Sony: 120 million PS2s sold

Console-maker commemorates its console's seventh North American birthday by announcing one of the biggest sales milestones in game-industry history.

Was it really seven years ago that the PlayStation 2 debuted in North America? In a word, yes. Lest anyone forget the passage of time, Sony reminded the world today that its industry-changing machine first went on sale on October 26, 2000. That same year, the PS2 went on sale in Japan in March, followed by Europe and the UK in November.

The PS2's debut overshadowed Sega's Dreamcast, which launched in 1999 in the US, and had no further competition until Nintendo responded with the GameCube and Microsoft jumped into the fray with the original Xbox. Seven years, two presidents, and two wars later, the PS2 remains the most popular console of its generation, with over 120 million units sold across the globe. By contrast, as of the end of last month, the original Xbox sold just over 24 million units, and the GameCube slightly fewer than 22 million units.

Also, whereas Microsoft and Nintendo have both ceased producing their older consoles, Sony is still manufacturing the slimline PlayStation 2. Last month, 215,000 PS2s were sold in the US, thanks to continued third-party publisher support and the continuing Guitar Hero craze. Sony sold 3.28 million PS2s worldwide during its last fiscal quarter, which ended September 30, according to its latest earnings report. By contrast, the company sold only 1.31 million PlayStation 3s.

But although it unquestionably reached a milestone, the PS2 is beginning to show its years. Sony's earnings report also showed that sales of PS2 games declined during its second quarter, slipping 9.2 million units to a still-substantial 38 million units during the quarter. The same period saw 10.3 million PS3 games sold internationally.

288 Comments

  • xElite_GameRx

    Posted Jul 18, 2008 12:37 pm PT

    greatest console of all time in terms of popularity, online, gameplay, and variety of games to choose from and with a new low price of just 99.99$ its going to sell a lot more, I see this console going another 3 years

  • Ohri

    Posted Nov 2, 2007 11:42 pm PT

    PS2: The best console.

  • mjk_1

    Posted Nov 1, 2007 7:56 am PT

    wow seems like just yesterday

  • darkride66

    Posted Nov 1, 2007 6:45 am PT

    uklegendkiller. Um. At the time the DVD was fancy, complicated hardware.

  • uklegendkiller

    Posted Oct 31, 2007 6:59 pm PT

    Shocking...There's still life in the old girl yet...Maybe sony should take some notes from the PS2 & apply them to the PS3 simple yet effective gameing without all the fancy complecated hardware...One of my all time fave console's of all time.

  • arc_salvo

    Posted Oct 31, 2007 4:13 am PT

    I'm a PS2 owner who has an X-box 360 because the 360 has more games that I like than the PS3. It's also cheaper too.

    That said, I still play my PS2 more than my X-box 360. Just so many more games for the PS2, a wider variety of them, and they don't cost me an arm and a leg either.

    Although I have a gaming PC and an X-box 360, and am supposedly a PC fanatic and a Microsoft Fanboy... ...I honestly find myself playing my PS2 and DS more than I do anything else. That'll probably change when I get my hands on a copy of Hellgate London though.

  • Crazy_Assassin

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    Wow the PS2 is my least fav video game system of all time... It's was boring as hell. You had to spend all the xtra money for high price memory cards, multi tap, ethernet adapter etc,

    I hate it......

  • jaredrichards3

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 7:46 pm PT

    ps2 owners please go buy a ps3, you don't know what your missing out on ! and we need to shut up those geeky xbox fanboys once and for all

  • pugkiller

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 6:44 pm PT

    YukoAsho, gshell >>>
    Really? where do you guys live? I just stopped by Gamestop to pick up Disgaea today and noticed that the PS2 WAS only $99.

  • fluffers623

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 4:35 pm PT

    wow i was like 9 when i got mine when it launches in 2007..... unbelievable system. always had fun with it... hm, good days, good days.... sony i congradulate you on a job well done... ps1, ps2, ps3, LIVE ON BABY LIVE ON FOREVER

    ps3 rocks btw....just so u could no... yah..

