Below is a sample article written about video games:

There’s been much discussion about how 2023 was a great year for video games. But there’s still a great deal of gamers who hark back to a bygone era – the good old days in the 2000s where we rushed home from school each day to boot up our PS2s and Xboxes.

This might just be a simple case of nostalgia, looking at our past through rose-tinted glasses, but I think there are five reasons why PS2 era games were the best, and why we still look back on them lovingly today.

1.      Gameplay Came First

Video games were hardly new when the PS2 came out in 2000, but they were a far cry from what we’re used to today. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, that’s actually part of their strength.

Today, we obsess about the wrong things. Many focus too much on the impressive graphics while some developers go on and on about their massive open worlds, each trying to create a bigger one than the last.

Technology wasn’t as advanced back when the PS2 came out though. Developers knew they weren’t going to get photorealistic graphics, so why bother trying? They didn’t have sprawling open worlds where you spend half your time journeying from one mission to the next, stopping occasionally to pick up collectibles you don’t really care about.

Instead, the technical limits forced developers to prioritize gameplay. Their games didn’t have to look especially gorgeous or be marvels of technical engineering or resemble interactive movies – they just had to be fun.

2.      Local Co-Op

So long as you have a solid internet connection, online multiplayer is terrific. But while you might feel cozy in your gaming setup and can still chat to friends on a headset, it’s not the same as the gang crowding round a surprisingly small TV, scrunching up their eyes to see the small quarter of the screen that shows your character.

This might be the reason why so many millennials wear glasses these days, but there was something special about playing multiplayer games without the internet. It gave gamers a chance to gather together in person and share memories that last a lifetime; memories that wouldn’t have the same impact over wi-fi.

3.      Movie Tie-In Games

Whether you loved them or hated them, movie tie-in games were everywhere in the 2000s. And people loved them!

The problem is there were so many that everyone had a different experience. Still, there’s a good chance you have fond memories of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, The Godfather, Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, The Incredibles… The list goes on and on! Even though it’s not strictly speaking a movie adaptation, The Simpsons: Hit and Run is a beloved classic that fits this category as well.

There was a time when nearly every major Hollywood release had a video game tie-in as a way to generate extra revenue and maximize marketing to boost excitement. We knew we were effectively playing an advert… And honestly, we knew they weren’t that great; they were simple platforming games where you hit someone with a sword or blast bad guys with a laser.

But we didn’t care when they were this fun. After all, many of us had seen the film and knew the story already, leaving us free to lean back and focus on just having a good time.

Nowadays, the closest you’ll tend to get is either a cheaply-made phone game of the latest blockbuster or a Lego version – which can still be fun, but it’s just not the same.

4.      Cheat Codes

If for whatever reason you haven’t cleaned out your childhood room from the 2000s, there might still be a cheat sheet lying about somewhere. For me, I had countless scribbles scrawled on a crumpled bit of paper that made GTA: San Andreas a seminal part of my childhood. Who doesn’t love a game where cars can fly and blow up immediately on contact while pedestrians are dressed as Elvis and you have an unlimited supply of parachutes?

Although fun cheat codes to us, they were originally tools for developers to actually make and test the game. They soon become something more though – a special secret that only hardcore fans of a game would discover if they were committed enough to scour through magazines and scribble down whatever cheat codes they could find.

They didn’t require much effort from the player either; just a simple input was enough to completely change the game. We still have cheats available in games like The Sims 4 and Grand Theft Auto V, but for most games we have to rely on mods and hope they don’t break the game completely.

5.      They Make Us Nostalgic

Let’s be honest – being an adult sucks. No wonder we look back on our childhood days of gaming with nostalgia!

Gaming as an adult can be tough. Carving out time in our busy schedule is tricky enough, but with so much choice out there and with games getting longer each year, our backlogs get so big that half the time we focus more on finishing a game than actually enjoying it.

We had a different mindset and approach to games when we were younger; back when summer holidays dragged on endlessly and we could meet up with our friends to swap cheat codes, play our favorite games together, and make gaming memories that will live on in our hearts forever.

There are still some incredible games made today that make for truly unforgettable memories. Yet, for millennials especially, the PS2 era of games in the 2000s holds a special place in our hearts… Lucky for us, emulators make it easy to relive our childhood whenever we want!