The PlayStation 2 was such a hot item after its release that it was near impossible to find one on retailer shelves, leaving those wanting a PlayStation 2 to either wait or purchase the console online at sites such as eBay, where the console was being sold by many people for twice and sometimes five times as much as the manufacturers listed price.
One of them includes the old EE and GS chips, and the other contains the newer unified EE+GS chip, otherwise being identical.
However, the release of several blockbuster games during the 2001 holiday season pushed the PS2 far in front even as the Xbox and GameCube made their impressive debuts.
When the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan in March 2000, Sony sold 980,000 units over the opening weekend.
When it was released, the PS2 had many advanced features that were not present in other contemporary video game consoles, including its DVD capabilities and USB and IEEE 1394 expansion ports.
It is widely believed that Sony has abandoned support for the hard drive.
V3 has a substantially different internal structure from the subsequent revisions, featuring several interconnected printed circuit boards.
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.
