The PlayStation 2 is an incredible bit of kit, but did you know that it has one of the longest lifespans of a video game console? Or, that more than 3,800 video games were developed for the console? Or, that its iconic design was "inspired by" (I would say "pilfered from") a competitor? If you answered "no" to any of the above questions, then strap in for a short history lesson on this fine Saturday.
Released twenty years ago, Sony had its nose to the grindstone developing the successor to the original console as soon as one week after the PlayStation 1 launched. It didn't know it then, but the PlayStation 2 would become the best-selling video game console of all time. Part of its allure was the fact that its processing power was simply unlike anything else on the market at that moment. Thanks to the Emotion Engine and a whopping 32MB of RAM, games looked brilliant and performed as smoothly as a cold knife through cold butter. We may be accustomed to loading times that never exceed a number of seconds, but in the early noughties, this was utterly unprecedented.
The other key selling point was its DVD player. DVDs were the fashionable thing, the latest invention which shook up how we enjoyed entertainment. As a result, parents could rationalise shelling out for a PlayStation 2, because Sony asked for $300 for the PlayStation 2, whereas DVD players could be double that price. Over the course of its thirteen years, more than 155 million consoles were sold and shipped around the world. To compare, the PlayStation 4 has sold 113.5 million units, the PlayStation 3 has sold about 87 million units, and the original PlayStation has sold 103 million units. In fact, Sony only discontinued the product one month before the PlayStation 4 hit the shelves.
Advert
It's ironic, really, that the PlayStation 2 did so well, because its design evidently riffs off the Atari Falcon Microbox 030/040, which was the final computer developed and released by Atari. The patent for the console's design does mention Atari, and it copies its ability to be usable either vertically or horizontally, as well as its towering height and neat lines etched across the columns. And, the PlayStation 2 was the home to a number of entries of Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, and Metal Gear Solid series, safeguarding its sales and bolstering its partnerships with new and established studios.
Of course, Astro's Playroom, which arrives pre-installed on every PS5, is a tribute to the consoles in all of their forms. As the player scurries and scampers through the levels, which are all representative of the groundbreaking technology inside the PS5, they collect artefacts which are stored in a home base. Visiting this virtual museum lets the player view consoles and peripherals in new detail, and even learn more about these interesting bits and bobs. Astro's Playroom made it onto our list of the best games of 2020, as well as a number of other surprises. Check out what we thought over here.
Featured Image Credit: Drake, SonyTopics: News, PlayStation