To me the ps2 generation is the ultimate generation of gaming. No pay walls, No long patches,No Internet needed. The games are some of the greatest of all time 5 gta games, plenty of nfs,Burnout,Split screen multiplayer
Yeh. i've said this before. PS2/GC/XB was the final generation of games that were pure. They were at the most advanced and ambitious before ugly practices like microtransactions made their way into video games. We'll never get that kind of excitement and joy from video games ever again.
Sony was on top of their game during the PlayStation 2 era. To me, it remains as the best console of all time and will always find enjoyment in it. And while my parents are no longer around, the PlayStation 2 they gifted 11 year-old me is still kicking. Thanks mom and dad, for the amazing memories I made because of it and will continue to make! 😄
@@alanlee67 hey man get that negativity out of here. If and when your parents pass, I’m sure you’ll feel sorrow and pain over it if they were good to you. And while I would never wish those emotions onto someone else, I understand it’s part of life; but you can be better than what you said.
I am 33 and not being negative at all. Death is part of life. And since they passed, a lot of good things happened as well. I will forever treasure what they taught and gave me. Trust me! 😁
I miss the early 2000s everything was so much better back then. We really appreciated things more (also I’m not talking about the world as a whole necessarily, I’m talking more about the video game industry)
I remember purchasing the ps2 internet accessory to play nba live online, it blew my mind….no pay subscription, no dlc, just free and open gaming…ahhh the good old days
I wish I could go back to the days when the ps2, xbox, and gamecube came out. There was so much awesome content and video game news from G4TV back when they were good.
@@slamshift6927 Yeah my guy I have all those consoles modded, I was explaining how those times were the best times for new awesome content. Trailers and commercials that actually had effort in them.
Something important to note, the USB ports on the front are 1.1 only, so there are speed issues with some games and FMVs/load times, but the memory card slot runs MUCH faster, so the memory card SD loader is the desired workaround. It's also much easier to set up multiple libraries and swap them since they're always exposed in the front. You can also just copy the Free McBoot files to a regular memory card so you can use it for saves as well, since your second slot will be occupied.
@@gogereaver349 The USB speeds haven't been "fixed" because you can't fix them. You'd have to replace the controller on the motherboard. USB 1.1 is just plain slow. Use the MC slot instead, unless you HAVE to use the USB port.
@@gogereaver349 You can try to, sure, but it's far simpler to just invest in the MC reader and not have to worry about it. But like I said, for those that can't, where USB is a MUST, go nuts.
I had HD Loader back in 2004. Used to love renting games from Blockbuster, ripping them to my installed internal hard drive and playing them. Load time was cut way down and I didn't have to go broke buying games!! Good memories
I remember getting my PS2 back in 2005 from my dad (he had it since launch day) and all of my games were on an IDE HDD with HDadvance 2.0. The system is still in use today and I have great memories with playing that thing.
That's actually not a problem of the loading itself but because of dummied out programming. The loading screen was originally going to be a mini-game where you could collect fruit but shortly before the game released it was discovered that Namco IIRC had a patent on loading screen mini-games and they had to hastily remove the mini-game. The loading screen in the first edition takes so long because it's still timed as if the mini-game was there and re-releases after that were able to remove that leftover code.
my favourite feature of the ps2 is that the front little PlayStation symbol can spin, they were thinking ahead knowing some people would stand their system upright. I guess its the little things that make a difference sometimes
A little over a year ago I found a PS2 in the dumpster at my local dump! Still had the power cord and controllers. I wondered what the black box on the back of it was...well now I know! I guess it was a little better of a find than I thought it was. I use the PS2 to watch movies and occasionally play Grand Theft Auto Vice City. Thanks for solving the mystery of the Black Box on the back of my PS2
when i was like 14 my friend bought a used ps2, and we heard something ratteling around in it. we opened that hd port and found a crack pipe in it. from then on that was the stash spot for all our weed. this was in the 2000s when you had to hide your weed. so it was a wonderful little place no one would ever look. guess thats why the crack pipe was in there in the first place.
PS2 stuff is crazy and is always expanding with new stuff. I remember some months back I learned about MechaPwn and it allowed me to play any region disc for Ps1 & 2 without the hassle of swap magic stuff
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket That’s not the point though. The Ps2 is behind the Xbox tech wise but can still do all these amazing things it shouldn’t be able to do, especially in 2022
A few tips your ps2 community may find helpful. 1) you can now buy 3rd party ps2 sata network adapters. No having to modify old ones to get sata support. 2) OPL is still being developed for. HDLoader hasn’t been developed for in quite some time. If your going to use an hd loader OPL is where’s its at, plus it offers full cover art and theme support. It’s quite slick. 3) ps2 does allow for games to be played via usb… however the older usb 1.1 ports don’t offer the bandwidth needed. Cutscenes will skip and buffer. I don’t feel usb is “playable” but it depends on what game your choosing. 4) there are memory card devices that offer sd card support as well, as you mentioned. They are “okay” for some games, but again… like usb, don’t offer enough bandwidth for game titles heavy with cutscenes. A phat softmodded ps2 is great for anyones collection! Thanks for taking the time to post!
Funny I just bought PS2 like couple months ago and thinking what was the difference to PS3. And even if you said PS3 wasn't that much different it got me thinking the difference to PS4 and PS5 as well
The only game you should get is Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. I have kept My ps2 mini however did actually get alot of the game on My android tablet but it broke 5 years ago and I haven't bothered to get then again.
PS2 still holds dear to my heart, socially its still one of the best consoles to play with a friend. I've always seen that piracy (mostly with older games that arent sold anymore) and homebrew will always keep a console revelant. I remember around 2014 when the PS2 was really starting to die out, people were selling them for dirt cheap, and most used games on Gamestop were just in really bad condition. Nobody really wanted to keep or play their PS2 anymore, I remember getting FMCB card for 25 bucks on ebay, and then conviencing my friends to keep theirs, I would make copies on their on memory cards and it was special to see my friends have another reason to keep their PS2 and try out games they never really had the chance to play.
I remember finding a copy of HD advanced at a flea market. I use that to rip a CD that I burned in a PSX format that contained the FTP program which let me access my memory card over the network. It was all downhill from there. I bought a Maxtor 200 GB hard drive that cost more than the PlayStation 2 itself. I bought a 64 MB memory card and had it boot a custom menu full of elf files that would Auto boot HD advance. I customized the menus and backgrounds. I ended up modding my friends ps2s. They had either 40 or 60 GB hard drives in them. It was great playing online multiplayer, the load times were almost non-existent. Especially on socom, we would load into the map before any of the other players, we couldn't move until everyone loaded in but at least we could see our starting positions and strategize. I also worked at GameStop at the time, back when we could take home new releases day one and pretty much any other game to try them out. I would just take home a different game every night and loaded onto my PS2 and bring it back the next day. Then I could test the games at my leisure. It was also convenient to just copy games from my hard drive to my friend's hard drives using my PC. Then you didn't have to wait for the disc to rip each time. I still have all of that original hardware and it all still works.
I bought the HD loader CD back in like 2002 or 2003 and it worked perfectly to copy games to the HD and play off them for the PS2. It was so much faster.
I don't have that version of the PS2 anymore, I have the slimline silver colored PS2. Been playing Gradius III and IV, Baldurs Gate, and the Armored Core series.
