The PlayStation 2 (officially abbreviated PS2) is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game consoles. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was released a year later in Japan. Its primary competitors were Sega's Dreamcast, Microsoft's Xbox, and Nintendo's GameCube.
The PS2 is the best-selling console to date, having reached over 140 million units sold as of September 30, 2009. Several new games are scheduled to be released in 2010. In late 2009, with developers creating new games and the console still selling steadily almost a decade after its original release, Sony stated that the life cycle of the PlayStation 2 will continue until demand ceases.
Well Emulated; There is a relatively high compatibility rate among some emulators.
There is a very large CPU requirement for PS2 games. Most laptops (even higher end) will not be able keep up with many PS2 games. Although some medium to higher end desktops should play them relatively smoothly.
Emulation accuracy is generally pretty high, most games are at least playable, and a lot have relatively few sound or graphical issues.