Playstation 2: 90M Units Shipped

[Borys]

Sony's popular "computer entertainment system", the Playstation 2 (http://www.us.playstation.com/consoles.aspx?id=2), is on its way to pass the 100M units shipped mark.
As we can read from this press release (PDF) (http://www.gfdata.de/archiv06-2005-gamefront/sonyps2.pdf) found on Gamefront.de (http://www.gamefront.de/) the total shipment of PS2s has reached 90 million units worldwide.
PLAYSTATION®2 REACHES CUMULATIVE WORLDWIDE SHIPMENT OF 90 MILLION UNITS.

Tokyo, June 3, 2005 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that the cumulative production shipment of PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system had reached 90 million units worldwide, as of June 2nd, 2005.

Since its launch in Japan on March 4th, 2000, sales of PlayStation 2 has grown steadily, securing its place as the most favorite computer entertainment platform in homes around the world. Particularly, the new slim line PlayStation 2 (SCPH-70000 series), which went on sale in November 2004 starting from Japan, has gained strong support around the world and demand for the platform continues to grow steadily, with shipment reaching 16.17 million units in the last fiscal year (ending March 2005) alone. Shipment of 90 million units within 5 years and 3 months since launch is more than 2 years and 3 months faster in penetration speed, compared to the original PlayStation®, which has sold more than 100 million units in total.

...

PlayStation 2 Cumulative Shipment by Territory (as of June 2, 2005)

Japan (including Asia (*1))
21.04 million units (launch date: March 4, 2000)

North America
36.48 million units (launch date: October 26, 2000)

Europe/PAL
32.48 million units (launch date: November 24, 2000)

Worldwide Shipment: 90.00 million units


Sony estimates the PS2 will sell 130M units in its lifetime.

That's a whole lot of systems shipped. I imagine they will easily do another 15-20M units when PS2 hits the "magic" $99 pricepoint.

[Borys]

Here's a thought:

Europe may become the biggest market next-gen.

[Mr_Snuffle]

Of course that many units were sold. People needed to keep buying new ones once the old ones broke down.

zing!

[JudasGoat]

I've had mine since release day. Once a year or so I just have to realign the laser and it's fine. I've had far, far more problems with my xbox.

[TRiLoGY]

Of course that many units were sold. People needed to keep buying new ones once the old ones broke down.

zing!

I've had mine since Release and i've not had a single Problem!

:)

[bapenguin]

I've had mine since Release and i've not had a single Problem!

:)


All animosity aside, that's really an amazing feat for any console. From blowing on NES cartridges to playing PS1's upside down, to go an entire generation with no disc errors, etc is pretty amazing.

[fitbabits]

Almost completely unrelated, but who here dusts their consoles and keeps them off the floor and away from spills and accidents (as much as possible)? I dust all my consoles every Sunday and make sure that all cables are free from snagging. Result - no problems with any of my consoles (except Dreamcast). I'm just saying is all.

[Krull]

All animosity aside, that's really an amazing feat for any console. From blowing on NES cartridges to playing PS1's upside down, to go an entire generation with no disc errors, etc is pretty amazing.
Not really ... I have my orginal NES, SNES, Dreamcast, Playstation, & PS2 all still work and no I don't have to blow into my carts or play my PS upside down. If you take care of them they last ;)

[Adam Blue]

Well, I don't even really play my PS2 that much...so who knows if it could be faulty.

[netcraazzy]

Almost completely unrelated, but who here dusts their consoles and keeps them off the floor and away from spills and accidents (as much as possible)? I dust all my consoles every Sunday and make sure that all cables are free from snagging. Result - no problems with any of my consoles (except Dreamcast). I'm just saying is all.

Every Sunday huh? I keep mine stacked in whatever configuration allows me to fit as many as possible in the cabinet under my TV. I dust them once in a blue moon, but I keep all my games clean. Only console I had issues with is my NES but I replaced the pin connector in the unit and it seems to work pretty good now, I'd still kill for one of those top loaders though.

