Console Wars: PlayStation 2

¡Good evening, awesome Steemians! Tonight, we are going to finish the sixth generation Console Wars, ¡analyzing the winner! I feel a special fondness for the sixth generation, due to the gorgeous games it had, the massive advance in technology it represented, and for being a pioneer of the main features we use nowadays when playing, like online multiplayer. That’s right, tonight we are reviewing the mighty PlayStation 2.

PlayStation 2 was, as we all know, Sony’s fighter in the sixth generation Console Wars. It was launched in Japan in March 4th, 2001, and several months later worldwide. It was the undisputed winner, selling during its life span ¡more than 159 million units! And that was in 2011, at the time Sony published the last report on PlayStation 2 sales. Imagine how many more units have been sold until today.

To continue with the records broken by this console, we can address two unique things: PlayStation 2 was SO successful, that it competed in the wars of its generation…¡and in the next one too! On top of that, it has the record of having the longest lifespan in the market: ¡13 years! Its last games were PES 14 and FIFA 14, sold to its younger brother PlayStation 3 and the other consoles of the seventh generation.

PlayStation 2 also has the largest number of available games on ANY console: ¡around 10900! And was the only console that featured two different versions, with external and internal changes: PlayStation 2 (called “fat”) and PlayStation 2 “slim”.

PlayStation 2 is a quite powerful console, despite not being the strongest one of its generation. It has a set of nice components that give it a very solid overall performance. Those components are as follows:

CPU: Emotion Engine (EE) RISC MIPS-IV (R5900) 64 bits with SIMD capabilities, 128 bits, running at 294 MHz.

RAM Memory: 32 Megabytes RAMBUS DRAM, 32 bits bandwidth (16 bits Dual Channel technology).

Graphics chipset: GS “GraphicsSynthesizer, 512 color bits (RGBA), 500 000 000 Sprites per second (8 × 8 pixel sprites).

Audio chipset: 48 surround sound 3D channels, Compatible with Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, AC3 and DTS.

Optical drive: DVD-ROM 4X speed. CD-ROM 2X speed.

Modem/connectivity: Network Adapter (external) for PlayStation 2 fat, integrated Ethernet for PlayStation 2 slim.

¿What made PlayStation 2 to win the sixth generation Console Wars? ¿Why if Nintendo had way more experience in the home gaming consoles market, Microsoft had the most powerful console hardware-wise, and Sega was also stronger and had experience like Nintendo, was Sony the winner? ¡and what a win! ¡Sony sold SEVEN TIMES more consoles than its closer competitor!

We could state that it was a combination of factors that played in Sony’s favor this time: most of the success was due to Sony hitting the spot with their policies and marketing strategies, and a little bit of luck, as well. Sega, with their Dreamcast console having a premature death, served well to Sony’s purposes.

Ken Kutaragi, Executive Director of SCEI (Sony Computer Entertainment) had, from day one, a crystal clear vision on how PlayStation 2 had to be developed and sold to make it the killer success it was: the main premise was that at least the third part of the total of games created for the console had to be made by Sony as well. Although the games roster available at the console launch was somewhat poor, it was enough for Sony to announce that eagerly awaited games such as Gran Turismo (made by Sony), Silent Hill and Metal Gear (third party games) and some others would surely have sequels on PlayStation 2; such announcement got legions of buyers to their console. PlayStation 2 also had a powerful merchandising campaign, with the famous film maker David Lynch making its TV commercials, for instance.

Another advantage Sony had in the Wars was that PlayStation 2 was the only console with retrocompatibility: ¡original PlayStation games could be played on it as well! On top of that, it had, like Microsoft XBOX, a powerful multimedia platform, being able to play a lot of audio and video formats.

PlayStation 2 was, without a mere doubt, the most successful console of its generation; actually, is the most successful console ¡EVER! A myriad of high quality games, a strong, reliable hardware without the failures its competitors had, a flawless sales strategy (launching PlayStation 2 slim, that had way lower production costs than the original PlayStation 2 had, thus being able to be sold at a lower price, was a neat move), a strong marketing campaign and a solid development strategy allowed Sony not only defeating the competition, but crushing it! ¡selling seven times what your closest competitor sold is not a little deal!

This console is my favorite console ever (Steemians who followed me and read my posts surely have noticed that by now) because of beautiful games such as Final Fantasy X, Odin Sphere, Silent Hill 3 and so on…I am the happy owner of several units of this console, and I keep playing on them even it is officially “dead” for some years by now.

¡Thanks for reading my posts one more time, Steemit community! ¡See you around!