Sony announced the PlayStation 2 (PS2) on March 1, 1999. Officially, however, Sony continued to deny that a successor to the PlayStation was being developed. īy late 1997, reports surfaced that the PlayStation 2 was being developed and would house a built-in DVD player and internet connectivity. Unbeknownst to him, Sony was designing their own chip in-house and had instructed other companies to design rendering chips merely to diversify their options. Jez San, founder of Argonaut, recalled that his team had no direct contact with Sony during the development process. In 1997, several employees from Argonaut Games, under contract for semiconductor manufacturer LSI Corporation at the time, were instructed to fly to the US West Coast and design a rendering chip for Sony's upcoming console. Though Sony has kept details of the PlayStation 2's development secret, Ken Kutaragi, the chief designer of the original PlayStation, reportedly began working on a second console around the time of its launch in late 1994. By this time rumours of an upcoming PlayStation 2 were already circulating among the press. Sega, spurred on by its declining market share and significant financial losses, launched the Dreamcast in 1998 as a last-ditch attempt to stay in the industry. By the late 1990s Sony had dethroned established rivals Sega and Nintendo in the global video game market. The PlayStation enjoyed particular success outside Japan in part due to Sony's refined development kits, large-scale advertising campaigns, and strong third-party developer support. Its launch elicited critical acclaim and strong sales it eventually became the first computer entertainment platform to ship over 100 million units. Released in 1994, the original PlayStation proved to be a phenomenal worldwide success and signalled Sony's rise to power in the video game industry.
Repair services for the system in Japan ended on September 7, 2018.
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Despite the announcement, new games for the console continued to be produced until the end of 2013, including Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin for Japan, FIFA 14 for North America, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 for Europe. It continued to be produced until 2013 when Sony finally announced that it had been discontinued after over twelve years of production-one of the longest lifespans of a video game console. Sony later manufactured several smaller, lighter revisions of the console known as Slimline models in 2004.Įven with the release of its successor, the PlayStation 3, the PS2 remained popular well into the seventh generation. Over 3,800 game titles have been released for the PS2, with over 1.5 billion copies sold.
The PS2 is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide.
As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Sega's Dreamcast, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox.Īnnounced in 1999, the PS2 offered backward-compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock controller, as well as its games. It is the successor to the original PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles.
It was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000, in North America on October 26, 2000, in Europe on November 24, 2000, and in Australia on November 30, 2000. The PlayStation 2 ( PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 17.33 million sold (as of February 2009)
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