A total of over 4,000 game titles were released worldwide, with over 1.5 billion copies sold. The PlayStation 2 received widespread critical acclaim upon release. The PS2 offered backward-compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock controller, as well as its games. It is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide.Īnnounced in 1999, Sony began developing the console after the immense success of its predecessor. As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo's GameCube, Sega's Dreamcast, and Microsoft's Xbox. It is the successor to the original PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 30 November 2000. The PlayStation 2 ( PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 17.33 million sold (as of February 2009) Proprietary broadband/dialup developer-run third-party servers.