Could PS2 surpass Neo-Geo and Atari 2600 as the longest supported system ever?

[BetaWolf47]

I just thought yesterday, both Atari 2600 and Neo-Geo were supported for about 14 years each. PS2 has been out for 10 years and is still going. Could it become the console with the longest life of all time?

[Oobgarm]

I dunno, things are really dwindling now, and I can't see it still being viable for Sony to keep selling it for 4 more years. Two at most.

Besides, Sony is just waiting to announce PS2 games as downloads on PSN. That will likely be the final nail in the coffin for the PS2 as a "new retail" system.

[chrisbid]

possible, there could be a madden '15 for PS2

[Ro-J]

Maybe, but will people still be making homebrew games for the PS2 30 years after its launch?

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I just thought yesterday, both Atari 2600 and Neo-Geo were supported for about 14 years each. PS2 has been out for 10 years and is still going. Could it become the console with the longest life of all time?

I don't think it will last that long in America. It'll probably continue on in other countries like the Sega Master System did. I'm not sure if your stats are for America or not.

[Dangerboy]

The PS2's last game (unless they add another one) is going to be WWE vs Raw 2011 in November. Considering Sly HD PS3 is already announced, I'm sure this is the last year for PS2. Sony seems content with things happening in 10s.

[BetaWolf47]

I don't think it will last that long in America. It'll probably continue on in other countries like the Sega Master System did. I'm not sure if your stats are for America or not.

I'm trying to. I forgot how strong SMS and Mega Drive are still going in Brazil.

[Clownzilla]

Maybe, but will people still be making homebrew games for the PS2 30 years after its launch?

This is why nothing will beat the Atari 2600 in terms of "support". These systems still live AND still have after-market parts made for them due to the fact that they have very little system lockout protection AND the games are relatively easy to make for an experienced game programmer. That on top of the simplicity of the system (one button + one stick) makes the system a key candidate for the longest lasting system EVER!

[Bojay1997]

This is why nothing will beat the Atari 2600 in terms of "support". These systems still live AND still have after-market parts made for them due to the fact that they have very little system lockout protection AND the games are relatively easy to make for an experienced game programmer. That on top of the simplicity of the system (one button + one stick) makes the system a key candidate for the longest lasting system EVER!

I suppose this is true, but I think commercial support is more interesting for collectors than the fact that homebrewers are supporting something. I was hopeful that Sony would continue with PS2 support, but other than a handful of sports games and one or two other games, it looks like commercial support might be done by early next year.

[j_factor]

I was kind of hoping PS2 would be kept alive by a stream of PSP ports. A while back it looked like that might happen, but I guess they weren't selling or something, because they haven't kept that strategy going. Although I am glad to see Logan's Shadow on PS2.

[theclaw]

There's still PES 2011. It's been confirmed for PS2, but no release date given.

[heybtbm]

I just thought yesterday, both Atari 2600 and Neo-Geo were supported for about 14 years each. PS2 has been out for 10 years and is still going. Could it become the console with the longest life of all time?

I think what a lot of people forget is how you can still go into any store and buy a PS2 or PS2 game. 10 years after the Atari 2600 or Neo Geo were released this simply wasn't possible. In 1987 you might find an old 2600 game in a KB Toys or TRU bargin bin, but it was a rare occurrence. New games were strictly game store territory. Neo Geo? That thing was always a boutique item.

As far as "mainstream" accessibility 10 years after release goes, the PS2 beats the 2600 and Neo Geo hands down.

[Leo_A]

I think what a lot of people forget is how you can still go into any store and buy a PS2 or PS2 game. 10 years after the Atari 2600 or Neo Geo were released this simply wasn't possible. In 1987 you might find an old 2600 game in a KB Toys or TRU bargin bin, but it was a rare occurrence. Neo Geo? That thing was always a boutique item.

I don't ever remember seeing NeoGeo stuff, but your memories of the 2600 aren't accurate at all.

Even in 1991, you could walk into any department store's electronics section and find a variety of 2600 hardware and games. In 1987, the 2600 was very much a going concern and had just seen a resurgence due to the 2600 Jr. and Atari's Fun is Back $50 campaign. The 2600 Jr. was selling millions of units and was at it's pinnacle in 1987 and 3rd party development had been started or restarted with several companies like Activision due to it. And many back catalog titles were selling excellently in the Tramiel years into the early 1990s. Pole Position, a 1983 Atari 2600 title sold nearly 600,000 units between 1986-1990 and 15,000 alone in 1990 right near the end. And there were many more similar examples.

