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The PlayStation 2's meteoric travel to go the best-selling console of each clip transformed not conscionable gaming, but civilization astatine large. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, God of War, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty started a caller epoch of interactive stories – 1 wherever games competed with films for prestige and attention, and were discussed not conscionable successful specializer magazines and forums but successful mainstream newspapers and nationalist TV shows.
Today, connected the 25th day of the PS2's motorboat successful Europe, IGN has spoken to 2 radical who witnessed the console's launch, and accelerated rise, from antithetic angles – 1 insider and 1 outsider. Shawn Layden was a vice president astatine Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and would aboriginal clasp immoderate of the astir elder roles astatine Playstation, and Daniel Griffiths was the lawman exertion for Official Playstation Magazine successful the UK.
They told IGN astir their idiosyncratic memories from that period: Griffiths recalls the panic astatine the console's astonishment reveal, however Xbox were "in awe of" the press, and however 1 Sony enactment turned ended with a stream of melted cocoa coins; Layden describes his astonishment astatine archetypal seeing a PS2 demo, the fearfulness of nonaccomplishment successful the console's archetypal year, and however it made gaming became a hobby you could sermon "in polite company".
The Insider - Shawn Layden
IGN: What was your archetypal representation of seeing the PS2?
Shawn Layden: The archetypal happening I saw was a demo for Gran Turismo connected PS2. We were astatine a firm gathering and they had a video of it. And it conscionable knocked america disconnected our chairs. Sadly, Gran Turismo 3 didn't motorboat with the hardware due to the fact that that squad takes everlastingly to get their games done, but it gave america a glimpse. That leap, I don't think, has ever been met again successful the console generations, the leap from PS1 to PS2. It took you to a antithetic f*cking planet. And connected this planet, everything runs successful 60 frames per second.
IGN: How did dev teams respond erstwhile you knew PS2 was coming?
Shawn Layden: You had to commencement peeling disconnected teams to enactment them successful a double-secure locked country wherever nary 1 could spell successful without information clearance due to the fact that we had the prototype dev kits there. The remainder of america [were] conscionable trying to bash the day-to-day. If idiosyncratic who's not cleared sees the dev kit, past you've got to vessel them disconnected to an land somewhere. So there's a batch of vigor astir the secrecy and the confidentiality astir it, but the excitement was disconnected the charts.
IGN: Was determination a rivalry betwixt those teams chosen to enactment with PS2 and different developers?
Shawn Layden: It wasn't truthful overmuch a rivalry arsenic it was a consciousness of awe and wonder. There were our apical engineers, our apical designers, our apical physics guys. They're each going into this 1 country successful the studio, which nary 1 other tin get into. But everyone knows what's going connected there, right? It was arsenic if an alien vessel had landed successful our backyard. We're trying to analyse the tech that it brought to us.
IGN: How did the PS2 alteration the benignant of games you could make?
Shawn Layden: In [PlayStation's London Studio], it created the accidental for america to marque a crippled similar The Getaway, which is the archetypal – successful my presumption anyhow – cinematic gaming experience. It was a Guy Ritchie film, but you were successful it. It's not rather Hollywood, but we knew that the crippled was not conscionable the gameplay itself. And for that communicative to beryllium compelling and realistic, you had to get existent communicative writers. You had to prosecute folks who would constitute scores for movies to constitute scores for games. It was brainsick to beryllium successful the workplace and person similar 4 oregon 5 London-based actors conscionable coming successful to bash the overdubs and to bash the question capture. Trying to get them utilized to being successful a mocap rig is similar trying to thatch a carnivore to bash scuba diving. It was fascinating. You recognize you're making a crippled that's really not conscionable going to beryllium a shoot-'em-up, it's going to beryllium a story. And that was astir apt the astir breathtaking PS2 infinitesimal I had successful London.
The PS1 procreation was large and fantastic and brilliant, but it was benignant of similar your dad's crippled console. PS2 became a wholly antithetic mode to make and admit gaming – it was truly the opening of narrative-driven gaming.
IGN: How large a woody was the DVD player?
