the plan was to get SSX and DoA2 but DoA wasn't scheduled to arrive till later in the day.

I tell ya walking through the downtown core with a clear TRU bag and that big blue box was scary as shit.

 

[Nessus]

Ended up buying a used PS2 from a friend some time in 2002 I think.

Got it for Devil May Cry and Silent Hill 2 and to use as a DVD player (also got the DVD remote for it). Tried playing my new Fellowship Of The Ring DVD in it and the approximately 2 year old system ended up scratching the disc cause the laser couldn't read it properly.

I now have 4 PS2 phats and only 1 of them works (also have a PS2 Slim which still works). Never been impressed with the reliability of the PS2 but it has some amazing games.

 

[JustTom]

I got it for Christmas when it released. Already got the games before even having the console - Tekken Tag Tournament and Ready to rumble boxing 2. I remember reading through the manuals every night since I couldn't wait for Christmas to arrive.
My older brothers, however, told me that I was not getting a PS2 for Christmas since it sold out everywhere. In the end, they even printed a voucher for me which I could hand it as soon as the console was available again.
Turns out they got a console on a release day and had been playing with it secretly all the time since I got the console on Christmas.

 

[Legend J 858]

PS2 will always hold a special place for me. I was 20 at the time working my first full time IT job doing help desk call center work for a shitty outsourcing company which had a several contracts for Gateway PC, Compaq PC, Teleocity DSL, and Hughes Net satellite internet which is still around today. The company's founder is a Indian and moved the company head quarters and operates mainly now in the Philippines where salary wages there are extremely cheap.

Anyways PS2 was the first console I bought on my own as a young adult with my own money. I remember not being able to find one at my local Gamestop until Spring 2001. I didn't know any better and was up sold and bought a PS2 bundle with a extra Dualshock 2 controller, a memory card and 3 games. Gamestop to this day continues to do this crap to customers.

 

[Shatty McKracken]

In line at Best Buy. I got there at 7am for a 10am opening. There were around 100 people lined up. Nobody knew how many systems they had, but the manager came out an hour before opening and handed out a ticket voucher. They had 65 systems total and I was number 53.

For some reason they were only letting 10 people into the store at a time, but if you had a ticket voucher you were good. After the first couple of groups went and came out, one guy who had a system came out the store like he was Rocky Balboa, holding his PS2 over his head like it was the heavyweight championship belt and then he ran down the line screaming like a mad man grabbing his dick with one hand and hoisting his PS2 with the other hand and taunting the people on there way back to the cars who didn't get a ticket voucher, "I gots mine boys I gots mine". Some dude ran up and kicked the shit out of his car as he was pulling out and left a big dent in the passenger door.

Anyway, I picked up SSX, Madden, and my first ever DVDs - Twister and The Fugitive.

 

[Ronin]

I didn't get my PS2 until the Gran Turismo 3 bundle.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I still remember buying the Horizontal Stand. amazing.

 

[PancakeFlip]

I was 12 and I can't remember what I was doing, a friend in my neighborhood got it and I played Tekken Tag Tournament, remember being blown away by the graphics at the time lol.

 

[Wubby]

Do you remember around what month you all got the test units that year? I rented Orphen and played it some. I was into it, though I don't remember much.

Click to shrink...

I want to say it was during the summer (June?) at some point... But hard to remember that long ago!

 

[Cess007]

The first Final Fantasy game I ever beat! My mom and her boyfriend at the time came home during the ending being real loud, so I turned off my console and re-did the last boss fight the next day so I could watch the final cutscene in peace! I cried!

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I don't want to say it, but FFX single handely cured my fanboyism. It was an amazing game, and I could never go back to being a fanboy and knowing I was missing so many incredible games.

Also, up to this day, I still haven't beat FFX. I remember reaching the final battle and always keep losing to the last Jecht transformation lol

 

[Ploid 6.0]

My grandmother got me one while waiting with my aunt in line for my uncle's PS2. I had no clue, that was my first launch console. What a surprise, now I'm pretty sure I'm done with consoles, but I'm excited to see enjoy PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch. Mostly the PS5 games, I loved Demon's Souls so I want to see more on that.

