End of an Era: PS2 Stops Shipping to Retailers in Japan

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The PlayStation 2 will no longer be produced in the world, but it hasn't breathed its last.

According to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Sony's stopped producing PlayStation 2s in Japan and ceased sending them to Japanese retailers. This means that the remaining stock is the last batch of new PlayStation 2s left.

For its near 13 year run, the PlayStation 2 has sold over 150 million consoles worldwide. Only until recently, when it was beaten by the Nintendo DS, the PS2 was the best-selling console to date.

Though the PlayStation 2 is officially off production lines, it's still getting at least one more console release. Square Enix's expansion for Final Fantasy XI, Adoulin No Makyou, will be landing on PlayStation 2 sometime in 2013, proving that the PS2 still has yet to breathe its last.

Catherine Cai
26 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dameon51
    I totally missed out on that gen of console gaming, that's when I was totally into PC's. Too bad as the ps2 really did have a lot of great titles. Would of been a very good entertainment investment.
    Reply
  • kawininjazx
    When I look back on my favorite games of all time, there are a ton of PS2 games: Grand Theft Auto, God of War, Gran Turismo, it was such a great system.
    Reply
  • WithoutWeakness
    They were still manufacturing these and producing games for them in 2012? I'm actually impressed. Assuming they were sold at reasonable prices I can totally understand why they were still selling. There were so many great games for the PS2 and you can get them all used for dirt cheap.
    Reply
  • rocknrollz
    PS2 was my first console (Yeah I am a young one) and I loved it. I still have it from almost 10 years of use. Still works (Not the DVD side) and plays games pretty well for a 10 year old piece of hardware.
    Reply
  • chibiwings
    Best console ever, no matter what PS3, Xbox360 & Wii Throw, the can never dethrone PS2.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    lol, and just today my neighbor asked me if I could fix his old PS2. there were some really great games on that system, and I admittedly still use mine. Once or twice a year I get the urge to play Final Fantasy, and the PS2 has all of my favorites of 6, 8, 9, and 10, as well as Kingdom Hearts 1&2. It also had Burnout 3 which is still a blast, and makes a great party game. I also played ONI, Xenosaga 1-3, and a few fighting games. The system was cheap and reliable, I never had to pay more than $20 for a game, and what games I played had tons of replay value.

    I never bought a PS3 (or xbox 360. We do have a Wii, but it was a gift and has not been used in 2 years). I was looking forward to buying one when it came out, but it never got the exclusive games that grabbed my attention. My friends have given me their PS3s to fix from time to time, and as payment I require them to let me borrow it for a week or two to play through a game I was interested in... but truth be told the only exclusives that I have enjoyed playing through was FF XIII, and Uncharted, and after I played them I did not have the urge to go back and play them again like I did with the old PS2 games.

    I think what killed it for me has been the excessive focus on multiplayer games, which I simply don't enjoy (because I have the reaction times of a sloth). Another thing has been the shift in jRPGs. I mean, the only 'big' jRPG to be released this generation has been FFXIII... and it does not hold a candle to the old FF games, and the one that I was really looking forward to (FFXIII Versus) was canceled! jRPGs use to be these fun epic team-building stories that could be enjoyed by a wide audience (FFX was my favorite except for the terrible voice acting). But now jRPGs have moved to handhelds (which I hate), and they are all angsty highschool dramas, which are just not enjoyable for me as an adult.

    Give me a few RPGs that are heavily story and team driven, with a world that looks as big and amazing as skyrim. Throw in some quarky humor, high drama, a killer sound track and I will be interested. Make some balanced game mechanics where I can play the game through a few times using different strategies, and then you will have me sold on whatever console it comes out on. We just did not get any of that since FFX (FFXII was simply not fun, and while XIII was better, it was not repeatable), and I really miss it.

    I love Skyrim, and it is hands down my favorite game in recent history. But for me it is too open. I am too ADD to stay focused on the story (80+ hours and I have yet to do much of the main quest). And it is just so easy to put all of my points in magic, and blow through each level launching fireballs with a stagger bonus, that I have become too lazy to try any other strategies, which gets a little old after a while having that one 'silver bullet' that I can play the whole game with. I always loved the jRPGs because the story forced you to keep moving, so you would want to replay the game because you know you missed something. Also, the constant change-up of the teams in FF9 and XIII (and to a lesser extent in FFX) force you to adopt different strategies throughout the game, which helps keep the combat fresh. Plus, they were never afraid of having some really fun and colorful characters, where as skyrim's characters seem to be either overworked and bitter... or they worked too hard and have gone crazy... not a lot of variety.
    Reply
  • TunaSoda
    chibiwingsBest console ever, no matter what PS3, Xbox360 & Wii Throw, the can never dethrone PS2.How does that even make sense when the original PS3 has the PS2 chip on-board and offers better video quality for PS2 games and comes with a blu-ray player? lol
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    The last console I have owned. such great memories
    Reply
  • I bypassed this one and have a PS3 now which I dont use to game on, only for media and Blu ray files. My gaming PC handles all my games and does it many times better than any console ever could.
    Reply
  • nuvon
    Only reason I bought PS3: GT5. It is still the only game I have.
    Reply