  • JangoWuzHere

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 4:22 pm PT

    gshell you must be pretty poor if you can't buy it at just 30$ more

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    Renaissance247 - Well if you actually went to the place, you'd see that the PS2 (new) is still $129.99.

  • Renaissance247

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    gshell... the two Gamestop's in my town sell the Black Slimline PS2 for $79.99 and the Silver for $89.99. At least, that's one one of the worker's said when a restaurant owner here wanted to buy one for his restaurant.

  • gshell

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 10:24 am PT

    cut the price already damn it......a ps2 should be $99 now.

  • Montrealien

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 10:05 am PT

    Yes DMC2677, If sony can get it together they can see real domination across the board, cause as gamers, all we want is that a console dominates all the others....

    what has gone wrong with gamers?

    PS: Grats sony, the PS2 is truly an amazing console thast has indured the test of time that has a few years left in it is you ask me.

  • DMC2677

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 8:33 am PT

    PS2..G.O.A.T.!!!!! No system can top this level of success, none! Now if they just follow suit with coming with the games for the PS3 like they're starting to, then we could see real domination across the generations. Hell, even the PS1 got the ball rolling with all the titles it had... Go Sony...get it together.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 5:00 pm PT

    Thats a phenomenon number, one that will surely never be bettered probably. Now as for the bricks (the big fat ugly one) - most of 'em are on ebay and the bin with laser issues (disc read error), in other words not functional or out of order.

    And then there's this guy on ebay, he's buying lots of ps2s only to take them apart to sell as spares. Now i know someone actually paid sony hence their results. The point here is, not all of the machines are "alive".

  • lamprey263

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 2:44 pm PT

    @mikewalsh69 - I agree, the success of the PS2 will be hard to match for many many generations of console gaming

  • munsoned

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 1:29 pm PT

    still got my launch ps2. lucky me won a raffle in order to buy it at my local walmart.

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 9:58 am PT

    NES forever!
    Rest in Peace Sega.....we all await your resurrection!

  • mikewalsh69

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 9:43 am PT

    i've said it once and i'll say it again:
    the ps2 is the greatest console bar none. no console will ever beat its greatness. long live the ps2. may it always be remembered for bringing gaming to the masses and more mainstream than cinema

  • SkankinForFalco

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 9:06 am PT

    See BC might not be important to you but it is to some of us for example.. I would like to own a PS3 but at the same time my Girlfriend likes to play PS2.. See her PS2 died.. so why would I buy a New PS2+a PS3 when I can get both in one console?

    It's why I rushed out to get a 60GB PS3 to not get stuck with Software BC. They need to not strip away the one thing thats holding this console together.. not until the PS3 Library has enough exclusives or games that are worth going out and spending 60 bucks on.

  • jameston80

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 8:50 am PT

    It's pretty sad that the ps2 still outsells the ps3, lol

  • Me_Ann

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 8:49 am PT

    Wow. Some of you guys are really uber-nerds. Any console news turns into a console war. lol

  • carljohnson3456

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 8:45 am PT

    But Yuck, you act like people REALLY want the PS2 library, well sure they do. But the PS2 is dirt cheap now, and yes it is seasoned with a great library... but that's all. It's not like people are looking at the 499 PS3 with a pretty small library right now, and looking at the 129 PS2 and saying "Hm... even if the PS2 was 499, I'd still buy it for it's great library". The PS2 is stomping the PS3 because of the PS3's price.

    And yes, every thing MS has added to the 360 has been an improvement, but at the same time, it's given the early adopters the shaft in a way. It's almost like MS realised the 360 wasnt "next gen enough" and is adding all these features as a next gen afterthought. Sony has had to strip away features from the PS3 because really, they didnt need all of the features in the first place. I'm yet to use my multimedia card slots, or 6 GB of my hard drive. What's wrong with stripping these features (that most people criticized for Sony including anyway) to make it affordable to those who want a PS3? There is still the 80 GB (without the EE) that has just about everything the 60 GB had. If you want all the bells and whistles, pay for them.

