So the recent number crunching I explored here on GFR revealed a shocking trend: the Playstation 2 was the second-best selling console last month. Read that again, that's the PS2, NOT the PS3, and this is despite the best efforts of stores like Gamestop who will give you $100 off a PS3 by giving up your PS2 in an effort to move their stagnant PS3 stocks (or harvest used PS2's to sell as used bundles and cash in on this trend...). So... whaaaaaaa?

There's a few possible explanations, but I think I've gotten to the bottom of this. First, the obvious: the new PS2 is slim, sleek, and runs a cool $129, as opposed to the huge, Norbit-crushing and expensive-as-hell PS3. It has a library of hundreds of incredible games, most of which are priced at $20 or so (FFX, God of War, Katamari, etc), as opposed to the anemic launch title selection of the PS3. But there's one key bit here...

...Guitar Hero. And it's not alone - the entire "Revolution" series: Dance Dance Revolution, Karaoke Revolution, and Karaoke Revolution: American Idol. Not to mention other oft-overlooked lovelies, like personal favorite Taiko Drum Master. Seriously, these wacky-controller-based games (did I just invent a new genre? WCBG's?) are the darlings of an increasingly partygame-based video gaming culture (to which the Wii owes much of its success, since the entire consumer base essentially primed and ready for silliness and 4-player+ social gaming experiences), and the PS2 has a lock on MANY of them. It gets them first, it does them easily, and they've clearly made a huge difference.

I'm not just making a blind assertion based on my own gaming-during-houseparty experiences here, there are real quantitative data to back up this theory. Observe (via Kotaku):

That's right folks, last month, during the giant consumer electronics shop-till-you-drop extravaganza, not only did the PS2 finish second out of all the consoles on the market, but what came in just under Gears of War with a cool 802,000 units in sales?

Guitar Hero II. That's a potential attach rate (game:system ratio) of 0.66, which means for every 3 PS2 systems sold, 2 of them could have had Guitar Hero II co-gifted. Even if the games were bought for previously owned systems, this was still the 7th best selling game all month, punching way above its weight and landing in the same list as Madden, Call of Duty, Zelda, and Gears of War. These are very real numbers, and the music industry is taking note as well.

And why do I care so much? Because, quite simply, the raised-in-Bawlmer-on-Def-Leppard white trashiness side of me could not be more excited for the upcoming release of Guitar Hero: 80's Metal Edition. Time to rip some hot licks to Bon Jovi et al.

So in short, as long as these gems still keep getting new iterations and new controllers, Sony might not be in such bad shape after all, since the PS2 is pure profit at this point.