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End of an Era: Sony Pulling the Plug on PlayStation 2

After 13 years, and with talk heating up around future consoles, Sony is ending the shipping of the console to retailers. So once the stocks are sold, that's it folks.

There's still one more title left still to be released for the console, that of Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin, an add on for the title, due out in March.

The console debuted in March back in 2000 in Japan, and October in the US. Since then, over 150 million systems were sold, not only outselling, but outlasting all other consoles of that generation. To date, this figure would make it the most popular console of all time. Sony claims a library of over 10,000 titles are available for the system, and a whopping 1.5 billion games have been sold since launch.

Sales were spurned on by the console's backwards compatability feature, allowing gamers to play their PS1 games, and the ability to watch DVD's. For a short time, it was actually the cheapest DVD player available on the market.

Of course we all remember our favorite games for the console, but the most popular one by far was that of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, selling over 17 million copies. 

While most of us have abandoned the system in favor of the current generation of consoles, it's is still selling relatively well in Japan despite its age, averaging 800 sales per week, no doubt encouraged by a $99 price tag. It's even managed to outsell the PSP in some fiscal quarters.

Though the PlayStation 2 is rapidly approaching its end, players can still play their old favorites (most of them) on PlayStation 3, either right from the CD, or via the PlayStation Network. Go relive some cherished memories of gaming.  

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