You own a PlayStation 2 but aren’t quite sure what other items to buy with it. What games should you buy? Do you need extra controllers? Are memory cards required? Are any other accessories required? Follow these directions below and you can answer all your questions and start enjoying your console to the fullest.

Games – After choosing the system, the biggest decision is what games will you buy to go along with it. The PlayStation 2 console is just an expensive DVD player if you don’t buy games, so you need to address this question right away. The first way to choose games is pick something related to a hobby of yours outside of gaming. Do you play football, skateboarding, like cars, or fishing, like a particular movie? There are games for all of these hobbies, movie tie in games, and many more. The second option for choosing your games is start with a list of the most popular games released on the PlayStation 2. They are:

Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Final Fantasy X, Madden 2006, Splinter Cell, Gran Turismo 3, and SOCOM Navy Seals

These games aren’t made for everyone, so be sure you check the ratings and descriptions before buying one. The PlayStation 2 has one of the broadest game lists of any system so you are bound to find a game that exactly fits your particular likes.

Controllers – The PlayStation 2 console originally came with one controller out of the box but two controller slots. Buying a second controller can be a great investment, especially if your friends play games too or multiple people in the house play. The small investment will greatly increase your enjoyment of the system because you can play with friends at the same time. If you buy a multi-tap adaptor you can use four controllers at the same time. Unless you buy the multi-tap adaptor there is no need to buy more than one controller.

This is a great time to mention the difference between Sony brand controllers and third party controllers. Sony contollers are more reliable, while third party controllers are less expensive but can break easier. I only recommend buying Sony brand controller for the most part. The one exception to this is Logitech brand controllers. Logitech makes a high quality wireless controller that is very reliable.

Memory Cards – You will need at least one memory card to save your games on the PlayStation 2. The Sony brand 8 MB memory card can save quite a bit of game data. Unless you play lots of sports games, you will only need one memory card. If you really love your sports games, be sure to pick up a couple extras because they need lots of space to store all the data needed to play an entire season.

Accessories – The PlayStation 2 has lots of other accessories you could buy including network adaptors, steering wheels, and even a hard drive. The most useful of these is the network adaptor which plugs into the back of the system and allows you to connect to the internet for online games. Many of the most recent games on the PS2 support online play so you will need this network adaptor. (Quick side note: if you buy a Slim PStwo system you do not need to buy this adaptor because it is already built into the system). The other accessories for the PS2 have their uses too but are not quite as beneficial as the network adaptor.

These directions should have helped you choose the games, controllers, memory cards, and accessories you want with your PlayStation 2. Now get out there and enjoy your new gaming purchase.