The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the console's backward compatibility, selling its entire inventory of 1. However, it’s from a third-party manufacturer, and I generally try to get first-party hardware when possible, because they tend to be more reliable. The horsepower discrepancy meant that PS2 games were optimized for two-player split-screen only, and the same engine could run with four on the Xbox. The Nintendo Switch supports up to eight controllers, in any combination of individual Joy-Con controllers or Pro Controllers.

Despite this, the PlayStation 2 was released with only two controller ports like its predecessor, so a Multitap was still produced for the console. Later hardware revisions had better compatibility with PlayStation games ( Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions operates on most silver models); however, the new Japanese slim models have more issues with playing PlayStation games than the first PS2 revisions.While most Team Player-compatible titles only supported up to four players (with some games such as Columns III supporting up to five), Konami's Double Dribble: The Playoff Season and Sega's Egawa Suguru's Super League CD (a Japan-exclusive baseball game for Mega CD) both allow up to eight players with the use of two Team Player adapters (one in each controller port).

In 2005, the PlayStation 2 became the fastest game console to reach 100 million units shipped, accomplishing the feat within 5 years and 9 months from its launch; this was surpassed 4 years later when the Nintendo DS reached 100 million shipments in 4 years and 5 months from its launch. Some third-party companies, such as JoyTech, have produced LCD monitor and speaker attachments for the PS2, which attach to the back of the console. Even after the release of its successor, the PlayStation 3, it remained popular well into the seventh generation. It is an adapter that can be used to plug in up to four controllers and memory cards at the same time in a single controller port.

PlayStation 2 software is distributed on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM; the two formats are differentiated by their discs' bottoms, with CD-ROMs being blue and DVD-ROMs being silver. He recently completed work on a noir anthology graphic novel titled, "Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Noir: A Rag of Bizarre Noir and Hard Boiled Tales" and he’s currently toiling away on his first novel. The biggest difference between the Dual Shock 2 and the original… all of the buttons and even the digital pad offer analog support. Micro Machines V4 is an inventive take on the racing genre and while it’s far from a perfect game, it does enough things differently that it deserves its due. For the "slimline" model of the PS2, a new Multitap (SCPH-70120) was made that supported both, PS and PS2 games.