Sony to launch lighter PlayStation 2 in Japan
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 | 3:40 PM ET
CBC News
A new, lighter version of Sony's PlayStation 2 video game console will be on shelves in Japan for the Christmas shopping rush, the company announced Tuesday.
The newest version of the seven-year-old console, also known as the PS2, will be available in the country on Nov. 22 for 16,000 yen, approximately $130, according to a statement on the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan website.
"While inheriting the functions of the current PlayStation 2, the internal design architecture of the new system has been completely overhauled, resulting [in a console] lighter in weight," the website said.
The PS2 is the company's most successful console to date, with 120 million units sold. The latest incarnation, at 720 grams, sheds almost 200 grams, and is about 23 centimetres wide by 3 cm high and 15 cm deep.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the console will have a built-in AC adapter. Other Sony consoles, as well as their competitors, require external adapters.
The new PS2 will also come in three colours — "charcoal black," "ceramic white" and "satin silver" — with matching stands for 1,500 yen, or about $12.
The PlayStation 2 was originally launched in 2000. A slimmer design was released in North America, Europe and Japan in 2004, weighing 900 grams — approximately 45 per cent less than the original — and incorporating an ethernet port.
There was no comment from Sony as to whether the new-model PS2 would be sold in Canada.
A Sony Computer Entertainment Canada spokesperson said there had not been any announcements regarding changes to PlayStation 2 hardware in North America and that the company is unable to comment on changes in other territories.
The company's newest console, the PlayStation 3, launched in November 2006 to compete with leading seventh-generation consoles the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360.
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