The PlayStation 2 (プレイステーション2, Pureisutēshon Tsū^?, officially abbreviated PS2) is a sixth-generation The sixth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at the turn of the 21st century. Platforms of the sixth generation include Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2, the Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. This era began on November 27, 1998 with the release of the video game console A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or modified computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal manufactured by Sony Sony Corporation (TYO: 6758, NYSE: SNE), or commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. (FY2008). Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics,. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series The PlayStation brand is a line of video game consoles created and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first introduced by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, 1994. The PlayStation currently spans the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations of video gaming. The brand consists of a total of three consoles, a media center, of video game consoles. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was released a year later in Japan The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video games. It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide. Its primary competitors were Sega Sega Corporation is a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and former console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. The company is famous for its SEGA! chant that appeared on both commercials and games like Sonic the Hedgehog. The company had success with both arcades and home consoles,'s Dreamcast The Dreamcast is a video game console made by Sega, and is the successor to the Sega Saturn. The Dreamcast was the first entry in the sixth generation of video game consoles and was released in late 1998, before its contemporaries — Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is a public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions. Established on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8's Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2,, and Nintendo Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel's GameCube The Nintendo GameCube , officially abbreviated as GCN in Western regions[citation needed] and as NGC in Japan, is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to the Wii.

The PS2 is the best-selling console This is a list of all video game consoles and handheld game consoles that have sold or shipped at least one million units to date, having reached over 140 million units sold as of September 30, 2009.^[1] In late 2009, with developers creating new games and the console still selling steadily almost a decade after its original release, Sony stated that the life cycle of the PlayStation 2 will continue until demand ceases.^[6]

History

Only a few million people had obtained consoles by the end of 2000 due to manufacturing delays.^[7] Directly after its release, it was difficult to find PS2 units on retailer shelves.^[8] Another option was purchasing the console online through auction websites such as eBay eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. Founded in 1995, eBay is one of the notable success stories of the dot-com bubble; it is now a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized, where people paid over one thousand dollars for a PS2.^[9] The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the console's backward compatibility, selling over 980,000 units in Japan by March 5, 2000, one day after launch.^[10] This allowed the PS2 to tap the large install base established by the PlayStation — another major selling point over the competition. Later, Sony added new development kits for game developers and more PS2 units for consumers.

A notable piece of advertising for the PS2 launch was accompanied by the popular "PS9" television commercial. It was to be the epitome of development, toward which the PS2 was the next step. The ad also presaged the development of the PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable is a handheld console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in the PAL region on^{[citation needed]} (first released in Japan on December 12, 2004).

Many analysts predicted a close three-way matchup between the PS2 and competitors Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is a public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions. Established on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8's Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, and the Nintendo Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel GameCube The Nintendo GameCube , officially abbreviated as GCN in Western regions[citation needed] and as NGC in Japan, is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to the Wii (GameCube being the cheapest of the three consoles and had an open market of games); however, the release of several blockbuster games during the 2001 holiday season The Christmas season, the holiday season,[note 1] or simply the holidays is an annual festive period that surrounds the Christmas holiday and other holidays. It is sometimes synonymous with the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, and is usually said to occur between late November and early January. It has been found to have a proportionate maintained sales momentum and held off the PS2's rivals.^[11]

Although Sony, unlike Sega Sega Corporation is a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and former console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. The company is famous for its SEGA! chant that appeared on both commercials and games like Sonic the Hedgehog. The company had success with both arcades and home consoles, with its Dreamcast The Dreamcast is a video game console made by Sega, and is the successor to the Sega Saturn. The Dreamcast was the first entry in the sixth generation of video game consoles and was released in late 1998, before its contemporaries — Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube, placed little emphasis on online gaming during its first years^{[citation needed]}, that changed upon the launch of the online-capable Xbox Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service (on consoles) that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002. An updated version of the service became available for. Sony released the PlayStation Network Adapter in late 2002 to compete with Microsoft, with several online first–party titles released alongside it, such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs to demonstrate its active support for Internet play. Sony also advertised heavily, and its online model had the support of Electronic Arts Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an international developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible for its games. Originally, EA. Although Sony and Nintendo both started out late, and although both followed a decentralized model of online gaming where the responsibility is up to the developer to provide the servers, Sony's attempt made online gaming a major selling point of the PS2.

