PS2 turns seven years old

It may have been a fat baby, but the PS2 has slimmed down and celebrates its seventh birthday in the States today. GI.biz has a nice little rundown of the unit's life. Since Oct. 26, 2000, the heir to the PlayStation name has shipped 120 million units and a billion units in software. Another 10 million PS2 units are expected to sell worldwide by March 2008. Peter Dille, Sony America's senior vp of marketing says, "Never before has an in-home game system experienced this type of worldwide success on such a long-lasting scale." That's absolutely true, PlayStation gave PS2 a good start in life -- now, about the grandkid.

We have the list after the break of the PS2's top-selling titles, but if you ever needed to know how important the Grand Theft Auto franchise is to PlayStation, it becomes quite apparent looking at the list. The top three games are GTA: Vice City (13 million units), GTA: San Andreas (12 million) and Grand Theft Auto III (11 million). Looking at the full list quickly, it's made up of GTA, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Strictly based on PS2 software sales, it appears Sony needs to do what it can to hold on to Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy. But this story isn't about the PS3, it's about the PS2, and nobody can argue its success. Happy Birthday PS2, enjoy the rest of your ten-year cycle.

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (13 million)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (12 million)
• Grand Theft Auto III (11 million)
• 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)
• Final Fantasy XII (3.68 million)