Around 140 million PS2s now sold

By Ellie Gibson Published 29 October, 2009

Old timer celebrates ninth birthday.

Sony has released a bundle of treats for stat fans to celebrate nine years of PlayStation 2.

Around 140 million people across the globe own a PS2. In the US alone more than 500 million games have been sold and there's a PS2 in one in three homes.

More than 485 developers have produced nearly 10,000 games for the console. SOCOM is one of the most popular franchises, with more than 530 million hours of online play logged - equivalent to 60,000 years.

Happy birthday, PS2. Here's to another nine years. Unlikely though.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MeBrains #1 2 years ago

    still have the launch model PS2 sitting right beneath the telly. it still works too. well engineered as far as I'm concerned.

  • sfp_noodle #2 2 years ago

    ill be honest, whilst i love my ps2, i think its time they put it to rest. i only use it for the classics and there are only a few games tht i have still yet to play on it. i think sony shud take a leaf out of konami's book and re-release some of their best games to give it a final swansong before retiring it

  • Thornhillboy #3 2 years ago

    I also have my original launch PS2 sitting my my tv alongside its younger relatives. Really happy that it still works.

  • Goodfella #4 2 years ago

    I'll never forget the day I sold my PS2 'fat' and bought a slim. I knew it was meant to be a lot smaller but was gob smacked when I got it out the box, the thing is tiny and still a surprising feat today.

  • markymark22 #5 2 years ago

    The ps3 and xbox 360 will never reach the heights ps2 did. The wii may beat the sales eventually but will always go down in history as a fad childs toy. Fantastic console. Deserves some sort of lifetime achievement award!

  • bad09 #6 2 years ago

    Still playing mine today (just starting Yakuza), although I would like to do it upscaled and wireless Sony ;)

    I remember going to the Sony wicked PS2 expo and baggin loads of freebies (hint, hint EG) and.....watching Blazin' Squad......

    *cough*

    ....Anyway great console, gave me GTA and made the death of my DC a little easier. It will never beat my PS1 for a place in my heart though, THAT was a truly awseome time to be a gamer, it was all so new! :)

    Oh, speaking of good old PS2......GETAWAY 3 SONY YOU FACKIN' SLAGS, OR THE BOY DIES!!!!!

  • light&shadow #7 2 years ago

    Alhtough they might not individually reach the sales number of the PS2, current gen consoles will certainly exceed the previous gen numbers in total, showing the good health of the industry as a whole, even in these difficult times, which is good. Next gen we might even see more player if the rumours about Apple are right. A dynamic and always interesting industry indeed.

  • gmmonkey #8 2 years ago

    I've got 4 sitting in my cupboard. One is mine and the other 2 are ex flatmates and I don't know where the other one came from. I was thinking of getting some more and building a fort out of them. They don't build them like they used to. My flatmates ps3 is dead and my 360 is rrod'd with a half assed repair. The covers off it so it doesn't flex the board.

  • Maledictus010 #9 2 years ago

    Still have PS2 as my main gaming device. Won't be buying anything current gen anytime soon, the quality of games is appalling (as are the machines themselves, it seems). I have loads of games for PS2 that still make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, PS3 won't do that. I guess this is mainly fed by nostalgia, but there honestly isn't anything on PS3 yet that can compare to the things i still play on PS2. It's really too bad that retailers are killing PS2 right now. Sony proudly says that PS2 is still available and a good buy, but no-one sells games for it anymore. With the exception of some license crap. If you didn't buy a PS2 and the games for it since launch, there's little reason to buy one now. So yes, PS2 will soon be gone, i'm afraid. Better buy one or two of 'em before they're gone so i can keep playing my great games...
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/09 @ 10:01

  • Fab4 #10 2 years ago

    I gave my PS2 to my two nieces a few years ago, and they prefer it to their Wii. So there's still life in the old dog yet...now if I can only get them to like PES4 ;)

  • markymark22 #11 2 years ago

    djronz
    Yeah that's a very good point. But ps2 still had to convert ps1 players and try beat down the poor dreamcast.
    I still pity the xbox, microsoft really showed how little they cared by just killing it off. Still had few more years in it.

  • jimmyhill11 #12 2 years ago

    Without doubt my favourite console on of time. I know it didn't do shooters as well as the xbox, but I don't really care for FPS games so that didn't bother me. The amount of quality and innovative games for the PS2 is staggering - the GTA games; the most sublime PES games; ICO; Okami; MGS3; Dragon Quest 8; Persona 3 - the list goes on and on, and these are games that still attract me to play on my lauch model ps2 even when I have the likes of Uncharted to play on the PS3.

