Sony PlayStation 2
Developer: Sony
Year Released: 2000
Generation: 6th
At the end of the millennium, the successor of the biggest selling game console was ready to go. Released in 2000, ahead of its other competitors, the PS2 became the most successful console ever sold, selling over 150 million units in total. At the release of the console, demand was incredibly high and manufacturers were unable to keep up with consumers’ requests for more consoles.
The PS2 had two big hooks:
1. Full backwards compatibility (an underused concept then) with the PS1
2. The ability to play DVD video discs. DVDs had started to take off but DVD players were still very expensive. With the PS2 actually costing less than a dedicated player, Sony found a new market, as well as solidifying its own DVD format as mainstream.
Sony’s video game console became more of a home entertainment device rather than a console only dedicated to gaming. Families now had a multipurpose device in their living room where they could watch films together, listen to music together, and play video games together.
As nobody doubted that the PlayStation 2 would be a success, all big name publishers delivered games just as they did in the predecessor’s days. The speed at which the software library expanded was great for gamers. Microsoft and Nintendo, who came later with their next gen hardware, never caught up.