PS2 passes five million unit milestone in the UK

Sony has officially announced that the PlayStation 2 installed base in the UK has now topped five million units in the UK, proving the console's dominance as it continues to outsell its rivals on a week to week basis.

The news of this milestone confirms our report of the five million unit figure last week, and comes just over three years after the original launch of the PlayStation 2 in the UK - making the console into the fastest selling system ever in this territory.

The PS2 has smashed sales records set by its predecessor, the PSone, and its installed base is growing faster than Sony's previous console by a ratio of 2.6 to 1, according to official figures from the electronics giant.

SCE UK managing director Ray Maguire said that the company was "delighted" to have reached the sales milestone, and pointed out that "there are still big weeks to come as Christmas looms."

Interestingly, he fingered the console's growing online presence as a key catalyst for sales of the system, pointing to the fact that EA's chart-topping titles of the moment are all online exclusively on PS2, thanks to an ongoing spat with Microsoft over the business terms of the Xbox Live service.