4 ms·
About 130 of 160 million PS2s were sold in North America, Europe and Japan. Developing countries don't appear to be a significant market for the console. https
by morsch 4y ago
About 130 of 160 million PS2s were sold in North America, Europe and Japan. Developing countries don't appear to be a significant market for the console.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2_sales https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2_sales
- Asooka 4y ago"developing countries" in that context are places like the former soviet union, i.e. half of Europe at the time, or latin america. The hardware was hella expensive, but with several months of savings it was possible. The games were a different matter. You were basically buying imports from the other end of the continent with all the shipping and customs taxes that incurs. Piracy was what drove people's buying decisions.
- boltzmann-brain 4y agoThis is heavily skewed. If you lived in Eastern Europe it was customary to drive down to Germany to buy PS1/2 because they were much cheaper there. I know several people who started their retail business just by bringing back car loads of PS2's. One guy even got a mocking nickname (something like "playstation") that stuck with him for decades after when he moved on to selling HiFi and AV out of his store. I absolutely assure you no one, ever, bought original games in those countries. Especially not the (relatively) rich who could afford them. DVD playback wasn't a selling point. No one had DVDs back then. Everyone watched xvid on their PC. That was the only way to obtain digital movies. DVD stores were very minimal and saw no attention. Rentals were mostly VHS.
- Cyph0n 4y agoYep, it was the same in the Middle East. Immigrants and travelers to Europe and the US frequently brought back electronics, including game consoles. They were then modchipped locally.
- boltzmann-brain 4y agoI had no idea the silk road went this far. Would you have normally traveled through Russia / Georgia / Kazakhstan etc?
- Cyph0n 4y agoA console being sold in a country doesn’t mean it was bought to be used there. Many travelers and immigrants brought consoles back home for family.