PlayStation 2 PS2

Seeing as Sony ceased production on the PlayStation 2 a little while ago, we assumed that we were done celebrating the system's birthday, but what the heck – pour one out for the old guy. The black behemoth turns 15 today, if you take into account its 4th March, 2000 launch date in Japan. Those were certainly heady days, as not only was Kessen considered cutting edge, but the world was also basking in the enthusiastic aftermath of the millennium – and Pure Shores was top of the UK charts. Good times, folks.

Seriously, though, the success of SCE's sophomore system will be remembered for generations to come, as it shipped over 100 million units in less than six years – and was ultimately put to bed with an install base of approximately 155 million units. It also played host to some of the greatest ever games, with a few noteworthy names including Grand Theft Auto III, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Shadow of the Colossus. Of course, if we listed every single success story, we'd be here all day.

The system had moved an astonishing 1.52 billion pieces of software as of 31st March, 2012, which perhaps tells its own tale. Even more impressively, the console currently commands a library of around 10,828 games. Good luck collecting all of those, completionists. Of course, beyond all of these statistics sits a system that many of us grew up with – and the device will probably be best remembered for those personal moments that we all shared with it over the years.

So, seeing as we're getting all misty eyed, what are some of your favourite memories of the PS2? For this author, there are many stories – from the QTEs in God of War II that inspired the name of this very website, to entire evenings spent ploughing through Resident Evil 4. Your humble host's greatest memory, though? School lunches spent competing in FIFA tournaments at a friend's house. Share your own PS2 recollections in the comments section below. And happy birthday, big man – thanks for everything.

[source vg247.com]