 

[Deleted member 39374]

Didnt get one until 2004 I think. My grandma took me to target to get me one for my birthday. Got it with GT3 and GT4

I loved the blue box. Still had the console working till around 2017 or 2018 when i sold off most of my childhood nostalgia stuff. Should have held onto my pokemon cards till now tho, wtf

 

[Afrikan]

I was in this line (Sony Metreon)... it was sprinking/raining at midnight after buying it and walking out... I was worried the box would get too wet. 😬

I bought Madden 2001, Midnight Club... I think Timesplitters was a launch title I forget.




And was this line for this one.. lol

 

[TeacherDenz]

Did not expect to see SSX among your first games! You are a person with great taste! Now let's get Tricky with it as well.

 

[Creepy Woody]

My first console launch was 360/ PS3.

I wish I was old enough for PS2 launch, would have been awesome. I loved my PS1 as a kid.

Got my PS2 second hand from a pawn shop a few years in after saving for ages. I hired so many games from Blockbuster so I could try everything because I didn't have money to buy games. But that's how I found a gems like Freedom Fighters.

 

[Legend J 858]

And now you're at home unable to relive that experience due to covid-19.

Click to shrink...

Not true for other people. I'm going to my local Best Buy to pick up disc version PS5 on release day 11-12-20 with curbside pick up. I'm also going to a local Gamestop on release day to pick up my physical copies of Spiderman: Miles Morales and Demon Souls remastered.

 

[Tanuki-Go]

Oh god, I can't remember when I played it first. I know my brother bought it like six months or something after launch. I think I played The Bouncer and then MGS2?

 

[RomanticHeroX]

I was so hyped for the PS2. Turns out everyone else was too. Up until then it wasn't really an issue getting consoles on launch. I had a preorder for the Dreamcast the year before, but that was pretty easy to find. Same with N64 and PSOne and Saturn and so on. I skipped school on launch day and went out a few hours early assuming it would be fine, but everywhere was packed. Nearly every store already handed out vouchers or pre-sold their inventory. I ended up going to Sears, who did a raffle to determine who got a system. Sadly I wasn't picked, and that was the last chance I had. I rented a PS2 from Blockbuster that same day and intended to just tell them I lost it. I don't remember why, but I ended up not going through with it. Three or four months later I found a good deal on a used PS2 on ebay, so that finally settled it. Lesson learned, I've had every system since preordered as soon as preorders go up.

Also, the launch PS2 box has a strong claim to being the best looking console packaging of all time.

 

[Fireatwill]

I was first in line of the local Target. 18 year old me got in line at 1130pm the night before PS2's launch. Three friends with no desire for a PS2 waited with me to keep me company. Once the store closed and the parking lot emptied, we tossed a football around, threw a frisbee back and forth. The 2nd group of people to get in line showed up about Midnight and were pretty cool.

Once more people started showing up, my friends and I got back in our spots at the front. Flash forward to about 7am. By this time there's about 50+ people in line, the manager comes out and says they only have 48 PS2s in stock. He starts handing out tickets to keep track of who will be able to buy a system. 2 of my friends say they're not interested in a PS2. However, my third friend sees the line of people, realizes it's a popular item, and on the spot decided he may as well buy one since he waited 8.5 hours with me.

The store opens at 8am. Since I had the first ticket, everyone had to wait / follow me. I soaked it in by walking a bit slower than usual to the electronics section of the store. I bought the system via check. When it cleared, I had $0.10 in my bank account. Target didn't have any games I wanted in stock, so I left with just the system.

I went to the local K-mart and find a copy of SSX, the last one in stock. I buy it. We all head back to my friend's house and they started playing while I took a nap. That night I went to a concert, stopping at another Target, finding a copy of Dead or Alive 2. Now I had options for what I could play. At the concert I was so tired that I took a nap between some arcade cabinets during the opening acts.

It was a great day.

