By Paul Robert Scott
When the original PlayStation was released in 1994 it was a turning point in gaming. In the aftermath of a falling out between Sony and Nintendo during a brief love affair. To say the PlayStation was a success would be an understatement, but there was more to the success of this machine than met the eye. Read on to find out more!
When the original PlayStation was released in 1994 it was a turning point in gaming. In the aftermath of a falling out between Sony and Nintendo during a brief love affair. To say the PlayStation was a success would be an understatement, but there was more to the success of this machine than met the eye. Read on to find out more!
It was the first console to show that gaming truly was for everyone and not just your kid brother, while it also demonstrated that it was not too late for newcomers to enter into the gaming business; something which surely influenced Microsoft when they opted to join the club. After changing the landscape of the industry to this degree in the nineties, it was surely inevitable that Sony would aim to do exactly the same again in the new millennium.
Right from the start Sony aimed to make the PS2 a direct competitor to the Sega Dreamcast. By this point, Sega already had a bloody nose from the lackluster success of the Saturn in the previous console war, and were making one final attempt at maintaining their place in the industry. Meanwhile, Sony had more than enough confidence in their brand (and in their wallets) to produce a new console that could rival Sega’s despite the Dreamcast getting a full fifteen months head start on its release. Nevertheless the Dreamcast had a reasonably successful launch in its first week and the titles released were largely of a very high standard. However at the same time, there were many gamers who were lying in wait with their money, having already been won over by Sony.
Right from the start Sony aimed to make the PS2 a direct competitor to the Sega Dreamcast. By this point, Sega already had a bloody nose from the lackluster success of the Saturn in the previous console war, and were making one final attempt at maintaining their place in the industry. Meanwhile, Sony had more than enough confidence in their brand (and in their wallets) to produce a new console that could rival Sega’s despite the Dreamcast getting a full fifteen months head start on its release. Nevertheless the Dreamcast had a reasonably successful launch in its first week and the titles released were largely of a very high standard. However at the same time, there were many gamers who were lying in wait with their money, having already been won over by Sony.
With a loyal fan base of consumers Sony was able to use the same strategy that had worked so well in the past. They made it clear that the PS2 would be a console for older gamers, but more than that they emphasised that this new console was for the living room, being the first to feature DVD playback. With a price tag of $299.99 Sony’s console was more expensive than Sega’s, but with the incentive of being an all-round entertainment machine and not just a toy for gaming. They even had the added draw of having backwards-compatibility for the first time, so gamers could revisit their favourite PSone games without necessarily retaining their original console.
By the time of the PS2’s North American release in late 2000 there were already too many pre-orders for Sony to keep up with. To make things just a little more complex, Sony was plagued with early manufacturing delays that meant only half of the required amount of consoles were delivered at first. This led to a mad dash for certain customers who were desperate to get hold of one before Christmas. On Ebay for example, it was not unusual for PS2’s to sell at twice their retail price, with some famously selling for upwards of $1000. At the time there was also a strange rumour running around the American press that Saddam Hussein was hunting for PS2’s in order to use their CPU’s collectively to build a super-computer. Another rumour even said that in the end he settled for four-thousand PSone’s because of the shortage.
By the time of the PS2’s North American release in late 2000 there were already too many pre-orders for Sony to keep up with. To make things just a little more complex, Sony was plagued with early manufacturing delays that meant only half of the required amount of consoles were delivered at first. This led to a mad dash for certain customers who were desperate to get hold of one before Christmas. On Ebay for example, it was not unusual for PS2’s to sell at twice their retail price, with some famously selling for upwards of $1000. At the time there was also a strange rumour running around the American press that Saddam Hussein was hunting for PS2’s in order to use their CPU’s collectively to build a super-computer. Another rumour even said that in the end he settled for four-thousand PSone’s because of the shortage.
Click for source Despite all the early problems, the PS2’s release became a massive success. The first day sales of the console were more than double that of its rival, and despite Sega’s hopes that Sony’s manufacturing delays would allow for an uptake of Dreamcast sales, they soon discovered that fans were more than willing to wait out the dry-spell. In the end, it was less than a year later that Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and announced they were backing away from producing hardware altogether. In many ways the console war was won there and then. It would be another year until the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft's Xbox would be released, giving Sony plenty of time to establish themselves and rack up droves of sales. By the end of 2001 they were able to undercut the price of Microsoft’s offering. Even at the end of the sixth generation of consoles, you could add up the worldwide sales of the Dreamcast, Gamecube and Xbox and it would only account for a third of the PS2’s grand total of one-hundred and fifty-five million units sold; a level of success that is still unmatched by any console either before or since.
The PS2 had its fair number of hit games. This was the generation of gaming that saw Grand Theft Auto realised in glorious 3D with numerous successful installments, with San Andreas being released in time for Sony to re-release the console in a slim-line version. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater, and Final Fantasy X also proved to be huge draws for the system, and it introduced the world to the very first Guitar Hero released which would become the great obsession of many a house-party with its various sequels. It is safe to say though that the legacy of the PS2 is not down to its games or its hardware. Over its thirteen years in production there is not much about the system that was ever truly revolutionary despite its huge success. In terms of graphical capability the PS2 was on par with the Dreamcast, but lagged behind in terms of its other rivals. Instead, the thing that will always be remembered about the PS2 was that it changed the face of the gaming industry completely. It successfully knocked Sega completely out of any future hardware development and made Nintendo appear to be a third rate company by comparison.
Meanwhile Microsoft took what it learned from carefully watching Sony’s marketing and produced their own machine that not only matched the adult seriousness of the PS2, but eventually brought online gaming to the masses. The PS2 made sure that gaming was no longer about Mario and Sonic, but in a new millennium brought about the age of Solid Snake and the Master Chief.
The PS2 had its fair number of hit games. This was the generation of gaming that saw Grand Theft Auto realised in glorious 3D with numerous successful installments, with San Andreas being released in time for Sony to re-release the console in a slim-line version. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater, and Final Fantasy X also proved to be huge draws for the system, and it introduced the world to the very first Guitar Hero released which would become the great obsession of many a house-party with its various sequels. It is safe to say though that the legacy of the PS2 is not down to its games or its hardware. Over its thirteen years in production there is not much about the system that was ever truly revolutionary despite its huge success. In terms of graphical capability the PS2 was on par with the Dreamcast, but lagged behind in terms of its other rivals. Instead, the thing that will always be remembered about the PS2 was that it changed the face of the gaming industry completely. It successfully knocked Sega completely out of any future hardware development and made Nintendo appear to be a third rate company by comparison.
Meanwhile Microsoft took what it learned from carefully watching Sony’s marketing and produced their own machine that not only matched the adult seriousness of the PS2, but eventually brought online gaming to the masses. The PS2 made sure that gaming was no longer about Mario and Sonic, but in a new millennium brought about the age of Solid Snake and the Master Chief.
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