The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is Sony's second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000 and in the North American market on October 26, 2000. It was released in Europe on November 24, 2000.
The PS2 is part of the sixth generation era, and has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, with over 100 million units shipped, beating the previous record holder, the Playstation, by three years and nine months.
Technical specifications
The specifications of the PlayStation 2 console are as follows, with hardware revisions:
Emotion Engine CPU
CPU: 128 bit "Emotion Engine" clocked at 294 MHz (later versions 299 MHz), 10.5 million transistors
System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus or RDRAM (note that some computers use this type of RAM)
Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second
Main processor: MIPS R5900 CPU core, 64 bit
Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator × 1, Floating Point Divider × 1)
Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator × 9, Floating Point Divider × 1), 128 bit
Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS
3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million polygons per second (1)
Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG-2
I/O Processor interconnection: Remote Procedure Call over a serial link, DMA controller for bulk transfer
Graphics: "Graphics Synthesizer" clocked at 147 MHz
DRAM Bus bandwidth: 47.0GB per second
DRAM Bus width: 2560-bit
Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8, 15:1 for RGB, 16, 24, or 32-bit Z buffer)
Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 million polygons per second (1)
Dedicated connection to: Main CPU and VU1
Sound: "SPU1+SPU2"
Number of voices: 48 hardware channels of ADPCM on SPU2 plus software-mixed channels
Sampling Frequency: 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz (selectable)
I/O Processor
CPU Core: Original PlayStation CPU (MIPS R3000A clocked at 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz)
Sub Bus: 32 Bit
Connection to: SPU and CD/DVD controller.
Interface Types: 2 proprietary PlayStation controller ports, 2 proprietary Memory Card slots using MagicGate encryption, Expansion Bay (DEV9 or PCMCIA on early models) port for Network Adaptor, Modem and Hard Disk Drive, IEEE 1394 (2), Infrared remote control port (2), and 2 USB 1.1 ports with an OHCI-compatible controller.
Disc Media: DVD-ROM (CD-ROM compatible) with copy protection. 4.7GB capacity, a few are DVD-9 (8.5 GB)
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