The PS2 launched 12 to 18 months earlier than the Gamecube or XBox, sold well right out of the gate, outsold the Gamecube and Xbox in their first year, and then convinced most publishers/developers that the PS2 needed to be the lead platform for games to be successful.

After this, the PS2 (pretty much) had most of the games in almost every genre so the library could satisfy the most gamers. As a result it became the platform for everyone. With that said, just because everyone could be satisfied by the PS2 doesn't mean that everyone would be happiest with the PS2. Many games were better on the other platforms, and the other platforms had deeper libraries in some genres, which meant that a lot of gamers were happier with the XBox or Gamecube even if they would have been happy with the PS2.

it must have been for everyone because everyone wanted one. i remember my mom going to about 10 different stores to try and get one because they were all sold out!

Im sorry... What? The PS2 wasnt for everyone?

It had games of all genres for all ages. Its sold over 1.5 BILLION units of software, you think that was all for the "hardcore" crowd?

Looking at the top 100 selling games on PS2 I see Golf, Dancing, Sims, Football, WWE, Simpsons, EyeToy, Need for Speed, Crash Bandicoot, Madden...

Despite Wii Sports being bundled to hell... The top 200 PS2 games have sold 30 Million more than the top 200 Wii games. Another thing - The PS2 has 133 2 Million sellers. The Wii has 140 ONE MILLION sellers. The PS2 has 325(!!) ONE MILLION sellers.

To say the Wii had a more varied audience because some games sold 20-30+ Million is stupid, when the rest of the library is lagging far, far behind. Take a look at a "casual" genre - Sports. T

he Wii's top 200 sport games, including the 80 Million from Wii Sports - 267M.
The PS2s top 200 - 244M WITHOUT 65 Million bundled games. Next, lets take a look at a genre the Wii excels in.. Platformers.

The Wii has sold 80 Million platformers. Worth noting that over half of this number comes from 3 Mario games...
The PS2 has sold 77 Million platformers.

The Wii has sold 53 Million racing games.
The PS2 has sold over 157 Million racing games.

Party games really (misc, according to VGChartz) is the only genre where Wii destroyed the PS2. The Wii sold over 180 Million of them. 80 Million more than the PS2.

I could go into other genres. Fighters, Action, RPG, Shooters... But I really dont need to. The Wii numbers are pathetic in comparison, its pointless showing the 2 sets.

The PS2 matches the Wii in the "casual" market, and destroys it in the rest. The PS2s library pretty much destroys everything the videogame market's seen. Correct me if Im wrong, actually... But hasnt the PS2 sold more SW than the N64, Gamecube and Wii combined?

simply put, the PS2 was the most dominating console in history and will probably never be matched.

I was 21 when it launched so I think I can give some good insight into this. The PS2 was NEVER a "casual" system. Casual gaming as we know it didn't happen until the DS launched. The PS2 was a "mainstream" product in that it was the "it" thing to have or own. Every parent wanted to get it for their kids and every kid wanted to get it from the parents. In that sense, it was like the Wii but that's where it ends. The biggest selling titles on that system were the GTA titles and we all know how much Grandma loved to play that game (hint, nada).

So basically, the only thing the PS2 shares with the Wii is that it was the "must have" console at the time. Outside of that, there is no comparison.

the PS2 sold really well thanks to the DVD player, Sony tried to follow that trend by putting blu-ray on the PS3 but that strategy failed since now people prefer to stream things, that´s why the PS3 is not even close of the PS2 in sales

Had a Gamecube and PS2.

PS2 was mainly to fulfill the need for GTA, Gran Turismo and some RPG's. I played more my gamecube.

The PS2 had virtually every genre available. They had casual family titles, platformers that all gamers could play and much, much more. The Eyetoy casualized the experience even more. My friend bought the Eyetoy for his girlfriend and we played it. Buzz was awesome though.

at its height, the ps2 (with the gamecube, dreamcast and xbox released) had 90%+ of the US console market.

We wont see that type of domination again.

It wasn't. My sister was not really interested in the ps2, sure she would play burnout with us once in a while, but that was about it. She loved the Wii.