Sony to launch slim PS2 console in November

[Feuerwizard]

Sony announced on Tuesday that it is planning to launch a smaller and lighter version of its popular PS2 gaming console in November.

The redesigned PS2 will be one-fourth the size of its current generation predecessor, and it will weigh 50 percent less than the current model, stated Sony in a statement.

The lighter model will retail for 19,000 Yen in Japan and is expected to be on store shelves on November 1st in North America and November 3rd in Japan.

Nintendo, on the other hand, is ready to launch their Nintendo DS portable gaming console on the same day as Sony's newly designed PS2. Nintendo's DS will retail for 15,000 Yen and is expected to compete rigorously against the portable PS2 as well as the upcoming Playstation Portable system, which is expected to debut next year.

The DS system features two LCD panels, a touch-sensitive screen, and a communications software that will let up to 16 players communicate with each other with text and images.

Nintendo hopes to ship out four million units by next March.

[NotSoFast]

So instead of coming up with a new, better console, they just shrink the current one? Not exactly progress if you ask me.

[Ojnod]

Well most people who wanted a PS2 already got one, they do things like this to pick up people who were on the fence about it. It probably didn't take a whole lot of design time (the hardware was there, the software was there), they just realized, why continue making the big one when we can make a small one and reach a new market. My first gen PS2 is still going strong :):, then again it doesn't take much to stay strong when it has the least hours of play of all my consoles.

[Shaolin K]

But from what I've seen here in Japan so far, people will still go out and buy the new system, just because it's new and smaller. I can almost guarantee you that the system will still sell very well in Japan. People here like new things, and smaller things, so if the system becomes "trendy", it will still sell like plywood in Florida.

[Chylde Roland]

Um, speaking of which Shaolin... perhaps you should update your location tag? :lol:

OT, I see it as a way to drum up new business, much like Donjo says. My brother had the unfortunate experience of seeing his fall from about 4 feet, and it's been steadily dying since then. So, he'll be in the market for a new one soon, and I bet he'll like this smaller version. Although he has a pretty good reason for having to buy a new one.

[NotSoFast]

I understand the point about the Japanese buying a smaller version. But here in the States, 99.9% of the people who want a PS2 has bought one in these past few years. Especially since the price drops. I don't see many Americans going out and shelling out another $150 or however much it will be, just to have a smaller version of the exact system they already have. I mean it will play the same games. If you have a PS2, then you already have the space for one. And it's not like it's huge in the first place. My Xbox is bigger than my VCR, but it doesn't take up too much room. Sits on the shelf the same as the cable box and everything else.

In Chylde's case, if I dropped my PS2 and needed another, I would buy a smaller one over the larger if they cost the same.

[Shaolin K]

Um, speaking of which Shaolin... perhaps you should update your location tag? :lol:



Whoops, I completely forgot about that. :blush: Thanks for noticing

[DanTheManPR]

The PS2 is already small. What they need to do is make the damned Xbox smaller!

[Chylde Roland]

The PS2 is already small. What they need to do is make the damned Xbox smaller!

:lol:

Perhaps Sony thought of this move as a pre-emptive strike!