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PlayStation 2 Celebrates 7th Birthday In U.S.

Friday, October 26th marks the seven-year anniversary of the North American launch of the PlayStation 2, and SCEA has celebrated by releasing stats on its console and games, which has sold 120 million units worldwide, with the Grand Theft Auto seri

Leigh Alexander, Contributor

October 26, 2007

2 Min Read
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On Friday, October 26, Sony Computer Entertainment America will mark the seven-year anniversary of the PlayStation 2, which SCEA says has sold 120 million units worldwide since its launch. The company is now aiming to position the PS2 at the forefront of what it sees as a "big shift" toward casual and social gaming with titles like SingStar Pop and Buzz! which it hopes will be major platform drivers in 2008. Additionally, Sony says it expects the previously-announced retail launch of the "Ceramic White" PS2, bundled with SingStar Pop in November, will help position the PS2 for this holiday season. According to Sony, the PS2 has sold more than 120 million units worldwide to date, and it expects 10 million additional PS2s to be sold worldwide by the end of March 2008. The console reached the milestone of 100 million units shipped in 5 years and 9 months, faster than the previous-gen PlayStation, which took 9 years and 6 months to reach the same point. The PS2 has a software library of more than 1,400 titles, and SCEA adds it will unveil more than 160 new software titles for the PS2 through the end of March 2008. According to SCEA, 30 million software titles for the PS2 have already been sold in this fiscal year. The Grand Theft Auto series is apparently the most popular among PS2 owners; Sony says Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the top-selling PS2 title of all time, selling 13 million copies worldwide. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is close behind, having sold 12 million copies, and Grand Theft Auto III has sold 11 million. The other best-selling titles in the PlayStation 2's lifetime revealed by Sony are Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (11 million), Gran Turismo 4 (8.79 million), Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (7 million), Kingdom Hearts (5.6 million), Final Fantasy X (5 million), Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (3.7 million), and Final Fantasy XII (3.68 million). A spokesperson for Sony commented that the PS2's 7-year run is "a true testament to SCEA’s design and technology strategy to develop its platforms to perform over a 10-year lifecycle."

About the Author

Leigh Alexander

Contributor

Leigh Alexander is Editor At Large for Gamasutra and the site's former News Director. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Slate, Paste, Kill Screen, GamePro and numerous other publications. She also blogs regularly about gaming and internet culture at her Sexy Videogameland site. [NOTE: Edited 10/02/2014, this feature-linked bio was outdated.]

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