Tue Nov 6, 2007 10:45PM EST
See Comments (13)
Folks, you read that right. A new PS2, not PS3, is reportedly on tap for release in 2008, eight years after its initial release.
Details are light on this story from gaming industry magazine MCV. According to reports, the new PS2 will be redesigned (again), have an integrated power supply instead of an external brick, and be on sale for all of $99, down from the current $129.
This move bodes ill for the PS3, which many had assumed would have completely shoved the PS2 off the market by now. Now consumers have even less of a reason to upgrade. Meanwhile, PS2 titles continue to arrive on the market, though they have begun slowing down... finally.
With 120 million consoles sold worldwide, the PS2 is the best-selling gaming console of all time. By comparison, the PS3 has sold 5.6 million units as of the most recent data; Sony shipped 10 million PS2 consoles in year one.
Can PS2 make it to 10 years? Sure seems that way.
Update: Reuters has confirmation from Sony on the launch and more details, which will trim 4 1/2 ounces from the weight of the current "slim" design. The launch in Japan is now set for November 22, at the same price as the existing PS2. No additional news on a launch in the United States, but I see no reason why it wouldn't roll out here as well, though perhaps not at that hoped-for sub-$100 price.
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
jrojas.....you are too quick to dismiss the appeal of a 99 dollar console that plays good games. I do have a PS3, but only because i have a HDTV. I still have a first generation Xbox too. If I didn't have a HDTV, I would never have bought a PS3. There is still a market for these. I will say that having to launch a new version may have been unnecessary though. These things still sell like hotcakes.
i have PS2.but i travel for other countries. so i need to have another Ps2 !!, another thing ...every electric thing have life..so some old ps2 may damaged so this ppl need to buy new one! and dont forget the big gap between prices between ps2 and 3.
If they really integrate the power supply, and trim down the already trim footprint, it will sell very well. I do not have the numbers, but in early PS2 days, they did a complete redesign and price drop for the Play Station, renamed it PSone, and sold a ton thru the holidays. It may really, in the end, work out for them IF (and this is a big IF) they are trying to pull new gamers into the "PS" fold, with hopes of retaining and even growing that base to have a potential upgrade to PS3 down the road. I would have thought that Sony was capable of pulling this off a few years ago, but I fear that they are lost in the forest. Time will tell.
When the PS3 came out, it was too soon and too expensive with too few games. Until Microsoft and Sony clear up the backwards compatibility issues with their respective "next-gen" consoles, I'll stick to my PS2.
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1 Posted by jirojas on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:35PM EDT Report Abuse
HA! What are they thinking? Who is gonna buy this? Do they really think someone who hasn't bought a PS2 by now will buy one?