Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 itself has received some excellent recognition on its “home turf”…

Let’s start with the canceled PS2 game, which was brought to light by Games That Weren’t editor Frank Gaskin. It was made during the Acclaim collapse and ended up being only 40% complete before the project had to be abandoned. The game is called The Last Job (or The Heist) and was being worked on by Acclaim’s studio in Cheltenham. It was developed for PS2 and Xbox and, according to Gaskin, around 40 people worked on it for a year. The game was shown behind closed doors at E3 2004 and received some press coverage.

The game would have had four criminals to control, each with different abilities. Acclaim is said to have involved a former SAS (Special Air Service) member, John McAleese, in a team-building exercise to show how special forces operate in missions. According to Gaskin, he received the playable build from one of the track designers and it was the last copy of the PS2 build before the game was canceled. The prototype contains most of the maps for the Old Bank region. The story was partially present, and a debug menu was available to see a motel, a dock, a casino, or a castle. There are many bugs and blind falls are common on the course. You can download the prototype from Gaskin’s web site.

PlayStation 2 is the first console to be included in the Future Technology Heritage list. Launched in 2008, the list is managed by the National Museum of Nature and Science and covers Japan’s scientific and technological achievements and consists of more than 380 items. These were all created in Japan and have had a significant impact on people’s lives, the economy, society and culture. Past achievements include the VHS format, the Sony Walkman, the first LCD calculator, the PC-9801 computer, the first CD player, the first DVD player, and the CD-R format.

Eighteen new products made the list, and PlayStation 2, the first video game console, was ranked 365th. It was argued that the excellent graphics were on par with the arcade level of the time and allowed for lifelike expressions. After the release of the PS2, the evolution of video game graphics was led by desktop consoles, not arcade machines. The spread of the DVD format was also mentioned, as Sony’s console was much cheaper than desktop DVD players. According to the entry in the register, the console was chosen because it met two selection criteria: “those that demonstrate important aspects and stages of the development of science and technology”, and “those that have played an outstanding role in the development of people’s lives and the creation of new lifestyles”.

Other items added to the register in 2024 include the Seiko Chariot quartz watch, MIDI-equipped synthesizers, the Opus 8 computer sewing machine, and the Trinilight light-emitting element used in Jumbotrons.

Source: VGC, Games That Weren’t, Kahaku