Rest In Peace, PlayStation 2 (2000-2012)

Having stopped shipping in Japan last year, The Guardian has confirmed with Sony that PlayStation 2 production has now ceased worldwide.

Let that sink in for a second. There are no more PlayStation 2 consoles being made. Anywhere. Once the new consoles already on shelves are gone, that’s it.

While it’s almost 13 years old, and has long ceased to be relevant as a frontline console, the fact is the PS2 was still, until very recently, selling over a million units a year, and was outselling more contemporary platforms like Sony’s handhelds.

It’s been with us for so long, and been such an important console for so long, that it’s kind of hard imagining a world where there are no more PlayStation 2s available on a shelf.

With over 150 million consoles sold since its release in 2000, the PS2 is easily the world’s most successful home video game console of all time.

You’ll see a lot of people point to things like the PS2’s DVD player and series like Grand Theft Auto (a former console exclusive on Sony’s machine) as the pillars of its success, but I’ve always felt the things that really pushed the PS2 into the stratosphere were efforts like SingStar, which helped drive the console into the mainstream (and helped sales explode in Europe, previously a third wheel in console markets) long before the Wii came along.

Perhaps the most fitting tribute for the console, at least from me personally, is that while I traded in my Xbox in 2006, and my GameCube sits on a shelf alongside action figures, my silver PlayStation 2 remains not just out in the open, but plugged into the TV.

The PlayStation 2 is survived by one child, the PlayStation 3, and a nephew, the PlayStation Portable.

PlayStation 2 manufacture ends after 12 years [The Guardian]

Originally written and published by Luke Plunkett at Kotaku. Click here to read the original story.