The second version of the popular Japanese console was not just a hit, but the best. Sony PlayStation 2 broke all sales records and did so deservedly. The console gave an unprecedented leap in graphics, sound, gameplay, and brought video games to a fundamentally higher level, and most importantly, it left incredible emotions for more than a hundred million happy players.
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Filling and features
The PlayStation 2 (PS2), released by Sony on March 4, 2000, has become one of the most successful game consoles in history. Actually, it’s not. It has become the most popular console in the history of the gaming industry. Total sold 160 million units! No other Sony or Xbox console has come close to this figure. Only the Nintendo Switch has managed to sell 140+ million units, but the PS2 record remains unbroken.
Why did it become so popular, and why did it sell like hotcakes? First of all, PS2 offered a huge leap in technological development compared to the original PlayStation. Its feature was not only a productive chip, but also the ability to work with 4.7 GB DVDs, which significantly expanded its functionality.
At a time when DVD players were still expensive, the PS2 offered gamers the ability to play movies and games on a single device, making it a rational purchase. It was an all-in-one multimedia combine, not just for gaming.
The new Emotion Engine processor operated at a frequency of 294.912 MHz (— 299 MHz in later models). This was a high frequency for game consoles at the time. The chip was also capable of performing several operations simultaneously thanks to the use of SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data), which provided much-needed smoothness in large game worlds.
The Graphics Synthesizer GPU could process up to 6.2 Gflops (very few by today’s standards), which made it possible to implement complex three-dimensional objects with realistic textures and advanced physics (it was on this platform that games with natural, realistic character movements first appeared).
The console supports a resolution of up to 1280×1024 pixels (not every game had it), which was a real achievement for gaming platforms of that time. However, most proud PC gamers were still playing on monitors with a resolution of 800×600 pixels and could only dream of Sony PS2-level games, even though computers were much pricier.
The 4 MB of built-in DRAM, which operated at 150 MHz and provided speeds of up to 48 GB/s, was enough for the best AAA projects of the time. The perfect optimization allowed for gorgeous graphics that were not available on much more productive computers that came out a year or two after the console.
The PS2 GPU could process up to 75 million polygons per second (theoretically) and about 20-25 million polygons in practice. This made it possible to create more detailed models and realistic effects compared to its predecessor, the PS1. The difference in graphics was as big as the transition from NES to N64.
Likewise, It is interesting that thanks to the use of RDRAM, the PS2 provided memory bandwidth of up to 3.2 GB/s, which allowed for fast processing of graphics and game data. This was only possible because the memory was divided into several buses, which reduced latency and increased efficiency when processing large amounts of data.
Pleasant sound was a must for AAA games, so the engineers thought about this aspect as well. The sound was handled by the SPU2 sound processor, which could process up to 48 audio streams simultaneously. This not only improved the quality of the audio track, but literally brought the perception of entertainment to a whole new level.
The original «fat» was released in 2000, had a large body and a distinctive design. The first models SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000, SCPH-18000 were released for the Japanese market. They had a separate modem for connecting to the Internet, which was not built into the console. Sony later integrated the modem into newer versions.
The SCPH-30000 and SCPH-35000 were released for the international market. They had support for HDD drives and a network adapter. Subsequently, the SCPH-39000, SCPH-50000 appeared, which received minor design improvements and better cooling.
The SCPH-50000 was the last «thick» model and had a built-in IR sensor for remote control, which allowed the use of a DVD remote control without additional accessories. In an era dominated by wired peripherals, this was a really useful feature.
In 2004, four years after the original’s release, the PS2 Slim was released. The compact and lightweight version of the SCPH-70000 featured a smaller footprint and weighed less than one kilogram (heavy and huge «ATX coffins» 2004 from the PC world say hello)
The PS2 Slim had a built-in network adapter for connecting to the Internet. However, it lost support for a hard disk, which was not particularly important at the time, as almost any game could fit on a single 4.7 GB DVD with few exceptions.
A year later, the SCPH-75000 and SCPH-77000 versions were released. They received minor internal improvements. After the release of the PS3, the relevance of the PS2 was still high, so the SCPH-79000 in 2007 received even less weight, less power consumption, and a better cooling system.
The last model with a built-in power supply, SCPH-90000 was released in 2008, when the video game market was completely dominated by the PS3, sharing the market with the Xbox 360 and a few gaming computers.
The main competitor for the PS2 was the Nintendo GameCube (Sega is not a rival), and later another serious player appeared in the form of the Microsoft Xbox. However, Sony retained its leadership position thanks to good software and a huge catalog of games. The backward compatibility with PS1 games played a significant role, i.e., when buying a PS2, the owner also received a first-generation Sony console as a gift.
Nintendo’s strict rules did not attract developers, and the company itself did not see a future for AAA games. Their policy was aimed at casual entertainment rather than realistic graphics, which later resulted in the Wii. This trend is still followed today. This gave the PS2 a chance to win its part of the audience, which the console did perfectly.
Computers couldn’t compete with the Sony PlayStation 2, so the company didn’t care too much about the small community of PC players who occasionally received «scraps» in the form of ports of PS2 games. However, video games were always released on consoles first (as they are now)).
