Sony ’s PlayStation 2 rest home gaming console table set up in North America on October 26 , 2000 , pop off onto sell over 150 million units worldwide by 2011 and putting itself in a distant first place in term of sales against its tightlipped challenger , Microsoft ’s Xbox and Nintendo ’s GameCube ( 24 million and 21.7 million unit sold , respectively ) in the cognitive process . Bear in head that this was a console that was technologically inferior to its competitors , as the Xbox and GameCube both had more powerful hardware than the PS2 . So how did the least brawny gaming console of its epoch decimate its contender and become the best - selling console of all fourth dimension ? Well , that ’s a complicated question with many dissimilar ingredient , but if you were to nail down the best reason for the PlayStation 2 ’s overwhelming succeeder , the following would be it .
10. One Year Headstart
Although strike the market betimes is not always a guarantee of success ( one only need look at Sega ’s Dreamcast for that , a console table that ironically fail largely due to the PS2 ’s entry into the grocery a year later ) , but it work in Sony ’s favour when it fall to the PS2 itself . Although it did n’t have a slap-up launching batting order by any stretch , Sony spend the PS2 ’s first yr making it the go - to console table for Modern , forward-looking play experience . The PS2 ’s fall 2001 lineup alone is one of the best ever , with titles such asMetal Gear Solid 2 : son of Liberty , Devil May Cry , Final Fantasy X , and of course , Grand Theft Auto IIIoffering consumer a dizzying amount of choice .
When the Xbox and Gamecube set in motion in November of that same year , they each brought a much better lineup of titles than Sony had a yr before , but by that point , the PS2 had arrive into its own and offer the hard , more varied game depository library . element in other selling points such as the built - in DVD player and backwards compatibility ( more on those afterward ) and you get a pretty good estimate of why the PS2 ’s supererogatory year on the marketplace gave it a substantial edge over the Xbox and GameCube .
9. Longer Lifespan
Sony care to tout that each of its console have a 10 year lifespan , but this is much more than collective hyperbole , as test by the PS2 ’s ability to outlast the Xbox and Gamecube on the market . Most of us think of the seventh console generation as formally ending when the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii get on the scene in late 2006 , but the PS2 stay on to savor success years into its successor ’s lifecycle . While things definitely began to send packing off once developers started focusing on the PS3 , Xbox 360 , and Wii , the PS2 still enjoy a sizeable amount of support year after those cabinet murder the market .
Late contemporaries releases likeGod of War IIandPersona 4helped pad the organisation ’s already impressive subroutine library of must - have games , while annualized serial such as Madden kept up their annual releases , mean that many consumer take hold off on upgrading to next generation consoles tout ensemble . By the time the PS2 ultimately hit the “ sweet blot ” monetary value of $ 99 in April 2009 , it was still selling amazingly well for a 9 - year - sure-enough console and would continue to do so until Sony finally stop production in 2013 . The PS2 effectively enjoyed a whole other cabinet generation long after the Xbox and GameCube were abandon , which only helped add to its already ludicrously high gross sales figures .
8. Market Share and Word of Mouth
As has been proven repeatedly over the retiring few console generations , early impulse is incredibly important to continued success . The PlayStation 4 is a more attractive purchase than the Xbox One for many consumer in part because they probably know more people who own one and the same held true for the Xbox 360 , which became the console of option for online gaming in its respective generation . The PS2 also enjoyed this advantage , as Sony ’s cabinet became the “ definitive ” gaming machine of its era thanks to being in so many live rooms . More consumer end up choosing the PS2 because many of their friends and family already owned one or were at least considering it , make an ever - expanding upsurge of gross revenue that Sony rode to victory .
7. Design Aesthetics
When it comes to cabinet intent , the 6th generation serial was overall a rather ugly cluster . The Xbox was a heavy freak and the GameCube looked like a Fisher - damage toy dog ( although we still admire the singularity of Nintendo ’s design ) . Even the PlayStation 2 was n’t all that great looking , but its sleeker profile still give it an edge over the contest .
The PS2 ’s superscript design aesthetics did n’t work as important a part in the console ’s success as some of its other feature , but if you do n’t intend consumers will select a tech product based primarily on aspect , you clearly have n’t paid tending to what Apple ’s been doing for the better part of the last two decades . As much as the visual design of a console has absolutely no bearing on its ability to play secret plan , Sony harvest the benefits of the PS2 ’s more attractive design all the way to the money box and even improved things considerably when they released the PS2 Slim — arguably one of the better - looking console ever made — in 2004 .
6. The Controller
Sony take a “ if it ai n’t broke , do n’t fix it ” approach to the PS2 ’s restrainer design , as the DualShock 2 was largely selfsame to the PS1 ’s pad , barring a few modest tweaks and additions . At the time , consumers were used to seeing dramatic restrainer figure changes between cabinet generations , which made Sony ’s decision to not rock the boat surprising , but it was a conclusion that ultimately paid off . candidly , the DualShock 2 benefited as much from its own fantabulous functionality as it did from Microsoft and Nintendo ’s gaffes when it came to their own controller .
