Hi everyone, the last time you heard from me, I talked about the huge milestone that PlayStation 2 achieved – reaching 50 million units sold in North America. Today I’m excited to talk about another milestone in PlayStation 2’s lifespan. For the first time ever, PlayStation 2 will be offered at a price point under $100 (that’s $99.99 MSRP, to be exact), starting April 1!
Why is this so significant? Well most importantly, this new price means that more people than ever will be able to join in on the fun that so many of you PlayStation 2 owners have been enjoying for years, which means new families will become part of the platform’s record-breaking install base. With this new price, we intend to introduce a new generation of consumers – some of whom weren’t even alive when the system was first introduced in 2000 – to the immense entertainment value offered by PlayStation 2.
In the gaming industry, the typical lifecycle for a console is around five years, but because we build each of our platforms for a large and diverse consumer base, we design our platforms differently. With the original PlayStation and now PlayStation 2, we’ve proven that consumers can rely on our platforms for their gaming and entertainment needs for at least a decade. This speaks to the technology and features that were packed into PlayStation 2 from the beginning, as well as to the ongoing support the platform enjoys from the publishing and retail communities and, well, all of you fans.
PlayStation 2’s unmatched gaming library will grow to nearly 1,900 titles from both our first-party studios and publishing partners this year, with a particular focus on the social and sports genres that are so popular with the emerging family demographic. This will include games such as MLB ’09, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Guitar Hero Metallica and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge…not to mention the 250 titles that have achieved “Greatest Hits” status. With all of that content, PlayStation 2 is a great option for families looking for ways to share their entertainment experiences together; they can rock out to Rock Band, test their trivia knowledge with Buzz!, or simply use the PlayStation 2 as their DVD or CD player.
So to everyone who’s enjoyed PlayStation 2 over the years, thanks for your continued support. And to those who will now be joining the PlayStation family, welcome!
Sony we know you make tons of money on PS2. This is not excitement. Lets hear some games for PSP, or a PS3 price drop so more can play awesome games like Flower and Killzone2.
Wow, most people here are pretty darn dumb. Sony didn’t hype this announcement. The internet did. All Sony stated was there was an announcement to be made. Instead of getting all hyped up about an announcement for an announcement why don’t you people start taking chill-pills and wait to see what it is. Speculation is great but jumping on board of one single idea for some random website or two isn’t a good way to think.
This is big news for Sony really. While 99% of us here have PS2s a cheaper PS2 means that sales will boost for the PS2 which could effect Xbox 360 and Wii sales.
Also you people have zero understanding that a drop in the PS3’s price would negate all efforts to cut manufacturing costs for the console making Sony go back to square one. If that happens Sony Corporate might just pull the plug on the PlayStation brand completely. Quit being dumb and think with your heads. Let Sony rake in as much money at the current price as they can and we could probably expect a holiday price cut.
Do I care – NO!!! Sony is a joke these days ,What next PS3 price hike? Com’on Sony you kin do it….. PS3 is on Lifesupport.If no GOW3 this Xmas PS3 is teh doomed!!!!!
whhhhhhhoooooooooooooo giiivvvvveesss a
oh wait wrong forums
@ 452 Wow, you really think that someone in the market for a wii or 360 will now instead turn to the ps2? really???? Do you know anyone with a 360???? They all talk about hating the ps 2/3 controllers and laugh that we can’t party chat etc. They have no interest in anything sony…..talk to them you’ll see. As for the wii, nintendo has their own thing going people of all ages are ga ga over the thing and nintendo doesn’t even know why. The real loser in sales will be the ps3. If a consumer goes to a retail store and wants to buy a sony gaming system for the first time this is what they will see. PS3 $399 and PS2 $99.99, and they will look for a game they want i.e. Madden 09 PS3 $60 and PS2 $30. I hope you are right, but logic and a ton of friends with all kinds of systems tells me very different.
*continues waiting for PS3 to be able to provide ALL Sony’s had to offer*
Why, when the Wii conforms to all its home console predecessors, is the PS3 still not able to play its last generation? Why would I want to use a different console with (assumably) sub-‘par’ video(/audio) cables when it should, in this day and age, be possible to consolidate everything into the modern entrant? Heck, even WITH a PS3 price cut, it’d still cost me more to get what I want.
@455 – even if it doesn’t effect 360 sales it will effect Wii sales as people are getting more and more careful with their money. If they can get a game system with over 1900 games for $99, they will.
Also if you compare sales within the same time-frame the PS3 has outsold the 360 by ~2.5 million consoles since launch. They year head start is what gave the 360 the “edge” it has.
No matter what more sales for the PS2 means more profit going into Sony’s pocket. Let them gain profit they will cut prices on both the PSP and PS3 by the end of the year.
what you KIDS don’t seem to understand is popularity doesn’t equal quality. britney spears sells alot more albums than Radiohead that clearly doesn’t make her better. Enjoy your Ps3 and don’t listen to what a bunch of greasy fanboys try to tell you.
this can’t be the big announcement a price cut ain’t that big of news come on sony let us hear something about the ps3 let hear about the firmware 2.70 a used a ps2 at gamestop is $60 right now your fans are talking to you don’t let them down
Epic FAIL, Sony. Nice.
