PS2, There’s Hope for You Yet! Recession Helps PS2 Make Comeback

You thought it was over, but think again. Sure, our economy is in shambles, but it is becoming the Jurassic Park for one dinosaur of a system. Horrible metaphors aside, our loss has apparently become its gain. Yes, I am talking about none other than the PlayStation 2, which Sony has placed in the limelight again in an attempt to market off of these direst of times.

The rest of the country might be down in the dumps, but SCEA sales and marketing VP Ian Jackson claimed at the BMO Capital Markets’ Interactive Entertainment Conference that “the actual unit numbers that are coming out of the video game sector are actually doing fairly well right now.” If this surprises you to any extent, then listen to this: according to Jackson, of all the newfangled contraptions out on the current market, he predicts that the PS2 is coming back in style, in a surprising display of “retro chic.”

“In a tight economy,” Jackson says, the PS2 “is a great value proposition for the consumer.” With Sony expecting almost 4 million PS2s to be sold before this fiscal year’s end, I guess others agree with him. He goes on to say, “We are still, as we enter into this ninth holiday season, conscious of the fact that when we’re offering an entry-level product that you get in the PS2, we want to ensure that we’re giving as much value to the consumer as we possibly can, and giving the most aggressive price point as the entry-level product into the PlayStation brand of products.”

In order to ensure the PS2’s complete and utter pwnage this upcoming year, Jackson said Sony has been heading south–and by “south,” I’m talking waaay “south.” Since September, they’ve been “aggressively” targeting markets in South America, including Chile, Argentina, and Peru, with Brazil next up on their list, citing the move as Sony’s “biggest opportunity” over Spring 2009.

This is all fine and good, but the PS3’s cut in backwards compatibility doesn’t quite make this “great value” PS2 the greatest “gateway console.” I can’t help but think cheaper games and a cheaper PS3 would make more people in this “tight economy” more willing to buy their products than a 9-year-old system. Sure, PS2 has some great games, but it’s not going to get you Fallout 3, is it?

This holiday season will surely be a testament to how desperate “entry-level” gamers truly are.