 

[Hoodie Season]

My family had very limited funds, so video games were definitely the last thing my parents were focused spending money on. And honestly I don't even remember asking for one. However, in 2001 I came home from school to a new PS2 and Triple Play Baseball. I don't think I even knew PS2 existed lol. But rest assured I hugged the shit out of my mom and then my brother and I played the hell out of the game. I want to say that I was even the first amongst my friends to get a PS2 though it wasn't at launch. I definitely remember playing a lot of Madden with them as well. Good times.

 

[davidnolan13]

First console i preordered, first console i was getting new and not pre owned.
I got it home and the disk drive wouldn't read the games. Not happy as I had to travel back to the store which wasn't close and hope they had a replacement. Luckily they did.
Strangely enough the only other time I've pre ordered was the ps4 and that didn't work either. I really hope its 3rd time lucky with my ps5 lol.

 

[GamerJM]

I was six and I vaguely remember the launch being a big deal? I always looked at PlayStation consoles as mostly having games for people who were older than me at the time. I remember commercials were everywhere, but my older cousins for the most part didn't buy into the hype. Some of them were really getting into PC games around that time, and another one was a bitter Sega fanboy.

Throughout the generation I was a Nintendo fanboy and I ended up having a vendetta against the PS2. The only games people I actually knew who owned one looked terrible to me; sports games (including extreme sports, like those ATV and Tony Hawk games), GTA games, and GTA clones. I saw it as the antithesis of everything I liked about the entertainment medium. In the middle of the generation I found out that modern Final Fantasy games were on PlayStation consoles, as was Kingdom Hearts, and I basically went "okay, that's a few good games the PS2 has at least". Then in like 2005 or 2006 I started going on the internet and found out that the PS2 was basically a JRPG mecca and my goddamn mind was blown. I loved the JRPGs I had played on the GBA but didn't realize the genre had such a large breadth of games elsewhere. I thought the genre sort of went to handhelds after the SNES or something. I still didn't buy one because it was the tail end of the generation and I wouldn't have enough time to play all of those games, and I still had a weird grudge against Sony.

I ended up buying one in 2012. I caved after playing Persona 4 Arena and falling in love with the characters, and wanting a way to experience the story they were from. I still haven't explored the console's library to a significant degree yet, though I have some other PS2 games and have experienced a non-insignificant portion of the library through ports. Some day I'll explore the console in depth, probably when I clear out more of my backlog and reach a point where even less of the modern gaming landscape interests me than it currently does.

 

[grimrepo]

I won my PS2 from the back a Coco Pops pack, came with an eye toy - Seriously. I ordered the Gamecube my first preorder

 

[Zephy]

I got a used PS2 with FFX. I remember being so hyped for it, seeing the Zanarkand demo scene running in the shop and hearing my school buddies telling me that the gameplay was indiscernible from the CG scenes.

I wasn't disappointed, it's still one of favourite games ever.

 

[nny]

I got my PS2 in 2002 as a surprise Christmas gift from my parents - wasn't expecting it at all. I remember I had bought Ico beforehand (the game seemed extraordinary from impressions and there was a limited edition so I bought it "to play when I get the console") and also had a FFX demo disc (that came with PS1's release of FF VI, if memory serves).

 

[TheZynster]

I remember my mother taking turns with an old boy friend rotating in line on Christmas Eve at Walmart for this thing for me. It was like 0 degrees and they kept the car running almost all night. One would go get coffee and then switch to sleep or warm up real quick. The store had only 5 systems and my mother was apparently number 4 in line. 2 hours later I was opening that up along with SSX and some Dynasty Warriors 2. Both titles lasted me an insanely long time, especially SSX. Never thought a snowboarding game could end up that damn good.


Being a parent and getting that Santa list must be literally the most terrifying experience ever if you can't get the hot item they want that year

 

[turbobrick]

There's no way my parents would buy me a console at launch. I got my PS2 for Christmas along with Gran Turismo 3 in 2001, so I guess I would have been 15 at the time. I didn't really need many other games for a while because GT3 was so good.