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

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 10:01 pm PT

    The PS2 slim is honestly the greatest console ever invented, my opinion of course, I'm not a Sony/PS fanboy, I've played with every console since the day I was born, from Atari to 3DO to 360, it's just a perfect entertainment pack.

  • OldStupidGeezer

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 10:01 pm PT

    nintendo makes systems that don't break down. i beat the crap out of my gamecube and its still working. hit the ps2 a few times and it breaks. ive had to buy 2 ps2 and im still on my original gamecube

  • AZisBack

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:59 pm PT

    I'm responsible for 3 of the 120,000,000 PS2's sold. I played the hell out of the first two. I finally got a slimline ps2 and didn't have anymore problems. Of course once I finally broke down and bought an original xbox my PS2 didn't see much playing time except for Soul Caliber 3 and Tekken 5.

    I love how people bash the Xbox 360 so much but don't remember the original ps2 problems. I love the PS2 it was very successful and had a lot of great games. If the Sony execs. would fix the cranial rectal inversion problems I would buy a PS3 (you know backwards compatibility for the 40gb and dual shock 3). Until then I will enjoy my new favorite system the Xbox 360.

  • faizal5k

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:58 pm PT

    The PS2 was "supposed" to be a disaster and now look where it is now. wow. Everyone thought the PS2 was going to be a failure because of it's low amount of games and crap quality launch games. People said it was only good for a DVD player...hmmmm...sound anything familiar THIS generation?

    http://www.forbes.com/2001/01/25/0125disaster.html

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:52 pm PT

    The Playstation 2 is amazing, and its reputation will only help the PS3. Trust me.

    MS and Nintendo need to diversify their bonds if they intend to surpass half of a 100M units.

  • pridex

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:47 pm PT

    @ Shivercraft Personally i think halo sucked. You saying Microsoft played there thrump card already? Well Look at the line up for MS this holiday season. Next year looks like it will be strong also and if Sony can keep there exclusives they will have a strong 2008 and as long if they dont get more delays. Epic has no alliance with MS and not everyone is going to fork out money for a pc to play games. Dont think like a fanboy. Most fanboys dont know what they are saying. Sony has yet produce a stellar game do drive the PS3. They dont even have dev kit that makes it simple for developors. Maybe Epic will finish up there ps3 UE3... You can list off most of sony's lineup for next year and im sure most of the will be delayed

  • DFalcon999

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:46 pm PT

    As I said in the recent "news" article about the PS3 failing at something else...

    Tell me news, not history!

  • Timstuff

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 9:14 pm PT

    We get it, Gamespot... PS3 is still being outsold by PS2. God forbid we should forget it.

  • PATRIOTREBORN77 posted Oct 26, 2007 8:45 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    PATRIOTREBORN77

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 8:45 pm PT (hide)

    Big deal. Sony sucks.

  • thekey

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 8:36 pm PT

    Phylyn5151 "Reality Check:

    Half of those systems are broke. I know lots of people that have had to buy 3 or 4 systems. I love the PS2, But it was built pretty Sheety."

    That's what I've been saying all the long. PS2s were faulty, the first 3 years, then the last 4 were improved.

    There's no way any console will do that well again.(Any time soon.) Especially not the PS3.

  • 00Joseph00

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 8:31 pm PT

    LoL, with numbers like these, Sony should discontinue their PS3 and go back to making more PS2 games...

    Hm...

  • warhawk0816

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 8:28 pm PT

    I think those numbers are a little generous, maybe a little exaggerated

  • Phylyn5151

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 7:22 pm PT

    Reality Check:

    Half of those systems are broke. I know lots of people that have had to buy 3 or 4 systems. I love the PS2, But it was built pretty Sheety.

  • mixhawkeye

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 7:18 pm PT

    So where's the ps3 news?

  • MasterChief725

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 7:08 pm PT

    whoop ti do

  • Jebril

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:56 pm PT

    PS3Compass

    "It's been 2 years and Microsoft still hasn't fixed the 360's problem."

