burn the ps2 and get a xbox 360
Given the still rather disturbing
Xbox 360 RROD failure rate, I'd say that the PS2 is still a safer bet. Plus the games are all getting cheaper and cheaper since the system is all but dead.
Good games depends on your preferences.
I like(d) :
Half-life - not bad as a port for a very classic game
Time Splitters 2 &
Future Perfect - big single player game to unlock characters for the two player free-for-all. Hilarious and silly.
Beyond Good and Evil - Good game. great voice acting.
Either
Champions of Norrath game - a role playing hack and slash based on the Baldur's Gate engine, but with customized characters. We played it a bunch co-op.
Either
Katamari Damacy - simple mechanic. funny script. kind of adorable and addictive.
Killzone - FPS. Kind of monochromatic and the bad guys say the same three things over and over again. (that gets a bit tedious) but the AI is pretty good and it can be challenging.
Burnout 3 or
Revenge - pure insanity. (though I was disappointed with Dominator. they somehow managed to suck all the fun out of that one.)
Dark Cloud 2 - An RPG that is packed with insane amounts of content. I think I put in over 60 hours into the game and didn't even finish the epilogue. Pretty ingenious system of building items based on things you find in the game.
ICO - huge. beautiful and hard to explain. a very unique gaming experience.
No One Live Forever - another FPS PC port, but a seriously funny 60's spy type game.
PSI-Ops - more FPS fun this time with various weird psychic powers. Throw bad guys around with the power of your mind or take over their bodies and have them fight each other or just make their heads explode. You decide.
If you've got somebody to play with the
LEGO games are all pretty fun as Co-op games
Psychonauts - an amazingly fun, weird, funny and well written game up until the final level. Made by the guy who just released Brutal Legend.
But most of all
Okami - seriously one of the most trippy fun and epic games on the system and a general masterpiece of game design. (although, I was a bit disappointed with the final battle sequence where you had to repeat all the Boss battles from the rest of the game)
I'll probably think of more. We've got a stacks of PS2 games...