The GScube was a hardware tool released by Sony intended for use in CGI production houses consisting of a custom variant of sixteen PlayStation 2 motherboards running in parallel. The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a video game console that was manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released on March 4, 2000, in Japan followed by North America and Europe later the same year. It was unveiled that same year at SIGGRAPH; the name "GSCube" is short for Graphics Synthesizer Cube. It was used for two projects, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and the film incarnation of Resident Evil.