PS2's Last Chance Imports

via Next Generation

There are nearly 40 million PS2s in the United States. Top-shelf Triple-A products have all but abandoned the system, yet there remains an entrenched market for new PS2 games. Sony has relaxed restrictions on what can come out for its old workhorse, as evidenced by late 2D fighters like NeoGeo Battle Coliseum and inexplicable trash like Crazy Frog Arcade Racer.

This combination of facts means one thing; that the PS2 has been repurposed as fertile ground for budget publications priced to move. In general, publishers will look at this situation and capitalize upon it with kids fare, licensed junk and unnecessary paring-downs of current-gen blockbusters.

But there is another way for American publishers to take advantage—by taking a second look at the strange or unique foreign titles that have long since been passed up for US release. Below are our personal favorites; we would love for a brave publisher to pick up any of these, yet this would not be charity. Yes, under other circumstances these games would not have stood a chance at American retail. But today, all the conditions exist for them to find their market.

Some Notes:
• To avoid the most visible added cost to publication, we have avoided text-heavy games where localization could come at a premium.
• While none of these games have been announced for a US release, a publisher may have already picked one up and may have yet to announce it.
• Of course there is some bias here; we would love to play these games without having to import. None of these games are great (or they would have made it over by now), but they all have something interesting and/or marketable to present.