People always talk about dog years, or cat years, but what about video game console years?
It's hard to know what that math is, but one thing is certain: Sony's PlayStation 2 turned 9 years old Wednesday, and it sure feels like the best-selling video game console of all time has been around a whole lot longer than that.
Yet even though we're already more than three years into the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Wii console generation, the PS2 is still going strong. Routinely, month after month, its sales are in six figures--146,000 in September in the United States alone, according to The NPD Group--and there's no reason to think the 485 (and counting) developers who have made games for the platform are going to stop any time soon.
The PS2 turned 9 on Wednesday. What's that in video game years, if dog and cat years are equal to 7 human years?
(Credit: Sony)In large part, that's because there are millions of people for whom the world-beating processing power of the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and the graphics-so-good-you-can-see-beads-of-sweat-on-sports-players'-bodies aren't worth paying several hundred dollars for. For $100, they say, you can get one heck of a good video game playing experience with a PS2.
It "still holds a place in my heart--there's so many great games with huge amounts of replay value," said Michael Steavenson, a public relations professional who bought his PS2 around 2001. "I'm not so interested in blazingly fast processing speeds, graphics that make games look like a movie, or uber-cutting-edge hardware stats. If the game is well-designed, fun to play, and provides me with a good emotional connection, I'll play it forever."
According to Sony, one out of every three U.S. households owns a PS2, and, worldwide, almost 140 million people have one. To date, Americans have bought more than half a billion PS2 games, and all told, nearly 10,000 titles have been released for the platform. Not bad for a machine that has earned the right to be living out its golden years sitting on a porch somewhere, smoking a cigar and grumbling about kids these days.
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PS2 outsells more powerful consoles. This is not a repeat from 2002.
(Credit: Sony)I'm starting to feel bad for Sony and the PS3 camp. I really am. Sales figures from The NPD Group, a prominent business research firm, show the three top spots for April's console sales went, respectively, to Nintendo for the DS, Wii, and DSi.
Then came Microsoft with the Xbox 360. Finally, Sony rounds out the rest, with the PS3 coming in sixth--behind its predecessor, the PS2. Ouch.
Of course, this likely has much to do with the price drop we reported on more than a month ago that took the PS2 to the $99.99 mark, a significant price point.
Still, it's got to be hard on the PS3 team knowing it got beat for a month by its 9-year-old little brother. And this doesn't mention the PSP, which comes in seventh place behind even the PS3.
The PS3 remains the most impressive gaming console in terms of hardware, but if Sony can't find a way to gain some sales traction and stop the declines, it might not matter.
(Credit:
Sony)
No April Foolery here: Sony has announced that it's dropping the price of the PlayStation 2 from $129 to $100 as of April 1. The move confirms rumors that had surfaced in recent days.
Originally introduced in 2000, the current iteration of the PS2 is a superslim console that also doubles as a CD and DVD player. It has a library of around 1,900 games, including many classics that can be found in bargain bins at local stores and online. And unlike the PS3, the older model actually has an infrared port, so you can use a standard universal remote to control movie playback.
So what do you think: any interest in picking up a newly encheapened PS2? Or are you holding out hope that Sony will eventually drop the price of the PlayStation 3?
On Sale Now: $74.99 - $99.99
View the latest prices for Sony PlayStation 2 (slim form factor)
(Credit:
Activision)
It's been interesting to hear Sarah Palin, the Republican VP nominee, accusing Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists"--a huge distraction, in my opinion, from the economic crisis and other pressing issues. If that's not the kind of distraction you enjoy, I have another that might prove more fun.
Activision announced Friday that its new first-person shooter Secret Service will be released later this year for three platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and the PC. The title will let players assume the role of an elite agent tasked with protecting America's top leadership under high pressure.
The story takes place on Inauguration Day in Washington D.C. An extremist assault has been launched against the capitol and it's unclear who's friend or foe. There's no time for negotiation as players get thrust into the line of fire to protect the nation's leaders. The action takes place among famous landmarks and everywhere in between, including both Marine One and Air Force One.
Secret Service will cost $39.99 for the Xbox 360, $29.99 for PlayStation 2, and $19.99 for PC. Now with all the confusion and distraction going in the political arena, I think it's necessary to say that this game is not approved, endorsed, or authorized by the real U.S. Secret Service.
