I set up my PS2 with a 1TB hard drive and a SATA adapter. There's a disk image floating around that lets you install an English-modded version of Browser 2.x[0]

I set up my PS2 with a 1TB hard drive and a SATA adapter. There's a disk image floating around that lets you install an English-modded version of Browser 2.x[0], which can load applications from the hard disk. Along with a bunch of custom application icons I made for all my games, I have the closest thing to "what if Sony sold PS2 games as downloads." It's really great, except for the fact that Browser 2.x becomes hilariously slow to scroll through after around 40 games on the drive. Furthermore the PS2 stores applications as disk partitions, so removing applications creates Mac OS9 style heap fragmentation until you compact everything. Practically speaking this didn't matter at the time, since the PS2 HDD was only ever used for game installs[1] and the firmware was locked to one Sony-blessed model of 40GB HDD. The NAS route is the only option if you have a Slim PS2. Some of the slim models can be modded to add IDE back in, but not all. [0] An updated version of the PS2 dashboard - YES, it was updatable - intended to support an online service called Broadband Navigator. It supported e-mail and downloadable demos, including one PS1 game demo that wound up being the basis for the PSP's PS1 support. [1] Most of which were actually disabled in the US releases