    "Microsoft's Xbox 360, better wait to buy one, cause they're only adding features the PS3 already has over time"

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 8:35 am PT

    --carljohnson3456 --
    You're 1/2 right.

    The should quit making the PS2 and I've been saying that for several years now, and I'll keep saying it.

    But perhpas if you and Sony actually explained how removing BC from the PS3 will boost sales...when people clearly want the PS2 library...I'm all ears.

    I could understand it if they did it to cut costs...like by removing the EE chip. But they have software BC, the 80gig has it...and it won't cost them a thing to include it for the 40gig.

    As for your constant RROD speach it's old and tired at this point...at least every change MS has made to the 360 has been an improvement. Every change Sony has made has been to take away something that was there before.

    This is the first time history a Console has gotten progressivly worse over time...but at least early adopters like myself will never be able to complain about getting a launch PS3, the original 60gig is far and away the best model ever made.

    "Sony's PS3, better buy one now, they are only getting worse"

  • carljohnson3456

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 8:24 am PT

    "Yuck_Too "Sony sold 3.28 million PS2s worldwide during its last fiscal quarter, which ended September 30...By contrast, the company sold only 1.31 million PS3s" ~~~~~~~~~ PS2 outsold the PS3 by 2.5 : 1 worldwide and now with the fact they are dropping all Backwards Compatibility with the new PS3s the number of people buying PS2s will go even higher Sony is once again making history...with how not to launch a new product." Yuck, you put a negative spin on everything Sony does. Arent you the one who said they need to quit making PS2s? Well, did you know Jack Tretton said they removed BWC from the 40 GB PS3 so people would stop buying PS2 hardware to play on their PS3? Yeah. And you dont know that PS2 sells will soar even higher now that they've taken out BC. If people were going to buy a PS3, they were going to regardless of BC. If people were people were going to buy a PS3 for PS2, odds are they would have gone ahead and bought a PS2 a long time ago. And speaking of "making history of how not to launch a new product", where is your negative spin on MS "making history on how to launch a new product" by making a rushed faulty console. (I know, I know, you probably have a launch console that has never given you any trouble, while today I received my coffin to send my Xbox back to good ol' Mcallen Texas for repairs... for the second time. But hey, at least I get a free game and free Xbox Live for a month.)

  • epsilonone

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 6:29 am PT

    PS2 cost less

  • Great_Ragnarok

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 6:27 am PT

    LMAO yock_too

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 5:56 am PT

    "Sony sold 3.28 million PS2s worldwide during its last fiscal quarter, which ended September 30...By contrast, the company sold only 1.31 million PS3s"
    ~~~~~~~~~
    PS2 outsold the PS3 by 2.5 : 1 worldwide and now with the fact they are dropping all Backwards Compatibility with the new PS3s the number of people buying PS2s will go even higher

    Sony is once again making history...with how not to launch a new product.

  • dorohala

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 5:30 am PT

    I sold my PS2 for a PS3, man I wish I never sold my PS2 because they have good decent games come out already F***!!!

  • ElmorePOW

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 5:00 am PT

    ' love my PS2.

  • Delongman

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 3:36 am PT

    respect

  • v8nnwilder

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 3:29 am PT

    Big Up to the PS2!!! I still own a "working" "fat" PS2 and I never had any problems with it at all... Well nothing serious thou maybe needed a lens clean from time to time but nothing else.... I have my PS3 now so I don't use my PS2 that much anymore but I will hang on to it for a as long as I can. To think it's been selling solidly for the last 7 years and for the last 2 it even kept up with the Xbox360!

    Sadly I feel the PS2's reign will be coming to an end in about a year or so as the big brother will finally get the respect it deserves....

