PlayStation 2: 25 Years Later

2000: The New Millennium was filled with a plethora of pop culture events. The debuts of Big Brother and Survivor. Artists like Britney Spears, Eminem, and *NSYNC were a heavy presence on the charts. Ken Griffey, Jr. crushed his 400th career home run. Amongst all of this was the release of a new game console: the PlayStation 2. It was released in the United States on October 26, 2000, and 160 million units were sold worldwide, making it the best-selling game console of all time, which still holds true as of 2025. There were over 10,000 game titles with 1.5 billion copies sold. Manufacturing for the PS2 ended in 2013, but we still love it after all these years. At the time of its release, yours truly was a 12-year-old who enjoyed playing it with my younger brother. I'm glad that I grew up at a time where life was simple, exciting, and less stressful.

The two games I enjoyed playing the most were Midnight Club 2 (2003) and Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition (2005). To the much younger generation, these were racing games. Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the Need for Speed franchise. I guess I never got the hype behind it.

Midnight Club 2

At the time of the racing game's April 2003 release in the United States, I was 15 years old. While the number of copies for Midnight Club 2 weren't available to the public, the franchise sold over 18.5 million copies, according to Goodwood. The reception to this game was met with positive reviews, but what made the game more exciting was the soundtrack, ranging from rap to electro house. My favorite songs were Extra Dry from Thomas Bangalter and Put Your Top Down from Tre Little. Bangalter is one half of the duo Daft Punk.

Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition

Two years after Midnight Club 2 was released, the third installment in the series was even better. Released in April 2005 for the PlayStation 2, I was 17 years old. I didn't get a chance to play it until July of that year. My youngest brother and I enjoyed that game so much. We rented it from Blockbuster. Y'all remember the days when you went to Blockbuster to rent the hottest and popular video games? If you know, you know. Midnight Club 3 sold 1.1 million copies on the PS2 version, and the game received favorable reviews. The soundtrack was okay, but not better than the songs from the second game. The Dub Edition is my overall favorite game from this series.

The last Midnight Club title was 2008's Midnight Club: Los Angeles. It was the fourth and final game in the series. I enjoyed this game, but it didn't have the same appeal as the previous two games. It's been nearly 20 years since Rockstar, the developer behind the series, released any Midnight Club games. In January 2010, there were plans for Rockstar to release more Midnight Club games, but unfortunately, those plans fell through. I would love to see all four games remastered or a new one in the future. Midnight Club was a series that ended way too soon at the height of its popularity.

Kindly share in the comments section below what your favorite PlayStation2 games are. Also, would you like to see a new Midnight Club game released in the future? Finally, which game series did you think ended way too soon and would like to see it revived in the future? If you enjoyed this story, please give it a like. Make sure you follow me on my socials. Finally, please leave a generous one-off tip. It'll be found at the end of this story. Big or small, your tips will support creators like me so we can keep publishing new stories and share them with everyone.