[bluedino]

It was common to try to get grant money to build a cluster of PS3's when they came out. I'm betting a bunch of computer science students got a console after that.

Was the PS3 the one that was banned from some countries? And wasn't the PS2 rumored to be used a ballistic missile guidance chip for some country?

[whaleofatw2022]

PS2 had export limitations put on it by Japan. There were also rumors that Saddam was using them for a supercomputer.

I do have the odd anecdote, way back in the day, I was in a CompUSA in Dearborn MI and overheard a middle eastern guy at the counter asking if they had any PS2s. When they said no (this was a point where availability was low) instead he bought bought at least 5 (might have been 10?) PS1s.

[pests]

Many fond memories at that CompUSA. Sad all those retailers are gone now.

[nxobject]

Honestly, might have also been just to resell back home to consumers - I doubt it would’ve been easy to import, too.