  • Bigglesworth #13 2 years ago

    @noodle: there have been games out on the ps2 over the last few years that rival current-gen offerings for overall experience!

    @markymark / djronz: true dat. Xbox coming up against the PS2 was kinda like an ant trying to push over a skyscraper. PS2 had the momentum, despite the Xbox, I think, being technologically superior (it was newer, of course).

  • chrisjm #14 2 years ago

    i wonder how many of those are in a landfill

  • El-Dev #15 2 years ago

    This current gen of consoles has more than 9 years between them and has just about broken the 100m mark. It appears quite a few haven't moved on from their PS2 and rightly so.

  • El-Dev #16 2 years ago

    "standing at a pitiful 24 million after 3 years. "

    http://vg chartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=X...

  • brod #17 2 years ago

    @Goodfella: Likewise. I eagerly await the REAL PS3 slim that is inevitable to come out in a few years. Sony cleverly avoided using the word slim for the recent revamp.

  • griffjoshua #18 2 years ago

    Sadly my PS2 died months ago. I'm actually saving up for a slim.

  • CliveJames #19 2 years ago

    I'd rather hack my penis off with a lollipop stick than celebrate PS2's willing genocide of Sega when they were good. DC 4 evah. Until the cd lens fucks out that is.

  • Slipstream #20 2 years ago

    So not ready to let go of my PS2 yet. The quality of games has yet to be matched, I have SO many quality games for that baby. God Bless 60GB.

  • drewman5150 #21 2 years ago

    I wish I'd sold a "pitiful" 24 million widgets over three years

  • BlueHaze_Sean #22 2 years ago


    Anyone know where you can still buy a new one in the UK?

    I'd like to add to the the number

  • dr_faulk #23 2 years ago

    Yeah, we have the original PS2 still in working order. Was tempted to buy a slim one the other week for €50. I can understand why sales are still up.

    In saying all that, I hated all but a very few PS2 games. Shitey PS2 controller pushed me towards PC gaming.

  • markymark22 #24 2 years ago

    There certainly was a lot of crap games as well. But most consoles are like that. I was in my local game shop last week and the ds has so cack! Imagine cookery, imagine babies, imagine weddings....seriously now it's a joke!

  • Maledictus010 #25 2 years ago

    "with the industry worth big bucks now ,production values are amazing."
    This is as always a matter of opinion but i very much disagree. Games may look good these days but i'm not at all interested in HD and hi-res graphics. The simple fact is that there are no games like Dark Chronicle (or any of the level 5 gems), no decent RPGs, nothing like the Team-ico stuff, etc. There are some shiny license titles and some shooter stuff for the adhd generation, but the old fashioned deep stuff i haven't seen yet (in Europe, that is. One exception being Fallout3, but that's not my thing. And it was buggy as hell on the PS3). Things like LBP make me vomit. I will admit though that i'm looking forward to god of war 3, that may just be a reason to buy a PS3. That, and the new level 5 rpg. But, as stated, it remains a matter of opinion.

  • markymark22 #26 2 years ago

    bigglesworth
    Your right the xbox was more powerfull than the ps2. I'm not sure by how much but if i remember correctly it ran a version of half life 2!! Anyone correct me on this? Its like a dream to me.?!
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/09 @ 14:35

  • electrolite #27 2 years ago

    The XBox had as good a shot at HL2 as anything from that generation could have possibly managed.

    10,000 games!! I loved the PS2, apart from early on as I wasn't a huge PS1 fan, and through 2000 the DC was much better. Christmas 2001 though, the PS2 (and I) got Jak and Daxter, Pro Evo, GTA III, SSX Tricky and Burnout. Never looked back, awesome machine....

  • CitizenGeek #28 2 years ago

    60,000 years of SOCOM played online? It sounds crazy in those terms.

    Anyways, I'm still not even nearly done with my PS2. There are loads of games I have yet to play :)

  • malexous #29 2 years ago

    Still bitter towards Sony because of the DRE fiasco.

    I'm playing MGS3 for the first time, at the moment. I lie the PS2 on its side and as soon as the tray closes, I turn the PS2 vertically. Best way to get my PS2 to read a disc.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/09 @ 18:37

  • JamieR #30 2 years ago

    I think the ps2 is good for peaple who cant afford a ps3

  • Bigglesworth #31 2 years ago

    @donnie
    The article is about a Sony machine reaching its 9th birthday. Why would you not 'believe [their] 10-year plan'?