It seems like only yesterday that the PlayStation 2 was a bright-eyed debutante; eager to please and just as capable. How time has flown, though – Sony’s last-gen console has just turned nine. Blimey, we feel old all of a sudden.

A Lot has changed since the PlayStation 2 took its first faltering steps on October 26th, 2000. Not least the PS2, which in its recent ‘Slimline’ guise, is a fraction of the size (and price) of its bulky original self. It’s still doing decent business too, with some truly momentous achievements for Sony to feel ever so slightly smug about. Try these for size, Nintendo and Microsoft:

• One in every three US households own a PS2 system
• 140 million people around the world own a PS2
• The SOCOM franchise has become one of the most played of all time, with over 530 million online hours logged since the debut of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs in 2002 equaling 60,000 years of online play
• More than 500 million software units have been sold for PS2 in the US
• More than 485 developers have developed for the platform since its launch
• By the end of this fiscal year, nearly 10,000 titles in total will be available for the system

Pretty good going, eh! And the Wii looks like being the only one of today’s home consoles that’ll get anywhere near replicating such a performance. Even then we doubt it’ll last quite as long. So well done Sony and happy birthday PS2. A card with a fiver inside is in the post. Honest...