Why the PS2 Was So Successful

The news that the PS2 officially ended its manufacturing hit the Twinfinite offices pretty hard last week. Tears were shed. It is without a doubt, the end of an era. Since our site has a certain affinity for the number 2, the PS2 has meant something a bit more. Not only was it a great console, but many have decreed it the greatest console.

What made the little black box so amazing in a world full of quirky Nintendo consoles and Microsoft’s big black behemoth?

[wishingW3L]

because most 3rd party devs developed exclusively for it. But why they did that? It was a combination of the hype, brand name at the time and good timing.

[morkendo23]

"WHY THE PS2 SO SUCCESSFUL"
Do we really need to answer that???

VARIETY,VARIETY,VARIETY!!!! something ps3 is missing greatly fps,and multiplayer only games don't count as selection of variety of games more like single minded games. ( developers) stuck on FPS.

We need more VARIETY!!!!!! we need a PETITION, boycott developers no more first person shooters, no more first person shooters!!!!

[caseh]

There's plenty of variety out there, not every game released is an FPS. I have about 80 PS3 games and only two of them are FPS games.

As for PS2 success, Sega alienated all 3rd party devs and went under as a result, Xbox was very late to the party and Gamecube had a fraction of the games and was seen by many as a console for kids.

Hardly rocket science is it.

[miyamoto]

PS2 had the perfect balance of power, price and performance, multi purpose functionality CD DVD games, backward compatibility, balance of Japanese and western games, variety , diversity of game types,experimental and mainstream games, worldwide appeal, upgradability,

[SilentNegotiator]

1) Games
2) Games
3) Games
4) DVD
5) Games
6) Good Price/Power balance
7) Games

Honorable mentions: GAMESGAMESGAMESGAMESGAMESGAMES

[dedicatedtogamers]

It definitely comes down to games.

But also, it has to do with a widening market. The stigmata surrounding gaming lifted around the time the PS2 came out. Arcades weren't those dark dens full of sweaty nerds, because arcades weren't around anymore. The internet wasn't the domain of WoW geeks, because the internet hadn't been integrated into gaming quite yet. More and more people who grew up with Nintendo and SEGA thought to themselves "maybe gaming isn't so bad. Let's try it". And lo, here's the PS2, the successor to the highest-selling console of all time.

[Relientk77]

For me it was the quality and quantity of fantastic games, and backwards compability

[Irishguy95]

Highest amount of quality games by a long shot. Was the 'thing' to get for casuals and kids too.

[Yangus]

Why? Simple. Many awesome games. End.

[BitbyDeath]

Cause it came out before Xbox

[kingmushroom]

lmao good one.

[nolifeking]

I remember a dream use, dreamers some dream coming first, but what do I know of facts or history?

[BitbyDeath]

I think it's a valid point.
Look what it did for the 360, turned a 30million dollar seller into a 70 million one.

People underestimate the power of releasing first, once peoples friends buy them then they gotta get one as well so they can trade games and talk about them + online etc.

If 360 and PS3 switched release dates i'd imagine the PS3 would be almost if not just as popular as the PS2.

Playstation has the games but it can only carry them so far.

[Knight_Crawler]

I agree with you but I think the PS3 priced at $600 would still be an issue for most people and they would have waited to see what MS would had offer and at what price.

The 360 relaseing 1 year after the PS3 would have also been good for MS becuase they would have time to fix the RROS issue and also they would have gotten to see what Sony's final product was.

[dedicatedtogamers]

The Dreamcast launched prior to the PS2. The Saturn and Neo Geo CD also launched prior to the PS1.

Derp.

[SilentNegotiator]

Everyone knows that you are to ignore head starts.

[xPhearR3dx]

I agree with BitbyDeath, I was also a Playstation guy. LOVED the PS2, still my favorite console from every generation. However, when the 360 released, my friends had it and I wanted one. I HATED the original Xbox with a passion but loved the 360 at the time. So I bought one since the PS3 hadn't came out yet. I got a PS3 when it came out though, but I was so involved with the 360 and tons of my PS2 friends converted that I just stuck with it.