Reasons for success and victory over the PC
The PS2 outperformed most competitors due to its DVD playback capability, backwards compatibility with games for the original PlayStation, and good hardware and software. Many users chose the PS2 because of its movie playback capabilities, and as a bonus, they got the best gaming platform of the time (or was it the other way around?).
As mentioned above, the console was able to work as a DVD player, which was a big advantage at the time of its release, when many PCs did not yet have built-in DVD drives (most were limited to CD drives).
Only closer to the release of the PS3 did every respectable computer owner have the honor of buying a nice DVD-ROM. DVD-RWs, which could be rewritten dozens or even hundreds of times, were worth a lot.
The PS2 can be simply connected to a TV and start playing right away, unlike a PC, which required the installation of an operating system, drivers, and other software. In addition, a gaming computer was expensive and quickly became outdated, especially in the early 2000s, while the console remained relevant for almost 10 years after its release.
In addition, owners of other platforms, including PC, did not have access to great exclusives: Gran Turismo, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy, Jak and Daxter, and many others. These games are available only on PS and made a great contribution to the successful sales of the device.
Since the PS2 had top technical specifications (for its time), developers released AAA games for many years after the release. Even the appearance of PS3 did not change the plans to support PS2. Amazing sales motivated companies to release new projects again and again. Surprisingly, 14 years after its release, Sony PlayStation 2 still has games on it!
Such a long life cycle could only be dreamed of by the owners of the coolest computers of the time. Fans of gaming in front of a monitor with a keyboard, not a TV with a gamepad, had to spend a lot of money on regular PC upgrades to be able to play games that run perfectly smoothly on the PS2. This requires 2000 hardware.
High-quality optimization, user-friendly controllers, low-power consumption, compact size, ease of use, excellent multimedia capabilities, low cost, a massive library of video games, and backward compatibility. All this doomed the PS2 to a huge success, leaving no chance for competitors, especially PCs.
Sony has changed the world, again
The cultural influence and popularity of the PlayStation 2 was not only a console for gaming, but also an important part of the formation of the newest culture of the time. At the time of its release, it was in great demand: almost a million units were sold in Japan on the first day, and in the United States, gamers sold out of stock in a matter of hours.
This is not surprising, as it was simply impossible to buy a better gaming platform for $299 24 years ago. It seems like a lot now, but considering inflation, in 2024, a PS2 would cost $500-550, the same as a current PS5. This was still very little against the backdrop of overpriced PCs, which fell by almost half a year and a half after release.
Can anyone recall such a fierce demand for gaming computers or their components? The only exception is the period of home cryptocurrency mining, when people who were not interested in video games at all bought video cards, but instead wanted to make a quick buck. The frenzied sales and panic of buyers at the time of the release also migrated to the PlayStation 3, but we will talk about this in a separate article.
PS2 also had a significant impact on the eSports community (it was not yet called that), where games such as Tekken, Pro Evolution Soccer, and Gran Turismo became popular. The console was actively used in tournaments, and its huge catalog of games made it the most popular platform for gamers around the world.
It is very important that it was the PS2 that first attracted the attention of many adults players. Thanks to this, video games began to be taken more seriously as a form of entertainment and an art form (story-based video games with beautiful graphics and long cutscenes). In other words, virtual games on the screen (a funny Italian Mario running around in a two-dimensional world and eating mushrooms) were no longer exclusively a children’s activity.
Another important advantage of the PlayStation 2 over PCs at the time was its compatibility with peripherals and ease of use. The PS2 offered specialized controllers such as a steering wheel for racing games, a light gun for shooters, and musical instruments for rhythm games, which added variety to the gameplay.
On computers, this was associated with software problems, compatibility issues, complicated settings, lack of support from game developers, and much more. Now the situation has improved somewhat for PC users, but in the early 2000s, the PS2 had a huge advantage in terms of ease of use of additional peripherals. Everything worked out of the box on the principle of «plug and play» without additional «shamanic dances» on Windows XP.
The gigantic catalog of games and support for third-party developers were among the main reasons for the PS2’s success. Sony continued to actively cooperate with third-party developers, which resulted in the creation of many exclusives that later became cult titles.
Conclusion
This technological marvel left behind a great legacy. The console set new standards and influenced the entire virtual entertainment market. The success of the PS2 inspired Sony to further develop the PlayStation series, which led to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, each of which continued its traditions, foundations, principles, and ideas. Although no console has ever managed to surpass the sales of the second «sleeper».».
The PlayStation 2 has become a true legend in the gaming industry, leaving a deep mark on it. The impact of PS2 on the development of consoles, game design and popularization of video games is hard to overestimate. More than a hundred million gamers around the world still remember it as their favorite game console that brought many positive emotions.
The development of Sony’s gaming division did not stop there. The PS3 literally trampled the most powerful flagship system units of the time, leaving no chance for five times more expensive PCs. In the next issue, we will talk about the most advanced gaming console in history – Sony PlayStation 3.
Last time we told you about the first Sony PlayStation, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the equally interesting story of the Japanese miracle:
Sony PlayStation 1 story: how the CD defeated Nintendo and changed the global video game industry
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