The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console created and sold by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000, in North America on October 26, in Europe on November 24, in Australia on November 30, and in other regions later. It is the next version of the original PlayStation and the second console in the PlayStation series. As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo’s GameCube, Sega’s Dreamcast, and Microsoft’s Xbox.
Sony announced the PlayStation 2 in 1999, after the success of its earlier model. In addition to playing video games, the console has a built-in DVD player and was sold at a lower price than separate DVD players, making it more valuable. It could play games and use accessories from the original PlayStation, giving it a large collection of games at launch, more than its competitors. The console’s hardware included a special processor called the Emotion Engine, developed with Toshiba, which was said to be more powerful than most computers of that time.
The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling video game console ever, with 160 million units sold worldwide—almost three times the total sales of other sixth-generation consoles. It received high praise from critics and had over 4,000 game titles available, with 1.54 billion copies sold. In 2004, Sony redesigned the console to be smaller and lighter, called the "Slimline." Even after the PlayStation 3 was released in 2006, the PlayStation 2 continued to be made and received new games for several years. The last game for the system, Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, was released in Europe in November 2013. Manufacturing ended in early 2013, making the PlayStation 2 one of the longest-lasting video game consoles in history.
History
In 1994, the original PlayStation was released and became very successful worldwide. It helped Sony become a major player in the video game industry. The console received praise from critics and sold many units. It was the first entertainment system to sell over 100 million units. The PlayStation was especially popular outside Japan because of Sony’s improved development tools, large advertising efforts, and support from other game developers. By the late 1990s, Sony had overtaken competitors like Sega and Nintendo in the global video game market. Sega, facing declining sales and financial problems, launched the Dreamcast in 1998 to try to stay in the industry. The Dreamcast sold over 500,000 units in two weeks due to a strong marketing campaign.
Although details about the PlayStation 2’s development are not fully known, Ken Kutaragi, known as the "Father of the PlayStation," began working on a second console around the same time as the original PlayStation’s launch in 1994. At one point, employees from Argonaut Games, who were working for LSI Logic Corporation, were asked to design a special chip for Sony’s new console. Jez San, founder of Argonaut, said his team did not directly work with Sony during this process. However, Sony was actually designing its own chip and asked other companies to create chips as a backup plan.
By early 1997, news outlets reported that a new PlayStation was being developed. It would be backward-compatible with the original PlayStation, include a built-in DVD player, and have internet features. Sony officially denied these reports. Chris Deering, then-president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said Sony leaders were nervous about making a console that could match or beat the success of the original PlayStation. Sony aimed to achieve two successful console generations in a row, something neither Nintendo nor Sega had done before. Deering compared this goal to winning "two gold medals in two back-to-back Olympics."
Sony officially shared details about the PlayStation 2 on March 2, 1999. The press release stated the new console would support original PlayStation games, have much faster performance, and include a 20-times faster data transfer system. Kutaragi said the console could create "unprecedented emotions" in games. Sony estimated the PlayStation 2 could render 7.5 million to 16 million polygons per second, compared to estimates for the Dreamcast of 3 million to 6 million. Later that year, Nintendo announced the GameCube, and Microsoft started developing the Xbox.
Some reports suggested the PlayStation 2 was hard to develop for. Shinji Mikami, a Capcom designer known for creating the Resident Evil and Dino Crisis games, criticized Sony for not providing enough development tools. Mikami said the PlayStation 2 was the hardest system he had worked on. Hideo Kojima of Konami also said the console’s power did not meet his expectations.
"PlayStation 2's real-time graphics have no limitations. That's why I chose the colour black as it represents the infinity of the universe. The blue represents the intelligence and life spouting up."
The PlayStation 2 was officially shown at the Tokyo Game Show on September 20, 1999, in front of about 1,500 journalists. No physical console was displayed, and the name was not finalized yet. Sony showed technical demonstrations that impressed the media. A press release called the hardware’s graphics processor "the world’s fastest," capable of creating "movie-quality 3D graphics in real time." A key moment was when Sony president Norio Ohga proudly linked the Sony name with the PlayStation brand, a change from earlier caution about entering the video game industry. By this time, the original PlayStation had sold over 50 million units worldwide and became one of Sony’s most profitable businesses. Soon after, Sony announced a major restructuring, including reducing staff and focusing more on the PlayStation as a core part of the company. Kutaragi said, "We’re just going to be forced to educate the Sony Corporation a bit."
On April 1, 1999, Sony and Toshiba created a joint venture in Nagasaki Prefecture to make the PlayStation 2’s central processor, called the Emotion Engine. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) owned 49% of the company to ensure a steady supply of the chip and avoid production problems faced by competitors like Sega and NEC. The Emotion Engine was central to Kutaragi’s vision for the console. Designed for gaming, it had strong computing power and could process 6.2 gigaflops at 300 MHz—twice as fast as leading PC processors at the time. Kutaragi believed the chip could make games feel more realistic and emotionally engaging. Phil Harrison, then-head of Worldwide Studios, said the processor’s design was doubted at first but was eventually built with over $1 billion invested in its production. The Emotion Engine’s success helped SCE move from being a game developer to a major player in chip design.