Shawn Layden: We were selling bundles of PS2 hardware and a movie transcript of The Matrix. We chose the DVD format aboriginal connected for PS2 to springiness america much memory, springiness america much existent property to physique our games on. When it was acceptable for launch, we recognized that DVD was this emerging format and radical were getting escaped of their VHS player. I don't deliberation determination was a batch of volition astir linking those 2 things, but serendipity is simply a large thing, right? Lucky happenstance. It turned retired to beryllium a immense accelerator due to the fact that truthful galore radical could person their spouse oregon their parents that, hey, this crippled machine, you tin ticker DVDs connected it too.
IGN: Did you cognize aboriginal connected that the PS2 would beryllium a success?
Shawn Layden: It wasn't preordained. We launched PS2 connected the backmost of Ridge Racer, Tekken and Fantavision, the fireworks simulator. Later connected we became sanguine astir it but, astatine that moment, it was like, 'Oh, beloved God, are we going to beryllium okay? We can't conscionable merchantability 3 games for 10 years.' There was a learning curve, and truthful immoderate teams took immoderate clip to fig retired however this worked. The archetypal mates of years of PS2 was reasonably white-knuckled, riding it out, hoping that immoderate much games are going to come, right? This is going to beryllium awesome, right? The archetypal twelvemonth was beauteous overmuch fear-driven. Once teams got into the plaything of it, the games were coming heavy and fast. There was a batch of risk-taking, a batch of games wherever you'd look astatine it and go, 'What is that?' And you privation to observe it.
IGN: How did it alteration the mode gaming was viewed successful wider society?
Shawn Layden: People started to judge gaming arsenic not conscionable a clump of spotty-faced teenagers successful the basement. PS2 was erstwhile gaming truly broke retired into a taste phenomenon. It was the archetypal clip wherever you could speech astir your crippled instrumentality successful polite institution and not consciousness embarrassed. Before that, with PS1, you'd perceive idiosyncratic accidental Tomb Raider successful a party, and you go, 'Oh, bash you cognize Tomb Raider? Oh, that's amazing?' But with PS2, we're each retired there. We're wearing logos connected our t-shirts. We're having conversations astatine bars and astatine pubs and wherever astir the caller crippled we're playing.
When we launched The Getaway, we had a premiere successful Leicester Square and we showed the 27-minute lead-up reel to the game. And it was similar a full-on movie premiere, reddish carpet, the full bit, those searchlights going up successful the sky, The Times of London covering it. It did springiness the feeling that, wow, games are astatine the adjacent level now. It's not conscionable thing happening down astatine Electronics Boutique – this is happening successful Leicester Square.
The Outsider - Daniel Griffiths
IGN: Can you retrieve your archetypal brushwood with the PS2 console?
Daniel Griffiths: The telephone came that there's a large announcement successful Japan. When my editor, Mike Goldsmith, went disconnected [to Japan] we were speculating arsenic to what it was going to be, but it wasn't definite it was going to beryllium PS2. That issue, Ridge Racer Type 4 was the screen game, and past the announcement of PlayStation 2 is beneath that, due to the fact that we weren't definite [it was going to happen].
Mike went to the PS2 uncover property conference. He's got nary laptop, nary computer. He gets fixed immoderate slides and goes to immoderate Japanese printer and tries to fax them, and helium can't bash it. Then helium phones me. We've got our [Ridge Racer Type 4] beforehand cover, the mag's each finished. The treble dispersed of quality is held backmost for immoderate Mike's seeing successful Japan. He's like, 'I've got PlayStation 2, I've seen it.' And we're like, 'Oh f*ck, what are we gonna do?'
He says, 'I'll picture to you what I've seen and you constitute it similar you've seen it.' So helium work from his notebook, and I virtually typed up what helium said conscionable from his description. I'd ne'er seen it, but I wrote the full thing: 'We've been to Japan, we've seen this.'
IGN: What happened erstwhile you got your hands connected it?
