Sony Bullish on PS2 on Console's Seventh Anniversary

October 26, 2007 | By: James Brightman

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Pop some champagne - it's PS2's seventh birthday! In honor of the anniversary, SCEA is launching a new PS2 ceramic white bundle that includes SingStar Pop. Going forward, the company remains very confident about the platform's momentum this holiday and beyond. [Update: added exact date for SingStar bundle]

Time really flies. Friday, October 26 marks the seventh anniversary of Sony's ubiquitous PlayStation 2. Since its release in North America on October 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PS2 software have been sold worldwide, which Sony proudly reminded everyone makes it "the best-selling gaming platform ever released."

While certain analysts may think the aging PS2 is finally "on its way out for good" Sony is confident that the platform will continue to be on top of gamers' minds. "While other game systems have vanished from the market, PlayStation 2 continues to exhibit strong momentum, a testament to the design and technology at the core of the product and demonstrating SCEA's commitment to a 10-year product lifecycle," the company stated.

SCEA said there are nearly 1,500 titles in the current PS2 software library and an additional 160 new games are expected in North America by the end of March 2008, including Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, High School Musical: Sing It, Madden NFL 08, Manhunt 2, NBA '08, Rock Band, and Buzz.

Furthermore, to give the PS2 another boost this holiday season, SCEA is introducing a special limited edition Ceramic White PlayStation 2, which will be bundled with SingStar Pop and two USB microphones. This bundle will hit store shelves in North America in "early November" for a suggested retail price of $149.99 ($20 more than the current PS2 price).

"While today's anniversary celebrates PlayStation 2's past, we're very excited for its future," said Jack Tretton, President and Chief Executive Officer for SCEA. "We look forward to the platform's continued growth and expect to sell approximately 12 million units worldwide by the end of March, leading us to anticipate that PlayStation 2's lifecycle will exceed that of the original PlayStation. Never before has an in-home game system experienced this type of worldwide success on such a long-lasting scale."

[UPDATE] Although SCEA initially said the SingStar PS2 ceramic white bundle would be made available in "early November," the company has now issued a more exact date. Consumers should be able to pick up the bundle this weekend (Oct. 27-28).