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Revision as of 21:25, 22 December 2001 by Carey Evans (talk | contribs) (nowikify to make reading easier)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The PlayStation 2 is Sony's second video game console, after the PlayStation.
Its development was announced in April 1999, and it was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000.
The PlayStation 2 can read CDs, for playing audio CDs and original PlayStation games, and DVDs for DVD Video and PlayStation 2 games. Its ability to play DVD movies was an important selling point at a time when few people owned a separate DVD player.
When it was released, the PlayStation 2 had many advanced features that were not present in other contemporary video game consoles, including its DVD capabilities and USB and FireWire expansion ports. It was not until late 2001 that the Microsoft XBox became the second console with DVD support, although it requires the purchase of an additional remote control to enable playback.
Support for original PlayStation games was also an important selling point for the PlayStation 2, letting owners of an older system upgrade to the PlayStation 2 and keep their old software, and giving new users access to older games until software was developed for the new system.
Specifications
CPU: 128 Bit "Emotion Engine" System Clock: 300 MHz System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1) Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1) Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS 3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons Per Second Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2 Graphics: "Graphics Synthesizer" Clock Frequency: 150MHz DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second DRAM Bus width: 2560 bits Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32) Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Second Sound: "SPU2+CPU" Number of voices: ADPCM: 48 channel on SPU2 plus definable by software Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable) I/O Processor CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU Clock Frequency: 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz (selectable) Sub Bus: 32 Bit Interface Types: IEEE1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB) Communication via PC-Card PCMCIA Disc Media: DVD-ROM (CD-ROM compatible)