Sony Playstation 2, Sony PS2:
Sony, one of the worlds largest electronics manufacturers turned heads in 1999 when it announced that it was building its 6th generation of popular video game consoles. The PS2 was the next game console in line after the release of the first Sony Playstation, which had been highly popular and released in 1994.
For Sony, the Playstation 2 was the first console that it had released in 5 years and it featured incredible advances in technology from the first PlayStation. In its earliest days the PlayStation 2 was selling fast and people were lining up for hours or days to get their hands on one. Unfortunately production could not keep up with demand and customers had to wait to buy. For those with more of an entrepreneurial spirit that did manage to secure one of the earliest PS2s, they were often sold on eBay for as much as 2 or 3 times the retail price.
At about the same time Microsoft had introduced its Xbox game console and Nintendo released the Gamecube. Although the other game consoles were popular, the PS2 was a hit, mostly because of some very popular game titles that had been released prior to the holiday shopping season which helped to spur on sales.
The PS2 had small revisions to its design over the first few years of its production, but a newer and thinner model was introduced in 2004 called the PS2 Slimline. The original case was fairly thick, but this new model made the case much smaller and more attractive. This new model came at the same time as the popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and sales continued at a fast pace. In fact, sales were so good that the PS2 reached 100 million units sold faster than any other game console in history, which is an indication that the public and especially hardcore gamers loved it.
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One of the nicest features of the PS2 was it is ability to play both audio CDs and DVDs which made it a good value. With the ability to keep your number of components to a minimum, a home theatre could be achieved without the need to buy so many different pieces.
Along with the standard controllers that shipped with the PlayStation 2, consumers could also choose to purchase a DualShock 2 controller with had force feedback, causing the controller to vibrate based on events happening on the screen.
One other main function of the PS2 is it is ability to go online and play against other players using a broadband internet connection. For hardcore gamers, no longer was game play a solitary game, but it became a community of like-minded gamers.
Today, for those hardcore gamers on a budget, a new or used PlayStation2 still makes a great purchase. With a game console that still has many titles available and has amazing graphics and gameplay, there is no reason to spend hundreds of dollars, especially in this poor economy. Considering purchasing a PS2 and it will provide you with many hours of entertainment without breaking the bank.