PS2 Drops Some Weight

[Psykoboy2]

Yeah, it was thin before, but now it's thin and a little less heavier than it was.

Again from the folks at MaxConsole (http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=18740):

Sony has begun shipping a new PSTwo model which drops in weight from 900 to 600 grams with the AC adapter also being cut in terms of weight, coming in at 250 grams as opposed to 350 previously. The paper indicates the weight loss was achieved via a reduction in the number of parts as well as a general drop in the cost of production.

Hey...what's that last part there? Drop in the cost of production, you say? Does this mean a PS2 price drop isn't far behind? By the way, what's the gram conversion on this? Anyone know?

[Rirath]

Gram conversion? As in, grams shaved into dollars saved?
Don't think Google covers that one, yet.

For anything else, Google it.

[GunnyMo]

The system is $129. How much cheaper does it need to be for someone to pick one up? lol

It already weighs next to nothing. It seems to me Sony could have spent the money they did on this on better things. ;)

[Codicier]

Well I was gonna pick up a PS2 soon but now this has me wanting to wait a bit to see if the price drops along with the weight.

Slim, light, inexpensive hardware ftw!

[Khash]

It already weighs next to nothing. It seems to me Sony could have spent the money they did on this on better things. ;)
What money? The whole point is cost reduction.

[Tricky Thumb]

The system is $129. How much cheaper does it need to be for someone to pick one up? lol

It already weighs next to nothing. It seems to me Sony could have spent the money they did on this on better things. ;)

Why wouldn't they try to reduce the production cost of their currently best selling system? It'll probably make them more money per-sale this Christmas when parents buy the system for their kids (Can you imagine there are going to be a horde of gamers soon that'll have their FIRST gaming system be a PS2?) and it might also allow them to make a price cut later on while still making money from each sale.

[Talanvor]

28 grams =~ 1 ounce
16 ounces = 1 pound

900 grams/28 =~ 32.14 ounces/16 =~ 2 pounds
600 grams/28 =~ 21.43 ounces/16 =~ 1.34 pounds

2 - 1.34 = 0.66 pounds

The maths, they are fun!

[Pretzel]

Why wouldn't they try to reduce the production cost of their currently best selling system? It'll probably make them more money per-sale this Christmas when parents buy the system for their kids (Can you imagine there are going to be a horde of gamers soon that'll have their FIRST gaming system be a PS2?) and it might also allow them to make a price cut later on while still making money from each sale.

Pfff. Dude. Don't you know the rules of Gamer Economics? Increasing profit is NEVER a valid reason for a company doing something.

[TrackZero]

Maybe this one won't overheat and lock up after 5-6 hours of gameplay.

*rimshot*

[TrackZero]

Why wouldn't they try to reduce the production cost of their currently best selling system? It'll probably make them more money per-sale this Christmas when parents buy the system for their kids (Can you imagine there are going to be a horde of gamers soon that'll have their FIRST gaming system be a PS2?) and it might also allow them to make a price cut later on while still making money from each sale.

The upside of these redesigns are twofold. Renewed sales numbers and another knockback for the mod scene which temporarily lowers piracy rates for their game publishers. It's a good move.

[mkelehan]

The upside of these redesigns are twofold. Renewed sales numbers and another knockback for the mod scene which temporarily lowers piracy rates for their game publishers. It's a good move.
Honestly, it stops the piracy for such a small amount of time, I don't think it slows piracy down in any significant way. The renewed sales numbers, though, are absolutely true.

[Micasa]

I was kind of confused how the weight loss was achieved by a drop in the cost of production, which is what the article says.

[phuebarr]

2.205 pounds per kilogram.

Old PS2 slim = .9kg * 2.205 = 1.9845 pounds
New PS2 slim = .6kg * 2.205 = 1.323 pounds

A difference of 0.6615 pounds or 10.584 ounces.

Old PS2 AC Adapter = .35kg * 2.205 = 0.77175 pounds
New PS2 AC Adapter = .25kg * 2.205 = 0.55125 pounds

A difference of 0.2205 pounds or 3.528 ounces.

A Playstation 2 controller is 254 grams which is roughly 7/16 of a new PS2. So two PS2 controllers and some change is the same weight as the system they're connected to.

[Ignus]

If theres a price drop coming for the PS2, I'll finally pick one up... but chances are, I won't since I need to save money for university/my 360 game collection.

[Chainblast]

The system is $129. How much cheaper does it need to be for someone to pick one up? lol

It already weighs next to nothing. It seems to me Sony could have spent the money they did on this on better things. ;)

I imagine this move is first and foremost in place to reduce production cost. I'm sure Sony is using revenue generated by their PS2 to help offset PS3 losses, which would be a pretty good move.

[Deadend]

I was kind of confused how the weight loss was achieved by a drop in the cost of production, which is what the article says.
Some of it might be involved in shipping costs. As this makes the system close to 3/4ths the weight, meaning it will get cheaper to ship.

Bravo to lighter PS2.

[Micasa]

I still don't see how dropping the shipping costs would drop the weight :p

[DeadlyDonkey]

I was kind of confused how the weight loss was achieved by a drop in the cost of production, which is what the article says.

