PlayStation 2 games

PlayStation 2: history and collecting

Launched in Japan in March 2000, the PlayStation 2 went on to become the best-selling console of all time, with close to 160 million units sold. Backward-compatible with PlayStation games and, crucially, packing a built-in DVD player (a decisive selling point when standalone players were still expensive), it reached living rooms far beyond the usual gaming crowd. Its library, one of the largest ever assembled, tops 10,000 titles.

This was the home of the great sagas: Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas exploded here, God of War brought its mythological action, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 refined stealth, while Final Fantasy X and XII, Kingdom Hearts and Persona pushed the Japanese RPG to its peak. Alongside them, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Silent Hill 2, Okami and Gran Turismo 4 rank among the most memorable games of their generation. Produced until 2013, the PS2 enjoyed record-breaking longevity.

For collectors, that huge library is a double-edged treasure: common titles stay very affordable, but late, low-print releases (often horror games or RPGs such as Rule of Rose, Haunting Ground or certain Persona entries) command high prices, especially complete and sealed. NTSC/PAL differences and collector's editions also weigh on value. On RomWize, every PlayStation 2 game is retested and re-rated for 2026, with its rarity index and collector value (loose, complete and new) by region, to spot the gems within a vast catalog.