Sony: "PS2 is Still Important"

[Logan Frederick]

Sony: "PS2 is Still Important"

Following heavy financial losses [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88613-Sony-Reports-First-Loss-in-14-Years] in its gaming division, Sony's John Koller has emphasized the importance of continuing to support the PlayStation 2.

Less than a year away from its 10th anniversary, Sony's PlayStation 2 console continues to sell, reaching a massive 50 million units sold in North America alone this decade.

Koller, director of hardware marketing at SCEA, spoke with Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21837] to acknowledge that the "PS2 is still important" to the technology conglomerate.

"The only way to kill the PS2 business is to stop supporting it," said Koller.

"It's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy; as it continues to sell, development continues, and consumers continue to buy," continued Koller on the console's expansive library backed by a decade of game development across every genre. "There's such a wide range of entertainment experiences available that I think it would be very difficult for people to complain, 'this console doesn't have anything that appeals to me'."

Once the PS3 was released and the PS2's price was dropped to $130, Koller noticed "changes in who's purchased the system... as we've gone along we've had various demographics entering into the marketplace."

In a short span of a few years, the music genre (led by Guitar Hero, which debuted on the PS2) and the Nintendo Wii's casual games flourished, introducing a tidal wave of previous non-gamers into the market. Koller commented, "We've made a lot of focus into the family-friendly type gaming environment and also being able to promote the overall value of the system to a lower income family."

While Sony's other gaming projects may be draining cash, PS2 production and sales continue to be a "positive margin business, and a significant contributor for us."

Expect the system to stick around for some time too; Sony is still talking to publishers and developers about porting projects onto the aging platform.

"As part of their portfolio the PS2 is still important," assured Koller. "We're on regular road shows, talking to each publisher to discuss the merits of continuing to develop for the PS2....We've spoken with developers on how to engender total family play -- retail is telling us how important it is."

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[Skrapt]

Of course it's still going strong, it's really cheap to buy, really really cheap to manufacture and has one of the most expansive game libraries ever. Especially in the worsening economic climate where people may be reluctant to buy into next generation hardware with expensive accessories/games/online capabilities. And the PS2 is still making great progress in markets where people are just starting to get enough disposable income to afford something such as a console.

And although I'm a little sad to say it, piracy is probably a strong factor keeping the PS2 going, the console may be really cheap and the games too where the console has been around for a while, but in emerging markets where the games market hasn't really matured pirate copies of PS2 games float around for the price of a small chocolate bar.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Keeping old platforms on life support is iffy at best, in no small way due to the inability to buy older games. Using the DS as an example, there are at least two dozen games I would love to have, but they came out when the DS was brand new and are long-since discontinued. And that's a system still in its prime. The PS2 is old, going on obsolete, and the vast majority of really worthwhile games for that system can't be found in stores.

In the case of the PS2 I disagree.
It's so ubiquitous that everywhere that sells games (in th UK at least) still seems to have a PS2 section. Not just pre-owned either, all my local game stores stock new PS2 games. The fact that all the games retail at £20 or less seems to help (Except anything with Fifa, Sing or Guitar in the title).
Also, developers are still doing ports to it of new releases, the new Tomb Raider comes out next month on PS2.

 

[coldfrog]

The PS2 is still my favorite system. I still go out and buy old games for it when I see them, and I've even searched on Ebay for some classics that I didn't get to play, or had but the disc got ruined. Honestly, Sony could probably have waited another year to get the PS3 out, perfected the online and made a few more originals and at this juncture I might not have a 360.

 

[Zer_]

Of course it's still important you twits. The PS2 is the only reason Sony is still in the goddamn console market.

 

[scotth266]

Duh it does well, as it has sweet games, a LOT of them too, and things still occasionally come out for it (Persona 4!)...
I don't think the PS3 is better than the PS2 in any way save for graphics and online upgrades, so I won't be getting one for a while.

 

[Cousin_IT]

ive had my PS2 for going on 6-7years. Still works like a charm. Still buy new games for it as well as searching out oldies. I just wish Microsoft still supporting the Xbox; though 360 is cheap enough (if not as reliable as its older brother) to not be aproblem I suppose.

 

[roblikestoskate]

Heh. For me, the PS2 is the important part of Sony's product line. I'd almost go so far as to say that Sony should market the PS2 as it's answer to the Wii, LOL.

 

[stompy]

I think that it's a good idea to keep it, since it's allows Sony to muscle in on the 'casual-gamer' demographic that the Wii is getting famous from.

 

[roblikestoskate]

Keeping old platforms on life support is iffy at best, in no small way due to the inability to buy older games. Using the DS as an example, there are at least two dozen games I would love to have, but they came out when the DS was brand new and are long-since discontinued. And that's a system still in its prime. The PS2 is old, going on obsolete, and the vast majority of really worthwhile games for that system can't be found in stores.

But it isn't obsolete. The PS2 simply is moving towards a different market. It may not serve you, but I promise you that there are folks out there who aren't interested in the "latest and greatest", but are still interested in gaming. Used game retailers tend to support the previous generation platform as long as it's economically viable and if you walk into a GameStop right now, you will see a wall devoted to new and used PS2 games. What better proof of that viability do we need?

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

I respectfully disagree.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

I remember reading in a magazine that was talking about the PS3 and the PS2 that had a quote somewhere saying that releasing the PS3 while the PS2 was still going strong was one of the reasons the PS3 didn't do so well at first.

 

[Jumplion]

I respectfully disagree.

Could you care to elaborate? I mean, seriously, how can you argue against the fact that the PS2 is still selling? It may not sell as much as the other consoles on the market right now, but it's still selling enough that it's still a viable platform to play on.

This is reminding me, I need to get some new PS2 games to keep myself occupied...

 

[blackcherry]

Heh. For me, the PS2 is the important part of Sony's product line. I'd almost go so far as to say that Sony should market the PS2 as it's answer to the Wii, LOL.

They do. For a while the PS2 has been coming in optional packages of PS2, 2 controllers + 1-3 games like singstar for about the same price as the wii.

 

[bkd69]

The PS2 is absolutely Good Enough for gaming in terms of horsepower.

It's certainly competitive from a price standpoint and a library standpoint.

The only places where it falls short is a lack of a PSN client. and mass storage (either disk or flash) to store all that gaming DLC and media.

But yes, certainly Good Enough.

 

[Svenparty]

PS2's are still on the market? Good! They were the most durable consoles ever(Mine has dropped from a wardrobe while playing and still survived) and still have some unique classics that many new consoles lack.

 

[roblikestoskate]

Heh. For me, the PS2 is the important part of Sony's product line. I'd almost go so far as to say that Sony should market the PS2 as it's answer to the Wii, LOL.

They do. For a while the PS2 has been coming in optional packages of PS2, 2 controllers + 1-3 games like singstar for about the same price as the wii.

That's interesting. I haven't seen this in my region (southern United States) and for some reason, SingStar isn't as popular in the States as it could be. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are pretty strong, though.

 

[sirdapfrey]

Of course the PS2 is still sgoing strong. Let's not forget that not only is there an expansive collection of PS2 games, but for those of us who like to go a little old-school once in a while, we can play all of our PS1 games as well and still use those memory cards. I only wish my XBOX was still as well supported as the PS2 still is.