SCEA PS2 Media Bulletin
Fall is just around the corner and Sony gears up with a sexier, smaller PS2.
by | October 20, 2004
Earlier today, Sony released its latest media bulletin highlighting the newly redesigned PS2 as well as a recap of hardware and software achievements. Check it out...
As we approach the heart of the fall season, leaves are transforming to shades of orange and yellow and sunny days turning to rain, change is also afoot on retail shelves around the country. Even as you are receiving this media bulletin, new PlayStation 2* units are appearing on store shelves across the country, giving consumers something new and exciting to put under the Christmas tree or unwrap this holiday season. Fresh new PlayStation 2 hardware on store shelves combined with steady growth of software sales (PlayStation 2 software unit sales are up 31.8% year-over-year for the month of September according to the NPD Group.) give everyone something to look forward to this holiday season.
If you haven’t seen this sexy, sleek new PlayStation 2, check out the image below. The only thing slimming down this holiday season, the newly redesigned PlayStation 2 is about half the weight of the original PlayStation 2, but still packs a technology punch and is now network-ready for consumers who are ready to go online over the holidays. Here are some product highlights:
- While inheriting the basic functions and design philosophy of the current PlayStation 2, the internal design architecture of the new model has been completely overhauled, resulting in a slimmer and more lightweight form.
- Internal volume has been reduced by 75 percent, overall weight has been halved, and thickness trimmed down to 2.8 cm (thickness of current model is 7.8 cm).
- Equipped with an integrated Ethernet port for network gaming, the new PlayStation 2 sets new standards in the fusion of design and functionality and will enable the company to maintain market momentum as it expands its online console gaming community, the largest in North America with more than 1.4 million users.
- 38% percent of North American PlayStation 2 online gamers continue to use dial-up connections and to satisfy this base, the North American model is equipped with both Ethernet and modem ports.
*Please note that the official name for the new PlayStation 2 hardware is simply the “new PlayStation 2,” not “PStwo”.
Why redesign a platform that has already sold more than 27 million units in North America and shipped more than 72 million units worldwide? Because this strategy is in-step with a spirit of innovation, continuing to refresh the PlayStation brand by infusing fresh design and functionality that has sustained the PlayStation business going on 10 years now. As we now enter the tenth holiday season for the original PlayStation, and as the fourth for PlayStation 2, we continue to propel a strategy that extends the life of PlayStation platforms.
According to our own internal sales figures, when comparing sales of PlayStation versus PlayStation 2 at this stage in the lifecycle (47 months in the market), sales of PlayStation 2 are currently 31% ahead of the original PlayStation in North America, clear signs that the brand reach continues to expand. With the original PlayStation, we paved the way with the longest lifecycle in videogame history - including introducing a redesigned PlayStation, dubbed PS one™, five years into the lifecycle of the product. Now 10 years later, the strategy clearly paid off.