Rainbow Six 3 had a MASSIVE community from what I heard, when a family member died who played that game extensively, wreaths of flowers were sent to the funeral after one of his family members told the group he played in.
Ah, the days you would buy a game, read the manual on the way home, pop in a cart with no loading times, and play a complete, working game. Truly the good old days. It's funny and sad that we're in a time when loading times and patches are just a normal part of a game like a knob on a door. I don't think there's another hobby where you buy something that's incomplete and accept it as normal.
@@christiankettlewell Agreed, just look how well smaller titles like TMNT Shredder's Revenge have done on systems like the Switch, not all games need to be huge 200GB + sized epics.
I love my ps2. I actually started buying some of my old games back that I have lost or accidentally broken over the years. I can't stop playing nfs underground 2!
Me too, I play mine all the time. Although I've collected hundreds of excellent games cheap at thrift stores over the years, I can't stop playing Mercenaries Playground of Destruction and Dragon Quest 8!
it brings back memories, i used to love ffx and ffx2 and star ocean til end of time. i remember playing the godfather aswel and the getaway and getaway black monday. i remember gta san andreas aswel that was good fun. me and my friend used to play the tony hawk pro skater games, those were good times, there's so many good games like onimusha games, wwe games, i nearly feel like getting a ps2 again now and get the games back again just for fun lol
Getting all your ps2 isos prepared on your pc, then transferring them over using OPL (you can also scrub for art) is much faster than ripping the disc's with HDL. Recently setup my old ps2 and I highly recommend it.
@@northlanedarko771 tons of video guides on UA-cam. Search terms "ps2, opl, hdd, iso" watch and learn. Blaine locklair has a newish one that's easy to follow
Unless you have trustworthy sites to download ISO’s without getting a crypto miner installed on your PC, ripping your own discs is probably the better option
You can get a SATA 'network adaptor' (with the network part disabled!) for about £15 (< $18) on ebay. I've been running one for about a year now. Top video though!
@@316whatupz Agreed, I tried a random one I found off eBay a few years back, and it borked a 500GB 2.5in WD blue drive I put in my PS2, and then a 250GB 2.5in Seagate I had laying around from a laptop salvage job that showed in good health according to the SMART data, so after that I broke down and spent the money on an OG network adapter, and a board like shown here in the video, and have had no issues sense, with another 500GB WD Blue 2.5in HDD, and I just use a piece of memory foam from an old mattress topper I was getting rid of(yes I sprayed it with lysol first), to fill in the space, along with a clear sheet of plastic between the 2 for antistatic reasons.
Flipped my PS2 to help pay a semester of college when it came out. All my friends were playing theirs that same morning. Bought one again a few months later :)
From what I’ve seen, Using winhiip and OPL with a SATA hdd, and Retrotink5x Pro is the way to go for now. PS2-HOME seems to be the source for everything OPL, and Blaine Locklair has videos on hdd stuff using winhiip. Thanks John for bringing it into the spotlight again, and have fun everyone!
@@AZJayjohn No, not for PS2. Or at least some Games. The Endboss in God of War 2 on PS2 on a CRT looks almost like its on PS4/the new God of War. Its really THAT good and impressive what they could do with the Tech at the time. You really need to take a look at it. And it also makes sense to get a smaller screen (well, not necessarily PS2 generation but SNES, maybe PS1), a 13" is all you need, if you are rather close. a 26" is just too big. but getting a good quality 20" Screen is not easy (I had one once but we didn't take good care of it and stored in the Garage where it got wet)...
@@Stefan_Payne Sourcing a decent CRT nowadays is crazy expensive in some cases, though I found a golden Sony Trinitron WEGA 32 inch for $100 at a local game/arcade repair shop, just needed a simple cable replacement and some cleaning and it's probs the best CRT I've ever seen. Even has the OG HDMI input that some models at the end had.
@@tommj4365 If he uses a hard drive and installs FreeHDBoot on it first then yeah he can make his own Free McBoot memory card. But if he's going to share roms from his PC via the ethernet connection without installing a hard drive I think he'll need to buy a Free McBoot card.
I did this at the beginning of the year and had so much fun playing the PS2 again. I got a Brook adapter to use the DualSense controller with it and the Kaico HDMI adapter and it’s just added even more charm to the setup.
I'm pretty happy with the hdmi dongle for ps2. It works especially good for fat, since you can disassembly quite a lot of the case, 3d print a piece with a hdmi hole and put it in there instead of destroying the original part to drill a hole, or let it just hang outside
10:16 While you can use the USB port to run games, it's generally not recommended as the USB port is really slow. Any FMV will have choppy playback. Also one method which you haven't mentionend is the ability to play games from a samba network drive through the network port. That's a pretty cool solution.
@@hfhxshjc4045 I wonder if it will be possible to make a memory card to USB adapter now that the MC2SIO method has been released , how much more difficult and how much more $$ worth of hardware would it take to get USB loading through the memory card slot instead of SD
For what he is trying to do, I must say the PS3 is the best console of all time. It plays PS3, PS2, PS1 and PSP games. Plus plays DVDs and Bluray. And it had a HDMI slot. Supports 1TB internally and 2TB externally.
I can see why you would hold that opinion. And best gaming library? I guess that depends on what you mean. Either way i think the DS/3ds can rival that. PS2 is a good system though. (certainly the best Sony has put out thus far. I have not been impressed with anything after).
Some things: a) the desired program is OPL b) YOu don't want to start PS2 Games from USB as its very slow. though for PS1 Games its viable. c) newer PS2 Consoles (50k and later) can be modified with a Program that allows you to start Backup PS1 Games without modifications. Though PAL 50k PS2 only support PAL PS1 Games, 75k didn't work for me.
@@hackwrench5583 yeah but you lose a memory card slot so I installed it on the hard drive instead. I hate how FreeMcBoot and FreeHDBoot are the same thing but with one being loaded to a memory card and the other to a hard drive. lol
@@316whatupz you can get up to 64MB Cards for less than 10bucks shipped, but I wouldn't recommend them for daily use. Backups, sure. But daily driving I'd go for 16, maybe 32MB (don't have a 32MB). 8MB doesn't work well for FMCB, 16MB is minimum recommended. But then again, you can backup your Savegames to a USB Stick, even though its a bit annoying and slow....
I got into homebrew on the PS2 a couple years ago and it's been great. With the FreeDVDBoot exploit I was able to get FreeMcBoot onto my existing memory card using just a blank DVD with an ISO burned to it. Since I have a slim model, I opted for the SMB method of loading games in OPL, which is a bit cumbersome to set up, but works a heck of a lot better than USB loading. Aside from the ability to load games from a hard drive though, I think one of the coolest things homebrew brings to the PS2 is the ability to use a DualShock 3 wirelessly with just a generic USB Bluetooth adapter. That honestly kind of blew my mind.
I just got my first PS2 ever this month. I always wanted one when I was younger, but my family got the GameCube instead. I was able to find a basically like-new PS2 in my area, and ever since then I've been enjoying it a ton! Bout to let my body relax this weekend and enjoy some awesome PS2 and PS1 games.