    Think that's why the PS3 hasn't been selling that well just yet... The PS2 was still selling a Sh*^load of consoles & games. So from a year from now as the PS2 "retires" the PS3 will start rising!

  • lew_0911

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 12:55 am PT

    And I still have games like Wild Arms 5! Goodness, here's to 7 years (and some more months for me, at least).

  • sja28

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 12:23 am PT

    wait so 120millions ps2 sold and yet metal gear solid sold 5.5 million copys so tell me why mgs4 such a big deal?? oo and by the way ps3 is 5 millions so mgs4 will sell like shi--toky equals =360 port

  • BradBurns

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 10:20 pm PT

    Due to the PS2, Sony is still the market leader. Weird, due to everyone raving about the Wii you'd think it'd be Nintendo.

  • PS34EVR

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 9:54 pm PT

    I have owned 3 PS2's None of them have died the Fat one I gave to my Nephews when their Fat PS2 got the Disc Read Error After I repaired it myself twice by adjusting the Laser tolerance. Now I also still have my N64,2nd Gen SNES, SEGA CDX, SEGA Saturn (Damn Clock Battery), Dreamcast (Damn Storage Card Battery), And yet I have gone through 3 count them 3 Xbox360's, I own two Xbox360's due to my Feb of 06 360 dieing right when Gears of War was released last Holiday Season, I figured I would have a back up just incase. Will not buy a MS console again until 6months to a Year after it is released. Funny thing I still have my original Xbox still going strong knock on wood. Can't wait to see the PS3 Get 120million and a good six years of great Gaming and BluRay Watching.

  • SteelSkerFan

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 7:26 pm PT

    X-2tha-2 -- I have a "fat" PS2, Bought in fall 0f 2001 and still going strong, even through 6 moves (changes of address). And I can't recall it ever breaking down once on me. I just probably jinx myself now for saying that. Hope it doesn't happen.

  • SteelSkerFan

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 7:26 pm PT

    X-2tha-2 -- I have a "fat" PS2, Bought in fall 0f 2001 and still going strong, even through 6 moves (changes of address). And I can't recall it ever breaking down once on me. I just probably jinx myself now for saying that. Hope it doesn't happen. Plus I still have my origanl PlayStation, bought in Spring of '98, and my Sega Genesis, bought in fall of '95, and they both still work amazing.

  • bzz

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 7:06 pm PT

    I bought 3 ps2. 2 of them died earlier. My friend also bought 3. And another one bought 2 ps2. I know a few people who bought ps2 several times.

  • gamefan

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 6:10 pm PT

    Only in your dreams, Bill Gates. Interest keeps people buying in a LONG term, not short term. See if you can last as long as ps2 did and I'll be very impressed.

  • tophat666

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 4:18 pm PT

    wow seven years thats amazing, and finally im getting my PS3.

  • daleerin24

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 4:12 pm PT

    I must admit that I have always had a soft spot for the ps2 . It was the first console I ever bought the day it hit the shelves, barring the next gen consoles such as 360, WII and ps3. This console has had so many great titles, so many RPGS that have never left my heart, or my house! May you rule supreme for ever PS2! ( ok perhapsim overdoing it a touch lol!)

  • matt_dangelo

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 4:10 pm PT

    well good for them..now if only ps3 would start selling right? (no fanboy rants)

  • Zazabar11

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 3:37 pm PT

    wtf you people must have been punching your fat ps2's. I've had mine since like 01 and it works just fine.

  • spelledarn

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 3:21 pm PT

    I have a working "fat" ps2, got it for Christmas when it was released in Europe. Still works fine, but to be honest I don't play it anymore now that I have my ps3.

  • hovanPS3

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    PS2 was awsome, had 6 great gaming years with it. 120 MILLION...BEST IN HISTORY!!!

    PS3 is a great sucessor...LEAPS AHEAD of the PS2!!!
    Hope it sells 120 million as well....
    Go Sony! Give us another 6 LONG and GREAT gaming years!!!

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