Where's 'Game that defined the PS2'?

[AznKhmerBoi]

Snake Eater for me.

[TEKTORO]

Too soon for a PS2 Guide I think,

Defining games should be well known games that are proven to be powerhouses for a system.Games that bring you to the system and have mass appeal.

A game for instance like tales of the abyss would fit into an RPG,Hidden Gem, and possibly rare and valuable guides..

No matter what other system a game has came out for still shouldnt exclude it for being Defining on any system.With multiplatform releases second nature in todays market no matter what system I buy COD,or whatever it still would be defining for that system.

Now GEX on the other hand he's only defining on the 3DO.

[emwearz]

That would be a long ass article.

[TheyCallMeTheSwede]

@Bone: you could say that Tomb Raider has an identical port on Saturn, but I think you'd agree it's a game that defines the PS1. Right?

@isiolia: remember when Dark Cloud was touted as Sony's Zelda-killer?

Dark Cloud is the bomb! It's no Zelda though.

More like ActRaiser than Zelda.

[J T]

I would include the following on the list (Do keep in mind that there are ton of games I love for this system, and some of my personal favorites are left out of this list because they weren't very popular, and therefore not defining. I also tried to limit my amount of cross-platform games to just the ones where I thought the game was most important to the PS2 of the platforms it was available on, which is why there are no Resident Evil games here, because they were more important to GameCube, for example).

Devil May Cry (series)
Final Fantasy X, XI, XII
God of War 1 & 2
Gran Turismo 3 & 4
Grand Theft Auto III (and Vice City/San Andreas)
Guitar Hero 1 & 2
Jak and Daxter (series)
Katamari Damacy
Kingdom Hearts
Madden (series)
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
Midnight Club (series)
Onimusha (series)
Prince of Persia (mostly Sands of Time, but also Two Thrones/Warrior Within)
Ratchet and Clank (series)
Shadow of the Colossus
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and 4 (maybe Nocturne, but it wasn't as popular on release)
Silent Hill 2 & 3
Sly Cooper (series)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 & 4

There are others that have come to define the system in retrospect that were criminally underappreciated at that time, like Ico, Disgaea, Okami, Psychonauts, and Beyond Good & Evil.

[TEKTORO]

Nice list JT!
I would say the Medal of Honor Series,Socom,Tekken and Timesplitters as well.

[o.pwuaioc]

Psychonauts

I don't think this one was as PS2-centered as other cross-platforms on your list. I thought it was quite popular on the Xbox and PC.

[Reprise]

I don't think the Prince of Persia was PS2 centered either. It seemed to be pretty heavily marketed as a multi-format game and had no extra advantages on the PS2 (in fact, it was probably marginally inferior like most most multi-format games on the PS2). Maybe I just see things differently though, because I had a Gamecube and X-Box during that generation and so did my close group of friends.

Other than that though, good list. I agree with most of the others.

[dsheinem]

Off the top of my hear, I'd add to JT's list:

Gradius V
Socom (series)
SSX (series)
Twisted Metal Black
Tekken (series)
Zone of Enders (series)


And, if we are allowing imports:

Ibara
DoDonPachi DOJ

[Flake]

...and while I wait, care to suggest and debate them here

Of course, you could also always take a swing at writing it. Most of the articles on the site are at least partially composed of reader submitted work.