PlayStation 2 will always be remembered as the most successful desktop console in video game history. Now, after the cessation of its worldwide production and on its 15th anniversary, we are approaching the keys to the success of one of Sony’s best commercial maneuvers and the greatest success of the PlayStation brand.
It was the end of 1999 and that Christmas I had to open a very special package. The sixth generation came to my room at the hands of Sega Dreamcast , and after several great games and a good handful of hours heating the console until it left its base yellowish due to the heat released, I was sure that I did not need anything else to continue enjoying during years.
Not even the announcement of a new console from Sony , a brand that had given me countless hours of fun a few years ago with its first console, was able to pull me out of my bubble. I was from Sega, I had always been from Sega above any other brand, and that machine had everything to succeed: ‘Virtua Tennis’, ‘Crazy Taxi’, ‘Soul Calibur’ … You look back, you stop to remember the fights dialectics in the schoolyard, you laugh and think ” baby things “.
PlayStation 2 hits the market dressed as a loser but hailed as a future winner
Just over a year later, on November 24, 2000, the new Sony console came to our market with unprecedented success behind it. I, involved in an internal war in which I wanted Dreamcast to take control of the market, watched with incredulous eyes as Sony threw its console into the pool with a shameful launch catalog even today. ‘Fantavision’? This battle is won, he thought.
The reality, however, was quite different. The success of the first PlayStation caused that, after the announcement of the development of PlayStation 2 in April 1999, the numbers of the Sega console began to descend uncontrollably. The Japanese market turned to support the machine , and the United States and Europe did the same.
Days before the beginning of the Christmas holidays of the year 2000, when news related to Sony’s new machine focused on highlighting the lack of stock of PS2 in stores, a new package arrived at home. The sender was a family friend who for some years had taken the habit of giving me gifts that I would not have otherwise been able to access. The first torn piece of paper made it very clear what it was hiding, that characteristic blue ended my internal war. I no longer had to choose between one console or the other, I now had a Sega Dreamcast and a Sony PlayStation 2 placed in my room.
The keys to the success of Playstation 2
Time and Sega’s losses decided that one of them had an earlier-than-expected expiration date, and Sony’s machine became the survivor of a war it had won before hitting the market . His catalog was still not much, and surprisingly remembering the numbers from that time reflect it perfectly.
Interactive entertainment had a new king, and game sales on both CDs and DVDs were completely eclipsed by the distribution of DVD movies. The great titles were still not coming, but the public’s hope was still there , at the foot of the canyon, and the arrival of franchises like ‘Metal Gear Solid’, ‘Gran Turismo’ or ‘Silent Hill’ seemed like a good burning nail to hold on to.
Without a catalog and without stock, it seemed that the Sony panorama was beginning to darken, but the fever that had already been unleashed meant that the 75,900 pesetas (456 euros) that PS2 cost on arrival in Europe were not enough, and shortly after the typical street markets of these The parties we left behind were filled with units that fetched prices between 100,000 and 150,000 pesetas.
Third party support
The loss of exclusive titles like ‘Munch Odyssey’, which would eventually come to Microsoft’s Xbox, presented a rather worrying picture, but Sony’s long-distance race had an ace up its sleeve: Ken Kutaragi and his philosophy regarding third-party titles party .
According to Kutaragi, the success of PS2 would come only if Sony focused on filling a third of the machine’s catalog with its own titles . The rest had to come from other developers, so negotiations began that would account for a large part of Sony’s success in its new journey.
The courtship of outside companies benefited from a reduction in the fees to pay Sony for developments , advertising support and development kits intended to start work on the next generation. The play was perfect for them, and that led to a catalog with great jewels. Out of nearly 11,000 different games, we recently picked the best PS2 games. It wasn’t all gold, but even the worst PS2 games can’t tarnish a magnificent catalog.
The quintessential DVD player
Watching a movie on VHS at that time meant having to rewind several minutes of ads, including the DVD ad , a new way to watch movies with amazing quality that also used some of the scenes from the movie. The Matrix to get our attention.
PS2 was the only sixth-generation console that decided to introduce DVD playback natively , and what a priori might seem like a way to sell Sony’s new format at any cost, ended up becoming the greatest ally of the success of the machine .
It was time to change the format and DVD players equaled or exceeded the price of PS2, so the best option seemed to be done with a console, put it in the living room and kill two birds with one stone, forgetting about VHS and shutting up the child who he asked his parents for the new pot. PS2 was a cheap DVD player that, in addition, went on to create a style in which several interactive entertainment possibilities were combined that still remain today.
Slim models and family games came full circle
The successes took control of the market and the arrival of GameCube and Xbox seemed a suicide that would follow in the footsteps of what happened with Sega. More power at a lower price could scare anyone, but as Kutaragi predicted , the machine’s catalog would be the one that would finally set the trend .
As if inattention was not enough when it came to fighting, Sony embarked on the development of the PS2 Slim units , a strategy that put the console back on the shelves while drastically reducing manufacturing costs . the price of the machine and the possibilities of its competition.
The complicated development of the internal architecture of the machine went into the background and the Emotion Engine became an accessible gem that would bear fruit of the quality of ‘ ICO ‘, ‘Gran Turismo 3’ or ‘Metal Gear Solid 3 ‘. The idea of turning PS2 into a machine for the living room continued its course with proposals such as ‘Singstar’ or ‘EyeToy’, opening a market that would end up putting the icing on a cake of more than 150 million units sold worldwide . It is definitely impossible not to look back and applaud what Sony achieved with PS2 , it did very well, and although it is already a part of the past, we will always remember that time with nostalgia.
| The old warrior sets out on his way home: PlayStation 2 stops being distributed in Japan
