By the time the PS2 was released in 2000, the PlayStation brand was a household name. Selling well from launch, the PS2 was another success for Sony. Strong third party support and backwards compatability ensured a wide variety of games.
After release users reported a variety of problems including DVD playback and the infamous laser problem, where the machine was unable to read blue discs. This problem was so widespread that in America a class action lawsuit was filed against Sony.
2003 saw the Japanese only release of the PSX which was capable of recording video on DVD-R discs and featured either a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive. The PSX was visually very different from the PS2. A smoother white case that looked somewhat like a VCR replaced the grooved black case of the PS2. The PSX also had an updated user interface, similar to that of the PSP.
In 2004 a slimline version of the PS2 was released, not without its own problems. Because of the smaller case an external power supply was used, a number of which were recalled due to the possibility of overheating. The slimline version also featured an Ethernet port and integrated modem.
Despite these problems the PS2 was extremely popular, selling more than 115 million units world-wide to date according to Sony. It has been suggested this is an artificially high figure though, as some users report having owned as many as four or more replacement machines due to the problems with the laser.
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Contributors: Ste (text & info)
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I still have my fat ps2 from 2003 with the addition of the HD Loader and Network adapter and 120Gb HDD, the thing is still alot of fun and because of the HDD the games load really fast.
Saturday 28th January 2012
overloaded
I loved my "Fat" PS2 from 2003 to 2007, it died within a few months of this year and so I now have to buy a PS2 Slim to replace my old friend. But, all things aside I had some good times with it and I'll miss the old fatty PS2
Friday 7th March 2008
Christian (USA)
NAME
PlayStation 2
MANUFACTURER
Sony
TYPE
ORIGIN
Japan
YEAR
2000
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
CD Player + Memory Card manager
KEYBOARD
8-way d-pad, 10 buttons + Start + Select, two analog sticks