@@Kbxbigbro808 I definitely did. I've played a few of the gems that ended up on PC, like San Andreas and Max Payne 1 (even then, I haven't beaten them completely). But there is an entire library of games that I've never played. God of War series, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, GTA 3D trilogy, etc. Gonna be awesome to dive into all of those and play them on the real hardware, instead of trying to fight with PCSX2 for compatibility.
I made the right decision getting mine this morning. Fucking amazing! One of Sony's best consoles ever made. I'm only 15 but I really enjoy retro life. I got some best seller games with it along the first Rayman game from 1995. I'm having the time of my life with this console.
I'm in my early twenties and know where you're coming from. Modern aesthetics seldom cut it for me; I prefer the cozy late 90s - early 2010s look and have always wanted to enjoy it a bit like the millennials did 😌
3:04 There were a handful of games that used it, mainly for quick loading. More games were supported in Japan as opposed to North America (at least.) Only game I can think of where they removed the feature coming to the US is Kingdom Hearts.
i really hope someone mentioned this already but just in case: Those memory cards you get from amazon are meant to be your initial exploit to get homebrew on your console. Not to keep and use. Sure, lately theyve started including all the homebrew youd need to run from it all the time and ya, its not gonna hurt anything. However, the ps2 scene moves fast and updates frequently. So youre running out-of-date homebrew. Another (in my opinion, big) thing is that there are 2 ways of installing OPL onto your memory card. The first option locks the card to the console and makes it so OPL doesnt launch on another console (not a security feature, its something to do with the nand and other internals.) The second (less stable) option give the memory card the freedom to be used on other consoles. As in the one you bought from amazon. Basically the idea is that you get the amazon memory card, then you download all the updated versions of the homebrew you will be using. Place them all on a flash drive and use the amazon memory card to mod a second (first party) memory card with the current version of OPL. Profit. I have a whole lot of other little things i wanted to bring up but id have to rewatch the video and im tired lol let me know if any of this helped you.
Since its sata, could you use SSD's with this rather than a HDD? WDBlue 1TB drives are pretty cheap and it would eliminate any noise and vibration concerns.
Recently did this mod and it's a nice upgrade. Of note, if you put the Free McBoot memory card in the P2 memory card slot you won't have to worry about game saves going to it. It boots from the P2 slot.
I still have My PS2 mini and a memory card, haven't used it in 16 years. About 5 years ago I had most of My favourite games that where on PS2 and PS1 on Android tablet, games like GTA San Andreas. I did not feel the need to use the PS2, and still dont.
I went the cheap route for HDMI. I was already using PS3 Component cables on my PS2. So I just bought a comp to hdmi converter so I can run my PS2 to the hdmi switcher my mClassic is on.
The bi-directional sata ide has been around awhile, but back in 2010 I drilled a hole-window in the side of the chasis, because the adapter was too bulky to allow even a 3.5" laptop sata drive to fit so I had the cables sticking out of the system. This would also allow me to easily switch my drive into my vertical hdd bay reading station connected with my computer. However, it's very cool you don't need to solder anything, I remember I had to take my ps2 apart, following a tutorial to solder what I think was a modbo 4.0, and I even burned a trace pads off the ps2's mother board lol... luckily I was able to trace the line to an alternative location with a help of a friend, I was a teenager back then and only had an elementary electrical knowledge.
The PS2 scene has evolved quite a bit. OPL is amazing and even supports artwork. Using an old IDE drive works fine. As far as HDMI, Retrotink of course would be the best but if you're on a budget using one of the cheap HDMI adapters work fine as long as you use it in 4:3.
I used “ps2 to hdmi” it’s pretty good too but I look forward to the hardware mod soon. Be careful with those quieter fan “upgrades” I’ve heard a few people say it’s caused overheating beyond repair.
10:47 This is so true. I really want to go back on time when games are complete with inserts and manuals that you can read. Now even Collector's Edition of a game doesn't have a physical disc which is kind of annoying.
Back before I could drive, I used to love reading the manual of a game in the car on the ride home after I bought it at the store. Then excitedly would run to play it as soon as I got home. Good times.
A bit late, but a few interesting things to note. If you'd like to get a 2TB hard drive working on the PS2, the easiest way to do it is to install wLaunchELF, load into wLE and format the HDD in it's menu. MISC>HDDManager>Press R1>Format HDD. uLaunchELF and HDLoader don't support formatting anything larger than 1TB hard drives. Once it is formatted, you can use PS2 Handiness and your computer's disc drive to rip the games to the PS2 formatted hard drive. And finally there is a program available on PC called OPL Manager, it really helps with setting up everything to look nice and fancy, create virtual memory cards, download box art, rename games, and isn't hard to learn at all.
Had Free McBoot set up for maybe a year now. It really is worth putting together if the interest is there, but I will say that I've personally had a couple small anomalies. 1. Certain games just didn't work for me, notably Tony Hawk's Underground ( I think 2, if memory serves correctly). But they were very rare, and might have workarounds. 2. I think I actually had trouble making more space on the drive I had. I would remove games, but it always said I had the same amount of space. Again, could be a me problem and I just never figured it why. 3. As far as I remember, there is no way to actuality switch discs. So if you get halfway through a long RPG, you might be out of luck. Worth researching further, but again, I did not find a solution when I was messing around with it. But overall I think it's worth it for removing load times alone.
I still have my old PS2 and I think it still runs. This is great stuff to know, maybe I can fire it back up and even get the games I never got to buy as a kid
It should be noted that an official Sony PS2 MagicGate memory card is highly recommended for the best compatibility. 3rd party memory card are hit and miss and are prone to corruption. At the very least, it should have the magic gate software.
You can actually buy a straight-up SATA HDD bay for the PS2 as well which might be a better solution if you don't have an original. Also, quick caveat - if you're planning on using this to region-break, then you need to rip the iso onto PC first then install it to the HDD using WinHIIP as HDL/OPL can't install out-of-region discs.
I actually got the PS2 Hard Drive for Resident Evil Outbreak, without the HD Install feature the load times were terrible. Wasn't worth it (at the time) probably considering hardly anybody else you played online with also had a hard drive so you were stuck with the DVD load times anyway. At least single player was fast. It was definitely worth it later when I learned how to load isos from the hard drive.
Enjoying my ps2 it is pretty fun console and playing gran turismo on it with a new wheel it's pretty good...advice...usb games are terrible due to the usb 1.0 speed, so fmv will be unplayable...a hard drive is the way to go
It was nice how you showed all the basic things required to do this! I just wonder if there is something else needed if you want to play Japanese import PS2 games?
eeh.. na.. it wasnt. It was pretty much right on time. In 2000 broadband was starting to become prevalent, as were online games. The dreamcast.. That was ahead of its time.. so much so that it doomed it.
3:00 That adapter was also the LAN adapter that allowed games, like the EA Sports games, to play online via a LAN connection. I played a lot of SSX3 online back in the day.
This brings back memories, I modded my PS2 with a DMS3 mod-chip, was using an early version of HDLoader, which didn't support all games, and only had a 120GB HD limit.
I’ve only seen the brackets for the SSDs since they are smaller and can wiggle out with all the side to side sway. I also added FreeHDBoot so I don’t need the memory card to make things smoother and have access to all my ports.
You can also run games over LAN from your PC. Also, for installing games, you're much better off connecting the drive to your PC and using HDDump to copy an iso over. It's much faster and less prone to errors.
