"Currently more than 450 PS2 titles are operating online," says John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony of America. "Out of this number, more than 60 titles had at least 100 accesses last week -- a very high number for a platform entering its ninth year of life."
What's more, online PS2 games see little (if any) publicity when compared to Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 communities. But with more than 140 million PS2 owners worldwide, there's bound to be someone online at any given moment, especially with high-profile games like Madden.
Surprised by the ongoing support (I was one of many that never played PS2 online), I took to the GamePro library to sample some games.
A well-established community
At 10 AM on a Friday morning, I found more than 900 online gamers playing , 20 of which were using USB headsets (any type will do). While getting lag-free schooled by a gamer from Atlanta, I was informed that he still plays Madden, , , and a handful of other games using his PS2 network adapter.
An audit of other games produced similar, if not better results, in a single afternoon. boasted an impressive 3,000 users, hundreds of which were using headsets. enjoyed more than 100 players with headsets, and was bustling with head-shot hungry gamers. had only 30 online users, but matchmaking was quick and painless.
Given the much larger number of PS2 owners, not to mention soccer popularity in Europe, more people play on the PS2 network than PlayStation 3, often resulting in a better matchmaking experience. And most online PS2 games share all the features one would expect on Xbox Live and PS3, including the aforementioned headset support (which is more than Wii can say), text messages, and of course, roster and game updates saved to a memory card.
Of the games I played, only had problems, as I was unable connect to third-party servers after five attempts. The good news, however, is that PS2 owners can expect 2-3 times the above numbers during peak play at night.
A missed opportunity
Interestingly, a majority of PS2 owners aren't even aware their console can be played online. Outside of little advertising from Sony, the problem is twofold, it seems.
At launch in 2003, PS2 Online used a mixed dial-up and broadband network, which virtually made the experience unplayable due to lag. Disappointed by the initial experience, some early adopters abandoned their network adapters and never looked back, and on-looking skeptics moved on unimpressed.
That changed in 2004, however, when Sony launched the slimline PS2 with a built-in network adapter. The company also flipped the switch on a "Broadband Only" PlayStation network to improve play. "This was a result of the larger trend towards broadband adoption globally and significantly aided online gameplay," says Koller.
The other issue is that network setup on PS2 isn't a cakewalk. Unlike current systems, early online-enabled PS2 games required a separate setup disc which was often lost. Without the disc, many gamers were left out. But most new games now include an online setup utility, and Sony says an original disc can be requested through customer support for any still in need.
Still going strong
In many ways, PS2 online has some advantages over newer systems. Microsoft charges US$50 a year to take Xbox 360 online, while PS2 is free. Nintendo still doesn't support voice chat on Wii like PS2 does, and PS3 sometimes has fewer online users than its older brother.
Granted, only a limited selection of online games exist on PS2, and players who don't enjoy sports or shooter games are largely out of luck. But a healthy library of online games is still present, and Sony says more are on the way.
"We believe that PS2 online will continue as long as developers continue to make games for the platform," Koller concludes. "And from the look of next year's lineup, the PS2 isn't going away anytime soon."
PROTIP: If you have a backwards compatible PS3, you can play all your favorite PS2 games online, even wirelessly! Note: Most new PS2 games support widescreen and enhanced definition (480p) for your HDTV. An incomplete list of online PS2 games can be found at . (Thanks, Teh2DGamer!)