PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sony's second video game console, after the PlayStation. Its development was announced in April 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000. The U.S. version was released on October 26, 2000. Following a slow first year due to a lack of units built and ready, the PlayStation 2 has grown to become a popular gaming console, with over 90 million units sold.

Software compatibility

Support for original PlayStation games was also an important selling point for the PS2, letting owners of an older system upgrade to the PlayStation 2 and keep their old software, and giving new users access to older games until a larger library was developed for the new system. As an added bonus, the PS2 had the ability to enhance PlayStation games by speeding up disc read time and/or adding texture smoothing to improve graphics. While the texture smoothing was universally effective (albeit with odd effects where transparent textures are used), faster disk reading could cause some games to fail to load or play correctly.

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A handful of PlayStation titles (notably ') fail to run on the PS2 at all (Special Missions fails to recognise Metal Gear Solid at the disk swap screen, for example). It is a common misconception that disk swapping in a game (for example, for multi-disk games or expansion packs) is not possible on the PS2. The anomalous failure of the above title at its disk swap screen may have given birth to this rumor. Software for all PlayStation consoles contains one of three region codes: for Japan and Asia: NTSC/J, North America: NTSC-U/C and Europe and Oceania: PAL.

Related Topics:
Japan - Asia - NTSC - North America - Europe - Oceania - PAL

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