Sony PlayStation 2 Sales Still Alive
The Sony PlayStation 2 debuted in 2000, before the iPod and Windows XP, and is still a big seller in the video game console industry today.
Tuesday, Sony Corp. announced that it has sold 43 million PlayStation 2 (PS2) units in the United States.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. has already discontinued the original Xbox, which launched a year after Sony’s PS2. The NPD Group, which tracks U.S. sales only, reports that Microsoft sold 14.5 million of those Xbox consoles.Â
Americans bought 206,000 units of the PlayStation 2 in November. The console now only costs $130, as apposed to its original price of $300 when it first came out.Â
John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that the people buying the consoles now are low-income consumers and families who just want to get into, or back into, gaming.
The PlayStation 3, the PS2′s successor, sold 378,000 units in November. It launched in 2006 and sales for $400, rivaling Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which goes for $200.
The chief executive of video game retailer GameStop Corp., recently called the PS3 a "great machine," but said it is a bit pricey for a recession.
When the PlayStation 2 debuted, its early popularity was enhanced by its inclusion of a DVD player, which was innovative in 2000. These days, beyond its price, the PS2 is still attractive because Sony nurtures it. Now-iconic titles like "Grand Theft Auto III" and the original "Guitar Hero" made their name on the PlayStation 2, and Sony continues to churn out new games for the console.
"We don’t intend on discarding the system any time soon," Koller said, without going into more specifics.
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