The PlayStation 2’s life is coming to an end in Japan after 12 amazing years.
After selling a record number of consoles worldwide and further cementing Sony’s place as a videogame making power-house (well, before klutz-ing it all up with the PS3), it appears that the PlayStation 2 has reached its production end. In Japan at least, as sources from Famitsu (via Polygon) have confirmed that the system will no longer be shipping to retailers in its country of origin.
What a spectacular journey the PS2 has been on; released back in March 4th of 2000, the console quickly beat the pants off its Dreamcast, GameCube, and Xbox competitors and had such immense staying power in Japan that a games were still being released for it, years after the PlayStation 3 took its place as Sony’s flagship gaming machine.
Of course, Sony’s willingness to bleed every last dollar out of their devices like a business-savvy vampire played a big role in that, but it’s still an amazing feat to consider. Another well-earned feat that can be attributed to the PS2 is the adaption of the DVD format. My first DVD player was a PS2, and I’m sure for loads of gamers during early half of the new century, the same could be said of them.
But who cares about silly features like that, right? It’s the games we’ll remember the most, and the PS2 was host to many of them during its heyday: Metal Gear Solid 3, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, and mountain of other notable classics. It’s just drat shame you can’t easily revisit them all on the PS3, but if you can find a working PS2, I’d totally recommend diving through the console’s vast library.
Sony hasn’t made it clear if they’ll be shutting down manufacturing for the PS2 globally, but with the PlayStation 4 on the near horizon (get excite!) and with only a scant few places even carrying the system anymore (sorry, Kmart shoppers), I wouldn’t be surprised if total production ceased a.s.a.p. And if that time is indeed upon us, then I for one salute the passing of a great friend and time killer.
Another fine time killer, you might ask? Well, that would be the latest geeky highlights – best magical items in fiction, Kid Icarus action figures, and what not – provided by your friends here on Walyou.
