|
Rest in Peace to a good friend...
I had seen it on the horizon, coming for a while now. Last night, it finally happened… my faithful friend and partner in crime, the PlayStation 2, was unwillingly retired due to constant lockups and freezes during gameplay.
It had been in ailing health for more than a year, but things didn't get serious until the last month or two. After being repaired by Sony twice, it seemed to find a new lease on life and performed its duties admirably. However, I noticed that its strength was waning when it became only able to load games from the browser screen, and not at system power-on as it used to.
I didn't mind. It was a small inconvenience, and something easily overlooked to spare the pride of my good friend. These few momentary lapses were trivial compared to the stamina it still had. That stamina was called into question more seriously in these, what have turned out to be its final days.
I knew things had turned the corner when it refused to play any blue-backed discs, a problem for someone interested in combing the bargain bins for missed opportunities. This was a more serious symptom, but still, I thought it would be able to hang on.
That hope was dashed when it couldn't perform even the most basic self-care, such as loading a cut scene without freezing or locking up. It only happened on one game at first, so I was able to convince myself that it was the disk and not the unit. But soon after it happened again, and on a brand-new game. The signs were clear.
It's been a long road for my PlayStation 2, and we've spent many hours together. Late nights, early mornings, weekends, and days taken off from work to celebrate a new release… we've done it all. I can only truly blame Sony for a design that was never as strong as it could have been, but I must take comfort in knowing that my good friend is survived by his peers, GameCube, Xbox, 360, and distant relative, PSP.
… its memory will not be forgotten, and it will always have a special place in my heart, even when it's replaced by a new slimline unit next week.
Rest easy friend, your work is done.
Last edited by Brad Gallaway; 09-17-2006 at 01:15 PM.
|
Linear Mode
