Cool new PS4 dynamic theme recreates the PS2 dashboard

Sony releases a nostalgia-fuelled PS2 dynamic theme for the PS4 this week - and it looks and sounds awesome.

The Legacy Dashboard Theme hits the PlayStation Store on Wednesday, 6th December, and is sure to rekindle memories of the PS2's iconic dashboard.

If you have the theme, you'll get a fully recreated PS2 boot sequence, although you won't see the PS2 logo. According to theme creator Truant Pixel, the PS2 logo cannot be used due to "licensing restrictions". So, the developers created a mid-boot Easter egg, which changes randomly with every login.

What you do see, however, is the PS2's Seven Stars, which coalesce from random points to recreate the passage of time formations. Also included is the Crystal Clock from the original PS2 bios, which tells the current time.

You can shift the colour as well as trigger subtle shifts in particle speed and behaviour, Truant Pixel said. The original audio has been taken from the PS2 hardware and recreated in the background ambience and custom keynotes for the theme.

For comparison's sake (or if you can't remember!), here's a video of the original PS2 boot sequence.

It's a real blast from the past, and timed to coincide with this week's release of Jak 2, Jak 2 and Jak X Combat Racing on PS4.

The PS2 came out in March 2000 (November 2000 in Europe) - a sobering 17 years ago. A time before microtransactions, loot boxes and President Donald Trump.

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