Guides
The PlayStation 2 is the second home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and is the best selling console of all time, selling over 140 million units since its launch.
Overview
The PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on March 4, 2000, October 26, 2000 in North America, November 24 and 30 2000 in Europe and Australia. At it's core, the PlayStation 2 is powered by a 128 bit CPU co-developed with Toshiba known as the "Emotion Engine," the "Graphics Synthesizer" chip, a 24x speed CD-ROM (4x DVD) drive, 2 proprietary controller ports, 2 proprietary memory card slots, DEV9 expansion bay for a network adapter, and 2 USB 1.1 ports.
The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the consoles backward compatibility with original PlayStation titles, selling over 980,000 units by March 5, 2000, one day after launch, in Japan. The launch of the PlayStation 2 was not without its set backs. Manufacturing delays pushed back the launch of the PlayStation 2 to the fall in North America, and a number of early PlayStation 2 units suffered from disk read errors which subsequently prompted a class action lawsuit against Sony. Sony agreed to provide free repair or replacement for the faulty consoles and continued to do so until February 2005.
At the time, many in the gaming industry predicted a close match up between the PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Gamecube. Sega's Dreamcast was released a full 16 months before the PlayStation 2, but failed to gain enough momentum and Sega discontinued the Dreamcast in March of 2001 to turn its attention to software publishing. That prediction, however, was never fulfilled as the release of several blockbuster games during the 2001 holiday season maintained sales momentum and held off the PlayStation 2's rivals.
Online
Before the launch of Microsoft's on line capable Xbox, Sony placed little emphasis on online gaming during the PlayStation 2's early years. In 2002 however, Sony began advertising heavily on several online first party titles, such as SOCOM: US Navy Seals, to compete with Microsoft. Although late, and although Sony followed a model of online gaming where developers had the responsibility of providing servers, on line gaming was one of the major selling points of the PlayStation 2. Early PlayStation 2 consoles did not have a Network adapter built in and the user had to purchase the unit separately, however, the launch of the PlayStation 2 Slim model saw the network adapter built into the console.
Playstation 2 Slim
In September 2004, in time for the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Sony unveiled its major hardware revision a smaller, thinner, and quieter PlayStation 2 that includes a built-in Ethernet port. It does not contain the 3.5" expansion bay and does not support the internal hard disk drive. Similar to the Gamecube, it also lacks an internal power supply, and has a modified Multi Tap expansion. The removal of the expansion bay has been criticized as a limitation due to the existence of titles such as Final Fantasy XI, which require the use of the HDD. The PlayStation 2 Slim model was first released in black, however today the Slim line can be found in silver, white, and pink.
PSX
A consumer device that can be used as a digital video recorder and DVD burner in addition to playing PS2 games. The device, which has only released in Japan, was poorly received, with some major features absent from the first revisions of the hardware, and has thus far experienced very weak sales in Japan, in spite of major price drops.
Accessories and Peripherals
DualsShock 2
The DualShock 2 was the standard controller which came packaged with the PS2. Visually, it was practically identical to theorignal DualShock although it came in black. The controller included rumble and all the same buttons as its predecessor but it was lighter, had moreaccurateanalogue movement and had pressure sensitive buttons. The DualShock controllers are still regarded by some as the best games controllers ever made.
EyeToy
EyeToy Camera
EyeToy Camera
One the biggest and most well known of all the PS2's accessories was theEyeToy. It was a USB vision camera which to images of what the player was doing and relayed it back into games so the player could interact with games using motion. The camera was mainly used with EyeToy franchise of games, which had a total of 9 games but there werealso other games which used the device's capabilities. The camera had limitations in the fact that the room needed to sufficient lighting so that it could 'see' the player. That was dealt with by placing a small light on the device which turned red when there wasn't enough light.
PS2 HDD
Released in Nort America and Japan th Playstation 2 Hard Drive Disk allowed for the storage of up to 40GB and could be used to reduce load times by storing data on the hard drive temporarily. Few North American games had HDD support and the only game which actually needed the device was FFXI as it was used to store patches and other game updates. From 2004 the device practically stopped receiving support from Sony and the slimline model couldn't even use the HDD.
PlayStation 2 - Recent Games
PlayStation 2 - Upcoming Games
| Name | Platform | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica expected release 2009 |
PS2 | GUST Co., Ltd. | |
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Hell's Kitchen expected release 2008 |
PSP, PS2, X360, PS3, WII, DS, PC | ||
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Samurai Shodown Anthology expected release 2008 |
PSP, PS2, WII | SNK Playmore | |
|
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Greatest Hits) expected release 2006 |
PS2, GC, XBOX, NGE, DS, XBLM, PC | Ubisoft Montreal Studios | |
|
Tekken 4 (Greatest Hits) expected release 2005 |
PS2, ARC | NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. | |
|
Limited Edition Ultimate Spider-Man expected release 2005 |
GBA, PS2, GC, XBOX, DS, PC | Vicarious Visions, Treyarch | |
|
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 expected release 2002 |
PS2, XBOX, DC, ARC | Capcom |
Images
| Platform Name: | PlayStation 2 |
| Release Date: | Oct. 26, 2000 |
| Online Support: | True |
| Install Base: | 127,000,000 |
| Original Price: | $299 |
| Producing Company: | Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated |
| Total Games: | games |
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PlayStation 2
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