@@darinsims5443 Seems like a weird error for me to make. If anything, it'd should be HDL Dumb instead of Dump (Dumb is a GUI). I don't know why I'd put HDDump.
The joy I got out of this network adapter back then. it was mindblowing ripping your games to the hdd, gran turismo 4 is unplayable on disc after you have seen the load times with a harddrive. It also improved performance in many games like the GTAs.
I got a hard drive for the PS2 came with Final Fantasy but I really used it for SOCOM 2 those maps are still downloaded on that hard drive. I still have it!
You should consider getting a Retrotink for your old consoles that don't have HDMI mods, particularly the 5x Pro is a great choice if you like very clear 1080p and a lot of options to tinker around with like very nice scanlines and HDR brightness and color boosts. You just have to either find a way to connect component or S-Video to the retrotink for the best quality, but even just composite looks really good. And they're compatible with about anything that actually spits out a regular video signal for a TV so you buy once and basically never again.
This looks like a fun project and playing on original equipment is pretty cool. I play my library using PCSX2. I converted my games into ISOs and run them on my home theater PC. It would be hard to go back to running games in the original hardware resolution.
Not sure if your hdmi adapter uses the RGB output. Regarding the footage I saw I’d say it uses the composite output. I remember very well using an rgb adapter on my ps2 and enjoyed sweet high definition graphics with great color saturation on my full hd tv back then
I'm so glad you actually did the SATA adapter the right way by modifying the official network adapter instead of buying a cheap 3rd party hard drive adapter that doesn't have a functioning network port
I just bought a PS2 off of eBay this past summer. A few months later, I ordered the Modded Consolez OPL (Fully loaded 2TB HDD with 638 games). I've been having a blast woth it since.
The best way I have found to connect the PS2 to a newer TV is the retrotink 5x (yes it is pricey but worth it). It handles the input as well as upscale and deinterlacing.
To me the ps2 generation is the ultimate generation of gaming. No pay walls, No long patches,No Internet needed. The games are some of the greatest of all time 5 gta games, plenty of nfs,Burnout,Split screen multiplayer
Agreed. Just pure gaming. Nothing else.
Best console imo
Yeh. i've said this before. PS2/GC/XB was the final generation of games that were pure. They were at the most advanced and ambitious before ugly practices like microtransactions made their way into video games. We'll never get that kind of excitement and joy from video games ever again.
@@KotCR idk ps3 was pretty good as well but yeah it led to the sad directions of the next generation
@@KotCR fat ps3 is numba 1
@@GameTimeWhy fr having a ps2 with a PS3 was fucking sick
Sony was on top of their game during the PlayStation 2 era. To me, it remains as the best console of all time and will always find enjoyment in it. And while my parents are no longer around, the PlayStation 2 they gifted 11 year-old me is still kicking. Thanks mom and dad, for the amazing memories I made because of it and will continue to make! 😄
You're like 30 and for parents already passed away. Too bad man
Stay Blessed 🛋🦍
@@alanlee67 hey man get that negativity out of here. If and when your parents pass, I’m sure you’ll feel sorrow and pain over it if they were good to you. And while I would never wish those emotions onto someone else, I understand it’s part of life; but you can be better than what you said.
Sorry for your loss of your mom and dad
I am 33 and not being negative at all. Death is part of life. And since they passed, a lot of good things happened as well. I will forever treasure what they taught and gave me. Trust me! 😁
I miss the early 2000s everything was so much better back then. We really appreciated things more (also I’m not talking about the world as a whole necessarily, I’m talking more about the video game industry)
Found My PS2 mini yesterday.
The internet ruined us and has made everyone so picky 😢
Amen to that
@@InFinZible ugh, such bullshit
Very true. I have an old Ps2 Fat and use discs only. No Internet connection at all. I even use the old scart video output
I remember purchasing the ps2 internet accessory to play nba live online, it blew my mind….no pay subscription, no dlc, just free and open gaming…ahhh the good old days
i think i got it to play socom
@Istaly17 I beat the first one.great game I never played 2 and 3
Bro epic games played online in those days
ah the expansion bay was a great hiding spot for "party items" when I was a teenager.
😁
😊
I wish I could go back to the days when the ps2, xbox, and gamecube came out. There was so much awesome content and video game news from G4TV back when they were good.
I loved watching digital playground on g4 😎
G4tv is not what it was. Or maybe I'm just too old now.
You could just... play them. Xboxes are dirt cheap, Gamecube's emulator is god tier, and the PS2 is right there as well.
@@slamshift6927 Yeah my guy I have all those consoles modded, I was explaining how those times were the best times for new awesome content. Trailers and commercials that actually had effort in them.
G4 was the bomb back then.
This is my favorite kind of content. I love watching soft/hard modding and restoration of old systems.
Something important to note, the USB ports on the front are 1.1 only, so there are speed issues with some games and FMVs/load times, but the memory card slot runs MUCH faster, so the memory card SD loader is the desired workaround. It's also much easier to set up multiple libraries and swap them since they're always exposed in the front. You can also just copy the Free McBoot files to a regular memory card so you can use it for saves as well, since your second slot will be occupied.
thats largly been fixed.
Freehdloader and sata has compatibility issues
@@gogereaver349 The USB speeds haven't been "fixed" because you can't fix them. You'd have to replace the controller on the motherboard. USB 1.1 is just plain slow. Use the MC slot instead, unless you HAVE to use the USB port.
@@BioGenx2b no but you can optimize for it
@@gogereaver349 You can try to, sure, but it's far simpler to just invest in the MC reader and not have to worry about it.
But like I said, for those that can't, where USB is a MUST, go nuts.
can't be the only one who has both a ps2 and a better graphical system and still chooses ps2 due to actual game quality right?
I had HD Loader back in 2004. Used to love renting games from Blockbuster, ripping them to my installed internal hard drive and playing them. Load time was cut way down and I didn't have to go broke buying games!! Good memories
Nice! I never got HD loader, always used the DVD's. I was able to rip and inject the DNAS ID onto the disc so I could still play online.
I had the same experience except with a Slayers Xbox.
Same here! I spent an entire weekend going back and forth to Blockbuster when they had unlimited games for $10 per month or so.
i had it too back in college then i would borrow games from my buddies and download them lol
Wow John I wish I knew this back then lol
I remember getting my PS2 back in 2005 from my dad (he had it since launch day) and all of my games were on an IDE HDD with HDadvance 2.0. The system is still in use today and I have great memories with playing that thing.
amazing, I even had gt4 played online form HDD through Kai-link
Me too! I remember blockbuster having unlimited rental plans and I literally would rent copy and return up to 3 times a day.
I got my mine in 2000 thank God I was born in the early 90s and got to experience the amazing library games for the Playstation 2 2000-2006
@@dabrab6324 i did that with my xbox twas dope!
You were late, I got My PS2 mini around 2004 or 2005, was yours the mini?
Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex had brutal load times on the PS2.
It was 40+ seconds going into a level, and a similar load time exiting the level.
@Spiral And it's like 6 seconds if you load the Platinum/Greatest Hits version through the internal hard drive.
As fast as the original Xbox port.
