PlayStation April Fool’s Announcement

03/31/2009 Written by Anthony Severino

playstation2logo

John Koller has just announced via PS Blog that the now 9-year-old PlayStation 2 will have a new price point as of April 1st, aka April Fool’s Day.  You will be able to pick up a PS2 for under $100 (the exact MSRP is $99.99).  The PlayStation 2 has a pretty strong year ahead of it for such an old platform.  By year’s end, there will be 1,900+ titles available at retail.  I have to say that those are two awesome milestones for Sony.  Chances are this is the big PlayStation announcement that was scheduled for today.  Now if only we could hear about FW 2.70 or the mythological beast that is the PS3 price drop…

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21 Responses to “PlayStation April Fool’s Announcement”

  1. Nice price drop. Very disappointing announcement though.

  2. Sneeches says:

    can’t believe their still selling this piece of crap. Nice cheap console to buy your kids though.

  3. Hey, it’s still selling incredibly well. And that “piece of crap” is still a very viable platform with countless high quality titles available for it. Shadow of the Colossus and ZOE 2 come to mind.

  4. Thats the best piece of crap ever then -_-

  5. Jaxx377 says:

    Hi, Sony we haven’t met I’m a clue.
    I know it is my fault for thinking there was going to be more to this announcement than this, but really why the hell do you pre-announce that on this day you have big news only for that news to be a reduction in price on a 9 year old console that most people already own.

  6. Sneeches says:

    What I men’t by “piece of crap” is this machine is so 5 years ago, i haven’t play a ps2 in years and dont eve plan too. I got one on launch, it lasted about a year and then I never got one again. The ps2 wasn’t anything special although it did break out some great games, FFX, God of War series, Ratchet & Clank…yah those were the days.

  7. SolidCake_ says:

    I liked the PS2, but the big transition for me was 3D on the Ps1. Tomb Raider, GT1, and Resident Evil 1, now, those were the days.
    Too bad PSP wasn’t dropped to 99 bucks.

  8. Traxxer911 says:

    Wow, I sincerely hope this wasn’t the announcement. That day is still young some maybe there’s still more to come.

  9. -_- bummer. Good for all those that do not have a PS2 yet… DAMNIT! Nothing for PS3′ers though.

  10. Morgus says:

    99 bucks is still a good deal. After my 60gig died and i got a new ps3 i lost my backwards compat, when my ps2 finally dies i will probably get another one now. Its worth the extra money to have a dvd player that can play my old games.

    It would have been a good kick in the nuts to Nintendo if they had dropped the PSP price to compete with the DS/ new DSI

  11. wow what idiots.. and they wonder at times why the PS3 fanbase is so small, its because sony is still supporting the PS2.

  12. DGR8Mc187 says:

    I think it is a good thing for Sony.
    Get em hooked for 99 dollars and they will come back for t he ps3 Sony wins twice brither.

    That’s way better than just selling snakes and sparklers.

  13. Traxxer911 says:

    They have to support the PS2 because they’re trying to get the message across that sony consoles last a very long time, not just a few years.

  14. This is a great post. April fool’s day is one of my favorite, I always try to come up with something new each year. Here are some of my favorite hoaxes that I draw inspiration from, you can vote on your favorite: http://www.toptentopten.com/topten/april+fools_+hoaxes+ever

  15. Dan Massi says:

    Nice little announcement. I think most people would be disappointed because they hyped it up too much.

  16. Dan Massi says:

    Sorry for the double post, but by “they”, I mean the fans :D

  17. Well I don’t think they should have come out and said…We have a MAJOR PlayStation announcement on Tuesday. Especially for a now 9-year old system. That is weak sauce! A big announcement is a PS3/PSP price drop, FW announcement, or Exclusive PS3/PSP announcement.

  18. Who said that was a big announcement.

  19. Well there are a few points I would like to bring up on this point.

    1. The price drop of that kinda helps to sell people into a PS3. Now the price of a non BC PS3 and a PS2 are about the same price as it takes to get a BC PS3.

    2. Microsoft Xbox came into the market after the PS2, and completely died off years before the PS2. So what does that say about longevity? People will be able to play PS3 games until they can afford PS4 games. I’ve heard from a LOT of not only Xbox fanboys but people in the gaming industry from reviewers all the way up to people in marketing divisions that though the 720 would have been announced last year. Microsoft earned themself a bad reputation for not supporting their first console enough. I held off on a 360 for a 720 as well. Now I have a PC that I need to upgrade a bit more… and… viola. I’m good.

    3. The only part of this announcement that depresses me… is the fact that the PS2 games are region locked therefor if a good fighting game or rpg comes out for it, I’m S.O.L. without hacking the thing.

    I don’t know if this is a solid move for Sony or not considering they want as much profits as they can get so they are lowering the pricing of a system they sell at a profit. Hmm… Who knows though maybe they have another trick up their sleeve such as software BC thus they want to make the transition from PS2-3 easier.

    Could you imagine if they added a sensor bar and better motion controls than the Wii for a small price on the PS2 with a firmware update via usb device? Since companies have much more luck profiting on the PS2 than the Wii (3rd parties never do well) it’d be a way for Sony to really knock some market share back out of nintendo. Of course at what price… doing such a thing could very well destroy a lot of the hardcore market.

  20. makai, there is a difference between showing your console will last and supporting it for too long. PS2 has had a nice run but it is time for Sony to shift their attention to the PS3. The PS3 is the future, it is the now, they need to be putting everything behind it and trying to move as many ps2 users to ps3 as possible.

  21. [...] no surprise that the PlayStation 2 is selling like hotcakes with its recent price drop. But the PS2 is not only winning in terms of sales, but also gaming usage time according to the [...]

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