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

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."

Reader Comments (57)

I think Sony is alot smarter than we actually give them credit for. (btw..I own a 360) Even though the media talks about the losses on the PS3 Sony is still making a killer profit off of the PS2 and the PSP which makes up the difference in my opinion. That's why they removed the backwards compatibility and continue to make new titles for the PS2 and PSP. There not in a rush to drop the price or compete because there not losing as much as we think they are. If you had a brand new car on the lot for sale but people were content overpaying you for the old ones would you care if they bought it? Im just sayin....

Somebody fix this freakin comment system. I just posted a comment and it disappeared. What's the point.

And yet the comment about fixing the comment system appears instantly. Huh.

FY END MAR 2009 – PROJECTION SUMMARY

PS3 Hardware = ($660)(*) million LOSS

PS3 Software = $318(*) million

PSP Hardware = $128(*) million

PSP Software = $156(*) million

PS2 Hardware = $117(*) million

PS2 Software = $231(*) million

TOTAL = $290(*) million PROFIT

In conclusion, even with PS3 hardware suffering from a loss ($660(*) million), overall the game division will most likely see a profit.

So it was not too much of a stretch for Sony to be confident that their game division will be profitable this fiscal year.

The only concern that I have with this projection is the PSP software projections, due to the declining attach ratio and overall software sales for the past years. Increasing hardware sales of the PSP does not seem to translate into higher software sales for the console.

If the PSP software turns out to be off by a lot, then overall profit will probably be lower by $50 to $100 million for the FY end Mar 2009.

Reference : http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=32610&page=2

Atari sold the 2600 well into the 90's, so I see it around, even next generation.

But I still think Sony is gonna start putting the emotion engines back in the PS3, because it will be cheaper, in the long run.

I don't and didn't have a PS2 (parents), but I'm enthused to buy one and probably will until I can build up my wealth to purchase a 360. However, I am not interested in ANY of the new titles, as they are all ports. I'll buy it only to play the oldies, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, FF games, Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, Killer7 (?), etc. I don't see any reason to buy the new, crappier ports.

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

Reader Comments (57)

Posted: Jan 14th 2009 2:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 14th 2009 2:42PM wcanyon said

Posted: Jan 14th 2009 2:43PM wcanyon said

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Posted: Jan 14th 2009 5:39PM ch3burashka said

Posted: Jan 19th 2009 2:43AM (Unverified) said

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