On October 26, 2000, the Sony PlayStation 2 was released in North America, and since then, the game console has sold nearly 158 million units worldwide. What set it apart from its main competitors, the Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, and SEGA Dreamcast, was the Sony / Toshiba developed Emotion Engine processor.
Aside from the 64-bit R5900-based “Emotion Engine” consisting of eight separate units, it also came equipped with a Graphics Synthesiser boasting a fillrate of 2.4 gigapixels per second, and 32MB of RDRAM. Similar to the Dreamcast’s Visual Memory Unit (VMU), the PlayStation 2 memory card features an 8 megabyte (MB) capacity, complete with MagicGate encryption. During its 13-year run, there were over 4,000 games released worldwide and over 1.5 billion copies sold.
- DualShock Controller
- DVD playback
- Digital surround sound
One interesting fact is that besides the “fat” and slimline” models, there was also a 22-inch HD-ready Sony TV that had a built-in PlayStation 2 console, called the Bravia KDL-22PX300. That’s right, it also offered four HDMI ports, three USB sockets, VGA / component inputs and an integrated Freeview tuner with an Ethernet connection for IPTV viewing. Most surprising of all, it retailed for just $243 USD at the time of its release in 2010.
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