PS2 reaches sales milestone
50m units sold in North America alone
The PlayStation 2 is nine years old, but its sales remain strong. Sony has announced that it has now sold 50m units in North American alone.
Predecessor to the PS3, the PS2 currently costs around $130 (£88/€98) and recent figures from market analyst NPD revealed that 206,000 units were shifted in the US during November 2008. By contrast, Americans bought about 378,000 PS3s during the same month.
It’s hard to say exactly why the PS2 holds such an affinity with gamers, as – unlike its successor – the console can’t play Blu-ray Discs, doesn’t have an integrated hard drive and won’t connect to the internet.
However, the slimline model – released in 2004 - is extremely, well, thin and makes an excellent DVD player.
The official line from Sony is that PS2 sales remain strong because of low-income buyers who want to experience, or get back into, the world of videogames.
Microsoft hasn’t had such luck with its original Xbox, which was launched in late 2001 and discontinued in late 2006. However, recent figures show that sales of the console’s successor – the Xbox 360 – are higher than those of the PS3. ®
COMMENTS
LOL
"However, the slimline model – released in 2004 - is extremely, well, thin and makes an excellent DVD player."
Actually it's a pretty rubbish DVD player (the Microsoft astroturfers made a huge deal of why Blu-Ray on the PS3 would suck, because the PS2's DVD player sucked. How wrong they were).
