Dooyoo really need it? (Sony Playstation 2 Vertical Console Stand)

Member Name: D1A1

Product:	Sony Playstation 2 Vertical Console Stand
Date:	29/03/01 (389 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's blue!

Disadvantages: It's almost pointless!

When I first started reading about the PlayStation 2 launch ‘disaster’ as the tabloids and gaming press so promptly went on about, I noticed the small issue of people buying stands for their console to rest upon. ‘What on earth?’ I thought, how can Sony seriously expect consumers to pay £9.99 just to stand their console up or even lay it horizontally? It does this very well on it’s own, so why will people buy them? Surely yet another Sony ‘rip off’ campaign to try to recuperate losses they incurred on the console sales! Well, err yes it is, but then people will do crazy things, they become a mass of insanity and, well, they become sheep. If one person buys a stand, it looks good and so the next person and the next person want one. And so on. Is this true? And was Sony’s launch really a complete and utter disaster or ‘mess-up’? I don’t think so for one minute, and although people can be stupid, a person isn’t.

The PlayStation 2 console has sold very well, and us gamers in the UK were treated to a pre-order scheme, a more civilised way to get your hands on the latest gaming device to hit our rainy shores, whereas masses in Europe were fighting, there was mass hysteria and things did turn nasty in some cases. So, with the short supply of PS2’s (I am getting somewhere – I hope!), there was a short supply of peripherals, and in particular, official stands. I bought mine today, but have had trouble locating one recently and for the past couple of weeks it seemed as though the country had never even had them in! But at £10, they aren’t that expensive and so I thought I’d get one for a laugh, and for the purposes of a review. So, is it worth the money? Should you just keep your PS2 standing freely, or do you want a bit of support? I’ll try and inform you about it as best I can so that you can make your own mind up.

Aesthetics. The PS2 is an ugly brute, wi
th very few games that can be classed as decent, yet alone playable, the scene is of a very gruesome next generation battle. The X-Box is going to be 15inches x 14 x 3, so that’s just huge, and the Game Cube has a handle, looks like a lunch box, and so who would be proud to show that off? I know, we all know, it’s not what it looks like it’s what the machine can do. And the PS2 hasn’t yet performed very well in my opinion. With very few titles that can even come close to Sega’s Dreamcast top games, maybe you should decorate the outside of the black ‘radiator’ and get yourself a stand. The future is looking up for the PlayStation 2, with a few top games arriving soon. The stand has a black middle, and two blue triangular prism shaped supports for which the PS2 can sit between. It’s coordinated with the PS2 logo, and generally adds colour to the overall feeling of darkness. So in my view it looks good.

So, with a vertical stand you can be assured that your new £300 acquisition won’t take the dreaded ‘emotional’ heartbreaking tumble, or can you? Well the PlayStation 2 is pretty stable standing up, but I have been wary that my cat will just brush up against and knock it over, and the stand does give a bit of support. It doesn’t make a huge difference, but I’d say it definitely seems more stable now. I’ve also noticed that some discs have had some slight scratches on them since being played in the vertical position, so maybe with less ‘sway’, they’ll stay scratch free. If you lay the PS2 horizontally, I’d imagine it’d be harder to knock it down, so I don’t see the point in getting a horizontal stand – that just makes it look good, whereas the vertical does add support as well.

Quality? Well, it’s hard to tell just now, so over time and after extensive use I suppose you’d have a clearer picture of just how well made i
t really is, but from first impressions, it does seem to be of a good quality and of a strong plastic. The packaging is also a bit better than the other peripherals’. Instead of a tragic see through plastic encasement, you get a box. A very blue, similar to your PS2 console, kind of box, and it’s very nice too, as far as boxes go. There’s a protective sleeve inside, so you can rest assured that it hasn’t been damaged in transit.

What should you get then? I’d say go for a vertical one if you intend on standing your console up: it sounds obvious really, but I don’t see the point in having a horizontal stand, as the machine isn’t going to fall down from that position, although I can understand why people would have the console horizontally (console stands etc from their TVs). Do you really need one? Well I didn’t know whether I should stand the console up or lay it down, and I guess I can change the position from time to time – at present I’m sorting out televisions, and so, depending on the room in the cabinet, I’ll see what to do.

At £9.99, it isn’t a lot of money, but you can spend you’re money on better things in life. You do get an officially licensed piece of merchandise as it were ‘I bought a PS2’ ‘I got the vertical stand’ kind of thing, as though it were a holiday or theme park attraction. Ask yourself the position and whether you can afford to buy one. It isn’t an essential piece of equipment, and although it does look good, there isn’t much too it: you can tell instantly that £10’s worth of production has gone into this, but it’s fair enough. I don’t know any console that needs a stand other than the PS2, and maybe this is the start of a new fashion.

Some people may say it’s like a kind of stabiliser, helping the PlayStation 2 get on it’s toes and start to run, and deliver the games that we
’ve all been dying to play (well, some of you have…). I think 4 stars have to be awarded here because Sony could have tried to sell it at £15, and gotten away with it. They’ve attempted something different, perhaps necessary if you leave you PS2 in a nursery, or other high risk of it falling over kind of place, and so adding a bit of style isn’t too high a price. It may even make you smile at how much better it makes the radiator (PS2) look. And they say you canny put a price on happiness!

4 stars.

Thanks again.

D1A1

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