The ending of an era: Production stops on the PlayStation 2

I never used those stand things
and pretty sure I lost them not long after getting the console.
Wikipedia.

Old news, but still news. Kotaku reported last month that the venerable console of my youth stopped shipping to stores in Japan, effectively ending its run. With that, so also ends the sixth-generation of consoles. To say that the PS2 had a good run would be like saying The Sims is a sort of popular video game series. It was a beast, selling over 150 million units. Seriously, think about that for a second: the current population of the U.S. is about 315 million, so almost half would have a PS2. 150 million is more than most countries populations. If the PS2 were a country and each unit was a person, then it would be above Russia and just below Bangladesh in population.

GTA Wiki.

I have good memories of the PS2. I got one for Christmas in 2001, after almost choosing an Xbox. The first game I played was the hottest item on the shelf at the time - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I can't count the number of hours of my life I lost to that game over the years. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War was another good one. The last game I really played on it was Final Fantasy XII. I eventually sold the PS2 about a year after getting an Xbox 360 to a local GameStop. It wasn't an easy decision, given how long I had it, but it didn't seem right to let it sit at the bottom of my stereo cabinet, collecting dust. I like to think that someone bought it - maybe for themselves, maybe for a young gamer - and got as much fun and enjoyment out of it that I did.
I eventually acquired an Xbox and a GameCube, and while the former certainly grabbed my attention by the short and curlies, the PlayStation 2's hold was just a tiny bit stronger.

Funny thing is, I ended up getting another one - one of those slim models - as a gift last year. I was planning on getting rid of it this year, but now...who knows, I might keep it.