We had a mall open here in 1991 with a KB Toys, Electronics Boutique, and a Hills department store. Even though the 2600 was officially dead, all three carried 2600 Jr.'s, accessories and a decent variety of titles. Also had a Toys r Us open around the same time that stocked 2600 stuff and our first Wal-Mart in the area that did as well. And these were all store locations that opened after Atari had officially ceased to support the 2600. And all the existing stores like Ames, Mountgomery Wards, Sears, JC Penney, etc. stocked 2600 items.

I imagine much like how the Majesco era of the Genesis 3 and their licensed rereleases for the Genesis/SuperNes and Nintendo's own SNES2 and Player's Choice reprintings went under many people's radar from 1998-2000, I suspect you just weren't paying attention to the 2600 in stores during that time period. There are several people at this board for example that don't believe the SuperNes model 2 controller was an official product because they had moved on to 32/64 bit consoles and just weren't paying attention to the system redesign Nintendo had introduced and the many game rereleases.

[ubersaurus]

As far as the US is concerned, most of the neo geo releases were pretty much only online (or mail order) starting what, around 1998? 99? I don't think that should count against it in comparison to anything, given that anyone getting a neo geo was hardcore enough to get new games online.

[Bojay1997]

I don't ever remember seeing NeoGeo stuff, but your memories of the 2600 aren't accurate at all.

Even in 1991, you could walk into any department store's electronics section and find a variety of 2600 hardware and games. In 1987, the 2600 was very much a going concern and had just seen a resurgence due to the 2600 Jr. and Atari's Fun is Back $50 campaign. The 2600 Jr. was selling millions of units and was at it's pinnacle in 1987 and 3rd party development had been started or restarted with several companies like Activision due to it. And many back catalog titles were selling excellently in the Tramiel years into the early 1990s. Pole Position, a 1983 Atari 2600 title sold nearly 600,000 units between 1986-1990 and 15,000 alone in 1990 right near the end. And there were many more similar examples.

We had a mall open here in 1991 with a KB Toys, Electronics Boutique, and a Hills department store. Even though the 2600 was officially dead, all three carried 2600 Jr.'s, accessories and a decent variety of titles. Also had a Toys r Us open around the same time that stocked 2600 stuff and our first Wal-Mart in the area that did as well. And these were all store locations that opened after Atari had officially ceased to support the 2600. And all the existing stores like Ames, Mountgomery Wards, Sears, JC Penney, etc. stocked 2600 items.

I imagine much like how the Majesco era of the Genesis 3 and their licensed rereleases for the Genesis/SuperNes and Nintendo's own SNES2 and Player's Choice reprintings went under many people's radar from 1998-2000, I suspect you just weren't paying attention to the 2600 in stores during that time period. There are several people at this board for example that don't believe the SuperNes model 2 controller was an official product because they had moved on to 32/64 bit consoles and just weren't paying attention to the system redesign Nintendo had introduced and the many game rereleases.

I think perhaps your area was unique or maybe you are a little off on your timeline. I would agree that the 2600 could be found in certain stores like KB as late as 1991, but it was already at liquidation pricing and I never saw any new 2600 stuff at an EB/Babbages/Gamestop/B Dalton Software Etc or any main stream department stores out here on the West Coast in 1991. I began collecting 2600 specifically in '87 and didn't really branch out beyond a few other classic systems until about 1992 when I bought a Sega Genesis 2. Other than a few new grey box carts I found at a regional toy chain called PlayCo in 1991, everything else I got was mail order or at swap meets/thrifts because mainstream department stores weren't carrying it. Also, just because something is sitting in a store doesn't mean that it's being supported. It just means the store has bad inventory management practices. There are lots of Walmarts out there with Dreamcast games and PSOne games sitting in the case at $50.

As for Neo Geo, it was mainly mail order and even when they had a website in the mid-90s, it didn't have a shopping cart system. You had to call their Torrance office and place an order with a marketing person. The other options were mail order authorized dealers like National Console Support and Japan Video Games. There were a few import or independent shops that carried the games, but it was usually one copy of each new cartridge or pre-order only, even out here in California.

[Leo_A]

Nope, it was still common around here. Like I said, several stores in the new mall here even carried lots of 2600 stuff (The St. Lawrence Centre Mall built in 1990 according to Wikipedia and either opened at the tail end of 1990 or in 1991). And other new store locations built in the same time did as well.

Still have lots of store receipts like for a Pole Position cartridge bought in Fall of 91 from a Hills department store in that mall.

It was of course on it's way out at this time, and I suspect urban areas (Which the North Country in upstate NY certainly isn't) had already cleared this stuff out from many locations by 1990 and weren't restocking it with whatever inventory left going to the more rural store locations of each chain.

