PlayStation 2

"PS2" redirects here. For other uses, see PS2 (disambiguation).

The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is Sony's second video game console. It was released on March 4, 2000. The one before this was PlayStation (or PS1). The next PlayStation is PlayStation 3 which was released on November 11, 2006. The PlayStation 2 competed with the Dreamcast, the Nintendo GameCube and the Microsoft Xbox during its lifetime.

The PlayStation 2 console

The controllers of the PlayStation 2 are similar to the Dual Analog controllers for the first PlayStation. Some games are online, such as Call of Duty World at War Final Fronts, and a few connect with the PlayStation Portable (or PSP). The PS2 is very successful and games were still made for it after the PlayStation 3 was made. The PlayStation 2 is the world's best-selling console. It has sold around 160 million units since its launch in March 2000, and is fully compatible with almost all PlayStation (PS1) games.

Functions and Backwards compatibility

As well as PlayStation 2 games, the PS2 could play CD and DVD format discs. This pushed it forward to become the best selling console, as many DVD players at the time could cost a lot of money.^[1] The PS2 could also play almost all PlayStation (PS1) games, or about 98% of them which may have been another factor helping the PS2's success because people would already have games to play on it.^[2]

Discontinuation

Sony announced that they had discontinued the PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 28, 2012 and worldwide on January 4, 2013.^[3] The last two games for the system were FIFA 14 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (released only in Europe) in late 2013 (a week before the PlayStation 4's release date). Both these games also had PS3 and PS4 versions. Online functionalities had ended on March 31, 2016. Repair for the system had ended in Japan on September 7, 2018.

PSX

Main article: PSX (digital video recorder)

The PSX was released in 2003. It was a video recorder that allowed you to play PlayStation 2 games. It had a built-in hard drive (up to 250 GB). It did not sell well, because it cost too much money, so it was not released outside of Japan.^[4] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas became the most sold game, with over 27.5 million copies sold.