[fitbabits]

Every Sunday huh? I keep mine stacked in whatever configuration allows me to fit as many as possible in the cabinet under my TV. I dust them once in a blue moon, but I keep all my games clean. Only console I had issues with is my NES but I replaced the pin connector in the unit and it seems to work pretty good now, I'd still kill for one of those top loaders though.

It's either that or church... :rolleyes:

[Orz]

NES it's not a matter of 'taking care of it'. The metal of the catridge connector happens to be oxidized by the metal choice they went with for cartridges. Not to mention the connector pins themselves get bend inward just inserting the cartridge normally, which over time makes them partially lose contact. Normal use can render it nonfunctional.

Same with Xbox and PS2, courtesy of their disc-spinning magnets. Normal use causes the exhaust fan to inadvertantly draw dust into the system, which accumulates on the magnet, and can render disc-read errors, something that cannot be fixed without disassembly.

I was praying we'd have manual-load disc trays this generation. Oh well.

[bapenguin]

Not really ... I have my orginal NES, SNES, Dreamcast, Playstation, & PS2 all still work and no I don't have to blow into my carts or play my PS upside down. If you take care of them they last ;)

I guess it has to do with use as well.

The NES had problems with the pin contacts wearing down and bending. Blowing the dust off the contacts usually SEEMED to help with this.

The Genesis had a problem of getting pretty dirty inside due to it's top loading design. Using rubbing alcohol on the cartridges usually fixed this later in it's lifetime.

I can't remember the issue with the Dreamcast....

Something with the N64 was prone to break, I think it had something to do with the "expansion" pack, I can't remember it's been a while since I've seen that.

The PS1-1000 (first gen) had an overheating problem where the system wouldn't get enough airflow. Turning it upside down allowed it to breath better and usually stopped it from overheating.

The PS2 had/has a faulty laser. There are tons of people who have disc read errors, etc. Usually it's with a specific media type, either the DVD blue bottom or the silver bottom.

The XBox has a faulty power adapter in some specific models that explodes and causes a small nuclear meltdown. This can be remedied by the replacement cord.

Moral of the story: To have 3 or 4 gens of consoles that are all in perfect working condition is amazing.

[TRiLoGY]

hehehe

my Original PS1 is in perfect condition too!

[Edit: Well it was when i last used it, I have not used it since PS2... So its possible its not in perfect condition :rolleyes: ]

:)

[hideouslywrinkled]

NES it's not a matter of 'taking care of it'. The metal of the catridge connector happens to be oxidized by the metal choice they went with for cartridges. Not to mention the connector pins themselves get bend inward just inserting the cartridge normally, which over time makes them partially lose contact. Normal use can render it nonfunctional.

My ex-girlfriend and I had the exact same problem.

I have a working version of the NES, SNES, N64, GCN, PSX, DC, PS2, Xbox, original Game Boy, GBA, GBA SP and PSP. And I've never had a problem with a single system... maybe I should be playing the Powerball instead of video games.

[Kamalot]

My Saturn still rocks.

I haven't had a problem with the Dreamcast either. Just in case, I bought 3 systems when they were going for $35. Now should something happen in the future, I'm set.

[crashedout]

v9 and 10 of the ps2 have laser diode burnout issues.

V11 the PSTwo has overheating issues on some of the newer games.

Xbox v1 and 1.1 had dvd read errors too.

[Borys]

Fastest thread derail ever.

It took 9.5 years for PSX to reach 100M units, PS2 will reach them in under 6 years.

PSX software is at 960M units sold, PS2 at 825M and in 2004 they sold 252M games. Add to that another 200M for 2005 and you have one BILLION games sold.

Can you say PS2 is the fastest and best selling console EVER?

Even the mighty Nintendo from NES/SNES era can't compete with Sony:

http://img49.echo.cx/img49/5626/nintendo6do.gif

Who will stop Sony from PS3 total world domination?

[Vandenh]

>Who will stop Sony from PS3 total world domination?

Sony themselves....

[Rommel]

I imagine they will easily do another 15-20M units when PS2 hits the "magic" $99 pricepoint.

You mean the day known as 360 launch day? ^.^

Saturns tend to get dirty very quickly. Sega consoles almost all do. The real problem is the memory works on a battery backup. The battery goes dead every few years...