When Sony argues, as it frequently does these days, that its video game consoles have a 10-year life cycle, critics often assume the company is just trying to make the point that its PlayStation 3 has many years left in which to become the dominant machine of the current generation.
The PlayStation 2 has been on the market for nearly nine years, proving there may well be truth to Sony's claim of a 10-year console life cycle.
(Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment of America)There may be some truth to that interpretation, but at the same time, Sony does indeed have a point, as evidenced by the continued strong performance of its PlayStation 2, a console it has sold more than 140 million units of since launching it in 2000.
Even now, the PS2 is still selling fairly well, moving 188,000 units in June, just 14.1 percent less than the 219,800 Xbox 360s Microsoft sold in the same period, according to industry analyst the NPD Group.
With all that in mind, the good folks over at IGN ran a recent story looking at the "state" of the PS2. And the general conclusion? The PS2 is doing just fine, thank you--even after all these years.
"For the time being, the PS2 doesn't seem to be left in the lurch and seems destined to actually live up to the much-vaunted '10-year life cycle' that Sony keeps talking about," IGN's Sam Bishop wrote. "Some developers like Atlus and Sega, are still supporting the system with new, exclusive games like Persona 4 and Yakuza 2, respectively. With no shortage of Guitar Heroes or Maddens, the system's library isn't nearly as bleak as one would assume for a console entering the full decade stretch."
The article goes on to make the case that the PS2 still offers a full spectrum of games in all categories, and that with the success of Nintendo's Wii, the PS2 is very well positioned as a more casual game machine.
"The bottom line is that the PS2 is hardly down and out," Bishop wrote. "It's a little surprising, really--even to us--that the library has this much steam. Chalk it up to plenty of familiarity with the hardware...,an absolutely epic install base that's still growing, and the fact that the PS2 is just plain awesome, and you can see why we're still staring down another monster end of the year."
(Credit:
I4U News)
Custom shops have been painting PlayStations red for years, but Sony is only now getting around to doing the same itself in Japan--and even at that, it's only the PS2, not the newer PS3. Nine years after its launch, the PlayStation 2 will be draped in "Cinnabar Red" this summer for 16,000 yen, or about $152, according to I4U News.
Apparently on some kind of binge, Sony is also releasing on the Japanese market a "Metallic Blue" version of the PSP, apparently the same color that's available in the States only as part of the "Madden NFL 09" package.
It remains a mystery to us why manufacturers don't do this kind of thing more often, as outfits such as Colorware have been making gobs of money doing custom paint jobs on their own. Perhaps companies just hold the option in reserve to boost sagging sales when they don't have any real upgrades to offer. Actually, we just answered our own question.
Sony's PlayStation 3 console
(Credit: Sony)Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on Thursday a full list of the games and hardware bundles that it will be launching for its PlayStation systems--PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation portable (PSP)--for the fast-approaching holiday season.
The games, both first- and third-party, range from "enthusiast" titles geared toward the traditional young-male "gamer demographic," to more casual and social games "This holiday season we are offering our largest line up of quality software and hardware products to meet every taste, lifestyle and budget," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of product marketing for SCEA, said in a statement.
Sony is pitching the older PlayStation 2 console as an affordable hub for casual games, like SingStar and Buzz: The Mega Quiz. The PS2 is also "getting a social makeover with limited edition ceramic white hardware" and a new price of $149.99--perhaps as Sony's answer to that other white gaming console, you know, the one from Nintendo.
Among the more highly anticipated Sony titles are EA's Rock Band and The Orange Box; Activision's Guitar Hero III; and The Eye of Judgment, a trading card-based game that Sony developed in conjunction with Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast subsidiary.
A full list, below the jump:
... Read MoreElectronic Arts on Wednesday announced that it will release this fall a new Simpsons video game.
The announcement, by the world's-largest video game publisher, came just minutes before an invite-only press event in San Francisco where it was expected to make a "special announcement." It's not yet clear if the two announcements are one and the same.
(Credit:
Twentieth Century Fox)
The game, which is expected to be released this fall in conjunction with Gracie Films and Twentieth Century Fox, will feature the familiar Simpsons characters, and presumably, the storyline. It will also feature the voice actors from the TV series.
"In The Simpsons Game, Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa use exciting, all-new powers to save the world from rising chaos," EA wrote in a press release about the new game. "To help the Simpsons, gamers at home must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond), vanquish an amazing array of villains, and fight their way through parodies of multiple popular games."
The game is slated to be released for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii.
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