As of March 31st, 2016 the last official online server went down. The list of games running on Sony’s DNAS servers were slowly being extinguished until late last night finally, as it were a flick of a switch, the servers were forever left in darkness. The last game to hold the light was Final Fantasy XI on the Japanese tech company’s official server. A moment of silence if you please.
The PlayStation 2 graced us 16 years ago and is still the highest selling console with over 155 million units sold worldwide. I remember getting my first PS2 for Christmas in 2002 and the first game I played was Aggressive Inline, I was blown away by the graphics back then, I said to my friend sat next to me “Remember how we used to say ‘one day the graphics will be as good as the cut scenes in Tenchu 2’ well it is now!”. Ha! I adore my younger me, if only He knew.
The netplay service was launched in July 2001 in Japan, August 2002 in North America and in June 2003 in Europe. On “slimline” models, a network adapter is integrated into the hardware. Some games also allowed online gameplay using a dial-up connection (not available on all models), or LAN play by connecting two network adapters/slimline consoles together directly with an Ethernet cable or through the same router network. Good memories on Call of Duty: Big red one via LAN.
Instead of having a unified online service like SegaNet, online multiplayer on the PS2 was the responsibility of the game publisher and was run on third-party servers. Most recent PS2 online games have been developed to exclusively support broadband internet access.
It’s unclear whether unofficial servers may still be running for some games but we all know someone somewhere will rekindle that torch and carry it all the way.
The PlayStation may have lost its soul, but by Zeus’s beard it’s still got heart and charm.
Gah! Listen to me getting all choked up… Time to change the tune. Let’s head down Nostalgia Street and take a look at some our favourite Netplay games and moments.
Thank you for reading, and if you had experiences with PlayStation 2 netplay then why not share them in the comments section below!
Author: Paul ‘Captain’ Austin
Dedicated Gamers shack 
That’s sad but, guess what? Those games are going to be worth so much later on in the years I believe. IF you were to look up the original Spyro For PS1, that game is over $120.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh for sure, I lost a copy of resident evil outbreak file 2 and I had to fork out £40 for a mint copy. That was 4 years ago too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s wild! I bet you will never lose that game again lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hell no Bro!
LikeLike