Just to clarify: I have no problem with the PS2 price cut, really.
What I -DO- have a problem with is the Reality Distortion Field that John Koller, Kaz, and Tretton seem to be living in. Why on earth would Sony marketing spin up the hype machine days in advance to announce a $30 price cut on a 9 year-old last gen console?
The sad thing is, these guys actually BELIEVE that this is big news! I think they honestly think this is some industry shaking, game changing milestone for the “Playstation Brand ™”
Sorry gents. The cold hard truth is that NOBODY cares if the ps2 lives out it’s final days in the retail channel at $99 or $129.
Wake up Sony. The PS2 is fading into a well-deserved history. Your real market segment is the PS3 and it is in serious trouble. This game is all about market share, boys. The PS3 needs a price cut. Period.
Everyone (but John, Jack, and Kaz) seems to understand this basic fact.
@458 and 457 Dispite what appears to be a difference in opinion we want the same thing. A year from now PS3 to be able to claim that they are the king of the next gens. To validate your and my purchase of the PS3. I have been in Sony’s corner the whole time up til now. I just feel that they need to focus on improving the features of the ps3 and if they do that it WILL sell the way it should. I understand the corp. thinking here but that doesn’t help me sitting here with a $600 ps3(bought it the day it came out), play in game music, or private chat in game, or cross game. It doesn’t help the millions that wan’t backwords comp., or more avatars etc. Just saying take a lesson from infinity ward. Listen to the people and they will reward the heck out of you. Check the cod4 sales number, and Modern Warfare 2 will be even bigger!
@460 See he gets it!
I’m not so okay with the announcement yeah its good but I expected 69.99 ,99.99 is still too much but I think no I really wish to have backwards to my ps3 hell I even pay 49.99 for having it in my PS3 I really dont care the price cut if we are going to have all we want…so please give us backwards .
nobody cares about fricken ps2 price. drop the ps3 price!!
Thanks Sony for being so completely out of touch with the market. Why, would you as a company send out the word that you’ll be making a “big” announcement and then announce something as moronic as this? I’ve been on your side since the beginning of this Playstation 3 mess and now I think I’ve had it. Way to continue to eat into the PS3’s market share by continuing to hype up the stupid PS2. It’s as if you are beginning to give up on the PS3 now. Why this even deserved a major news announcement is beyond me. Just drop the price and be done with it. Sony is forcing me to go buy a Xbox 360 since I’ll never get a good 3rd party game on the PS3 any longer.
To those who want a price drop for the PS3 soo bad… Sony has already confirmed they wont drop the price, they’ve confirmed it many times, at least my sources tell me. It’s nice to see a drop in the PS2, this will surely bring more young gamers into the gaming world now that the price is dropped and there is 100’s of $20 or less games to buy.
Now, there may be a PS3 slim in the future, using less components and power, that will be cheaper to make and sell, but i dont see that coming for at least 2- 3 more years from now. If you really want a PS3 so bad, get a job, or save 20 bucks a week and in less the half a year, youll have enough to buy one lol.
I really dont feel the price is the problem (hell 360 price is more high if you count the online ,wifi, batteries.
we have those plus blueray , I feel the problem is backwards on ps3 i kn ow lots of people that dont wanna pay cuz the new models don’t have backwards.
Most of you people make this sound likes its the end of the world. Well guess what?! its not, and there are less fortunate people out there that don’t have a ps2 or a dvd player, and this may just bring them to come onboard with the Playstaion.
To all the ones complaining, get a life! as there is still much to look forward to, and the world does not revolve around you!
Remember that another mans trash is another mans treasure, and this news is no different.
Playstation ^
this is awful…. since i have a Nintendo 64 lol…i hope better news to come…something related to ps3 as everybody have been saying =S
The ps2 needed a price drop; $129 seemed pretty high.
I’m just glad I purchased a backwards compatible ps3 since it doesn’t seem like Sony will ever implement bc on newer consoles (at least not any time soon).
I also think support of the ps2 is important. Just think of all the developers that are still creating/porting games to the ps2!
RPG FANS ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT!!
Check http://WWW.NEWRPG.JP! No PS3exclusive, but at least no 360 exclusive either!
Oh it says: New Tri Ace RPG, until start of project after .. hours .. minutes .. seconds.
Lol, wow. Big news? I already own a PS2. This is big news maybe to 5 people living in trash cans. Even 360 fanatics probably own a PS2.
And NO it ain’t an April Fools joke!… at least… I hope *prays on her knees*.
Stop complaining, I think that the PS2 price cut is a good movement from Sony, I think that it will help to those people who doesn’t have a PS3 with retrocompatibility.
Yawn…
Drop the ps3 price tag already!!! I want another PS3 for my girl she keep using my mine playing “LITTLE BIG PLANET” I can’t get on SOCOM or KZ2.. WHY!!! SONY?
