The Friday Debate – Welcome To The Third Place

With the launch of Gran Turismo dominating the news on Wednesday, you may not have noticed that 24 November 2010 was also the tenth anniversary of PlayStation 2 launching in Europe. The wonder-console that went on to sell 147.6 million units (at the time of writing) was introduced with an oblique advertising campaign that was occasionally dark, ambiguous and racy, but always stylish, inventive and fearless.

Of course, PS2 will be remembered for its unrivalled array of quality games, of which 1.5 billion copies have been sold since launch. And yet whenever I go to a party and mention that I work at PlayStation, many people still remember the girl with the alien eyes or the duck wearing a suit, even if that person has never had any interest in games.
Here are six of my favourite PlayStation TV ads from here in the UK. Watch them and choose your favourite in the poll.

Happy birthday PS2!
I’ll be checking out the comments this evening so please share your fondest memories of a console that is still going strong in its second decade.