    Ignorance is bliss, you obviously haven't heard of all the refunding that M$ has been doing, all the free repairs, or the 3 year warranty OR the new SKU unit or DVD drive, NO M$ hasn't fixed any of the 360's problems...

  • Jebril

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:52 pm PT

    I doubt there will be any console that will do as well as the PS2 I think the second closest thing is probably going to be the DS which is on fire right and has sold 55 mill in what less than 3 years? But thats a handheld of course...

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:51 pm PT

    The sun is slowing going down and over the hill. :-(

  • -Ronin-_basic

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:42 pm PT

    In a time when good news is few and far between for Sony, they should be happy to hit such a remarkable milestone.

    But they shouldn't be fooled; the PS2 coasted comfortably with a ton of support and favourable word of mouth. The PS3 has a very steep uphill climb to enjoy even a fraction of that success. With reports of them asking ("pleading" sounds like an exaggerated word) developers to stay on board, the future is uncertain for the first time in a long time.

  • Kcube

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:38 pm PT

    COngrats on selling something ^_^

  • suprsolider

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:25 pm PT

    So your made up ratio of 2 to 1 holds no weight...except to prove fan boy ignorance.
    ---

    No, that is fact. Sony has been sued multiple times because people's PS2's would crap out on them. My PS2 is 6 years old and still going. But my brother has been through 2 fat PS2's and is now on a slim. I have friends who are they 2-5 the PS2.

    It is pretty much fact, and I can find the stats to prove it, along with every lawsuit brought against Sony for PS2's crapping out.

  • BayAreaBlunted

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:10 pm PT

    man some of you must be kids writing this stuff. i agree with shivadee_basic. a real gamer goes where the games are, i too plan on buying a 360 and a wii, i own a ps3 and am happy with it, no problems, luv my blu-ray player(feel sorry for the sucker who has to go buy one for almost the same price as a ps3 LOL) i dont care which system does what, the most important thing in gaming is GAMES...if the 360 only has halo to offer, i fear it wont make it after 3 years or so, wii will do well because its original, i can remember as a lil kid always mmoving the controller around as i played games like racing games so its a natural thing to move the good ol joystick. stop **** if anything **** to the companies like EAsports who only do roster updates for their games, some of you are quick to say whos king , shoot it takes at least a good 3 yearrs or so to find out. what will u say when sony starts rolling out the good games, 360 is going on its second year it has to be putting out goodd games, look at the history of consoles, first year sux as far as good games , its in the second and third year that the good games come out, so be patient, quick giving ur 360 a bj and just wait, i for one cant wait for my mgs4. its not all about fancy graphics, remember ITS ALL ABOUT THE GAMES! one game does not make a system!

  • Reetesh

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:04 pm PT

    Congrats to the PS2!

  • F-E-A-R13

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:04 pm PT

    Sony will never abandoned the PS2 unlike microsoft that abandoned the original x-box. i havent herd about that system since the 360 came out.

  • twashington9737

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 6:03 pm PT

    @ need_id07 - Believe that if u want. Ur not talking to some youngster who cannot support himself, doesn't interact in the biz world every single day nor knows how contracts are not forever and can have loopholes and such. Many tunes up here will be a changin', sooner or later ; )

  • tocool340

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:59 pm PT

    @brian: It's more reliable to go to a place where you can get everyones opinion then to base it from the few people you see in real life. I've been throu 3 PS2, and even now, my current PS2 is messing up. I don't plan on buying another 1 because I'm tired of wasting another hundred for a PS2. AndI'm sure if you go there, they can even provide Links to sites that have report DRE's on the PS2s. Especially that segment on G4TV when they were testing all the last gen consoles durability. The first to break was the PS2. Second was Xbox, then third was the GC. They did the test again and it had the same results as before. One 30 pound weight dropped on the PS2, and ti doesn't work anymore. To back up my claim, jst go to system wars and make a thread asking the question and see the results...