That's actually not a problem of the loading itself but because of dummied out programming. The loading screen was originally going to be a mini-game where you could collect fruit but shortly before the game released it was discovered that Namco IIRC had a patent on loading screen mini-games and they had to hastily remove the mini-game. The loading screen in the first edition takes so long because it's still timed as if the mini-game was there and re-releases after that were able to remove that leftover code.
It was agony...
The Game was put on a CD for the original release
I bought it new at the time, gave up playing it after a few levels because the load times drove me insane.
Free McBoot remains one of the best names of a homebrew program ever.
Boaty McBoatface
my favourite feature of the ps2 is that the front little PlayStation symbol can spin, they were thinking ahead knowing some people would stand their system upright. I guess its the little things that make a difference sometimes
it has rubber feet on both potential bottoms as well, it was designed to be able to be used in tower configuration in general.
Didn't the 3 have the same also?
Imagine getting a ps5 or series x that lack these simple features just sayin.. it's the little things
Even the clock battery inside has the PS symbol, really cool.
I remember they sold a stand for it that cost 50 bux
A little over a year ago I found a PS2 in the dumpster at my local dump! Still had the power cord and controllers. I wondered what the black box on the back of it was...well now I know! I guess it was a little better of a find than I thought it was. I use the PS2 to watch movies and occasionally play Grand Theft Auto Vice City. Thanks for solving the mystery of the Black Box on the back of my PS2
when i was like 14 my friend bought a used ps2, and we heard something ratteling around in it. we opened that hd port and found a crack pipe in it. from then on that was the stash spot for all our weed. this was in the 2000s when you had to hide your weed. so it was a wonderful little place no one would ever look. guess thats why the crack pipe was in there in the first place.
@@xJasonHatxlol
PS2 stuff is crazy and is always expanding with new stuff. I remember some months back I learned about MechaPwn and it allowed me to play any region disc for Ps1 & 2 without the hassle of swap magic stuff
Swap magic...nectar of the gods back then
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket That’s not the point though. The Ps2 is behind the Xbox tech wise but can still do all these amazing things it shouldn’t be able to do, especially in 2022
A few tips your ps2 community may find helpful.
1) you can now buy 3rd party ps2 sata network adapters. No having to modify old ones to get sata support.
2) OPL is still being developed for. HDLoader hasn’t been developed for in quite some time. If your going to use an hd loader OPL is where’s its at, plus it offers full cover art and theme support. It’s quite slick.
3) ps2 does allow for games to be played via usb… however the older usb 1.1 ports don’t offer the bandwidth needed. Cutscenes will skip and buffer. I don’t feel usb is “playable” but it depends on what game your choosing.
4) there are memory card devices that offer sd card support as well, as you mentioned. They are “okay” for some games, but again… like usb, don’t offer enough bandwidth for game titles heavy with cutscenes.
A phat softmodded ps2 is great for anyones collection! Thanks for taking the time to post!
The graphics upgrade from the ps1 to ps2 was the last upgrade you really needed. From ps2 to ps3 was the last one you really wanted.
You can thank the Sega Dreamcast for that. Ps2 might have been a 64 bit system
Funny I just bought PS2 like couple months ago and thinking what was the difference to PS3. And even if you said PS3 wasn't that much different it got me thinking the difference to PS4 and PS5 as well
@@aliaulman
PS2 = SD
PS3 = HD
@@themonsterunderyourbed9408 Xbox/PS2: SD
Xbox 360/PS3: 720p
Xbox One/PS4: 1080p
Xbox Series X/PS5: 1440p
@@GoogleDoesEvil ps2 was able to do 480p with the composite cable.
Ps2 was a huge leap in gaming tech. I remember being extremely impressed with it.
I've been collecting my favorite titles for ps2 for a couple years now. Also been finding so many unique and creative games for this awesome console.
Same
The only game you should get is Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. I have kept My ps2 mini however did actually get alot of the game on My android tablet but it broke 5 years ago and I haven't bothered to get then again.
Try Gun
you should try steambot chronicles
@johnsampson6387 What's that?
PS2 still holds dear to my heart, socially its still one of the best consoles to play with a friend. I've always seen that piracy (mostly with older games that arent sold anymore) and homebrew will always keep a console revelant. I remember around 2014 when the PS2 was really starting to die out, people were selling them for dirt cheap, and most used games on Gamestop were just in really bad condition. Nobody really wanted to keep or play their PS2 anymore, I remember getting FMCB card for 25 bucks on ebay, and then conviencing my friends to keep theirs, I would make copies on their on memory cards and it was special to see my friends have another reason to keep their PS2 and try out games they never really had the chance to play.
you spoke the truth. Same happened here in latin america.
I have a PS2 mini, I kept it because it is small, I would never of kept a full size original.
2014? Bro the ps2 had already died out by 2008 when everybody got a ps3
I bought a white Japanese Ps2. Modded it with a 1tb hdd. Added in 289 games.
I'm currently adding games atm. I'm at 164 games so far. Is your 1tb hard drive filled up or do you have some free space left?
I remember finding a copy of HD advanced at a flea market. I use that to rip a CD that I burned in a PSX format that contained the FTP program which let me access my memory card over the network. It was all downhill from there. I bought a Maxtor 200 GB hard drive that cost more than the PlayStation 2 itself. I bought a 64 MB memory card and had it boot a custom menu full of elf files that would Auto boot HD advance. I customized the menus and backgrounds. I ended up modding my friends ps2s. They had either 40 or 60 GB hard drives in them. It was great playing online multiplayer, the load times were almost non-existent. Especially on socom, we would load into the map before any of the other players, we couldn't move until everyone loaded in but at least we could see our starting positions and strategize. I also worked at GameStop at the time, back when we could take home new releases day one and pretty much any other game to try them out. I would just take home a different game every night and loaded onto my PS2 and bring it back the next day. Then I could test the games at my leisure. It was also convenient to just copy games from my hard drive to my friend's hard drives using my PC. Then you didn't have to wait for the disc to rip each time. I still have all of that original hardware and it all still works.
This guy bangs! He casually admits to massive piracy for fun and profit on YT and gives 0 ducks.
I bought the HD loader CD back in like 2002 or 2003 and it worked perfectly to copy games to the HD and play off them for the PS2. It was so much faster.
@@jorgevespucci9878 I had mine fixed by a welder to be multi region. But I did pay for my games. :B
I don't have that version of the PS2 anymore, I have the slimline silver colored PS2. Been playing Gradius III and IV, Baldurs Gate, and the Armored Core series.
Rainbow Six 3 had a MASSIVE community from what I heard, when a family member died who played that game extensively, wreaths of flowers were sent to the funeral after one of his family members told the group he played in.
Ah, the days you would buy a game, read the manual on the way home, pop in a cart with no loading times, and play a complete, working game. Truly the good old days. It's funny and sad that we're in a time when loading times and patches are just a normal part of a game like a knob on a door. I don't think there's another hobby where you buy something that's incomplete and accept it as normal.
There definitely aren't any that I can think of. Even worse when bootlickers step up to the plate and make you out as the bad guy. Interesting times
More data equals longer load times. Sness games were only 32mb new games are over 200gb
You guys have clearly never been into car restoration lol
@@bryanfrye8770 they don’t need to be 200gb, the industry has just decided that games need to rival movies for some reason
@@christiankettlewell Agreed, just look how well smaller titles like TMNT Shredder's Revenge have done on systems like the Switch, not all games need to be huge 200GB + sized epics.
