The PlayStation 2 was perhaps always destined for complete domination during the sixth console generation, regardless of whether it had the ability to play DVDs or not, simply due to the fact it was following up Sony’s PlayStation console that took the world by storm, forever changing the gaming landscape.
Sony first launched the PlayStation 2 in Japan back on 4th March 2000, followed by 26th October 2000 for North America and 24th November 2000 for Europe and right at the end of the month for Australia. Largely thanks to being a cheap way to watch DVDs, the PlayStation 2 went on to become the best selling console of all time at a staggering 155 million units sold by the time production ended on 4th January 2013. Only the Nintendo DS has come close to matching or even beating the PlayStation 2 with a grand total of 154 million units sold by the end of its life.
However, something interesting has happened as today Sony has officially revealed that they have revised the figures of how many PlayStation 2 consoles have sold by 5 million. This means that according to Sony, the PlayStation 2 has managed to sell 160 million units though exactly where and how these additional console sales comes from is unknown.
We don’t think this updated sales figure is anything to do with Nintendo’s Switch being only approximately 12 million shy from outselling the PlayStation 2 prior to this announcement, although never say never. A lot of gamers on both sides will no doubt make that claim. It is however nonetheless a surprising update for such an old console, though with it being 24 years since the PlayStation 2 launched, and in just a few days, Sony will be celebrating thirty years of the PlayStation brand of consoles, timing does seem pretty coincidental.
