Sony: PS2 remains 'important,' touts 2009 and 2010 lineup

by Andrew Yoon on Jan 14th 2009 10:55AM

2009 marks year #9 for Sony's aging PlayStation 2. Although hardcore gaming enthusiasts have largely moved on to current generation consoles, the system is still "important" to Sony's business model. With 50 million units sold in North America, it's clear why Sony will continue supporting the platform. John Koller, director of hardware marketing at SCEA, told Gamasutra that "the only way to kill the PS2 business is to stop supporting it." Koller claims that 25% of software sales in 2008 were on Sony's last-gen system.

Publishers are unlikely to ignore the sizable PS2 audience, and Koller agrees. "With the lineup for 2009 and 2010, the PS2 is not going away anytime soon." A quick glance at the PS2 release list shows dozens of games planned for the year, although most are licensed movie and sports games. 2009 releases include titles like SingStar, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Ghostbusters, Madden and The Beatles.

Sony will undoubtedly want the success of PS2 to continue as long as possible. With PS3 systems still losing money on each unit sold, the "positive margins" of the PlayStation 2 will help the manufacturer's bottom line. With PS2 sales still going strong, Koller insists a price drop is not coming any time soon. "It's a significant financial contributor for us and it sells very well at $129.99. We're comfortable with the current price."

Source

Tags: john-koller, playstation-2, ps2, sony

Reader Comments (57)

I wonder if the continued support of 2 is hurting 3. But really they are on the money by saying that the only way to kill it would be to stop supporting it. Last game I played on it was God of War 2.

yea God of War 2 was my Last game I played on PS2.......but on my PS3 IO played Persona4.....

and I doubt PS2 sales are hurting the 3 any as the PS3 is $300 more damn near.....if you have the money to get a PS3 then you do that......I doubt someone who spends just $130 has the funds to buy the PS3.....

I still buy and play PS2 games, but on my PS3 (60GB ftw!). But I never owned a PS2. When I'm low on money or there isn't anything new that catches my fancy, I go find one of the PS2 classics I still haven't played.

I wish I had your PS3 Courtney. Oddly enough mine does not support PS2 titles.

That can't be good :(.

I think this might be a real explanation as to why the PS3 lost backwards compatibility. My guess is that the largest market for games might not ever consider a PS3 a PS2 game player.

I agree that it is definently part of the reason. Sony has to make a nice profit on every single PS2 sold.

I think that this has something to do with it also. The size of the motherboard and complexity of it has to be a BIG part of the reason for the omission of PS2 BC on the PS3.

http://www.gamecyte.com/ces-2009-this-is-why-your-ps3-doesnt-have-backwards-compatibility

I wish MS cared about the first Xbox like this.

Its still getting played more then the ps3 :P

OH SNAP!

the first Xbox was hemorrhaging money. continued support of it would have killed the Xbox division eventually. it sure had some pretty games though and a decent line up of exclusives.

I love my PS2 - its got the best RPG's IMHO of all three consoles right now (all the FF's and KH's) and while the graphics might not be that great, the games are generally cheaper. I basically use my 360 to stream media from my PC, but I game on my PS2. This is great news for PS2-owners :)

I could have SWORE they said they were going to drop the price of the PS2 to $99 at E3...

WTF! How much is it then?

It's still $129, for chrissake.

Well thats in-fucking-sane!

*Sigh

Stop failing Sony. If they slash the price of PS3 by $50 instead of $100 then that will be another bonehead move.

I have a broken warranty expired PS2 and havent picked up another PS2 because of the price. If it went down to $99 I might go for it.

Yeah dude,this needs to be 100, i mean wit 50Million its tough to say they need to but i think it would just fly off shelves at 100.

ok enter the Usual Sony Haters........lol...

Alien Lord where are you??

May as well; the usuall Sony fanbots are already here...although I don't see mcpoop or his duel el serpiente.

I am actually glad MS left the original xbox (mine is still going strong). They had less to lose by moving next gen than Sony ever did. Sony ruled with PS2. No one can ever argue that.

Sony couldn't outright abondon such a cash cow where all hardware (PS2) still bring in the dollars. With a $1.1 billion dollar loss announcment, Sony needed some good news in the media to counteract the negativity affecting shares.

All I know is that if theres gonna be a PS4, they have to keep selling PS2's. So this is a good thing IMO. I don't want Sony dropping out of the console wars anytime soon. Even though I usually end up getting all game consoles each generation I always make sure I choose the best one to buy first. You never know, maybe Sonys machine WILL be the best one next gen...

I can't believe they stopped backward compatibility to push PS3 games sales instead of promoting PS2 and PS3 games to be played on PS3! What are you thinking Sony!!?!

If Sony gets rid of the PS2 then the PS3 would become the new SEGA Saturn, Whats going on with the PS2 right know is what SEGA wanted to do with the Megadrive when they released the 32x.

