RayBoy
Member
Welcome to the Official PlayStation 2 thread.
PlayStation 2 was a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, in Australia on 30 November 2000, and other regions thereafter.
It is the successor to the PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles. As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo's GameCube, Sega's Dreamcast, and Microsoft's Xbox.
It is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 160 million units worldwide, nearly triple the combined sales of its competing consoles.
EMOTION ENGINE
Emotion Engine was the central processing unit developed and manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment and Toshiba for use in the PlayStation 2 video game console.
The Emotion Engine was consists of eight separate units, each performing a specific task, integrated onto the same die. These units are: a CPU core, two Vector Processing Units (VPU), a 10-channel DMA unit, a memory controller, and an Image Processing Unit (IPU). There are three interfaces: an input output interface to the I/O processor, a graphics interface (GIF) to the graphics synthesizer, and a memory interface to the system memory.
The CPU core is tightly coupled to the first VPU, VPU0. Together, they are responsible for executing game code and high-level modeling computations. The second VPU, VPU1, is dedicated to geometry-transformations and lighting and operates independently, parallel to the CPU core, controlled by microcode. VPU0, when not utilized, can also be used for geometry-transformations. Display lists generated by CPU/VPU0 and VPU1 are sent to the GIF, which prioritizes them before dispatching them to the Graphics Synthesizer for rendering.
DUALSHOCK 2
The DualShock 2 Analog Controller included with PlayStation 2's launch is almost identical externally as the previous DualShock analog controller, with a few minor cosmetic changes.
Internally, the DualShock 2 is lighter and all of the buttons (except for the Analog mode, start, select, L3 and R3 buttons) are readable as analog values (pressure-sensitive).
The DualShock 2 can sense 256 levels of pressure.
DVD
Software for the PlayStation 2 was distributed primarily on DVD-ROMs, with some titles being published on blue-tinted CD-ROM format.
In addition, the console could play audio CDs and DVD films and was backward-compatible with almost all original PlayStation games.
The DVD drive was a key factor in the success of the PlayStation 2.
By 2000, DVD was the most desirable way to watch movies at home. But dedicated DVD players could be costly at the time, so the PS2 console’s combination of gaming and DVD playback was hugely attractive to price-savvy consumers
MODELS
PlayStation 2 came to have many internal revisions, but externally they could be summarized in these three models:
Original PlayStation 2 (later known as PS2 Fat), available from 2000 until late 2004:
PlayStation 2 Slim, available from the end of 2004 to the end of 2008:
Smaller than the previous version, it had the Ethernet port already integrated into the console. The dimensions and weight were reduced to 230 mm in height, 152 mm in width and 28 mm in depth (i.e. 32% less) and the power supply was now connected externally.
Due to its slimmer profile, it did not contain the 3.5-inch expansion bay, so an internal hard disk could not be installed.
Revised PlayStatiom 2 Slim, available from late 2008 until the end of the PS2's life:
The latest redesign of PS2, incorporated the power supply internally into the console and a quieter fan.
The overall weight was reduced to 720 g.
The external dimensions were the same as the previous Slim model.
GAMES
If there is one thing that defines the PlayStation 2 above all else, it's games.
A catalog of games of enormous quality, varied and numerous.
So large that from 2000 to 2013 (the last year to receive an official launch), it reached over 4000 titles in its catalog.
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