  • solidsnakeo

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:56 pm PT

    happy birthday PS2

  • dadoesch

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:55 pm PT

    My old PS2, purchased the holiday season following its debut -- way back in 2000, still works. I got another one when I moved to my own place over 4 years ago, and it still works too (and it's not the slim version, which I don't believe had come out yet). The console has proven itself to be a workhorse in my eyes, as I used it for both games and DVDs. It set a bar higher than the SNES did in its age, in my opinion (and that's pretty damn high!).

    I imagine Sony won't give up producing the PS2 for a while, since it is still profitable and the library can't be beat. Let's face it, the PS3 isn't doing so well so it's going to have to ride on the PS2's profit margin until it gets its own legs. That being said, I have to say I was surprised Sony gave up on the BC of the PS3. With a library as large as the PS2's, the transition to the PS3's pathetic library is more bearable being able to still play the PS2's games. That's why I bought my 60 gig EE equipped PS3. I can bide my time waiting for better PS3 titles with the PS2's incredible library.

    I'd like to think Sony knows what it's doing, but it has been tinkering with the PS3 so much since its debut (which was less than a year ago?). I hope they figure out what they're doing soon. I don't want to be left with a glorified PS2 game-playing machine.

  • Shivercraft

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:51 pm PT

    Hello Brad_d, I have but one question to ask, since Microsoft has been gloating Halo 3 as the really big title for the system to sale, and Epic (Gears of War maker for you uber-noobs out there) is already showing multi-console support, what reason does anyone have to buy the 360 for? What is the must-have game coming to the system now that Halo 3, which will be on Window's Vista so M$ can milk it for more money, has already dropped?

    PS3 has at least shown several titles that are in the works instead of one, and Wii has shown the same five or six that they usually release on a console. But M$ has already played their trump card, and really early into the game as well.

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:46 pm PT

    @toocool340: Cause system wars is a place for reliable info?

  • lamprey263

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:46 pm PT

    heck, they're still making PS2 games, and why, because there's 120 million consoles that people might still buy games for, that's much more profitable than making a multiplatform for the Wii, PS3, and X360, as the userbase of all 3 doesn't even compare, plus it saves on development costs and efforts as they only need to work on one system that the developers are most likely already familiar with

  • brad_d

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:43 pm PT

    Shows how good their current system is when 7 year old tech is beating out new tech (albeit with crap games).

    Halo 3 is the reason many people buy 360s, no question, and yes it will save the system, not like the system needs saving. Name me one exclusive title that Sony has that rivals Halo in terms of fan and media support. On the PS3 360 front, the battle has already been won. The holiday season approaches and still the PS3 has no system sellers. Gears of War destroyed the PS3 last year. This year probably GH III or Mass Effect. Bye bye Sony.

    And sorry MGS and Final Fantasy are not your own exclusives (MGS2 released for Xbox and FFXI for 360).

  • tocool340

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:34 pm PT

    @Joystick_in_hand: Go to system wars and ask them. I'm not the only one who feels that way. Unless you know more than 100 people that haven't had problems with there PS2's, STFU talking to me about fanboy nonsense.....

  • Natdaddy

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:32 pm PT

    I wonder how the wii will fare 7 years from now, the main difference is that the ps2 captured the hearts of everyone versus the whole hardcore vs causal war we have going on with the wii.

  • clawboy

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:30 pm PT

    Happy B day Ps2. You deserve all the praise and glory. In the past 7 years you have taken gaming to all new heights.

  • YInYangUXG

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:25 pm PT

    Hot damn! It deserves those sales. Soooooooo many great, great games.

  • Shivercraft

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:22 pm PT

    @tranquilanon

    I have to disagree with you there, my fellow user. There are a slew of mini-game based titles slanted for the Wii, however the story driven games have proven to be quite fun on the system as well. Ultimate Alliance was fun, Zelda was good (although rather boring to me for being way to easy), and the RE4 Wii edition was perhaps the best experience I have had with the system. Capcom is also working on releasing Okami: Wii edition in Spring to take advantage of the consoles control scheme. I am personally happy that people outside of Sony get to experience that amazing game.