In September 2004, in time for the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and video game developed by Rockstar North. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in October 2004, the game has since been ported to the, Sony revealed a new, slimmer PS2 (see Hardware revisions). In preparation for the launch of the new models (SCPH-70000-90000), Sony stopped making the older models (SCPH-30000-50000) to let the distribution channel empty its stock of the units.^{[citation needed]} After an apparent manufacturing issue—Sony reportedly underestimated demand—caused some initial slowdown in producing the new unit caused in part by shortages between the time the old units were cleared out and the new units were ready. The issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. Ismailia lies on its west, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK. During one week in November, British sales totalled 6,000 units — compared to 70,000 units a few weeks prior.^[12] There were shortages in more than 1700 stores in North America on the day before Christmas.^[13]

The original life span for the console was set at 10 years, but according to Sony, its lifecycle will continue as long as developers continue to make new games for the system, and as long as the console and its games continue to sell. This is likely to continue in the succeeding years.^[6] The PlayStation 2 is now in its eleventh year of production and is still selling steadily.

Hardware and software compatibility

PlayStation 2 software is distributed on CD-ROM (blue/purple polycarbonate) and DVD-ROM (clear polycarbonate with four "PlayStation" logos). In addition the console can play audio CDs and DVD DVD, also known as Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, is an optical disc storage media format, and was invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Time Warner in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs , but are capable of storing just under seven times as much data movies, and is backward compatible In the context of telecommunications and computing a device or technology is said to be backwards or downwards compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device. If products designed for the new standard can receive, read, view or play older standards or formats, then the product is said to be backwards-compatible; examples of such with PlayStation games. The PS2 also supports PlayStation memory cards A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles. They are small, re-recordable, and they can retain data without power and controllers, although the memory cards only work with PS1 games and the controllers may not support all functions (such as analog buttons) for PS2 games.

The PS2's DualShock 2 The DualShock is a line of vibration-feedback gamepads by Sony for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. The DualShock was introduced in Japan in late 1997, and launched in the North American market in May 1998. First introduced as a secondary peripheral for the original PlayStation, a revised PlayStation version controller is essentially an upgraded PlayStation DualShock; analog Analogue electronics are those electronic systems with a continuously variable signal. In contrast, in digital electronics signals usually take only two different levels. The term "analogue" describes the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage or current that represents the signal. The word analogue is derived from the face, shoulder and D-pad buttons replaced the digital A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and buttons of the original. Like its predecessor, the DualShock 2 controller has force feedback Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation may be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects , for control of such virtual objects, and for the enhancement of the remote control of, which is commonly called the "vibration" function.

The standard PlayStation 2 memory card has an 8 MB The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: 1048576 bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes (106, see prefix mega-) generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000 000", with capacity and uses Sony's MagicGate MagicGate is a copy-protection technology introduced by Sony in 1999 as part of the Secure Digital Music Initiative . It works by encrypting the content on the device and using MagicGate chips in both the storage device and the reader to enforce control over how files are copied encryption. This requirement prevented the production of memory cards by third parties who did not purchase a license for the MagicGate encryption. Memory cards without encryption can be used to store PlayStation game saves, but PlayStation games would be unable to read from or write to the card - such a card could only be used as a backup In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup. There are a variety of non-Sony manufactured memory cards available for the PlayStation 2, allowing for a larger memory capacity than the standard 8 MB. However their use is unsupported and compatibility is not guaranteed.