Drop the ps3 price tag already!!! I want another PS3 for my girl she keep using mine playing “LITTLE BIG PLANET” I can’t get on SOCOM or KZ2.. WHY!!! SONY?
Good move. PS2 sales had started to decline. This is great for those who can’t affort a 7th Gen system, and the number of titles out there is staggering! Also good for those who have a PS3 and want to play some older titles.
This seems to be an attempt to break into the Wii’s stranglehold on the casual/family market, which makes sense (similar graphics, comparable games). It could work well if marketed properly and extend the PS2 lifespan another couple of years.
Just wonder what this means for a backwards compatibility update for the newer PS3’s. Will that be shelved to encourage families to buy an actual PS2? Basically, the day all PS3’s are backwards compatible is the day the PS2 is done as a console.
@ Onna76_NL
Good for Japan. When they announce a PS3 version for the US, then we’ll give a crap. I suppose next you are gonna post about the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia. Still not in America, still don’t care.
@LokeSTL speak only for yourself there are many RPG fans like me, who “do” care and are very happy that I’ve mentioned it. That you don’t care… I don’t really care.
Oh and get out in the sun, you sound too depressed.
@481
That’s the trick. Everyone complains about all the extra equipment you have to buy for a 360, but they are over looking the fact that Sony is more or less doing the same thing. Instead of offering backwards compatibility like everyone else, they are going to make you buy a ps2 to continue to play those games. As far as putting it into the ps3, not going to happen as long as the ps2 is still on the shelves. Unlike Nintendo and Microsoft, Sony would actually rather you waste your money on old hardware instead of buying the new stuff. That way they don’t have draw so much attention to the fact that they have NO CLUE how to make the ps3 software work the way everyone wants it to.
This is the only logical explanation for me since the parts of the software that are missing are things the 360 has had running since launch and dispite everyone’s plees and complaints, Sony still refuses to add the missing functionality. 2.7 update? don’t hold your breath. They don’t care about the ps3. If they did they would act like, and they don’t. They’ve never done anything to promote that console. It almost seems like the only reason it even exists is because people expected them to make it, not because they wanted to.
I guess…I’m pretty mad right now, they said it would be a BIG announcement!! I told all my friends to get their wallet and go to any Wal-Mart and buy a Playstation 3 because it’s surely a price cut for the PS3… But what the hell….no PS3-related announcement? It could’ve been a game (Legend of Dragoon 2 for example) , firmware update 2.70 or a price-cut, a new IP…
I have a Playstation 2 since December 2000 too .. and I have to say I don’t know how it’s suppose to please their loyals fans who bought a Playstation 3… I’m happy to know that many people will be able to test the Playstation 2 from now on… but…Playstation 3 left in dust ???
thanks for the awesome information cause im thinking of buying a ps2
Sony is milking the PS2. Sony, you’re not going to win over *new* gamers, they’re buying the Wii. In fact, I have the PS3 and now I feel like I made a mistake and should’ve brought the Wii. Games on the PS3 are not there, despite what Sony is saying. Now, if you’re making all the PS3 compatible with PS2 games, you’ve won over *all* gamers. Bad call Sony.
@soonglim
(comment 488)
how could buying a ps3 be a mistake?
have you seen the wii’s graphics? or it’s total lack of non-family oriented games?
Maybe you feel like you should have gotten a Wii because you haven’t bought the right games. Maybe you bought haze. Or shaun white snowboarding. Or some other lame game.
I’m not going to pick on you for your grammar, it’s too easy.
To make “ALL” ps3’s compatable with ps2 games, it would require them to ‘repo’ each system. I bought my ps3 KNOWING it wouldn’t be backwards compatable, because it saved me money and i didn’t need it, since i HAVE a ps2. If you want to play ps2 games, go pick up a ps2, brand new, for under $100! ‘New’ gamers don’t know any better, therefore, they are buying the wii. Their parents think they’re getting their kids exercise. The wii is the most parent friendly system. So it may have call of duty 5, and a few other mature games, but it lacks a good selection.
nintendo is dying.
wii will be the last system made by nintendo.
I would rather have a ps2 than a wii.
I would trade a wii for a ps2.
There’s a plethora of ps3 games to choose from, why not read some reviews before buying lame ones? Maybe your gaming experience will be better.
Well I don’t know about everyone else but I am glad that PS2 is now under a $100, x-specially that way times are now with money and jobs being limited. My first PS2 I lent it to a friend and they trashed it. (MY BAD I KNOW) So now I have to get another one and now that it is more affordable I will get another one this weekend. WHOO HOOO!!!!!
Thanks Sony for letting everyone know that guitar hero metallica can not be played on any other ps2 system except for the newest one. So ur telling me i need to schill out 100 bucks for the system and then another 40 for the game. I’m getting older, I dont play video games a lot anymore. This was going to probably be my last video game purchase and now i probably wont get anything from sony every again. Used to being loyal, but after they did this, I’ll just go with samsung. Thanks for ruining my day Sony.
Congrats Xbox! Sony is now officially LAME…sony is still tryin to sell the ps2 f***in man up and reduce the ps3 and dump the ps2….d***heads.