After all of the lists I've seen from various people around the site, I've decided to compile my own lists of favorite games. Yes, I wrote lists, plural, since I'll be doing a top 5 for every video game system I've owned in my life, PC included. These lists will then be compiled to compose my top 10 favorite games of all time.

Back to consoles we go with the PlayStation 2.

PlayStation 2

Manufacturer: Sony Computer Entertainment
Retail availability: October 26, 2000
Units sold: 50 million in North America, 140 million worldwide
Best-selling game: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (14.89 million)

Wiki page

After taking a leave of absence from gaming in general for a couple of years, I decided to purchase a PlayStation 2 back in November of 2000.  I had finished school and started working, which meant I had most of my evenings to myself, instead of doing projects for school, so I decided to fill in the empty void with the PS2.  Funny story.  I bought the console in November and, to my utter shock and amazement, I won another PS2 during my Christmas office party, along with Final Fantasy X.  I sold the latter to a co-worker for, get this, $450... and kept the game.  Here's my top 5 on the PlayStation 2.

5. WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain (2003)
Here Comes The Pain was, and still is, my favorite wrestling video game.  Although the season was shorter than previous SmackDown games, you had the chance to interact with Superstars backstage, as they would either give you some advice, turn a promo on you, or just flat out challenge you to a match which often took place backstage, on the streets of New York or even at the now-defunct WWE World club.  The roster was pretty hefty and included, for the very first time, some Legends from wrestling's past.  The storyline was also one of the best ones to be found in any wrestling game to date.  I think that's reason enough to place this great game at number five.
Here's a commercial that aired on TV for the game.

4. Bully (2006)
This was the very last game that I bought for the PlayStation 2 and, as you can see by its position on the top five, it's one of the very best.  Following Jimmy Hopkins around Bullworth Academy was a real treat.  The game had a brilliant story and some equally brilliant dialog and voice acting, backed up by some solid gameplay.  Actually, one of my favorite things to do in Bully was to go to class.  Each one was different and offered some intriguing and sometimes challenging tasks to undertake.  The guys at Rockstar Vancouver really knew what they were doing when they released this game, and I hope we get to see Jimmy again one of these days.
"Welcome to Bullworth Academy!"

3. Final Fantasy X (2001)
If you know me well at all, you'll know that I'm not very fond of Japanese RPGs.  In fact, the only ones I can digest are from the Final Fantasy series.  However, if you asked me to name my favorite game in this fabled series, I would say, without a moment's hesitation, Final Fantasy X.  Even though FF VII has the biggest following and is regarded by many as the best in the series, it wasn't for me.  There's just something about FF X that's special.  One moment, it'll have you smiling and laughing while, in another instant, you'll be swallowing hard and pushing back tears.  Final Fantasy X is, for me anyway, the definitive game in the series.
Here's the infamous "sad" ending from the game (and yes, I did cry).

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
After the tremendous success of Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar North wouldn't stop there.  In 2002, they released a game that would use all of the good aspects of III and build on them to make Vice City, a masterful mafia epic with one of the best licensed soundtracks in any video game in history.  Although the game came out very early in the PlayStation 2's life cycle, it would use the system's graphics capabilities to the max, giving us a beautifully rendered Vice City.  The characters and voice acting weren't slouches either, as they drove the story along at a perfect pace.  Although the game had it's fair share of challenging missions (Bombs Away anyone?), they offered variety and were fun to play through.  On a side note, I bought the soundtrack to the game back when it was released.  This marked the very first time I would buy a soundtrack to a video game.  It was just that damn good.
Here's a sample of the soundtrack from the game.

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Did I surprise any of you with my number one pick?  If so, that just goes to prove that you don't know me very well at all.  San Andreas is my favorite PS2 game for a bunch of reasons.  A bigger sandbox to play in, which was represented by 3 cities (Los Santos, San Fierro & Las Venturas) in one state, including the prerequisite countryside was one thing.  An all-star voice cast voicing memorable characters.  A great story.  An awesome soundtrack.  Plenty of side activities and missions to take part in.  Hot Coffee.  Planes.  You name it, this game had it.  Many people complained about the RPG elements included within San Andreas, such as working out and so on, but that didn't bother me one bit.  I actually found it fun to get CJ to work out and get ripped.  Yeah, I guess I must really like this game, since I finished it 3 times.  Take that, GTA IV.
Here's a mix of all of the GTA San Andreas trailers.

There you go.  Hope you guys enjoyed reading it.  Give me some feedback on the top five, it would be much appreciated.  Next up, the original XBox.