is it possible to download games for the ps2?

[madrabbitwoman]

And how would you go about it? One of my friends has asked me to investigate because she wants some gospel singstar which is only offered as a download. I know nothing about playstations or singstar for that matter (other than the wikipedia site on ps2 singstar does not list any gospel).

[Munch]

Downloadable games are only available for the PS3 version, through the Playstation Network.

I'm reporting this to a mod, hoping they'll move it to the Game Room where you'll have a much better chance of getting a good response.

[Colibri]

Moving to the Game Room.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

[FordTaurusSHO94]

One time I was able to download a demo of something and burn my own cd or dvd and it played, but I don't know anything about downloading to the PS2.

[BigT]

It's technically possible, but not legally. It involves modding your PS2, installing a hard drive, and then copying (illegally made) DVD images to said hard drive, often using PS2 Linux.

I do not believe there are any legitimate downloads that work for the PS2, so your friend is likely out of luck.

[Jragon]

As far as I can tell, Singstar Gospel doesn't even exist, and if it did, it would be a mod. While I wouldn't say that modding is quite illegal, it's definitely on the (dark) gray side of legal. It would require a great deal of effort to get the PS2 into a state in which it's possible (which, like jailbreaking an iPhone, isn't illegal -- but it would void any technical support and probably ruin any resale value of the device, but would require a deal of technical knowledge), or downloading a modded BIOS for an emulator, which probably would be illegal.

I'm going to go out on a limb though and say that unless she owns the Singstar game that Singstar Gospel is modded from, it's illegal (and I'm not going to say it's legal otherwise since I lack the expertise, but it's probably more ethically gray, it's definitely illegal to distribute the mod).

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by madrabbitwoman

And how would you go about it? One of my friends has asked me to investigate because she wants some gospel singstar which is only offered as a download. I know nothing about playstations or singstar for that matter (other than the wikipedia site on ps2 singstar does not list any gospel).

Others have already answered the question, but I thought you'd also like to know that the game you're looking for doesn't exist.

[Jragon]

I should mention that the very actions of modding the console and playing games that require a modded console isn't really illegal, just frowned upon by Sony* (see the ruling on iPhone jailbreaking) to the point where (on a PS3) it can result in bans from their online service, as well as voiding warranties and tech support due to breaking their TOS, so police won't come breaking down your door, but it can make life miserable.

The illegal part here comes in the fact that the game in question is supposedly a modification of a Singstar game (which I can't find online, modded or otherwise, so I suspect your friend has been trolled), which is obviously a franchise of karaoke games protected by relevant copyright and trademark laws. If the game in question were something like, say, Frets on Fire, which is a generic game built from the ground up then this would be totally in the clear legally, even if a complete PITA to deal with.

* Sony actually used to support Playstation Linux distros (to the point where they explicitly mentioned when their updated firmware stopped supporting it), or at the very least didn't care enough to do anything about them, but that era is over.

[MannyL]

I think this facebook page may help http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2261912147

[Ferret Herder]

I agree, she was either trolled or someone made a modded version, and I'm leaning towards the former. Sony doesn't (actively?) make/encourage games for the PS2 any longer, and the PS3 is the only one of their consoles that can do downloads.

The Wiki article has a list of the current SingStar titles, and none of them are gospel.