PlayStation 2 never gets enough credit for how much it changed home media consumption

Anyone who grew up during the early 2000s will tell you that the PlayStation 2 was a big deal. Sony's second gaming console managed to sell over 160 million units worldwide since its original release, and remains one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time. This was due to a couple of big factors that managed to come together for the PS2 at the right time. Not only was the gaming industry going through big changes from the late 90s into the early 2000s, but the way people engaged with all media also shifted. Luckily, this was heavily in favor of the PlayStation 2 at the time it came out.

This is something that many people don't understand was a very big deal. It was because of the PS2 that certain aspects of modern consoles were emphasized so much, especially in the era of multimedia devices that fulfill more than one purpose. The way we view home consoles and what we expect them to do can be traced directly back to the success of the PlayStation 2. Even if you never owned the console back in the day, you definitely have felt the aftermath of its release. Here's why everyone needs to give the PlayStation 2 more credit for how much it changed home media consumption.

More than just games

Everyone bought more discs

One thing that the PlayStation 2 is famous for doing is reading DVDs. It was because of that one feature that most people began to view the console as a cheaper DVD player that could also play video games, not just a gaming machine. This was significant at a time when PlayStation's competition wasn't doing the same thing. Although consoles like the original Xbox would follow a similar path later on, other consoles like the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 wouldn't have the same level of impact. Although the Sega Dreamcast could play CDs with games and music on them, it did not have the ability to play DVD movies. And the Nintendo 64 was completely out of the loop, being a cartridge-based system.

The PlayStation 2 was able to do all three, playing discs that contained games, music, and movies. At that time, being limited to any of those things meant you needed a separate device to do so, which not only cost more money, but also took up more space in a setup. By having the PlayStation 2 around, a person could save money and have a more organized multimedia display, which didn't require multiple units to do everything they wanted. It ultimately became an answer to an issue that people of that era didn't always view as a problem until the PS2 offered a great solution.

Competition evolves

Other companies follow along

With the convenience that the PlayStation 2 offered as a multipurpose system, it was only a matter of time until other companies had a similar approach for their own products. A short time after the PS2 release, the original Xbox would hit the market and be very similar infunctionality. It could play DVDs, music CDs, and games like the PlayStation 2. However, it also spotlighted a unique ability that would become a major part of video games later on, going online with the internet. The PlayStation 2 had a hard drive accessory that enabled some games to be played online. However, that ability wasn't a core feature in the same way that the Xbox had when it came out. The competition changed and continued to evolve over the years, leading to our current landscape within the gaming industry.

Gaming companies have always been in competition throughout the years, but many of the races between console manufacturers involved appealing to customers with the most powerful systems that displayed the best-looking graphics. Companies focused on the presentation of games when competing for customers' money. However, despite some companies showcasing advancements in hardware that changed how people played games, the idea of convenience and general functionality didn't become a massive factor until the PlayStation 2 became a massive success.

More content available

Companies made more

While all of this was going on for the PlayStation 2, companies that focused on content like movies also produced more. In the early 2000s, following the PlayStation 2 hitting stores, numerous movies, television shows, and other content became readily available on DVDs. In addition, music CDs became more dominant over time, with many moving away from cassette players and other older media formats. For consumers, it just became more convenient to have something on a disc that could play on a device that read all formats. If people favor one format over another, companies will move towards where their customers are.

This same kind of change would happen again years later, when the division between HD DVD and Blu-ray discs would see people leaning towards one format. While this wasn't as drastic a change as when discs first became popular, there are definitely parallels. However, companies that created and published content would output products they knew customers were most likely to buy, especially if they could easily play it on their console, which reads all disc formats. This led to the PlayStation 2 having a lot of games in its library and tons of DVDs with movies and TV series being sold during the early 2000s.

A lot owed to the PS2

There may have been multiple factors at play in pop culture back then, but a lot of how we engage with all forms of media is due to what happened during the release of the PlayStation 2. Everything we know about new consoles having multiple capabilities, the formats we find games and other media in, as well as other new features we have nowadays, can be traced back to the PS2 in some way. The early 2000s saw the dawn of the new millennium and a major shift in what we know about entertainment. Chances are things would be very different for the games we play and the consoles we buy, or possibly everything, if the PlayStation 2 had never become the big success it was.