Low-Price Compact PlayStation 2 Due Next Year

MCV is reporting that a $99 version of the PlayStation 2, in a new and compact format, will be released next year. The new unit will incorporate the power supply into its housing, allowing Sony to manufacture the product very inexpensively. "The news will surely come as a blow to Sony rivals Nintendo and Microsoft, who have seen sales of PS2 suffer somewhat due to the introduction of Wii and Xbox 360 in recent years. PS2 this week celebrated its seventh anniversary, during which time it has sold over 120 million units worldwide. Yet this cut demonstrates Sony's belief that the system's market is far from exhausted. Last month, publisher bosses from the likes of Eidos, Ubisoft and Atari suggested to MCV that a price cut on the console could massively reinvigorate its sales figures."

Comments

Replacement for compatibility?

[bsharitt]

I guess this Sony's answer to removing backwards compatibility on the new 40GB PS3?

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[bsharitt]

This will be no more of a blow to the Wii than the existing $129 PS2. The only real advantage it has is the price, and people who are buying it on price are already buying the PS2 over the Wii and are probably buying the GBA over the DS and PSP.

Somehow I doubt Nintendo or MS care

[Samari711]

One of the reasons PS2 is still selling at a good clip is because developers haven't completely abandoned the platform yet. Eventually games will stop coming out for it and sales of it will drop to nothing.

Smaller units

[Enderandrew]

Some people are obsessed with smaller units, and will replace their existing PS2's with the smaller unit. This isn't aimed solely at people who haven't purchased a console yet. Many people with older PS2's may have experienced DVD drive failures, and a cheap, smaller replacement may appeal to them, especially since the cheaper PS3 lost backwards compatibility.

When I was in Europe, smaller appliances were all the rage.

Re:Slim PS2? Dupe?

[Andy Dodd]

The PS2 has been slimmed down multiple times.

A few years ago the original "Slim PS2" was released.

I believe a few months ago the "Slim and Light PS2" was released (with little fanfare, marketed the same as the original slim) - Same form factor as the old one, but apparently lighter. (I heard 600g instead of 900 for the unit itself, and 250 vs. 350 for the power supply).

Now they are set to release the "Super Slim PS2" which may retain the same form factor for the unit itself, but instead of having the external brick it'll have 120VAC input to an internal power supply.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[donaldm]

If you had to buy just ONE, which one would you want to buy?
Now if you had to buy 3 as gifts, which one would you want to buy
The Wii wins on both counts.

I fail to see your logic here. If a person wants a PS3, Xbox360 or a Wii then then they are going to buy on price and/or perceived entertainment value and people who buy these machines are not normally going to buy them as a present unless it is for the immediate family or themselves.

Most people looking to give a games machine as a Christmas present will find a cheap brand new (you would not give a second hand one, would you?) PS2 an excellent gift. If you are a person who is looking to buy more than one Wii as a Christmas present then you are going to pay one and half times what the new PS2 costs. In addition the games for the PS2 are relatively cheap and there is such a diversity of games that they cater for nearly all tastes, in addition the graphics are just as good as the Wii's graphics, especially if you don't have a HDTV. Actually my PS2 games as well as my Gamecube games still look good on my 37" HDTV since it smooths Standard Definition output.