The original Xbox pad was objectively bad , as it was but right smart too expectant to be used comfortably by anyone who did n’t have basketball role player - sized hands . The GameCube control , while much more comfortable than what the Xbox initially extend , had a few issues of its own that held it back , namely its outre button layout , deficient 2d analog peg , and the lack of a fourth shoulder release . Microsoft and Nintendo would go on to put out much - improved comptroller design , but they still arguably were n’t as good or as pop as the DualShock 2 , which still stand as one of the greatest video game controllers of all time .
5. Strong Third Party Support
If you were to point to a individual game that tippytoe the scales and put the PlayStation 2 genesis in Sony ’s favor , Grand Theft Auto IIIwould in all probability be it , as Rockstar ’s open world crime escapade was revolutionary in term of 3D secret plan invention … and it was only available on the PS2 ( at least initially ) . WhileGTA IIIwas an of import cistron in the PS2 ’s other success , Sony ’s console table revel these sort of moment continuously throughout its lifecycle thanks to solid support from third - party developers .
Thanks in large part to Criterion license out its RenderWare intention software , which made it much easier for developer to make game for the PS2 ’s complex organisation architecture , companies were able to pump out game cheaply and quickly , bolstering the PS2 ’s library of titles . The GameCube had terrible third - party living , so they were scantily a factor in that particular wash , and while the Xbox had very stiff third - party backing , it still did n’t rival the PS2 ’s , even if the Xbox version of multi - platform game were typically superior to their PS2 counterpart , thanks to the Xbox ’s beefier system spec .
4. More Exclusive Games
While the PS2 ’s incredible storey of third - political party support is often cited as one of the main drivers of its winner , people tend to overlook just how strong the arrangement ’s batting order of exclusive games was . The Xbox and GameCube may have had the “ best ” exclusives overall in the form of form of address likeHaloandThe Legend of Zelda : The Wind Waker , but the PS2 had agency more of them and most of them have become honest classics .
God of War , Ratchet and Clank , Jak and Daxter , Ico , Shadow of the Colossus … these were just a few of the titles and series that were born on the PS2 and helped make it an exclusives human dynamo . Factor in the staggering telephone number of JRPGs that could only be play on PS2 and you have a library that was delivering must - play titles at a rapid pace , whereas the beneficial Xbox and GameCube exclusives were few and far between . have the most exclusives is n’t always an important broker in a console ’s achiever ( both the Xbox One and Wii U arguably had a much stronger ticket of exclusive games than the PS4 did early on on , yet that cabinet managed to outsell them by a wide margin ) , but it sure did n’t pain the PlayStation 2 .
3. Backwards Compatibility
Backwards compatibility persist in to be an important talking point in the game industry to this day , as evidenced by the overpoweringly - positive reaction to Microsoft ’s Xbox One backwards compatibilityannouncementlast class . The PS2 may have launched with a lusterless lineup of games , but it had an ace up its sleeve that would leaven to be important to its early success : the ability to dally the PS1 ’s large collection of game . This effectively expanded the PS2 ’s depository library of title and was an vantage that the Xbox and GameCube could never hope to match .
As Microsoft ’s first home gaming console , the Xbox had no program library to go back to , and playing Nintendo 64 games on GameCube would have been functionally unacceptable without some sort of expensive hyperkinetic syndrome - on given Nintendo ’s modification from cartrdige - base media to mini DVD . Overall , rearward compatibility will never be the master merchandising detail of any patch of gambling computer hardware , but it emphatically play an authoritative office in the PS2 ’s former eld .
2. DVD Player
Sony ’s consoles have build a report of being trojan horses for fledgling raw media applied science , as evidenced by how the PlayStation ’s built - in Blu - ray campaign helped establish the data formatting as the industry touchstone over its competitor HD - DVD . Before Blu - ray of path , there was DVD , and the PlayStation 2 happen to include DVD playback as a key feature right out of the logic gate . Back in 2000 , DVD players were still quite expensive , so when Sony get in on the market with a play console table that doubled as a pretty decent DVD actor , it was an attractive proposition for value - conscious consumer .
While it is true that the Xbox had a videodisc player as well ( which also gave that console an edge over the GameCube and its want of DVD playback ) and that there issome debateabout the level to which the PS2 helped drive the videodisc format , there ’s no disputing that the feature was a great contributor to the cabinet ’s former success , especially consider how few must - have games were available when it launched .
1. Branding
The primal reason the PS2 was so successful was due to Sony ’s ability to initially brand it as the console table of the future — and when everyone finally found out that the PS2 ’s technical abilities were grossly overhyped post - launch — the ability to modulation and sword the console asthegaming destination for adults . The original PlayStation enjoyed a reputation of being a gaming console for grown - ups , as oppose to the Nintendo 64 ’s ( somewhat unfair ) reputation as a toy for kid and young teens . If anything , the PlayStation 2 doubled down on this grownup branding and build itself as the go - to political platform for naturalistic , grown - up biz . The Xbox was able-bodied to work a standardised audience , but it just did n’t have PlayStation ’s name credit at that time .
When you roil thing down , the PlayStation 2 was neither the most knock-down or most adequate to cabinet of its earned run average , but it was the best choice for consummate gaming , and that ’s the principal grounds why consumers gravitated to it and helped it become the most successful console of all clip .
