The PlayStation 2 took the world by storm when it first launched in March 2000. Twenty years later, the system still holds the record for bestselling video game console of all time. With over 155 million units sold, no other home console even comes close to the PS2's record. Its amazing game library wasn’t the only reason the console flew off the shelves, either. Many other factors contributed to the PlayStation 2's massive success.
Sony knew it had to do something big to follow up its debut system, the PlayStation. The original PlayStation became a hit among gamers, especially among older video game fans. Sony took everything it learned from the original PlayStation and went full force in making its new revolutionary console. Thus, the PS2 was born.
The addition of a built-in DVD player became a huge selling point for the PlayStation 2, since DVDs rapidly growing in popularity at the turn of the millennium. Sony saw this trend and decided to capitalize on it.
Regular DVD players were pricy and only played DVDs. The PS2 offered everything a DVD player did, as well as a fully functional video game system. Many PS2 owners bought the system for the sole purpose of playing DVDs. It was fairly priced compared to leading home theatre devices and offered more forms of entertainment. This was something other home consoles simply couldn't offer.
While the PlayStation 2 wasn't the first console to feature backward compatibility (the Atari 7800 was backward-compatible with the Atari 2600), it was the first console to make it popular. The PlayStation 2 can play almost the entire PS1 library. This was great news for Sony fans since they wouldn’t have to go back and forth between both systems. Many people decided to sell their original PlayStation and just play all their PS1 games on their PS2.
Sony also launched a great marketing campaign. The company came out with a ton of ads targeting more mature audiences, much like what Sega did during the late '80s and early '90s. Many of these commercials were bizarre and featured obscure themes similar to what one could see in surrealistic artwork. Sony even collaborated with underground film legend David Lynch for some of its ads. The strange ads proved to be successful in capturing the interest of a lot of mature gamers.
The PlayStation 2's success can be attributed to more than its stellar game library. In fact, a lot of video game fans weren’t impressed by most of the PS2's launch titles. The PS2’s game library took a little while to grow into itself, but the console's other features really helped the console become so successful. There is a good chance the PlayStation 2 will remain the king of consoles for a very long time.