Sony's Playstation 2 Reaches 150 Million Sales Mark

TOKYO -- As Sony Ericsson launched its gaming phone, the Xperia Play, Sony announced that its PlayStation 2 (PS2) console had shipped over 150 million units worldwide since its launch in March 2000.

Making it the best-selling home or handheld console in gaming history, the PS2 passed the milestone at the end of 2010, more than a decade since it was first launched in Japan.

With the launch of the PS3 in 2006, many expected the older console to fade quietly away, but the PS2 has hung on to life better than a video game zombie. There were numerous quarters of Sony results when the company reported, for better or worse, that the PS2 continued to outsell its newer and more expensive cousin.

More than 1.52 billion games from 10,828 PS2 titles have been sold, and sales of the console – now priced at around $100 – remain particularly strong in emerging markets.

Due for an April launch, Sony Ericsson’s gaming phone, dubbed the PlayStation Phone, has a touch screen and slide-out control buttons that are similar to those found on the PlayStation Portable. The handset will run Google’s Android platform and have six games pre-loaded, with a library of 50 slated for the launch.

With Nokia’s recently announced tie-up with Microsoft, the Xperia Play will enter an increasingly competitive mobile phone gaming market where free and low-cost games are already established in the smartphone space.