This led to further shortages, and the issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK.
Later, Sony gained steam with new development kits for game developers and more PlayStations for consumers.
Since the V12 version had already been established for this model, there were some disputes regarding these sub-versions.
A silver edition is available in the United Kingdom exclusively.
The PlayStation 2 had a difficult start.
Developers also complained that it was difficult to develop for the system, with little in the way of reference material from Sony for its exotic architecture.
V5 introduces minor internal changes and the only difference between V6 (sometimes called V5.1) and V5 is the orientation of the Power/Reset switch board connector, which was reversed to prevent the use of no-solder modchips.
A product named HD Connect can be soldered into the unit giving hard drive support though.
Although Sony placed little emphasis on online gaming during its first year, all that changed because of the launch of the online-capable Xbox.
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For some consumers this is in fact a limitation, especially for the fans of titles such as Final Fantasy XI, which requires the use of this peripheral, and prevents the use of the official PS2 Linux kit.
However the New Slim Silver Models have more issues with playing PlayStation games than the first PS2 revisions.
It also has a different lens and some compatibility issues documented by Sony for earlier PS2 games.
The PS2 launch seemed unimpressive and gaffe-prone, compared to the well-planned launch of the Sega Dreamcast, which was making a genuine attempt to woo developers and which had better launch titles.
This led to further shortages, and the issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK.
When the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan in March 2000, Sony sold 980,000 units over the opening weekend.