I can't believe that thing is still $129. O _ o

I'm glad MS let go of the Xbox in favor of the 360. It allowed consumers to make the jump and not look back. The fact that PS2 is still selling "well" seems to be a conflict of interest with PS3's success any time soon.

I'll bet you the PS2 is going to be Sony's only true 10 yr console. Not to troll, though.

Maybe just a bit.

I'm just surprised that any console has lasted this long on the market.

Playstation says hi.

Can you really call the PSX a 10 yr console though? Granted, from what I read on Wikipedia, it released 12/3/94 in Japan, 9/9/95 in the US, but can you recall what games were being released (at all) for the PSX in 2004-2005, vs the likelihood we'll still have some notable game releases (a low standard given the PSX 2002-on releases) on the PS2 in 2010?

$399.99 vs $129.99

It doesn't take an economist to determine why the PS2 console continues to sell well despite being replaced by the PS3.

IT COSTS LESS THAN ONE THIRD THE PRICE OF THE PS3.

Only $130?
Hmm I might pick up another PS2 since my first one broke...
and KH 1&2, the Devil May Cry series, GOW, and the Ratchet and Clank series, other than that don't care for much on there

Only 130 for a 8+ year old console.

True, it was just a thought. I think my next purchase will be a PS3 as soon as I round up enough money.

You'll waste money on a blu ray player over games *shakes head in dismay*

Well I think I have games covered plus it would mean I'd own every console of this generation!
Seriously though I have a PC in one room, a Wii in mine, a 360 in our living room, so a PS3 would be fine for it's blu-ray and the few exclusives it has.

Wow I hate it when people say PS3 has no games. How about you list all the GOOD PS3 exclusives and all the GOOD 360 exclusives. The PS3 list will be much longer assuming you list REAL exclusives for the 360.(So no mass effect,fable 2, bioshock, eternal sonata etc.

I'm not saying it has no games, I'm saying that it has a few games I want and I can get most of the library on the 360. But seriously if I'm looking for a game and it's sold out on one console, I'll just get it on another.

One of the reasons that the PS2 is still selling so well is cause it's still the cheapest console out there and stupid parents don't fork out the $ for a real console. It's just like why the Wii sells so well. It's the cheapest next gen console and again parents don't fork out the $ for a real console.

No matter how much shovelware it has the Wii is a real console. End of story.

As an adult who works for a living, I can personally attest that 500$ is a lot of God damned money.

PS2 is a real console
as is the Wii
stop being a troll

If the PS3 had back-compat then people would be much more likely to buy it based on the strength of the PS2 library -- which is only increasing apparently. Bring it back Sony! A 60GB PS3 (with backcompat) goes for the same price as a new PS3 on ebay. They're clueless over there at Sony.

...Also, PS2 games are crazily cheap used.

What is more appealing, a 60$ game, or a 10$ game? (or even 2.99$, which is how much I paid for MGS 2 and 3, Arc the Lad, and GTA: San Andreas)

There's nothing wrong with the PS2.

aj said "There's nothing wrong with the PS2." it's not that there is nothing wrong with the PS2, it's still inferior to the Xbox 1 and 360 (but still better then the PS3) it's that it's not evil like the PS3.

Why is the PS3 evil?

Yeah. mine killed a hobo once, but you guys on the fanboy side say some weird stuff. How can an inanimate object that sits and plays games be evil?

Alien Lord - What?

Like I said elsewhere:
Businesswise, it would make much more sense to Sony to focus on the PS2 and PSP. There's tons of markets and countries out there that don't have the money or interest in the PS3 console/blu-ray player, but would gladly pay $99 or so for a PS2.
To slow down the funding in the PS3 and selling more profitable Ps2 and PSP would surely help Sony's cash-flow, something they dire need at this moment.
It's not a shame for a business to say they made a mistake with a product

Given how things are going for Sony, things that make money keep going. Things that don't, might not last long.

PS2 is the only thing keeping that brand alive.

I think the immense popularity of the PS2 for so long is hurting the PS3 sales. There were many people that waited to buy a PS3 (hell maybe they haven't even done so yet) because they are still going on the PS2. Also.. the continued support for the PS2 with new releases (sure mostly franchises, but those things sell!) means that someone who is on the cusp of going into this current-gen of consoles, may choose to stick back with the PS2 instead. Thus saving money. The library on the PS2 is incredible, especially for RPGs. Its a system that is worthy of still being played today for its solid library, and because of that, I think there may be a bit of a problem when it comes to pushing the PS3.

Yep, if they had back-compatibility it wouldn't be "PS2 w/ lots of games or PS3 with almost no games"? it would be "PS3 (which includes a PS2) and tons of games?" If the PS3 had back-compatibility I would totally have bought one instead of buying a blu-ray drive for my HTPC. I know there's a big cost difference there, but the cheap and plentiful game library would've made up for it.

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Sony: PS2 remains 'important,' touts 2009 and 2010 lineup

Reader Comments (57)

Posted: Jan 14th 2009 11:01AM Dirty said

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