Had the PS3 came out at the same time or first, I probably would have never looked twice at the 360.

[Ult iMate]

...And for the lower price, which is also important for the majority of average consumers.

[megamanX2]

"Why the PS2 Was So Successful"

besides the fact that it actually had worthwhile games unlike he ps3?

[smashcrashbash]

Right.Because the PS3 has NO worthwhile games at all. We all who own PS3 just sit there staring at it all day long and never play it.In fact use mine as a uneven coffee coster.

@ TheRealHeisenberg.That is not true at all.They had plenty of competition from Nintendo and Sega.They just out matched them.Don't pretend that no one else existed that competed with them.Just because your competition can't reach the level you are doesn't mean you have none.

[TongkatAli]

The games and my porn player for all my DVDs. You will never be beat PS2.

[landog]

the games were there for every taste!

1000's of them

[CommonSense]

Marketing. Massive Library -- A billion titles, even if all bad (and most were), will appeal to someone. MS was just entering the console market...and entered it late.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

It was an awesome console that benefitted from a lack of competition.

[ShaunCameron]

It was pretty much the ultimate all-in-one media hub of the day. Plus, any game you wanted, the PS2 had it.

[DarkBlood]

yeah just bought 5 games for it yesterday lol i intend to get alot of them before they fade out completly during the ps4 lifecycle same goes for past consoles before they go retro in a true sense

[Gimmemorebubblez]

The biggest problem with the Ps3 was the fact that when Sony was still bloated with cash they did not buyout large publishers eg.2k,Ea,Konami and then lost out on console selling ip's. The problem they have now is that even if the Ps4 is a runaway success, Microsoft has deep enough pockets, they can just purchase one major publisher and suddenly Sony becomes irrelivent. I hope for the good of the industry that what I just mentioned doesn't happen.

[EliteDave93]

GTA did alot for PS2.

[black911]

Why was the PS1 so succesful. 1 word Games. Ps2 had so many great games you couldnt get anywhere else and the controller still being used to this day is Amazing. PS3 did good but its only problem was really price $600 was way to high. Release date doesnt matter. Alot of gamers like myself arent in any rush for next gen. So who ever launches to early may regret it.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

The PS2's dominance was because it only had a 90 day warranty and people had to keep replacing their PS2's with new units and has NEVER been changed to this day.

It even got so bad that customers launched a class action lawsuit that Sony paid out.

http://www.consumeraffairs....

The same issues occured with the PS1. 90 day warranty on each unit. Would break in 6 months (those who remember back then, you had to turn your PS1 up-side-down to read the disc which would then eventually break down in a couple of months resulting in buying new PS1's.

Not every company cares to give 3 year warranty's on their electronics.

[mochachino]

My launch PS2 still works. I had 5 360s.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

OH! well your one single PS2 still working changes everything. I guess the PS2 never had issues and a multi class action lawsuit against Sony never occured becuase YOU have a ps2 still working since launch.

Wow, well that's a relief.

By the way, you are lying about your 5 360's because I have a 360 from launch and it still works fine....so RROD NEVER existed....

I hope you see the absolute stupidity in your response and the ablosute meaningless contribution it brought.

[e-p-ayeaH]

PS2 was not just a console but also a DVD player and in the early 2000´s that meant a lot plus awesome games like GTA 3 and big variety of great japanese made games was something that wasnt visible in any other platform.

PS4 better have something new to it than just better graphics i think people are starting to lose interest to buy next gen consoles.

[mochachino]

PS2 allowed people to play games past their teens without being criticized socially. Which is essentially what Wii did but in an opposite way.

PS2 made gaming a valid adult past time then Wii made gaming accessible to adults that don't play games. It was a perfect 1-2 combo.

Next-gen will be the knock out punch, question is who's throwing it.

[Tzuno]

tons of good games. Rpg's were king.