PS2 turns 9, Sony declares it’s not dead yet

The PS2 has just celebrated its ninth birthday in the United States, with it originally being released on Oct. 26, 2000. Sony has often spoken of a 10-year life cycle for the console so does this mean the Playstation 2 has but a year left before being put out to pasture? Not at all.

The PS2 was a huge success in its heyday, managing to build on the success of the original Playstation and beating all competition by quite a margin. At the time, Sony announced it was aiming for the console to last 10 years, a comment which was originally treated with derision. But here we are nine years later and the PS2 is still selling reasonably well.

In a press release, Sony made it clear the life of the Playstation 2 still isn’t nearing an end, with GamerTell reporting Abby Reyes, Sony’s Senior Public Relations Specialist, as stating:

There’s no set date for when the life cycle of PlayStation 2 will end. As long as people keep playing, and publishers keep putting out great new titles, the console’s life cycle will continue. The longevity of the PlayStation 2 can be directly attributed to its versatility. Because it’s not only a game console, but a home entertainment hub, it has found its place in one out of every three U.S. households. That huge install base has resulted in consistent developer support and a huge library of titles along with strong retail presence, all of which allows PlayStation 2 to remain the console of choice for years to come.

I’m not sure the PS2 is “the console of choice” these days but there’s no doubting its versatility and lifespan are as-yet-unrivaled in the video game sector. The question now has to be how long the PS2 can continue on for? 12 years, 15, 20? And does the PS3 have any chance of repeating this long-term success or is it a failure relative to its older brother?

This is good to hear glad Sony is still supporting one of the best systems ever.

Of course there still gonna keep supporting it, its a cash cow or was, it helps them bleed less from the Trey.

The PS2 will die when the PS3 can stand on its own.

Ps2 was a monster

Even the Dreamcast has had a game released after 10 years. (New Dreamcast game incoming! Rush Rush Rally Racing) I think the Ps2 can manage to out do that :)  

Actual PS2 games worth buying release few and far between, it's surviving on Wii and PSP ports right now for it's software lineup.

However I doubt people buying PS2's right now are new buyers, but rather people who had a PS2 for a while and are replacing it with a new one.

2009 is going to be the last year of meaningful sales, after that it will be like the NES selling trickles each year. (NES was still shipped well into the 90s and I think 2000s in Japan.)

@ph4nt

Casual gamers or parents that are looking into buying a new cheap video game system with a nice line up are likely to get a PS2.

Its only $99.99

My favorite console. You may be surpassed in sales one day, but I don't see your quality being matched any time soon.

totally agree. It's nice for the big 3 to have an older gen console to keep bringing in money when the current one is harder to profit off of. 

Also, Sony's PS4 will be bc w/ PS3 games....so they will extend the range of the console's profitability longer than was done w/ the PS3/PS2

I wouldn't really call keeping the console on the market "support". Sony really just lets third parties run amok on the console and they port whatever applicable PSP games they can for some quick bucks. Most of the ports are sloppily done and many times lack the features in the PSP versions. It's nice to see the PS2 still kicking, but Sony hasn't really "supported" the console since they released God of War II.

9? i am pretty sure it's over 10 already.