    The only problem I have with the system is that companies have decided to use it as a way to rehash their old ideas without giving us something entirely new, while a few truly great games would be nice done this way *nods toward RE4*, there are many that don't really need to be redone. I can't wait to smash some wyvern face in Monster Hunter 3!!!

  • DazKurupt

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:21 pm PT

    Stop buying ps2's already its time you upgrade to ps3 folks.

  • greenpyro33

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:20 pm PT

    I never had any PS2 problems. Also, no console is going to get close to those sales

  • DJKrayz_basic

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:19 pm PT

    my ps2 from march '01 still works, albeit not as well as it did.. some games play, some don't.. keep in mind tho, i never once used a disk cleaner in it, so id imagine that if i did so, it might have better success.. i did buy a slim PS2 a few years ago because it was a good deal so i couldnt pass it up($150 plus 7 games and gun and extra controller/mem. cards).. and it works just fine, as do all the games i still own for it, except for a faulty Gran turismo 4 disk.. i still crank the ps2 up from time to time..

  • need_id07

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:18 pm PT

    To twashington9737, MS owns the right to Halo you know, there will never be another platform Halo will be on than MS consoles, (zune someday?) PC published by MSGS or very unlikly but possible a handheld ( Rare, owned by MS published games for the DS before.) I am going to go out on a limb here and say sony will never see Halo unless MS stops doing hardware. remember, though Bungie may go on to produce titles for the PS3 after their agreement with MS ends (they seem to be committed to having MSGS publish their stuff for now) Microsoft never sold them the rights to Halo.

  • PS3Compass

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:17 pm PT

    @brianpoetzel Indeed.

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:17 pm PT

    @PS3 compass: The Wii is a phenomenon. It's selling like hotcakes. A lot of people love it.

  • Red_Jester

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:15 pm PT

    Well, I bet those new PS2 owners are glad they didn't buy the console when it first came out for mass DRE breakdowns.

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:15 pm PT

    @joystick: I never had an issue with my PS2 but I know several people who did. It's not made up that the PS2 had major DRE issues.

  • PS3Compass

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    @brianpoetzel What about the Wii? I see no indication that the 360 will catch up with the Wii in 2008.

  • Shivercraft

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    PS3_3DO

    I doubt that Microsoft will sell that many, it does pretty horrible in every country other than America for lack of originality in games (and I am not just talking about sequels, but more along of the lines of unique experiences). I like my 360, but I don't deny the fact that it is an American-based machine while Playstation does great in most countries that offer it. It is having a slower start than many analysts (who are about as accurate in predictions as meterologists) figured it would, but close to seven million units in a year is still a very strong start, and is actually better than the 360's first year.

    The PS2 will continue to get support for probably two more years, strong at the start of next year while winding down to decent come the holidays, and will have decent to almost non-existant support the year after. I am basing this off of the past experience of the PS1 to PS2 transitions. Some of the best PS1 games ever made came out almost a year into the PS2's stage of acceptance, but for some reason people don't seem to remember that. They also fail to remember the pure garbage that the PS2 got for games for it's first year run, followed by the sheer awesome that slowly leaked into the system. I would personally say that Sony's newest console is going in a good direction, but would prefer that they release the low cost model with backwards compatibility......kind of stupid on an epic scale that they removed it.

    But what do I know..........I am but a humble gamer.

  • Joystick_n_hand

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    Hey toocool340, way to ramble fan boy crap. I know MANY people with a ps2 and they have never had an issue. The proof is in reality, not in your fantasy world. So your made up ratio of 2 to 1 holds no weight...except to prove fan boy ignorance.

  • KamuiFei

    Posted Oct 26, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    I remember getting a PS2, just after the holiday season it came out. It worked wonderfully until around late 2005. Then getting a replacement that had a built-in HDD. I only paid about $150 for it, with my old trade-in. Good times with my PS2.

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!