Including a DVD player in the console was a key decision. Sony mainly promoted it as a gaming device, but the DVD feature helped attract more buyers. Ray Maguire, then-managing director of SCE UK, said the DVD feature was mentioned in marketing but the focus stayed on games. In regions like Southern Europe, where gaming was less popular, the DVD feature was promoted more heavily. This helped increase the PlayStation 2’s popularity in places like Spain. Kutaragi made the decision to include DVD support after seeing a demonstration of the Nuon chip, which added gaming features to DVD players. The original PlayStation’s success gave Kutaragi enough influence to override concerns about reducing sales of Sony’s standalone DVD players.
Sony launched the PlayStation 2 in Japan on March 4, 2000, at a price of ¥39,800. The launch was much more exciting than the original PlayStation’s in 1994. Over 10,000 people lined up in Tokyo on the launch day, with some waiting four days earlier. Demand was extremely high, and all one million units sold out quickly.
Hardware
The main central processing unit (CPU) is the 64-bit R5900-based "Emotion Engine," custom-designed by Sony and Toshiba. The Emotion Engine includes eight separate units, each performing a specific task, all built on the same chip. These units are a central CPU core, two Vector Processing Units (VPU), a 10-channel DMA unit, a memory controller, and an Image Processing Unit (IPU). The system has three interfaces: one to connect to the I/O processor running at 36.864 MHz, one to connect to the graphics synthesizer, and one to connect to the system memory. The Emotion Engine CPU runs at 294.912 MHz (299 MHz on newer versions) and processes 6,000 million instructions per second (MIPS), with a floating point performance of 6.2 gigaflops. The I/O processor was based on the PlayStation's CPU and was designed to allow the system to play games from the original PlayStation. The system includes 32 MB of RDRAM.
The GPU, called the "Graphics Synthesizer," is also custom-designed for the console. It can render up to 75 million polygons per second and has a fill rate of 2.4 gigapixels per second. The GPU runs at 147.456 MHz, which is half the speed of the Emotion Engine. It uses 4 MB of DRAM to display images on televisions with resolutions of 1280 x 1024 pixels for both PAL and NTSC formats. The PlayStation 2 can display up to 16.7 million true colors. When considering features like lighting, texture mapping, artificial intelligence, and game physics, the console can process about 25 million polygons per second. The system includes two USB ports and one IEEE 1394 (Firewire) port for certain models. A hard disk drive can be added to an expansion bay on the back of the console, which is required to play some games, such as Final Fantasy XI. The system has 4 MB of video memory in the form of eDRAM.
Software for the PlayStation 2 was mainly distributed on DVD-ROMs, though earlier titles used blue-tinted CD-ROMs. The console can play audio CDs and DVD movies and is backward-compatible with most original PlayStation games. It supports PlayStation memory cards and controllers, though original PlayStation memory cards only work with original PlayStation games, and original controllers may not support all functions for PlayStation 2 games. The standard PlayStation 2 memory card has 8 MB of storage and uses MagicGate encryption.
The PlayStation 2 can output video resolutions from 480i to 480p on standard and high-definition televisions. Some games, like Gran Turismo 4 and Tourist Trophy, support up-scaled 1080i resolution. The system supports multiple video standards, including composite video, S-Video, RGB, VGA, YPbPr component video, and D-Terminal. Cables are available for all these formats, and they also provide analogue stereo audio. An RF modulator is included for connecting to older televisions.
The PlayStation 2 had many design changes over time. It is mainly divided into models with the original "fat" case and "slimline" models introduced in 2004. In 2010, Sony released a 22-inch HD-Ready television called the Bravia KDL-22PX300, which included a built-in PlayStation 2.
The standard color of the PlayStation 2 is matte black. Other colors, such as ceramic white, light yellow, aqua, metallic silver, navy blue, and pink, were produced in different regions and quantities.
In 2004, Sony released the "Slimline" version of the PlayStation 2, which is smaller and includes a built-in Ethernet port and external power supply. It does not have a 3.5-inch expansion bay, so it cannot support internal hard disk drives. This change was criticized because some games, like Final Fantasy XI, require a hard drive. The Slimline model uses a top-loading disc mechanism instead of the original's motorized tray. It can be placed horizontally or vertically, though vertical placement requires a stand for stability.
Sony also made a device called the PSX, which combined the PlayStation 2's Graphics Synthesizer and Emotion Engine into a single 90 nm EE+GS chipset. The PSX included a built-in TV tuner, the ability to record TV shows and DVDs, broadband internet connectivity, and a memory card slot for viewing photos and playing MP3s. It was released in Japan in 2003 in two models: the DESR-5000 with a 160 GB hard drive and the DESR-7000 with a 250 GB hard drive.
