Look what Santa left behind!! (Sony Playstation 2)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Sony Playstation 2
Date:	30/12/01 (241 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dual purpose console - games and DVD compatible, excellent graphics, etc.

Disadvantages: The game loading time isn't as quick as i'd have thought.

For years now i've wanted an up-to-date games console.
I had a Super Nintendo when they were first launched, with it I had all the trimmings.... including the popular gun thingymabob (lol, can't think of the technical name for it!)

At the time I thought this was the bee's knee's. All my friends wanted to visit purely so they could have a go on my new games console!

Inevitably though, the SNES was soon out of date.
The ever-so-popular Playstation was launched. With all the publicity and hype about this new games console everyone was eagerly awaiting for it to be launched over here.

I really wanted to get a PS but carrying a price tag of £300 (when they were first released) I knew i'd either have to get working on Santa or start saving!
The Santa idea didn't work too well so I'd set my heart on saving up for one.
The price went down and down.
Then, news came of a new games console.... the eagerly awaited PS2.
On the 26th October 2000 the Playstation 2 was to hit the shops.

So immediately I gave up on the idea of PS (now of course named PS1!). I had set my sites higher!

At the same price of the original PS's though, £300, I was still going to have to save.

Eventually, giving up on the idea of ever reaching my £300 target I gave up on the idea. (Dropping hints still though when looking through the Argos catalogue!!)

Well this year (lol, not that theres much left of it!) it looks like the hints have worked! Santa got the hints!!

~ Was it worth the wait? ~

Yes, definitely!

Seen as I never did get the original PS I cannot really do a fair comparison to it. Obviously i've had plenty of "go's" on PS's but never long enough to "fully appreciate thier capabilities" (my dads favourite line!).

~ Lowdown in brief ~

The PS2 is about the same size as the original PS's, although
now it looks much nicer (well in my opinion!) in black. It can be positioned horizontally or vertically, which, you've got to agree, is a mighty fine idea! After all, will everyone with a PS or PS1 raise their hands who have to get their consoles out of the cupboard under the TV just to play on them, then have to put it back, with the controllers, wires etc. Not a difficult task I know, but when you can now have a PS2 stood vertically inside the cupboard under the TV without ever needing to take it out makes life a whole lot easier!
The average package (although this will depend on where you get your console from) will come with 1 dual shock controller, maybe a game or two, no doubt a demo disc and, lol, of course the console.

Now, at an average price of £199 it isn't too bad of a price to pay.

Another advantage with the console is....

~ DVD compatible ~

I no longer need to drop hints to Santa that a DVD player would be handy.... the PS2 acts as a dual purpose console/DVD player!

Oh, i've just thought of one other good point about this console....
it has a


For you technical sort of people out there then...
PlayStation 2 has a 128-bit computer chip called the Emotion Engine. This little package of silicon makes PS 2 games look, sound and play better than before.
There's a lot more to it of course, including:
graphics synthesiser,
I/O processor,
3.2Gb/second bus bandwidth
MPEG 2 decoder circuit,

Although please don't ask me to tell you anything about that little lot!

With my package (from Dixons... Santa gets a discount!) I got the console, one dual purpose controller and a demo disc. On the demo you'll find 3 demo games (ISS, Ridge racer and SSX [Snowboarding game]). Theres also 3 video's for games that were to be released (they're all released now) and 2 programming tool demo's.

There are plenty of add
itional things, oh, sorry, i'll call them by their proper name.... peripherals that can go with the PS2 though, including:

extra controllers (all claiming various different features)
stands to hold your PS2 in the vertical position
steering wheels
memory cards
multitaps (basically a gadget that plugs into either of the controller ports, which then allows you to plug further controllers into the Multitap itself. Each multitap can have up to four controllers plugged into it)

then of course we come onto the games...
Anyone who owns an Argos catalogue will know that there is plenty of choice when it comes to games!

There is one major advantage with the games being in CD ROM format - if you already have a PS then you can still play all of your games on the PS2. They are all compatible with the PS2. The graphics are obviously better though if you do purchase the actual PS2 games. (These are though, invevitably, more expensive!).
However one nifty little thing with PS2 games is the little space you get inside the games box for your memory card. How ingenious is that?!

Obviously I can only give you a brief introduction to the games i've got.
Mine include:

F1 (2)
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (rating: 15) (2)
Gubble* (1)
StarSweep** (1)
Sheep (1)
Pipe Mania* (1)

(* = puzzle game
** = very similar to Tetris
(1) = game is for PS
(2) = game is for PS2)

(Included with Resident Evil though was a demo of Devil May Cry).
So far all of the games are great, although so far i've not played on any one game for a particularly long time.

~ F1 ~
This doesn't really need explaining does it?
As far as I can tell this is pretty much like any other racing game.

~ Resident Evil: Code Veronica X ~

Rating: 15
This is because "this game may contain explicit scenes of gore and blood shed" (or som
ething along those lines!)

Another from the Resident Evil series. This game moves away from the traditional Racoon City location, Code Veronica X is set on a remote island that serves as HQ for the Umbrella Corporation. As Resident Evil veteran Claire Redfield, your task is to track down your brother, Chris, and unravel the dark secrets behind Umbrella and the strange events that have plagued Racoon City.

~ Gubble ~

Gubble is an alien who has become separated from his family and the alien mother ship. (Everybody say "awwww"!)
The idea of the game is that you have to use your wits, as well as a large range of tools, to remove the nails, screws and tacks from dozens of varied levels.
The best way I can explain what the format of the game is like is basically to imagine an up-to-date version of Pak Man.


~ StarSweep ~

Like I said before, this is very similar to Tetris. You have to match the different coloured blocks in order to clear the screen. But, in a slightly different manner to Tetris, you have to have the same coloured stars on each of the block touching before them particular blocks will clear from the screen.


~ Sheep ~

You are 1 of 4 herders (you can even be a dog if you choose!). You have to gather and direct 4 breeds of sheep through 7 worlds. You can employ your voice, stealth, brute force and various power-ups to control your flock, but you must be careful. Among the way though you'll come across all sorts of things that your sheep will find scary. For example:
kicking cows
planes
tractors
bulls

to name just a few!

~ Pipe Mania ~

You have to strategically lay pipes in order to clear the gunk. Over 18 continents, each with its own characters and hazards. Although it doesn't sound like it this is game is actually quite addictive!


There are far more games available, covering all genre's.


Some of the most popular games around at the moment include:

~ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ~

I've never played this game so this is courtesy of www.playstation.com

"3D action adventure game, the fantastical world of J.K. Rowling is faithfully recreated as you enter the hallowed halls of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, and get to interact with over 20 popular characters from the novel like Hermione Granger and Professor Dumbledore. Once you've enrolled, you'll find yourself exploring Hogwarts and its surrounding grounds, including secret passages and moving stairways. And magic abounds as you attend lessons to learn spells and potions, battle evil creatures using all of Harry's abilities, chase down Draco Malfoy on a flying broomstick and lead your house to victory in the wizard sport of Quidditch!"


Metal Gear Solid 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Devil May Cry
Grand Theft Auto 3


Out of those the only one I can comment on is the Devil May Cry one.


So far i'd certainly recommend the PS2.

How does it compare with the SNES?
Well the SNES doesn't even come close!

Is there any negative points to it?
Although so far i've not found any major complaints with it, or even minor one's really. The only negative point I can think of at the moment is the fact that the game loading time doesn't seem much quicker than games i've played on the original PS's.
Maybe that is because there is more data being uploaded with PS2 games?
I don't know, but it's not as fast as i'd have thought it would be.


(P.S. you can all put your hands back down again now!)

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