The console also features USB USB (pronounced /ˈjuː.ɛsbiː/ "YOO-ess-bee") is a specification to establish communication between devices and a host controller (usually personal computers), developed and invented by Ajay Bhatt while working for Intel. USB is intended to replace many varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such and IEEE 1394 The IEEE 1394 interface is a serial bus interface standard for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer, frequently used by personal computers, as well as in digital audio, digital video, automotive, and aeronautics applications. The interface is also known by the brand names of FireWire and Lynx (Texas Instruments). IEEE 1 expansion ports. Compatibility with USB and IEEE 1394 devices is dependent on the software supporting the device. For example, the PS2 BIOS will not boot an ISO image An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc in a format defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This format is supported by many software vendors. ISO image files typically have a file extension of .ISO. The name ISO is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media, but an ISO image can also contain from a USB flash drive A USB flash drive consists of a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface. USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g (1 oz). Storage capacities in 2010 can be as large as 256 GB with steady improvements in size and price per capacity or operate a USB printer, as the machine's operating system does not include this functionality. By contrast, Gran Turismo 4 Gran Turismo 4 (グランツーリスモ4 guran tsūrisumo fō) is a racing simulator for the Sony PlayStation 2 which was developed by Polyphony Digital. It was released on December 28th, 2004 in Japan and Hong Kong (NTSC-J), February 22nd, 2005 in North America (NTSC-U/C), and March 9th, 2005 in Europe (PAL), and has since been re-issued under is programmed to save screenshots to a USB mass storage device The USB mass storage device class or USB MSC or UMS is a set of computing communications protocols defined by the USB Implementers Forum that run on the Universal Serial Bus. The standard provides an interface to a variety of storage devices and print images on certain USB printers. A PlayStation 2 HDD can be installed in an expansion bay The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay introduced with the model 30000 and 50000 PlayStation 2 designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive (HDD). These peripherals enhance the capabilities of the PS2 to allow online play and other features and were shown at E³ 2001 on the back of the console, and was required to play certain games, notably the popular Final Fantasy XI Final Fantasy XI , also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square (later Square Enix) as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in.^[14] This was only available on certain models (see "Hardware Revisions" below).

Online

Some games on the PlayStation 2 support online multiplayer An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology; but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems. The expansion of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion of computer networks gaming through the use of a broadband internet connection Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is a high data rate Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56k modem and a PlayStation 2 Network Adapter The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay introduced with the model 30000 and 50000 PlayStation 2 designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive (HDD). These peripherals enhance the capabilities of the PS2 to allow online play and other features and were shown at E³ 2001. This is integrated into the hardware on "slimline" models, and can be bought as an add-on for the original "fat" models. Some games also allow online gameplay using a Dial-Up connection (not available on all models), or LAN play by connecting two network adapters (or slimline consoles) together directly with an Ethernet cable or through the same router network.

Instead of having a unified, subscription-based online service like Xbox Live, online multiplayer on the PS2 is the responsibility of the games publisher and is run on third-party servers. Most recent PS2 online games have been developed to exclusively support broadband internet access. Xbox Live similarly requires a broadband internet connection.

All online PS2 games released in and after 2003 are protected by the Dynamic Network Authentication System (DNAS). The purpose of this system is to prevent piracy and online cheating. DNAS will prevent games from being played online if they are determined to be pirated copies or if they have been modified. However, methods have been developed to get around this protection by modifying key files in the modified game.

Though, because of most Sony Server shut-downs, still some game are no longer able to be played online with others around the world. However, there is a program (XLink Kai) that allows you to achieve online play for any PS2 game again. This is done by utilising a technique to trick the Sony Playstation 2 that it is actually playing LAN - though, it connects to your Computer to then be ported around the world to an unofficial Sony Dedicated Server (Where everyone can play for free once again).

In addition to online gaming, some unofficial modifications have been made on the PS2 software allowing it to be used as a fully-functional web browser or messenger when connecting to a certain network. This can also be done through PS2 Linux.

Hardware revisions

The PS2 has undergone many revisions, some only of internal construction and others involving substantial external changes. These are colloquially known among PS2 hardware hackers as V0, V1, V2, etc.., up to V18^[15] (as of 2010). Each revision is released in different regions with a different model number. For example, the V18 was released in NA as SCPH-90001, in AU as SCPH-90002, and in HK as SCPH-90006. The final digit is simply a region code and has no bearing on the hardware other than region lock-outs (for games and DVDs) and language options within the system software.

The PS2 is primarily differentiated between models featuring the original case design and "slimline" models, which were introduced at the end of 2004.

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