The PlayStation 2 added online functionality through a network adaptor, which connected to the internet via Ethernet or dial-up. The adaptor was small and installed in the console's expansion bay. Sony did not run its own online service, so users connected through their internet service providers. Some providers, like AOL, charged extra fees for console connectivity.
Sony supported both broadband and dial-up internet, unlike Microsoft's Xbox, which required broadband. This made the PlayStation 2 more accessible to users with limited internet access. Sony let game developers and publishers manage their own online services, which meant users had to create separate accounts for each game, and online quality varied by developer.
The DualShock 2 controller improved on the original by adding pressure-sensitive inputs for the directional pad, face buttons, and shoulder buttons. It has 255 levels of pressure sensitivity. The controller is slightly lighter than the original due to simpler vibration motors. It has a black design and minor changes in weight and internal components.
Game library
The PlayStation 2 has a wide variety of games from around the world. Popular game series include Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Silent Hill, Gran Turismo, Persona, and Metal Gear. Most games in these series were only available on the PlayStation 2. Several important game series first appeared on the PlayStation 2, such as God of War (2005), Ratchet & Clank (2002), Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001), Sly Cooper (2002), Katamari (2004), Devil May Cry (2001), and Kingdom Hearts (2002). The most successful PlayStation 2 game is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), which sold 17.33 million copies. After the PlayStation 2 stopped being made in 2013, a total of 1.54 billion game copies were sold worldwide.
The PlayStation 2 was first released in Japan in 2000 with 11 games. Early popular games included Ridge Racer V (2000) and Tekken Tag Tournament (2000). When the console launched in North America, it had 29 games, and in Europe, it had 30 games. The last games released for the PlayStation 2 were Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin (2013) in Japan, FIFA 14 (2013) in North America, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (2013) in the United Kingdom.
Reception
The PlayStation 2 received praise from critics when it was first released. Early reviews highlighted its strong hardware, graphics, ability to play DVDs, and backward compatibility with games and hardware from the original PlayStation. Some early criticisms included the lack of online support, only two controller ports, and its higher price compared to the Dreamcast in 2000. In 2001, PC Magazine called the console "outstanding," noting features like the Emotion Engine CPU, 32 MB of RAM, support for IEEE 1394 (called "i.LINK" by Sony and "FireWire" by Apple), and two USB ports. However, the magazine also criticized the high cost of games and the limited support for only two controllers without a multitap accessory.
The ability to play DVDs was a major reason for the PlayStation 2's commercial success. At launch, the PS2 was priced similarly to standalone DVD players, making it an appealing choice for buyers. This feature helped attract more people beyond traditional gamers and encouraged more households to adopt DVD technology.
Some concerns arose after the first two popular games, Ridge Racer V (2000) and Tekken Tag Tournament (2000), lacked anti-aliasing, which made edges in graphics appear jagged. Later, there were worries about the limited number of high-quality new games. This changed in late 2001 with the release of many highly praised games. Later reviews, especially after the GameCube and Xbox launched, continued to praise the PlayStation 2's large game library and DVD playback. However, they often noted its weaker graphics compared to newer systems and its basic online service compared to Xbox Live. In 2002, CNET gave the console a 7.3 out of 10, calling it a "safe bet" but noting its graphics had jagged edges and its DVD playback had "passable" quality with "rudimentary" controls. The console’s two controller ports and expensive memory cards were also criticized.
The slim model of the PlayStation 2 was praised for its smaller size and built-in networking, but it was criticized for overheating easily due to the lack of a fan. The need for a separate power adapter was also a point of criticism, though the top-loading disc drive was less likely to break compared to the tray-loading drive in the original model.
The PlayStation 2 succeeded despite the earlier launch of Sega’s Dreamcast and later competed against Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube. Its success and the Dreamcast’s failure led Sega to leave the console market. Sony’s inclusion of a DVD player helped position the console as a cost-effective home entertainment device and expanded its reach beyond gamers. This feature contributed to its widespread use as DVD technology became more popular.
The PlayStation 2 was the exclusive platform for several important early games, including Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Final Fantasy X (2001), and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), during a time of major changes in game design. This era introduced cinematic storytelling and open-world gameplay, which increased the system’s popularity. According to Piers Harding-Rolls, a senior analyst at IHS Screen Digest, Sony’s marketing strategy, especially its connection to association football, helped the console gain strong sales in regions where gaming was previously less popular. Later, the PlayStation 2 expanded its audience by including lifestyle and social games, which helped it remain popular during the mid-2000s.
The PlayStation 2 is often ranked among the best video game consoles. In 2020, Keith Stuart from The Guardian named it the second best console, calling its "utter dominance" and technical strength a sign of a golden era in gaming. IGN ranked it third best in 2009, noting its wide variety of games and appeal to all audiences as proof of its lasting popularity. In 2018, Retro Gamer ranked it fifth best, praising its large game library and its ability to attract developers, calling it a machine with "mad architecture."