Daniel Griffiths: We had the archetypal 1 successful the UK, beauteous much. [PlayStation Magazine owner] Future Publishing did shot magazines and knitting magazines and canoeing magazines, adjacent the radical from the needlecraft magazines came to spot [our] PlayStation 2. Everyone was conscionable perfectly knocked out. There was a crippled called The Bouncer, with extent of field, determination was absorption and planes. It was incredible. And Fantavision had layers and clouds and the airy would beryllium reflected successful things. All of these tricks that PS1 couldn't do, they conscionable went each retired connected PS2. At the clip it was photoreal to me, it was specified a measurement up.
Because it was connected DVD, the dependable was truthful overmuch amended too. It had genuine music, and genuine spoken connection and acting. Things similar Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, with Harry Gregson-Williams' orchestral score, and the fantastic, if somewhat dubious, publication and dependable acting. It was adjacent level. PS1 to PS2 was similar going from a ceramic telephone to an iPhone and you could spot that everything's going to beryllium superb from present on. The radical that had held disconnected connected PlayStation 1 could spot this wasn't going away.
IGN: How extravagant was the marketing?
Daniel Griffiths: PlayStation 2 was the clip erstwhile the wealth landed, and spending tons of currency connected nonsense made cleanable sense. Nowadays, I don't deliberation it exists astatine all. I retrieve going to 1 enactment wherever it was, 'Ladies and gentleman, Pulp.' They were 20 feet away, doing a afloat gig, and they were the hottest set astatine the clip
For parties they would instrumentality implicit these weird venues, similar derelict car parks, and they would enactment connected creation displays and person a signifier and a set and an tremendous escaped barroom that was conscionable Red Bull and Vodka each night, capable a spot with chill radical and games journalists, and everyone would conscionable travel retired and say, 'Sony, they're the bomb.' I retrieve going to 1 and determination was a cleanable pyramid of golden cocoa coins, possibly 12 feet high… past connected the mode out, it was conscionable demolished, and it had melted, and it was conscionable a slick of chocolate, and radical were slipping implicit connected it. It was hilarious.
IGN: What happened erstwhile Microsoft entered the scene?
Daniel Griffiths: I had moved from OPM lawman exertion to beryllium exertion of GamesMaster. I retrieve Microsoft coming to Future Publishing and they took immoderate PC magazines and GamesMaster [staff] to a posh edifice successful Bath. And they unzipped a lawsuit and produced this shiny metallic container shaped similar an X. They were successful awe of us, that was the weird thing. They took maine to 1 broadside and they said, 'We've seen however your games magazines person sold [games] to gamers, we're wholly caller to the games industry, we request you to beryllium connected broadside with this.' It seems crazy, but that's what it was.
They were moving scared. You could spot they were benignant of like, 'This mightiness beryllium the biggest mistake we've ever made, but we're making a console.' PlayStation's selling squad had got it connected the telly and successful trendy magazines, and they had footballers banging connected astir their favourite PlayStation games successful the press. It was everywhere… and truthful I deliberation for Xbox to travel successful and say, 'We've got a console,' it was conscionable like, you're gonna person to truly beryllium it. And to their credit, they worked ace hard, and I've got thing but admiration for it.
IGN: When bash you deliberation PS2 cemented its estimation arsenic an all-timer?
Daniel Griffiths: I deliberation portion of the crushed it becomes loved is due to the fact that of the messiness that they made of PlayStation 3. PS1 was a games machine. PS2, with the advent of the DVD player, was location entertainment, and past PS3, deity knows what they were reasoning of. That was going to regenerate your computer, your television, your everything. The crushed wherefore PlayStation 2 is benignant of revered is due to the fact that they f*cked up PlayStation 3.
The Player - You
Do you person fond memories of the PlayStation 2? Were you there, 25 years ago, waiting successful enactment to bargain 1 astatine midnight? Did you get it for the DVD player, oregon for the cinematic communicative games that tech unlocked? Or were you a instrumentality of its aboriginal advances successful multiplayer, possibly online with SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs, oregon splitscreen with Timesplitters 2 via the Multitap adaptor? Let america cognize your stories from the PS2 epoch successful the comments below. And for much tales of the PS2, cheque retired however Sony secured GTA arsenic a PlayStation exclusive.
The interviews successful this communicative person been edited for magnitude and clarity.
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