Sony later manufactured several smaller, lighter revisions of the console known as Slimline models in 2004.Įven with the release of its successor, the PlayStation 3, the PS2 remained popular well into the seventh generation, and continued to be produced until 2013, when Sony finally announced it had been discontinued after over twelve years of production – one of the longest lifespans of a video game console. The PS2 is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide, as confirmed by Sony. A sixth-generation console, it competed with Sega's Dreamcast, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's original Xbox.Īnnounced in 1999, the PS2 offered backward-compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock controller, as well as its games. It was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000, in North America on October 26, 2000, and in Europe and Australia on November 24, 2000, and is the successor to the original PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation console line-up. The PlayStation 2 (officially branded as PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.