Less weight = Less individual components.

Less individual components = Cheaper to manufacture.

[DeathtollWRX]

This is great news. I was thinking about getting another PS2 since mine is being "borrowed". There are still alot of great RPGS I haven't dove into yet. I think it would be great if MS actually started to redesign the 360 but still make it compatible with everything that is sold for it.

[vivafletcher]

I like this news because, more than anything, it shows that Sony isn't ignoring the PS2. Rather than focus all its attention on the PS3, Sony is realizing that they have a pretty good thing going and maybe they shouldn't try to phase it out just yet. No doubt in my mind that slow PS3 sales have caused them to rethink the future of the PS2. And since I own one, more games and attention is a good thing.

[LostToys]

Some of it might be involved in shipping costs. As this makes the system close to 3/4ths the weight, meaning it will get cheaper to ship.

You are correct. It saves on shipping of the raw components (less components coming into the factory), storage space used (less components sitting around) and dramatically decreases the shipping weight (less costly shipping).

If they had also changed the size of the box, it would have further decreased the cost of the unit (a smaller box would mean more units per carton, which in turn means more units per cargo container.)

[absolut taco]

I wonder if they were able to replace all the normal PS2 chips with a cheap cpu and use PS3's software backward-compatibility to play PS2 games. :)

[TrackZero]

This is great news. I was thinking about getting another PS2 since mine is being "borrowed". There are still alot of great RPGS I haven't dove into yet. I think it would be great if MS actually started to redesign the 360 but still make it compatible with everything that is sold for it.

MS has been doing redesigns on the 360 boards. The first one was on the elite, they cleaned up the layout around the processor. Do a little research first. ;)

[Fartacus]

The upside of these redesigns are twofold. Renewed sales numbers and another knockback for the mod scene which temporarily lowers piracy rates for their game publishers. It's a good move.

Yep. This way they can get 3 system sales with the same customer. I know several people who bought an original fat PS2, then a slim one. I'm sure some of those people will buy an even slimmer version.

[frederec]

This is great news. I was thinking about getting another PS2 since mine is being "borrowed". There are still alot of great RPGS I haven't dove into yet. I think it would be great if MS actually started to redesign the 360 but still make it compatible with everything that is sold for it.

If you aren't aware, you should know that things aren't 100% perfect with the PS2 and it's compatibility. Aside from the obvious example of Final Fantasy XI not working on a slim PS2 because it can't have a hard drive, there are a few PS2 and PS1 games that don't work right or at all on the new versions of the PS2. I've heard the silver slim PS2 has more problems than the black one in that regard.

Here's a page from Sony that lists games that don't work with the slim PS2: http://www.us.playstation.com/News/ConsumerAlerts/softwareTitles_75001.html

Nothing too serious jumps out at me. The PS1 titles Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Lunar 2 are the only ones I personally would care about. Your tastes may differ. Persona 2 also runs like crap on the PS2, which is the main reason I always have a PSone around.

[OperatorC]

I just purchased a silver slim PS2 early this year so I don't really need to buy another one but it's nice to know that Sony is still some what supporting the system. Then again, they kind of have to at this point.. at least until the PS3 is profitable. I hope my current slim PS2 lasts longer than my Fat PS2 did.

Hell, I wish there were still some great titles coming out for the PS2. God of War 2 (great game!) was the last one, wasn't it? I'm not a big fan of JRPGs so besides that.. it looks like what games I have are it.

[Micasa]

Less weight = Less individual components.

Less individual components = Cheaper to manufacture.

Anyone else pass English?

"The paper indicates the weight loss was achieved via a reduction in the number of parts as well as a general drop in the cost of production."

So you can remove the first part and keep the sentence viable.

"The paper indicates the weight loss was achieved via a general drop in the cost of production."

Someone failed at sentence construction, which is what I found funny. That supposes, of course, that the cost of production going down didn't actually reduce the weight of the hardware.

Maybe they were taping coins to the inside of the console?

[MAbans]

600 grams = who gives a flipping care!?

[Slack3r78]

2.205 pounds per kilogram.
This is a conversion everyone should know.

[Codicier]

This is a conversion everyone should know.

Or we could all just switch to the logical system of measurement, ya know, the one based on powers of ten instead of absolutely nothing.

You know how many countries haven't switched to the International System of Units? Three:

Liberia, Myanmar and the United States.

You'd think they'd have caught on by now.

/rant

Sorry, I just hate the Imperial system. :p

[Slack3r78]

Or we could all just switch to the logical system of measurement, ya know, the one based on powers of ten instead of absolutely nothing.

You know how many countries haven't switched to the International System of Units? Three:

Liberia, Myanmar and the United States.

You'd think they'd have caught on by now.

/rant

Sorry, I just hate the Imperial system. :p
The British tend to use an amalgamation of both Metric and Imperial units.

Point being, in the meantime, you should at the very least be able to convert kilos to pounds in your head since it's such a simple conversion.

[Dukefrukem]

The system is $129. How much cheaper does it need to be for someone to pick one up? lol

It already weighs next to nothing. It seems to me Sony could have spent the money they did on this on better things. ;)

and its still outselling the 360 and PS3.