Hmm... might be time to stock up for the future >.>

[Borys]

>Who will stop Sony from PS3 total world domination?

Sony themselves....

True, not adding a standard HD is the first step (IMO).

[netcraazzy]

Wow, NES sold 61million units? I'm surprised considering that gaming was not mainstream back then. The PS2 many be the current king of the numbers but I still think NES is the king of all consoles. The NES managed to turn around the video games slump and brought gaming to the mainstream. I think the Atari 2600 should probably get an honorable mention too. But my point is that Sony has some great numbers lately but Nintendo is the company with the true legacy. Now if PS3 manages to outsell PS2, revolution flops, and Nintendo admits defeat and retreats to the handheld market then who knows, maybe sony will have started a new lagacy but I'd say it's still a little too early for that.

[Borys]

Wow, NES sold 61million units? I'm surprised considering that gaming was not mainstream back then. The PS2 many be the current king of the numbers but I still think NES is the king of all consoles. The NES managed to turn around the video games slump and brought gaming to the mainstream. I think the Atari 2600 should probably get an honorable mention too. But my point is that Sony has some great numbers lately but Nintendo is the company with the true legacy. Now if PS3 manages to outsell PS2, revolution flops, and Nintendo admits defeat and retreats to the handheld market then who knows, maybe sony will have started a new lagacy but I'd say it's still a little too early for that.

Extrapolating that graph you can find Revolution with only 9M units sold... I worry about Nintendo :/

[bapenguin]

Fastest thread derail ever.

It took 9.5 years for PSX to reach 100M units, PS2 will reach them in under 6 years.

PSX software is at 960M units sold, PS2 at 825M and in 2004 they sold 252M games. Add to that another 200M for 2005 and you have one BILLION games sold.

Can you say PS2 is the fastest and best selling console EVER?

Even the mighty Nintendo from NES/SNES era can't compete with Sony:

http://img49.echo.cx/img49/5626/nintendo6do.gif

Who will stop Sony from PS3 total world domination?

The thing is, if you compare raw numbers every generation it's always going to go up. Especially now with video gaming being so mainstream and popular. 10 years ago it still wasn't that "cool" to be playing video games. 20 years ago when the NES was out it was even less.

[Tetsuo]

My Saturn still rocks.

I haven't had a problem with the Dreamcast either. Just in case, I bought 3 systems when they were going for $35. Now should something happen in the future, I'm set.
My Saturn has been working perfectly since 1998. My PS2 lasted out 1.5 years before it started crapping out on me. I'm on my second Dreamcast, but only because the first one had an unfortunate incident involving gravity and asphalt.

[51|RandoM]

The hardware numbers won't go up every generation, it will peak, and probably already has.

I don't expect the upcoming generation to beat this generation in shipped units. Even with them trying to attract non-gamers, many of those non-gamers are still in a household with a gamer, so you'll just increase software sales marginally, not hardware sales---which is still a good thing.

Instead of looking at console sales figures, you should look at software titles sold per installed console. Nintendo is pretty damned rosy in that light for any generation they've participated in. :-)

I had 4 playstations over the life of that console, none of which ever had a problem. I kept getting tired of console games and giving the damned things away only to buy another one when some mustplay title came out.

I have had 2 playstation twos and both of them still work fine.

[KDups]

No there's certainly no decline in the Japanese market. These numbers don't confirm that at all.

[mister_slim]

I dust all my consoles every Sunday and make sure that all cables are free from snagging.
Wireless. How I love wireless controllers. (I could go on and on, but I'd sound like a zealot).

I can't remember the issue with the Dreamcast....
Wasn't the Dreamcast problem that the copy protection was at the edge of the disc and easily scratched?

[Kamalot]

Wasn't the Dreamcast problem that the copy protection was at the edge of the disc and easily scratched?

Dreamcast copy protection was in the middle of the disc. It seperated the disc into a standard CD-ROM area and a special GD-ROM area. Saturn games had a special section at the outter edge of the disc that was used to verify the disc was original.

All optical drive consoles have a problem with scratching the disc though. They get cranky if you do that.