But I was just using that to help illustrate my point that it was certainly alive and well in 1987 with millions of consoles sold that year and healthy sales of back catalog titles in 87 that lasted for another 3-4 years. There was even some new releases and development work underway at that time just because the 2600 Jr. had revitalized the market so well for the system as a budget platform for those that couldn't afford a more modern system. Even just Jungle Hunt on the 2600 sold just shy of 290,000 copies in 1987. You don't sell 290,000 copies of a old back catalog title that had been out for years by sales of them just being a rare occurance in bargain bins.

[Bojay1997]

Nope, it was still common around here. Like I said, several stores in the new mall here even carried lots of 2600 stuff (The St. Lawrence Centre Mall built in 1990 according to Wikipedia and either opened at the tail end of 1990 or in 1991). And other new store locations built in the same time did as well.

Still have lots of store receipts like for a Pole Position cartridge bought in Fall of 91 from a Hills department store in that mall.

It was of course on it's way out at this time, and I suspect urban areas (Which the North Country in upstate NY certainly isn't) had already cleared this stuff out from many locations by 1990 and weren't restocking it with whatever inventory left going to the more rural store locations of each chain.

But I was just using that to help illustrate my point that it was certainly alive and well in 1987 with millions of consoles sold that year and healthy sales of back catalog titles in 87 that lasted for another 3-4 years. There was even some new releases and development work underway at that time just because the 2600 Jr. had revitalized the market so well for the system as a budget platform for those that couldn't afford a more modern system. Even just Jungle Hunt on the 2600 sold just shy of 290,000 copies in 1987. You don't sell 290,000 copies of a old back catalog title that had been out for years by sales of them just being a rare occurance in bargain bins.

I agree with you about 1987, but not about 1991. I recall seeing the 2600 Jr. and a selection of games at a number of discount department stores in 1987 and they were very inexpensive (I think I got a 2600 Jr. for $40 and the games were maybe $10 each). Atari did a good job of advertising and stocking games, although they were all from the group of titles that O'Shea's later liquidated. I'm sure many people bought them because they were just downright cheap.

That availability dried up out here in the Southern California area by about 1989 and by 1991 as I said, it was really only at KB and other discount liquidation outlets. Even assuming the 1987 numbers are accurate, they are nothing compared to what the PS2 is still selling hardware wise today. I believe just in North America, monthly sales are still averaging 200K hardware units. In 2009, the PS2 sold over two million units just in North America despite the fact that no major games were released. Sadly, I don't think Sony is interested in continuing software support and unlike other consoles, there doesn't seem to be much interest among developers to continue supporting new buyers with budget titles. As such, even though Sony is technically continuing to support PS2 sales, they aren't doing anything to extend the life of the console beyond this year as far as I can tell.

[Leo_A]

All I was trying to get across was that the 2600 was very much alive and kicking in 1987, it wasn't just remnants of the past sitting in bargain bins until someone picked it up.

Southern California is a very different market then Upstate NY. Even today, it's about a two hour drive just to get to something like a BestBuy. So I have no doubt that the rural nature of the area played a major role in prolonging the stocking of VCS related items as chains used up their remaining stock in the markets most suitable for it.

But the point was that Atari was selling several million 2600 Jr.'s in 1987 and millions of cartridges, and the system was still kicking in at least a limited capacity into the 1990s. The sales figures for 2600 game sales are available from 1986 through 1990 and prove my points.

The Playstation 2 is in no special position over the Atari 2600 in it's 10th year. Just a bit over 7 million Playstation 2's were sold in the 2009 fiscal year (The Playstation 2's 9th year) and the bulk of 10 million or so 2600 Jr.'s that Atari sold came during 1987 (The console's 9th year and the very beginning of it's 10th). The 2600 was very much in the position the Playstation 2 is today. It's a very economical platform, has a large software library, used and new items are widely available, and there is limited development and reprintings of software underway. Anyone that couldn't afford a NES/SMS/7800 in 1987 was buying a $50 Atari 2600 Jr. just like those that can't afford a 360/Wii/PS3 today are buying $80 Playstation 2's.

[Icarus Moonsight]

The PS2's last game (unless they add another one) is going to be WWE vs Raw 2011 in November. Considering Sly HD PS3 is already announced, I'm sure this is the last year for PS2. Sony seems content with things happening in 10s.

So Sakura Wars is going to be the last notable/worthwhile PS2 release after all.

[j_factor]

I think Logan's Shadow is notable, even if it is just a port.