October 26, 2000: PlayStation 2 released in the U. S.
As we get ready to ring in the joys and triumphs of the PlayStation 4, let’s not forget that 13 years ago this week, the PlayStation 2 descended upon the gaming world. When asked about the console, Kazuo Hirai, president and COO of Sony Compute Entertainment America, boasted, “The PlayStation 2 . . . is not the future of video game entertainment, it is the future of entertainment period.”* Like the first PlayStation, the PS2 could play DVDs was well as games on CD. It was also backwards compatible with PS1 games, and it accepted PS1 memory cards. The PS2 controllers had been upgraded with analog sticks, but PS1 controllers could be used with the machine with limited functionality. The PS2’s launch price was $299.