I love my ps2. I actually started buying some of my old games back that I have lost or accidentally broken over the years. I can't stop playing nfs underground 2!
I did to I had no ps2 or any games a year ago cause I sold them all years ago and now have one and 50 games I play more than my ps5
Me too, I play mine all the time. Although I've collected hundreds of excellent games cheap at thrift stores over the years, I can't stop playing Mercenaries Playground of Destruction and Dragon Quest 8!
it brings back memories, i used to love ffx and ffx2 and star ocean til end of time. i remember playing the godfather aswel and the getaway and getaway black monday. i remember gta san andreas aswel that was good fun. me and my friend used to play the tony hawk pro skater games, those were good times, there's so many good games like onimusha games, wwe games, i nearly feel like getting a ps2 again now and get the games back again just for fun lol
Lol why buy them?? Just downlaod them from the internet for free and transfer them to your hard drive🤷♂️
@@MebbIraq Because having a physical copy is best. If you haven't learned that lesson yet, you will.
Getting all your ps2 isos prepared on your pc, then transferring them over using OPL (you can also scrub for art) is much faster than ripping the disc's with HDL. Recently setup my old ps2 and I highly recommend it.
Also a great way to use a PS2 where the optical drive has gone, which will happen to all these older machines in time…
Hi man .
Any chance you could run me through what I need to do same mod . Recently just was given a ps2
@@northlanedarko771 tons of video guides on UA-cam. Search terms "ps2, opl, hdd, iso" watch and learn. Blaine locklair has a newish one that's easy to follow
@@adamsteelproducer Yeah, two of my PS2's have a shot optical drive. I still need to get those repaired.
Unless you have trustworthy sites to download ISO’s without getting a crypto miner installed on your PC, ripping your own discs is probably the better option
The PS2 was the future. But I never imagined we could put a 2TB SATA HDD inside it. That's crazy lol
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal was one of the first ps2 online multiplayer shooters available in 2004.
Places in South America were getting new PS2s until 2014, so there are definitely a lot of them out there. Been considering doing this to my PS2.
You can get a SATA 'network adaptor' (with the network part disabled!) for about £15 (< $18) on ebay. I've been running one for about a year now. Top video though!
Gamestar make one
yupp
Don't get the cheap Chinese Gamestar adapters. They corrupt easily and hard drive compatibility sucks.
@@316whatupz Agreed, I tried a random one I found off eBay a few years back, and it borked a 500GB 2.5in WD blue drive I put in my PS2, and then a 250GB 2.5in Seagate I had laying around from a laptop salvage job that showed in good health according to the SMART data, so after that I broke down and spent the money on an OG network adapter, and a board like shown here in the video, and have had no issues sense, with another 500GB WD Blue 2.5in HDD, and I just use a piece of memory foam from an old mattress topper I was getting rid of(yes I sprayed it with lysol first), to fill in the space, along with a clear sheet of plastic between the 2 for antistatic reasons.
Not to mention the network adapter can be used for even more homebrew
I had a PS1 and PS2... the PS2 was seriously THE NEXT BIG THING in 2000s
It was the most groundbreaking system ever produced
Flipped my PS2 to help pay a semester of college when it came out. All my friends were playing theirs that same morning. Bought one again a few months later :)
1:34 I come home after school and check your channel every day. I love you bro
From what I’ve seen, Using winhiip and OPL with a SATA hdd, and Retrotink5x Pro is the way to go for now. PS2-HOME seems to be the source for everything OPL, and Blaine Locklair has videos on hdd stuff using winhiip. Thanks John for bringing it into the spotlight again, and have fun everyone!
while RT5 PRO is good, a CRT is even better...
@@Stefan_Payne depends on the user, 1440p out from the tink5x is arguably better than a crt.
@@AZJayjohn No, not for PS2.
Or at least some Games.
The Endboss in God of War 2 on PS2 on a CRT looks almost like its on PS4/the new God of War.
Its really THAT good and impressive what they could do with the Tech at the time.
You really need to take a look at it. And it also makes sense to get a smaller screen (well, not necessarily PS2 generation but SNES, maybe PS1), a 13" is all you need, if you are rather close. a 26" is just too big. but getting a good quality 20" Screen is not easy (I had one once but we didn't take good care of it and stored in the Garage where it got wet)...
@@Stefan_Payne Sourcing a decent CRT nowadays is crazy expensive in some cases, though I found a golden Sony Trinitron WEGA 32 inch for $100 at a local game/arcade repair shop, just needed a simple cable replacement and some cleaning and it's probs the best CRT I've ever seen. Even has the OG HDMI input that some models at the end had.
@@Stefan_Payne oh of course! I have a 32” RCA and a newer 19” Fuji as well, love it!
Still have an og ps2 with the hd adapter on the back. I Should try this.
Try it!
Best way to retro gaming on the cheap while still owning the real thing.
You can also share roms from your PC over the network adapter or even better share games from a Raspberry Pi connected via an ethernet cable.
You don't need to buy the free mcboot card, you can load it onto an existing memory card
@@tommj4365 If he uses a hard drive and installs FreeHDBoot on it first then yeah he can make his own Free McBoot memory card. But if he's going to share roms from his PC via the ethernet connection without installing a hard drive I think he'll need to buy a Free McBoot card.
@@homerthompson416 it's been a few years but I recall getting free mcboot onto the memory card via usb thumbdrive.
I did this at the beginning of the year and had so much fun playing the PS2 again. I got a Brook adapter to use the DualSense controller with it and the Kaico HDMI adapter and it’s just added even more charm to the setup.
You can play and buy many ps2 games on Android tablet.
@@HOLLASOUNDS how???
oh my god, the crash load screen. I can remember that clear as day. I use to think my game crashed, it would take around 2 - 3 minutes to load.
I'm pretty happy with the hdmi dongle for ps2. It works especially good for fat, since you can disassembly quite a lot of the case, 3d print a piece with a hdmi hole and put it in there instead of destroying the original part to drill a hole, or let it just hang outside
✏️✏️👍
10:16 While you can use the USB port to run games, it's generally not recommended as the USB port is really slow. Any FMV will have choppy playback.
Also one method which you haven't mentionend is the ability to play games from a samba network drive through the network port. That's a pretty cool solution.
Yeah should mention it's USB 1.1 so it's hella slow.
fastet method is the memorycardSd Adapter
@@hfhxshjc4045 I wonder if it will be possible to make a memory card to USB adapter now that
the MC2SIO method has been released , how much more difficult and how much more $$ worth of hardware would it take to get USB loading through the memory card slot instead of SD
@@hfhxshjc4045 A lot of people don't talk about the SD card method. I wish people did because it seems better than using a hard drive.
Ps2 Greatest Console of ALL TIME in my humble opinion 😅 ! The Best Gaming Library of all-time !
There is not "best", ps nintendo and sega all got their own offerings.
For what he is trying to do, I must say the PS3 is the best console of all time. It plays PS3, PS2, PS1 and PSP games. Plus plays DVDs and Bluray. And it had a HDMI slot. Supports 1TB internally and 2TB externally.
I can see why you would hold that opinion. And best gaming library? I guess that depends on what you mean. Either way i think the DS/3ds can rival that. PS2 is a good system though. (certainly the best Sony has put out thus far. I have not been impressed with anything after).
