Its final irony: the “region 04” meant it played PAL games at 50Hz or 576i — and modern visitors often complain it looks “slower” than YouTube videos of NTSC versions. But those who know, know: this was the last, leanest, most refined PS2 ever made. And this one, SCPH-90004, serial ending 1234567, outlived two generations of consoles. The PS2 SCPH-90004 (PAL region) was the end of an era — the last pure PlayStation 2 hardware, with region lock intact, internal PSU, and a quiet rebellion against the coming digital-only future.

The internal power supply was a blessing: no more bulky brick like his friend’s SCPH-70004. But it ran slightly hotter inside because the PSU shared space with the mainboard. Sony added a small fan with a revised profile — audible but not annoying.

In 2010, Liam brought the PS2 to a university dorm in Manchester. There, it survived a spilled beer (dried out, worked fine) and countless TimeSplitters 2 multiplayer sessions with three friends using a Multitap. By 2013, Liam had a PS4. The PS2 was relegated to the living room for his parents to play Buzz! quiz games. The laser lens started struggling — typical for slims. In 2014, he opened the console for the first time: a T10 security screw, a tiny Phillips #00. He cleaned the lens with isopropyl alcohol — worked again.

Christmas morning: Liam hooked it up to a 28” CRT TV via RGB SCART (the best PAL picture). The first boot: the floating cubes, the white Sony Computer Entertainment logo, then the dark gray browser screen. He inserted FIFA 09 — the disc drive made that familiar whirring sound, slightly quieter than older PS2 slims. Liam played hundreds of hours: Gran Turismo 4 (PAL-optimized 50Hz but with 60Hz option), Shadow of the Colossus , God of War II , Pro Evolution Soccer 6 . The SCPH-90004 had a new BIOS (v2.30) that blocked the popular "FMCB" (Free Memory Card Boot) exploit — a deliberate anti-piracy/anti-homebrew measure. But Liam didn’t care; he bought used games from CeX for £3 each.

The is a specific model of the PlayStation 2, belonging to the final hardware revision (the "90000" series). The "04" suffix indicates its region: Europe (PAL) .

She performed a : installed a Matrix Infinity-like modchip (a clone) to force booting from a network adapter (even though the 90004 lacked the internal HDD interface, she used the USB ports and an OPL network share from a NAS). She also replaced the thermal pads and added small heatsinks to the PSU ICs.

The was born. Factories in China (and later Japan for domestic units) began production. The SCPH-90004 rolled off the line for PAL territories : Europe, Australia, Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia (excluding Japan/NTSC-J regions).

In 2015, the died. Every boot asked to set date/time. Annoying but harmless for game saves.