"For a long-time gamer, the PlayStation 3 may be a viable option. But the PS3 is a new business and the challenge here is to bring the prices down. In India, there are so many new gamers coming in.
"Gaming only started taking off in India in 2005-06, and it is only now moving in the right direction. So for all these new gamers coming in, the PS2 is the ideal entry-level console. The PS2 still has a few years left in its lifecycle and even three or four years after that, games for the PS2 will keep coming," says Atindriya Bose, country manager, Sony Computer Entertainment India.
The PlayStation 2 is eight years old now. In technology years, that's more than a lifetime. While the PS2 has been, without a doubt, the most successful video game console ever, putting money down for one now may be a questionable decision.
Gamers and, more importantly, game developers are now moving on to the newer generation of consoles, resulting in a sudden drop in the number of games being developed for the PS2. That's not to say there won't be any games for the PS2. Several big titles, including those from EA, such as FIFA and Need For Speed, will continue to see PS2 releases.
This was further emphasised by Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, who said at Sony's press conference at the recently held E3 summit that in 2008, there would be 130 games released for the PlayStation 2. He even went on to reaffirm Sony's promise to stick to its 10-year life cycle for the console, which means the PS2 will still be an integral part of Sony's console business for another couple of years.
Photograph: Junko Kimura/Getty Images
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