@@quewuzhere the ones that do play ps2 games are far from best hardware wise tho
@@user-yk1cw8im4h True. But that's usually always the case.
Some things:
a) the desired program is OPL
b) YOu don't want to start PS2 Games from USB as its very slow. though for PS1 Games its viable.
c) newer PS2 Consoles (50k and later) can be modified with a Program that allows you to start Backup PS1 Games without modifications. Though PAL 50k PS2 only support PAL PS1 Games, 75k didn't work for me.
Good tips here. Also install FreeMcBoot onto hard drive instead to free up memory card slot
@@316whatupz FreeHDBoot! An alternative to that tip is to install FreeMcBoot on memory card slot 2 as most games default to slot 1 anyway.
@@hackwrench5583 yeah but you lose a memory card slot so I installed it on the hard drive instead. I hate how FreeMcBoot and FreeHDBoot are the same thing but with one being loaded to a memory card and the other to a hard drive. lol
@@316whatupz you can get up to 64MB Cards for less than 10bucks shipped, but I wouldn't recommend them for daily use. Backups, sure. But daily driving I'd go for 16, maybe 32MB (don't have a 32MB). 8MB doesn't work well for FMCB, 16MB is minimum recommended.
But then again, you can backup your Savegames to a USB Stick, even though its a bit annoying and slow....
@@Stefan_Payne I got a 128mbs card as well as 2 8mbs card (backup). Haven't had any issues with the games I usually play on the 128mbs one.
Huh, and I just found my old PS2s in my storage building... might have to try this at some point.
I literally was playing PS2 today, Smackdown vs Raw '07 and NBA Street vol. 2
I got into homebrew on the PS2 a couple years ago and it's been great. With the FreeDVDBoot exploit I was able to get FreeMcBoot onto my existing memory card using just a blank DVD with an ISO burned to it. Since I have a slim model, I opted for the SMB method of loading games in OPL, which is a bit cumbersome to set up, but works a heck of a lot better than USB loading. Aside from the ability to load games from a hard drive though, I think one of the coolest things homebrew brings to the PS2 is the ability to use a DualShock 3 wirelessly with just a generic USB Bluetooth adapter. That honestly kind of blew my mind.
I just got my first PS2 ever this month. I always wanted one when I was younger, but my family got the GameCube instead.
I was able to find a basically like-new PS2 in my area, and ever since then I've been enjoying it a ton! Bout to let my body relax this weekend and enjoy some awesome PS2 and PS1 games.
You missed out on the ps2
@@Kbxbigbro808 I definitely did. I've played a few of the gems that ended up on PC, like San Andreas and Max Payne 1 (even then, I haven't beaten them completely).
But there is an entire library of games that I've never played. God of War series, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, GTA 3D trilogy, etc.
Gonna be awesome to dive into all of those and play them on the real hardware, instead of trying to fight with PCSX2 for compatibility.
@@altanic5855 I don’t know about you, but the nightly PCSX2 release on Linux works like a dream.
I made the right decision getting mine this morning. Fucking amazing! One of Sony's best consoles ever made. I'm only 15 but I really enjoy retro life. I got some best seller games with it along the first Rayman game from 1995. I'm having the time of my life with this console.
You have a bright future
I'm in my early twenties and know where you're coming from. Modern aesthetics seldom cut it for me; I prefer the cozy late 90s - early 2010s look and have always wanted to enjoy it a bit like the millennials did 😌
smart kid. get any of the Tony Hawk games? regardless of if you're a skater or not, they're addictive all time classics
"Games actually came complete back then."
Yep.
This is literally me. I bought brand new refurbished PS2 back in April 2022 with internal hardisk and it works like charm till today
I have a modded PS2 set up this way. Along with my RGH'd 360 it's one of my faves.
3:04 There were a handful of games that used it, mainly for quick loading. More games were supported in Japan as opposed to North America (at least.) Only game I can think of where they removed the feature coming to the US is Kingdom Hearts.
i really hope someone mentioned this already but just in case:
Those memory cards you get from amazon are meant to be your initial exploit to get homebrew on your console. Not to keep and use. Sure, lately theyve started including all the homebrew youd need to run from it all the time and ya, its not gonna hurt anything. However, the ps2 scene moves fast and updates frequently. So youre running out-of-date homebrew. Another (in my opinion, big) thing is that there are 2 ways of installing OPL onto your memory card. The first option locks the card to the console and makes it so OPL doesnt launch on another console (not a security feature, its something to do with the nand and other internals.) The second (less stable) option give the memory card the freedom to be used on other consoles. As in the one you bought from amazon. Basically the idea is that you get the amazon memory card, then you download all the updated versions of the homebrew you will be using. Place them all on a flash drive and use the amazon memory card to mod a second (first party) memory card with the current version of OPL. Profit.
I have a whole lot of other little things i wanted to bring up but id have to rewatch the video and im tired lol let me know if any of this helped you.
I still have my modded PS2s with HD Advanced 2.0 installed. Great memories. Love that system.
Since its sata, could you use SSD's with this rather than a HDD? WDBlue 1TB drives are pretty cheap and it would eliminate any noise and vibration concerns.
Recently did this mod and it's a nice upgrade. Of note, if you put the Free McBoot memory card in the P2 memory card slot you won't have to worry about game saves going to it. It boots from the P2 slot.
I still have My PS2 mini and a memory card, haven't used it in 16 years. About 5 years ago I had most of My favourite games that where on PS2 and PS1 on Android tablet, games like GTA San Andreas. I did not feel the need to use the PS2, and still dont.
@@HOLLASOUNDS Cool story
@@HOLLASOUNDSanybody who is everybody, would prefer to rock the original emulation.
@@HOLLASOUNDSrelax child, adults are speaking
I went the cheap route for HDMI. I was already using PS3 Component cables on my PS2. So I just bought a comp to hdmi converter so I can run my PS2 to the hdmi switcher my mClassic is on.
still got my original family ps2 we got for christmas and all the games, thing still works flawlessly til this day. never getting rid of it lol
The bi-directional sata ide has been around awhile, but back in 2010 I drilled a hole-window in the side of the chasis, because the adapter was too bulky to allow even a 3.5" laptop sata drive to fit so I had the cables sticking out of the system. This would also allow me to easily switch my drive into my vertical hdd bay reading station connected with my computer. However, it's very cool you don't need to solder anything, I remember I had to take my ps2 apart, following a tutorial to solder what I think was a modbo 4.0, and I even burned a trace pads off the ps2's mother board lol... luckily I was able to trace the line to an alternative location with a help of a friend, I was a teenager back then and only had an elementary electrical knowledge.
The PS2 scene has evolved quite a bit. OPL is amazing and even supports artwork. Using an old IDE drive works fine. As far as HDMI, Retrotink of course would be the best but if you're on a budget using one of the cheap HDMI adapters work fine as long as you use it in 4:3.
I used “ps2 to hdmi” it’s pretty good too but I look forward to the hardware mod soon. Be careful with those quieter fan “upgrades” I’ve heard a few people say it’s caused overheating beyond repair.
I have My ps2 but the games I liked on there are on google play anyway and I can connect a Hdmi from tablet to a TV if I want.
