Did you know that?
The previous week we spoke about a really loved console: the PlayStation.
Today we speak about its successor which is considered nowadays one of the most successful videogame consoles of all time: the PlayStation 2.
The story of its creation:
The PlayStation 2 was released in 2000 as a successor to the PlayStation.
As a sixth-generation console, the PlayStation 2 competed with the Dreamcast, the GameCube, and the Xbox.
It was developed in the U.S. West Coast by former members of Argonaut Software.
Though Sony has kept details of the PlayStation 2’s development secret, work on the console began around the time that the original PlayStation was released. Sony unveiled it at the Tokyo Game Show on 20th September 1999, right after the Dreamcast’s launch.
In 2006, the PlayStation 2 was superseded by the PlayStation 3 but not totally replaced. In fact, there was continuing support right up until 2013, when Sony announced the end of the PlayStation 2 era.
Here are 7 Fun facts and curiosities about Sony and the PlayStation:
1. One console, various features
The PlayStation 2 had a lot of cool and unique features at that time:
– one was that users could set it horizontally or vertically depending on their preference thanks to a vertical plastic stand.
– it could also play DVDs, which was a bonus for owners of the console as they could watch movies without having to buy a DVD player. The PlayStation 2 was the first gaming console to offer this function too.
– it was the first PlayStation console to offer backwards compatibility for the PlayStation controllers and all of its games.
2. Games, games everywhere
More than 3,874 video games have been released for the PlayStation 2 since launch, and more than 1.5 billion copies of games have been sold. However, the User Ahans76 has all the US released games. He began collecting them back in 2000 and his first game was Ridge Racer 5 which has bought with the console. He has only first editions and he never opened them.
3. Not only games
The Playstation 2 was planned to take advantage of streaming broadband services. In fact, it was the first Sony console able to stream Netflix. This option was unfortunately available only in Brazil and it was given as a CD. However, now you can find the ISO on the web if you want.
4. Fanaticism about the console
A man named Dan Holmes was so crazy about his PS2 that he has legally changed his name to Mr. PlayStation 2. He asked a few vicars if they would do a marriage between him and his loved console too, but they didn’t seem keen.
5. Designer, you are lazy…
The design of the PlayStation 2 is based on an old Atari computer, the Falcon 030 Microbox. Sony bought the design patent when Atari was going bankrupt and readapted it to make a brand-new console.
6. …But ingenious!
The PlayStation 2 colours are not randomised: the blue logo is the Earth while the black of the console represents the vastness and the darkness of the space which surround it.
7. Random towers not so random
During the PlayStation 2 loading screen some white towers appear as a different loading bar but they have a secret purpose: the towers represent all the saved game data you have in the console and their height change based on how many time you spend playing that game, so if you have five save game data you will find five towers on the loading screen.
That’s all for today! And you? did you know all of these fun facts? Let us know what you think and comment below or tweet us at @DEXdotEXE.
Want to know even more about the PlayStation? Then check out 7 fun facts about the PlayStation 1!