10:47 This is so true. I really want to go back on time when games are complete with inserts and manuals that you can read. Now even Collector's Edition of a game doesn't have a physical disc which is kind of annoying.
Back before I could drive, I used to love reading the manual of a game in the car on the ride home after I bought it at the store. Then excitedly would run to play it as soon as I got home.
Good times.
EverQuest Online Adventures was another game that used the Networking hardware for the PS2.
A bit late, but a few interesting things to note.
If you'd like to get a 2TB hard drive working on the PS2, the easiest way to do it is to install wLaunchELF, load into wLE and format the HDD in it's menu. MISC>HDDManager>Press R1>Format HDD. uLaunchELF and HDLoader don't support formatting anything larger than 1TB hard drives.
Once it is formatted, you can use PS2 Handiness and your computer's disc drive to rip the games to the PS2 formatted hard drive.
And finally there is a program available on PC called OPL Manager, it really helps with setting up everything to look nice and fancy, create virtual memory cards, download box art, rename games, and isn't hard to learn at all.
Come on, guy. You're putting a hdd in your weed storage bay?
Lmao I used hide my weed in there too
These are amazing developments! I can't wait to see it in its final form.
Had Free McBoot set up for maybe a year now. It really is worth putting together if the interest is there, but I will say that I've personally had a couple small anomalies.
1. Certain games just didn't work for me, notably Tony Hawk's Underground ( I think 2, if memory serves correctly). But they were very rare, and might have workarounds.
2. I think I actually had trouble making more space on the drive I had. I would remove games, but it always said I had the same amount of space. Again, could be a me problem and I just never figured it why.
3. As far as I remember, there is no way to actuality switch discs. So if you get halfway through a long RPG, you might be out of luck. Worth researching further, but again, I did not find a solution when I was messing around with it.
But overall I think it's worth it for removing load times alone.
✏️✏️👍
I still have my old PS2 and I think it still runs. This is great stuff to know, maybe I can fire it back up and even get the games I never got to buy as a kid
The addition of an HDD adapter just for mainly one video game back then, is amazing and it shows the dedication of developers and SONY
PS2 is amazing the PS2 will always be the greatest game system of all time
It should be noted that an official Sony PS2 MagicGate memory card is highly recommended for the best compatibility. 3rd party memory card are hit and miss and are prone to corruption. At the very least, it should have the magic gate software.
Ps2 gamecube never dies,
I love that gen
I'm definitely going to go back and play soooo many titles I didn't get to play as a kid
Just chiming in here to mention that Everquest Online Adventures also used the network adapter! I have fond memories of playing that one.
The manual's lack of justified margins is driving me nuts!
LOL!
You can actually buy a straight-up SATA HDD bay for the PS2 as well which might be a better solution if you don't have an original.
Also, quick caveat - if you're planning on using this to region-break, then you need to rip the iso onto PC first then install it to the HDD using WinHIIP as HDL/OPL can't install out-of-region discs.
Thing is those don't have a working ethernet port.
What if your PS2 is modded?
I actually got the PS2 Hard Drive for Resident Evil Outbreak, without the HD Install feature the load times were terrible. Wasn't worth it (at the time) probably considering hardly anybody else you played online with also had a hard drive so you were stuck with the DVD load times anyway. At least single player was fast. It was definitely worth it later when I learned how to load isos from the hard drive.
I remember spending hours ripping games I owned over to several hdd's, definitely the best system to have for your emulation needs.
I remember working nights and weekends to buy my first ps2 and I still have it today.
Enjoying my ps2 it is pretty fun console and playing gran turismo on it with a new wheel it's pretty good...advice...usb games are terrible due to the usb 1.0 speed, so fmv will be unplayable...a hard drive is the way to go
It was nice how you showed all the basic things required to do this! I just wonder if there is something else needed if you want to play Japanese import PS2 games?
No
The ps2 was way ahead of its time!…
eeh.. na.. it wasnt. It was pretty much right on time. In 2000 broadband was starting to become prevalent, as were online games. The dreamcast.. That was ahead of its time.. so much so that it doomed it.
3:00 That adapter was also the LAN adapter that allowed games, like the EA Sports games, to play online via a LAN connection. I played a lot of SSX3 online back in the day.
This brings back memories, I modded my PS2 with a DMS3 mod-chip, was using an early version of HDLoader, which didn't support all games, and only had a 120GB HD limit.
I’ve only seen the brackets for the SSDs since they are smaller and can wiggle out with all the side to side sway.
I also added FreeHDBoot so I don’t need the memory card to make things smoother and have access to all my ports.
You can also run games over LAN from your PC. Also, for installing games, you're much better off connecting the drive to your PC and using HDDump to copy an iso over. It's much faster and less prone to errors.
✏️✏️👍
... Is the trade-off not being able to play ethernet system-link (LAN) and online multiplayer modes?
I think you mean HDL Dump. (HDDump didn't show up on Google)
@@darinsims5443 Seems like a weird error for me to make. If anything, it'd should be HDL Dumb instead of Dump (Dumb is a GUI). I don't know why I'd put HDDump.
The joy I got out of this network adapter back then. it was mindblowing ripping your games to the hdd, gran turismo 4 is unplayable on disc after you have seen the load times with a harddrive. It also improved performance in many games like the GTAs.
I got a hard drive for the PS2 came with Final Fantasy but I really used it for SOCOM 2 those maps are still downloaded on that hard drive. I still have it!
This brings the memory of the yellow light of death when my PS2 finally met its end. The days of Socom and the PS2 network adapter. Bad Ass
You should consider getting a Retrotink for your old consoles that don't have HDMI mods, particularly the 5x Pro is a great choice if you like very clear 1080p and a lot of options to tinker around with like very nice scanlines and HDR brightness and color boosts. You just have to either find a way to connect component or S-Video to the retrotink for the best quality, but even just composite looks really good.
And they're compatible with about anything that actually spits out a regular video signal for a TV so you buy once and basically never again.
I have an OSSC and original retro tink also a viable option
This looks like a fun project and playing on original equipment is pretty cool. I play my library using PCSX2. I converted my games into ISOs and run them on my home theater PC. It would be hard to go back to running games in the original hardware resolution.
Absolutely, I couldn't go back to the original resolution. Hard to believe anyone can after playing on 5K
My pc isn’t too bad, i7 3770, gtx 1660, 16gb ram but pretty much everything runs like ass on pcsx2 except dbz games, any tips?
Not sure if your hdmi adapter uses the RGB output. Regarding the footage I saw I’d say it uses the composite output. I remember very well using an rgb adapter on my ps2 and enjoyed sweet high definition graphics with great color saturation on my full hd tv back then
I loved my ps2. I used to play killzone and battlefield online and had a blast.
I'm so glad you actually did the SATA adapter the right way by modifying the official network adapter instead of buying a cheap 3rd party hard drive adapter that doesn't have a functioning network port
I just bought a PS2 off of eBay this past summer. A few months later, I ordered the Modded Consolez OPL (Fully loaded 2TB HDD with 638 games). I've been having a blast woth it since.
The best way I have found to connect the PS2 to a newer TV is the retrotink 5x (yes it is pricey but worth it). It handles the input as well as upscale and deinterlacing.
Welcome to the party pal!
Where has this information been all my days lololol and me being such a nostalgic gamer, thanks dude!!!
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
Huge video. Thx for sharing .